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Realistic or Modern Summoning Trouble [Closed]

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Esme crossed her arms over her chest as the mood went from them trying to calmly discuss matters to Kyle being frustrated with her. Again. His little tone experiment only served to frustrate her more with him. She didn't need him to tell her things she already knew about herself, that her attitude was utter shit and she was more likely to snap at someone than to just keep her mouth shut. Her jaw tightened as she held her tongue and let him finish speaking.

"Here is an important lesson for you then," she countered. "You think I'm not in control? Really? That somehow I'm really not aware when I previously had felt it was clear I was well aware of my habits of of being defensive against others. If I had no control I probably would be drowning myself in alcohol somewhere with my liver slowly dying."

She sighed and looked away and let her arms drop, "Forget it. I am so tired of going around this loop. I'm not going to make some deal to make you change who you are so I would expect the same from you in regards to myself. If you want to think that I talk back because I want you to be as thrown off as I am, then fine. Do I say things I regret? Sometimes, but not for the reason you would think.
I had mentioned a sensitive subject with you because I don't normally tip-toe around people because most people I don't give a shit about. Even with the very, very few people who I am close to I don't like to sugarcoat things because that, to me, is being two-faced. To smile and say everything is perfectly fine while everything is burning down around them? No. I'm the type of person who tells them that something is burning as much as they would want to deny it."

"I know I have a resting bitch face, a horrible attitude, and use anger as a defense. Hell, even I can be hypocritical because I will act like I'm fine when I'm not because I don't like others knowing they've gotten under my skin. Not having a filter doesn't make me impulsive but just inconsiderate when it comes to the feelings of others and I recognize that about myself." Just then she got an idea, a most likely awful idea, and one she probably would never utter because that would have been impulsive. She wanted to teach Kyle a lesson on what not filtering your words was like by making a deal via their Pact. She pushed the idea out of her mind because as much as the idea was tempting she wouldn't force Kyle to change himself, as much as he frustrated the ever living shit out of her at times; like now.

"While I'm ranting and getting all this out of my system, you want to know the other reason why I don't like digging through or even knowing your personal memories? Besides feeling like I've invaded your privacy? I feel like it's a lazy way to get to know someone, to have their thoughts and memories influencing you in how you regard them because everyone has their own idea of truth and what I saw I don't believe in the 'truth' you've told yourself. I don't need to know the K'ylenthar from that past to learn who Kyle is. I don't want to share my past memories with you in that manner because I don't what it to skew your perspective regarding who I am with my own tainted idea of my truth."

"I didn't want your memories to teach me, I wanted you to teach me. As much as you really, really make me want to hit you over the head with a pillow."
 
Kyle managed to keep his expression under control, even as he gritted his teeth. He had known something like this was going to happen, but by the Dark Lady... His thoughts managed to remain coherent in the face of Esme's ire however, at least until her rant touched on his True Name.

"While I'm ranting and getting all this out of my system, you want to know the other reason why I don't like digging through or even knowing your personal memories? Besides feeling like I've invaded your privacy? I feel like it's a lazy way to get to know someone, to have their thoughts and memories influencing you in how you regard them because everyone has their own idea of truth and what I saw I don't believe in the 'truth' you've told yourself. I don't need to know the K'ylenthar from that past to learn who Kyle is. I don't want to share my past memories with you in that manner because I don't what it to skew your perspective regarding who I am with my own tainted idea of my truth."

"What I saw I don't believe in the 'truth' you've told yourself."

"I don't believe in the 'truth'."

"I don't believe."

"I don't believe in you."

Kyle knew Esme hadn't actually uttered the words his mind was playing over and over in his head, but as she said 'everyone has their own idea of truth' and here, in this moment, that was Kyle's truth. She didn't believe his True Name. The one thing that he knew, without a doubt, she didn't believe. He wasn't a person, he was a thing. The floor made unexpected contact with Kyle's rear as his legs gave out under him. He didn't notice, he didn't care. He, wasn't. The tiny awareness of Esme that had sprung into being, the kernel of hope that Kyle desperately tried to hold on to, popped like a crenic seed in a furnace as he felt her rejection of his True Name shatter her connection to him. He knew what had just happened, and he heard a dispassionate voice speaking into the ringing silence.

"I am Repudiated," it said. "That which was meant to be is no more. You have your wish. I may no longer grant you memories, and you shall never be troubled by feelings or memories not your own. All bonds save those of the Pact are irrevocably shattered."

Kyle's body rose to its feet without any conscious direction, turning eyes that were jet black hollows, completely devoid of any emotion on Esme.

"One should note that there is a difference between 'telling it like it is' and being unnecessarily cruel," that same dispassionate voice said as Kyle's eyes bled back to normal, though they remained empty of any emotion. "You have done a thing so rare it is the stuff of nightmares to my people. For now, I must take my leave of your presence. It, hurts me. Perhaps he whom you knew as Kyle will return, perhaps someone new will come in his place. I do not know who I am. I will return when I do."

K'ylenthar opened the door and stepped into the hall. Perhaps the shops of this vessel would contain a clue for him.

Fable Fable
(Welp, Esme got her wish not to have demon in her head.)
 
Tarmagon Tarmagon
( Gonna go ahead and post this so I don't lose it, when you reply to the PM for what Kyle's time of return I'll edit it.)


Esme's body was tense after she had spouted out her thoughts at Kyle and it seemed like they could never escape this cycle either since soon after she said her piece Kyle's demeanor changed for the worse. She jumped a bit as she was startled when he suddenly fell to his rear. She wasn't sure what was going on with him in that moment. She had expected him to grow stern and frustrated, not collapse to the floor, then he spoke and a chill went down her spine. This... wasn't the Kyle she knew.

She took a few steps back instinctively and when she heard him speak that she no longer had access to his memories or feelings and their connection shattered she blinked and at first didn't understand. As he rose she took another step back like prey before a predator. She could only silently stand there as 'Kyle' basically called her words cruel and that she had done something on par of it being a nightmare and that being around her hurt. She stood there frozen as he left the room before falling to her knees herself. "W-What the hell just happened?"

Her heart was pounding and there was adrenaline in her veins screaming with fight or flight instincts while another side of her, that dark little voice twisted the knife of whatever emotional wound she'd just self-inflicted. She sat back on rear and let out a bitter laugh. "Nothing new, always saying the wrong thing, sucking at explaining, but it's not my damn fault you didn't understand what I meant!" Her heart hurt, her head hurt, and she couldn't muster the anger to cover it up.

"Fuck it."

Esme went to the phone that rested on the minibar and called room service. The little bottles in the bar weren't going to be enough to get blackout drunk. She ordered so much alcohol that she was questioned if the amount was correct; multiple times. After confirming that yes she wanted to order that much and once they were set on the minibar Esme set to work on slowly killing her liver, taking a bottle of vodka with her to the bed. They were going to Russia after all, well, they were supposed to.

She was pretty drunk by the time she finished the large ass bottle, staggering to get up to grab something else to drink, letting the empty glass bottle fall to the floor without a care. She didn't even check what she had grabbed though her instincts based on color, scent, and taste was some sort of rum. She slid down the minibar to the floor, resting her back against it to stay upright. Walking back to the bed seemed too much trouble and she was still awake.

As she drank she pulled her phone out of her back pocket and drunkenly called Liz who answered with some excitement until she heard Esme slurring slightly.

"Esme, how much have you had to drink?"

"Bottle and a half."

"Of?"

"Can'dt rermember"

"Oh lord. I guess you didn't eat anything either. Where the hell is Kyle?"

"Not here."

"I swear to..." Liz grumbled but didn't continue. "Esme, what happened?"

"Argument. Bad gargument. Bajd, nchlliy feelding. Always misunderstanding, can't make him understand intentions or whaut I mean even when I give my honestly it's steel always... twisted somehow, lost in translitation"

Liz could be heard letting out an audible sigh as Esme stumble over words. Liz also couldn't do anything since she wasn't wherever Esme was. While she was tempted to call Kyle and shout at him it wouldn't help whatever the hell situation was going on.

"Esme, stop drinking and go to sleep, maybe eat something before you go to sleep. Got it?"

Esme frowned at her phone as she pulled it away from her ear before returning it so she could reply, "I wasn callin bout that. Wanted to say sorree. Bad frend and still callin when I'm upsit. Eel call when I'mn suber." With that Esme hung up on a protesting Liz and proceeded to try and finish drinking what she believed was rum. Honestly her taste buds right now were kind of dead. At some point Esme just ended up passing out with the mostly finished bottle, saggy over slightly but still sitting against the minibar.
 
K'ylenthar wandered the halls of the vessel he was supposed to be traveling on, deftly avoiding contact with any of the multitude of beings thronging the various halls and shops. The vessel, the 'cruise ship' a part of his mind supplied, though he wasn't certain where the knowledge came from, was as chaotic as a kicked nil'ca nest, beings, 'humans' his mind supplied, moving about seemingly at random. Why he was using such a strange conveyance, he didn't know, but he did know that he was supposed to be here, just as he knew he wasn't to be noticed. For anything else however, he had no knowledge, for there seemed to be a veil across his thoughts. As he moved, the veil began to thin, and thoughts began to bubble to the surface of his mind, strange disconnected thoughts.

Esme. Hurt. Anger. Pain. Longing? Compassion. Admiration. Devotion.

"Sir?" a voice said, "You're blocking the corridor."

K'ylenthar...no, that was not right. It was, but it was not. Not...

"Sir?" now the voice held some concern, and Kyle looked down to see a young blonde in a white uniform looking at him worriedly.

"Your pardon," Kyle said, taking in his surroundings properly for the first time. He was stopped in the middle of a fairly narrow hallway, with people turning to move by him. Quickly he stepped to the side, and the woman, barely more than a girl, followed him, looking nervous. "I'm afraid that I let myself get overwhelmed by how big this ship really is. I think I just need to find someplace to sit down and get my bearings."

"It can be a bit overwhelming sir," the young woman, whose name-tag read Shelly, said. "Were you trying to get someplace in particular? I can help you figure out the best route to take."

Kyle smiled at the young woman's earnest tone. Now that he had his wits about him once more, he could tell she was a member of the ship's crew, though he wasn't certain what branch she worked in.

"No, thank you." Kyle said, smiling slightly. "I wasn't actually heading anywhere in particular. My wife and I had an argument, and I needed to take a walk to clear my head."

Wife? Why had he said that? A flash of gold on his left hand told him he was correct, and another flood of disjointed images flickered through his mind. Brown hair, done up in an elaborate creation. Eyes that seemed to flash blue/green fire. Dancing?

"I'm so sorry sir!" Shelly said. "There's a quiet room just up the corridor if you need a place to sit and think. Just turn the indicator to In-Use and no one will bother you."

"Thank you," Kyle replied. "At least I'll be out of everyone's way while I figure out what I said wrong this time."

"I'm sure things will turn out all right sir!" Shelly said. "Cruises seem to work magic."

"Let's hope," Kyle replied, taking his leave of the earnest young woman. Just ahead he saw a small door marked "Quiet Room". There was a green indicator just above the handle saying 'Open' and Kyle entered, noting that as he set the latch, the indicator changed to show 'In Use'. The room was small, containing just a couple of chairs and the lighting was low. It was obviously quite well insulated, for the only sound save Kyle's own breathing was a quiet hiss from the ventilation. Kyle settled into one of the chairs and tried to order his chaotic thoughts. What had happened to him? Kyle tried to summon his Power, but it stuttered strangely not answering his will, instead surging oddly, forcing him to withdraw it.

“I am K’ylenthar,” he said, feeling the truth, but an incomplete truth. “I am also, Kyle. I am Pact bonded of, Esme. She, hurt me.”

With that admission, the events of the last half hour came crashing to the forefront of Kyle’s mind. Pain surged through him, but he forced it down with hard won discipline. Rather than sink into the despair that was clawing at his spirit, Kyle forced himself to relive every word, examine every facial expression. His memory chopped off abruptly as Esme rejected the truth of his true Name, picking up with his encounter with the helpful Shelly.

"Well," he said aloud, "That was a colossal shit-storm that we could possibly have avoided. We have royally fucked ourselves."

Kyle didn't think that Esme meant to Repudiate him, but the combination of words she had chosen used been unambiguous to the Magic binding them, so it had acted, and now they were without their best advantage and probably both injured besides.

"Shit! Esme!"

Kyle found himself back in the corridor, trying to figure out how to get back to the suite. He wandered aimlessly for a moment, then noticed a map of the ship affixed to a wall near an intersection of corridors. One glance committed it to memory, then he was in motion, weaving through passengers with sometime like his normal dexterity. It still took five minutes to find their suite, and another to work up the courage to knock. Esme didn't answer. Kyle knocked again, then shrugged to himself and entered a nightmare.

Esme slumped, insensate, against the minibar in a horrible parody of their first meeting. Only a single bottle lay empty, but it was huge, and another was half drained. Her phone lay near an outstretched hand, Liz's picture on the screen. Kyle retained enough sense to close the door behind him before rushing to Esme's side, bruising his knees as he slid to a stop, desperately checking for a pulse.

"Oh Lady be praised," he breathed as he found a racing heartbeat. Gathering his strength, he took Esme's still form into his arms then staggered to his feet. Step by careful step, he made his way to the bed, gently lowering the unconscious Esme onto the sheets.

"Why do we do this to ourselves ashke?" he asked Esme's closed eyes. "I don't want to hurt you, and I don't think you want to hurt me, but it's all we ever seem to do. I make what seemed a simple request that we help each other better ourselves, but you took it amiss, and now we are both less than we were."

Taking a deep breath, Kyle began to summon his Power. It was still rebellious, but this time he forced it to his will, coursing it gently through Esme's body. He pushed the alcohol still in her bloodstream from her body and into his. Immediately he had to rush to the bathroom, vomiting until he felt like he was about to retch up his toenails. Once her had his rebellious stomach under control, Kyle returned to Esme's side to repeat the process. Four times he repeated the process, pulling the poison from Esme's veins into himself then purging it the old fashioned way. He couldn't do anything about the soporific effect, but when she awoke, Esme wouldn't be sick.

Once he was certain that Esme's system was as clean as he could make it, Kyle eased her under the covers of the bed, expending another bit of power to change her travelling clothes into a copy of a sleeping gown his mother favored. He fussed for a moment, settling Esme as comfortably as he could, then settled onto the floor, taking one of Esme's hands in his.

"I don't know if we can survive if we keep doing this to each other," he said, his voice quiet. "This, hurt us both. I try and try to understand, but sometimes you have to remember, I'm not human. I want to help, I need to understand, but you need to.. hellfires, I don't know what you need to do."

Before he could form another thought, Kyle's vision began to tunnel, and he felt his head hit the edge of the bed. As the light fled the universe, Kyle didn't relinquish Esme's hand, hanging onto it like a drowning man clutching at salvation. He didn't feel the moisture leaking from his eyes, damping the fabric under his head as tears of pain, frustration and regret leaked from his eyes even as awareness left his brain.

Fable Fable
(Demon is a bit lost right now.)
 
Tarmagon Tarmagon
( Esme awkward x infinity. )

Esme moaned as she shifted in the bed as her body naturally began the process to rouse itself based on her circadian rhythm. She tried to go back to sleep until she went to move one of her arms and was unable to do so for some reason. At first in her groggy mind she though her hand was tangled in something and then her memories slapped her in the face as she realized she was in the bed. How had she gotten into bed? She mentally shrugged it off as something drunk Esme had somehow managed to do... as well as change into some item of sleepwear she had never owned nor worn and was not her style.

As her brain woke up more and she investigated her hand with bleary eyes and noticed it was tangled in someone else's hand. She closed her eyes for a moment then opened them again wondering if she was just confused, but the hand was still here and not a bed sheet. She half-scooted, half-rolled so she could see who the hand belonged to as part of her thought it might not actually be Kyle because he had been so... furious, a calm kind of furious. She peeked nervously over the bed and confirmed it was Kyle, but then remembered that chilling, harsh presence from their last interaction and jerked her hand away and her body went back into flight or fight mode.

Her heart pounded in her chest as her mind raced trying to piece together yesterday. She remembered everything up to her drunken call with Liz and then at that point probably passed out. She honestly... hadn't thought of what to say to Kyle when or even if he came back to their room. She was scared that she was going to see more of that cold part of his personality, that side that made her instincts scream DANGER! She had also fully expected to wake up drooling on the floor with a hangover, but instead she was in the bed and the only pulsing came from heart frantic heartbeat.

She glanced over Kyle and saw he was breathing, hesitated and then pulled the cover off the bed and over him before trying to quickly and quietly scoot to the other side of the bed, quickly grabbing a change of clothes and going into the bathroom. She turned on the shower but didn't immediately get in, but rather sat on the edge of the large whirlpool tub and sighed to herself. She tried to jump-start her mind to figure out what she was supposed to do or say after whatever the hell had caused him to go all Dark Kyle.

Nothing. She had no idea what to do resulting in her hiding her face in her hands and groaning softly in frustration under the cover of the noise of the shower.

She sighed and stripped her clothing and got into the shower hoping some epiphanous (spell check I swear it's a word!) shower thought. No such luck. She'd scrubbed herself down from head to toe and her anxiousness was still there. She dried her hair and brushed her teeth and still wasn't sure how to approach Kyle after yesterday. She'd already hidden in the bathroom for as long as she had tasks to keep her there and she couldn't stay in there for this entire trip, though honestly she could probably use the plethora of towels to make a bed and sleep in the tub if needed...

She took a deep breath and stalled at the door for a moment trying to listen for any sounds of movement from Kyle, though honestly it was hard to hear anything over her own hammering heartbeat right now. She released the breath she had been holding, unlocked the bathroom door and stepped back into the room, her eyes cautiously glancing around. She didn't detect any changes to the room since she had entered the bathroom and wondered if Kyle was still asleep on the floor.

She walked as quietly as she could, though she didn't tip-tow since honestly that increased the chances of her stumbling and making a ruckus if she fell. She walked barefoot towards where she had left her shoes or perhaps where Kyle had left her shoes. Her stomach ached for food and if she could use that to get some distance from Kyle right now to buy her some more time she'd go with it. She didn't dare glance over to where Kyle had been while she slipped on a pair of socks and shoes then shoved her room key into her back pocket of her pants.

Esme hesitated at the door, her hand on the door handle as her eyes and head slowly turned to check on Kyle only to find his open eyes looking directly back at her. She actually let out a startled yelp because she hadn't expected him to be quietly laying there watching her. She stumbled and landed on her backside with an 'umph!' and a facial cringe at the impact. "Ow," she muttered under her breath as her tailbone throbbed unhappily, her eyes closed tightly for an extra moment before she moved to get back up.

"S-Sorry, thought you were sleep asleep," she hastily said. Then she stood there awkwardly as her mind went a million miles a second trying to process this change of plans and what she was supposed to do or say. Honestly, he looked a bit worried himself. "Uhm... i-if you want to move to the bed you can, that's if you wanted to sleep in more. I-I was going to get some breakfast since, well, alcohol can do a number on a stomach." She stuttered and stumbled over her words as they came out quickly and at a nervous pace and her face flushed.
 
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Kyle slowly climbed out of the pit of uneasy slumber he had so unceremoniously fallen into, regretting every painful step of the climb. The sharp agony of yesterday had been replaced by an aching sense of, absence? rejection? Kyle wasn't quite certain, he just knew this wound would be slow in the healing. He felt drained despite the nominal rest of sleeping, his Power still sorely depleted, not recharging as it would normally. His body felt as though someone had been using him for a set of pells during weapons practice, and the taste in his mouth didn't bear consideration.

Sounds of furtive motion caused him to open his eyes, and he saw Esme, obviously fresh from the shower, moving as quietly as she could to recover her shoes, donning socks and then shoes before slipping one of the 'card keys' into her pocket. Kyle supposed that he should be upset that she was obviously avoiding acknowledging his presence, and by doing so putting off dealing with yesterday's disaster, but he was too sick and miserable to muster more than a slight disappointment that she hadn't checked on him before trying to make her escape. As if to make him a fool and a liar, Esme paused with her hand on the door, head turning slowly to glance at him where he lay. The fact that he was awake must have disturbed her greatly, for she let out an undignified yelp and stumbled, falling on her rear, much as Kyle had when IT had happened.

"Ow," Esme muttered, then climbed to her feet. "S-Sorry, thought you were sleep asleep. Uhm... i-if you want to move to the bed you can, that's if you wanted to sleep in more. I-I was going to get some breakfast since, well, alcohol can do a number on a stomach."

"M'sorry," Kyle croaked out, his voice barely above a whisper. "I did my best, but you had drunk so much, and I was, am, injured magically. Couldn't..... ULP!"

Kyle felt his gorge rise, and he desperately tried to disentangle himself from the cover that had somehow found its way about his shoulders. His desperate struggles only entangled him further, and he tried to rise and get to the bathroom, but even as he tried to stand, his feet tangled themselves in the fabric and he went down in a heap. His eyes cast about, lighting on a wastebasket just within his arms reach. He managed to pull it under his face just as his stomach rebelled, and he vomited a thin stream of bile into the basket as violent retching shook his body. He wasn't certain how long his body was wracked with the spasms, but finally, far too slowly, they abated. Kyle wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then turned a pale and sweat soaked face to Esme.

"I'..." his voice broke, and he swallowed, then tried again. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Go take care of yourself. I'll set the room to rights as... soon... as..."

Kyle broke off, breathing deeply to force his stomach to settle.

"As soon as I can," he managed to finish. "For now, I think I need to get into the bathroom."

Fable Fable
(Demon has Esme's hangover, despite his best efforts.)
 
Tarmagon Tarmagon
( Esme won't leave Kyle to suffer a hangover. )

She fidgeted as she waited for a response from Kyle, fully expecting some harsh words to come forth; a lecture or something. When she heard a 'sorry' and him mention that he was magically injured before he made a sound of someone fighting the urge to purge their stomach she frozen in place for a moment in stunned silence. He had done what he did the first time they met and took on the alcohol in her system within himself and clearly was feeling it.

She wasn't phased at all by his retching and now felt a bit bad she had given him the covers since it had cause him to have to flail about, which clearly would not help anyone's stomach in that situation. She frowned slightly as he apologized to her and that she should go take care of herself and he'd clean up the room. She wondered if he had ever actually been drunk in his entire life before meeting her, without his memories she would never know and that actually... was fine with her because she would have rather asked then just peek into his life whenever she wanted.

"Get your ass in the bed and lay down," she said a bit firmly before pausing and added a soft 'please' at the end.

She went into the bathroom and went to grab one of the smaller towels and soaked it under cool water before wringing it out so that it was only damp. Esme took the towel and went to the minibar and sighed when she realized she was going to have to go fill bucket with ice. She went over to Kyle and wrapped the cool towel around the back of his neck to take the edge of the nausea. "If the towel gets warm before I get back, just cool it down with more water if you can. I'll be right back."

She left the room then with the ice bucket under one of her arms and went to the ice machine which was a ways down the hall from their room. She filled the entire thing up so that she would hopefully not have to be back here for a few hours to replenish it. Once she made her way back to the room she took the towel away from Kyle and wrapped it around some ice before replacing it to rest against the back of his neck again. It wasn't a ton of ice, only a handful of the cubes so it was cooler for longer rather.

Esme set down the bucket on the nightstand and then went to get a bottle of water from the stocked mini-fridge, completely ignoring the insane price that had been been paying for this trip herself... she would have just used the tap. She opened the bottle and handed it to Kyle for him to drink since he needed to at least stay hydrated. With that done she grabbed the room service menu and then used the phone to order them breakfast. As much as Esme didn't want to have an awkward and painful conversation with Kyle she also didn't want to leave him suffering and alone.

She skipped the more strong smelling foods such as eggs since the scent could churn up and upset stomach more, at least it did for her when she had a hangover. Something with bread; french toast, waffles, or pancakes. She opted for french toast and ordered a side of bacon just in case Kyle wanted some protein. She would have ordered him the spiciest thing available, but there was nothing on the menu for something like that in the morning.

With those tasks completed all she could do was wait for the food to arrive leaving way too much time for her to want to uncomfortable sit there. She would have made coffee and she knew she needed to drink something herself and grabbed a water bottle for herself, taking a sip as she glanced at Kyle. "I would pester you about taking my hangover away, and to have just let me deal with the consequences of my own actions, but you're in no state and I honestly probably don't have any right to lecture you anyway."

"I couldn't... order anything spicy for you, unless you want me to dump and whole thing of pepper or something on your food you'll have to wait at least until lunch... that's if you manage to keep food down. It's better to just puke into the trashcan than the toilet by the way, you don't have to constantly run to and fro to like you would to reach the toilet. If you're embarrassed to for me to see you retch I'll leave if you really want me to after the food gets here."

She went into the bathroom and grabbed a different trashcan and swapped it out with the one Kyle had already used, going back into the bathroom to tie up the plastic liner and leaving it in the bathroom before returning to the main room. While Esme was glad that this meant she could avoid the topic of what happened last night, she knew it was a conversation they were going to inevitably have to have, but she wasn't going to while Kyle wasn't feeling well.
 
Kyle couldn't help but chuckle weakly as Esme went from nervous to 'in control' in the space of a heartbeat. At her insistence, he managed to climb into the bed, though his limbs were shaking by the time he was flat on his back. The cool towel helped to ease some of the tearing nausea that he still felt. Esme left the room briefly, returning with a bucket of ice. A few chunks found their way into the towel about his neck, and it felt even better than the towel alone.

Kyle nearly rebelled when Esme brought him the bottle of water, but the look on her face gave him no room for argument, and he meekly began to sip slowly at the bottle. Esme spent several minutes on the phone with someone, then returned to Kyle's bedside, sipping from her own bottle.

"I would pester you about taking my hangover away, and to have just let me deal with the consequences of my own actions, but you're in no state and I honestly probably don't have any right to lecture you anyway," Esme said. "I couldn't... order anything spicy for you, unless you want me to dump and whole thing of pepper or something on your food you'll have to wait at least until lunch... that's if you manage to keep food down. It's better to just puke into the trashcan than the toilet by the way, you don't have to constantly run to and fro to like you would to reach the toilet. If you're embarrassed to for me to see you retch I'll leave if you really want me to after the food gets here."

"I'll trust your judgement," Kyle said, surprised at how weak his voice was. "I can't fix myself in my current condition, so I'll be a little dependent on your good will. And, embarrassing or not, if you can stand to be around me if my body rebels again, I would welcome your company. Right now, alone isn't good for me. There's an ache that swells into something nearly unbearable when I'm alone. I'm sure that as my wounds heal, the ache will subside, but for right now... I'm not too proud to ask for your help, even if i'm not worthy of receiving it."

Kyle was spared from saying more by a discreet knock on their cabin door. Esme rose and went to investigate, but Kyle found himself uanble to muster the energy to sit up and see who or what it was. In a moment more, Esme reappeared, wheeling a cart laden with covered platters. Kyle's stomach lurched as the smells of the food hit his nostrils, but he didn't have to each for the basket, this time. Instead, he took another sip of water, which seemed to calm him to the point where the smell was bearable.

"I'll trust your judgement on what I should try," he said. "I haven't had a lot of experience feeling like this."

Fable Fable
(Esme is correct, demon usually doesn't get hung over. He takes precautions, which he totally didn't take this time.)
 
Tarmagon Tarmagon
( Esme dislikes awkward silences. )

Esme didn't reply to his comment about not liking to be alone, that something he felt when he was gave him an unbearable feeling. She didn't want to assume it was loneliness since at the rate they were going she was probably completely wrong. She did however roll her eyes and shake her head when he rambled that he wasn't worthy of her help in dealing with a horrible hangover. "If you weren't worth bothering with.. I probably would have just called the cops on you when you first appeared in my apartment," she said a bit dryly before answering the door to take in the cart of food.

She noticed Kyle's expression when the smell hit him and frowned, maybe the sweetness was a bit too much for him. He needed to eat something to keep his stomach from spazzing. Something like bread or crackers. "Oh I have had more than enough experience of having to deal with a hangover. I would get you some Pepto, but not sure how well you'd take that. Not to mention having to constantly down the medicine every 30 minutes isn't fun. Maybe we should start you off with some saltines or something instead of french toast."

Esme dug some cash out of her bag and shoved it into her pocket before saying she was going to check one of the vending machines. After a bit of getting lost and then finally finding one with a snack pack of crackers with peanut butter she made it back to the room after about fifteen minutes. She only thought to grab one pack which she set down on the nightstand next to Kyle, at least for a moment before she picked it up and fought with the plastic wrapper. Once she got the damn thing open she handed it to him directly.

She then kicked off her shoes and without bothering to take the tray of the cart, she just cut a piece of toast and took a bite. She managed to eat about half of it, not really in the mood for breakfast and only really eating because she had to or face consequences later, even if Kyle had taken most of the alcohol in her system. She went to the opposite side of the bed and laid down on her back. Esme stayed there silently for a moment but eventually she sighed.

"While I know you're feeling miserable, and perhaps are not in the mood to talk, what happened last night needs to be discussed and I find just... sitting here saying nothing it worse than talking about it. Sometimes it's like we're both speaking in a different language with the amount of times we've misunderstood each other... and I have no idea how to resolve that. I thought giving you a better grasp of the language would help, but it hasn't. And when that stuff went down last night it was like... a tether snapped? Like something was under such great tension that it couldn't take and then you just... snapped yourself; intimidating black eyes and everything and almost looking at me like I was some stranger."

"You said I had done something nightmarish, that I was cruel, and that being around me hurt you. So, I want you to tell me honestly if my presence really does hurt you. I'm not saying I'm not cruel even though I don't understand what I did exactly. I just think that... maybe you're still looking at me like I should just... know things when it comes to magic and what being a demon is and so on. I don't always understand you, or how your mind can interpret something so far from what it was meant to convey. Last night, I was just trying to explain how truth isn't objective and what you believed as your truth doesn't mean it aligns with mine and yet somehow, you took that as me just flat out rejecting you."

Esme sighed and crossed her legs at her ankles and shifted slightly. "I don't know how to help you understand."
 
"The problem is that it just isn't me who needs to understand," Kyle said, his voice weary but firm. "It's also the Magic. And in this case, I think it understood and took the most direct route to giving you your wish."

Kyle paused for a second, nibbling on one of the crackers. It seemed to be calming his stomach slightly, for which he was grateful.

"And yes," he said, looking Esme straight in the eye. "What you did, however unintentionally, hurt me, both physically and magically. That injury brought my, survival instinct to the front of my mind to deal with the problem while me, Kyle, tried to recover. While the wound was fresh, physical proximity would indeed have hurt, so instinct removed me from the source of the pain."

Kyle finished the first cracker and had to take a drink from his water bottle to clear his mouth. Esme seemed to have the right of dealing with wine sickness. Hangovers they called them here.

"There are three ways to break a True Name bond," Kyle said when he could speak again. "The first is that the Named grows and changes so much that they outgrow the given Name. That's the most common way. The second is that the other member shares their True Name, then the pair decides together that they wish to end the Bond. They both ask the other to relinquish their Name simultaneously, and the Magic does the rest. Rare, but not unheard of. Then there's what happened to us, well to me. Repudiation."

Kyle sighed, searching for the words to help Esme understand. He stalled for a moment, using another cracker and drink to buy himself some time, then shrugged.

"My True Name wasn't just memories of pivotal moments, it contained a little bit of, well, me." Kyle said. "I guess in religious terms, I gave you a tiny piece of my soul for safekeeping. The problem was, you didn't want it. Rather than see the advantages it could give us, you railed against having it. So far, uncomfortable but not injurious. Then you said 'What I saw I don't believe in the 'truth' you've told yourself.', and the Magic acted to remove the problem. Remember that silly movie where the fairy said "whenever someone says they don't believe, a fairy dies"? When you said "I don't believe", that portion of me that you received with my True Name, died."

Kyle had to pause, for his voice seemed to have stopped working. He slugged the rest of the bottle down, which didn't seem to help the tightness in his chest, but did allow him to resume speaking.

"When a part of you, however small and separated, is destroyed, there are repercussions," Kyle managed to say. "Now I am injured, but I should heal. We've lost an advantage no one else could counter, but we'll find a way to overcome. My Power should recover before we reach Russia, but I can't take your overflow anymore, you'll have to give it to me directly whenever you start to feel full."

Kyle lay back, his energy at an end.

"If you have questions, ask quickly, " he said. "I'm running pretty much on empty here. "

Fable Fable
(Demon is running out of steam. )
 
Tarmagon Tarmagon
( Pepper time! )

Esme listened and didn't interrupt Kyle as he replied to her. She mentally agreed that the Magic also needed to learn, though to her it was for it to not to take things so... literally when there were deeper meanings to things. She avoided his eyes when he went to look at her, instead looking down at her hands on her lap and feeling her guilt deepen as he says she did actually hurt him which cause him to enter into a survival mode. As much as when he had become like that had scared her, she couldn't exactly blame him since she had her own defensive mechanism that wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't like a split personality.

She continued to stare at her hands as he spoke and explain what had happened in a way she could understand, something that he hadn't really clarified as well before. Esme wasn't religious exactly, but even she understood the concept of a person's soul. She hadn't been aware that when he had given her his True Name he was giving a literal piece of himself that could have resulted in harm. She had thought it was just personal memories shares along some weird magical connection and that is was only culturally significant to his race.

He heart sank when he compared what she said to the scene from the movie Hook. That her statement actually killed that part he had given to her even though what she had meant was something entirely different. She knew it was too late to change anything and she had done something irreversible and injurious. Her eyes watered slightly but she managed to keep any tears from falling as the weight of what she had done truly began to settle in her mind.

He changed the subject to the matter of her having to give him any excess Power she had and she asked the question as it passed her mind. "Why don't you hate me over what I did? If it had happened to me I would." She went stiff and then waved her hands, "N-Nevermind. You're tired so I'll let you rest."

Esme got off the bed and went to get another bottle of water and then throwing the empty one away. She should have probably stayed with Kyle in case he needed help, but she couldn't stand the silence that would be there if she did. So she excused herself, putting her shoes back on, grabbing her phone that was full of texts from a worried Liz, and her room card. She aimlessly wandered while she texted back Liz, apologizing for calling her while drunk and trying to ease Liz's concerns as best as she could. Eventually Esme just said she was busy after Liz kept pestering her to explain exactly what had happened, even after Esme said she didn't want to talk about it.

How could she explain what she had done to Liz? 'Hey, I was given a piece of Kyle's soul and because the Magic took it the wrong way it ended up getting destroyed thanks to my big mouth.' She groaned as she stared at her phone before shoving into one of her back pockets.

There was no way she could make up for what she had done. She grimaced as a thought crossed her mind in that she could allow him her own True Name, but... what even was her True Name? But it wasn't like she could get some stupid card that said "Sorry for destroying a part of you!" Right now all she could do was try and help with the aftermath. She decided to go on a quest to find something spicy for Kyle to eat, though she didn't even know if that would help, but it was better than just sitting around, well, avoiding the painful silence that would be in the room.

So off Esme went to the concierge. If there was one place that could get you something that would probably be it. It was a weird conversation for sure, having to request that they give her some hot peppers, the hotter the better. After some strange looks and double checking, but no questions asked beyond that, she was soon heading back to the room she shared with Kyle with a plate of habanero peppers.

She opened the door and set down the plate on the nightstand next to Kyle. Without a word she went to take off her shoes and laid down on the other side of the bed silently after she grabbed a book out of her bag, hoping it was distract her from the silence. Only her mind kept reminding her of what she had done and she eventually just pretended to read.
 
"Why don't you hate me over what I did? If it had happened to me I would." Esme said, then waved her hands, "N-Nevermind. You're tired so I'll let you rest."

Before Kyle could properly frame a reply to Esme's question, she excused herself, gathering shoes and phone and beating a hasty retreat from their room. Kyle sighed as the door closed behind her, then rose a trifle unsteadily and made his way to the bathroom. Fortunately, his remaining strength proved equal to the task of taking care of his body's immediate needs and making the trek back to the bed. He hoped that Esme would be alright, but at that point, his flagging energy ran out, and he slipped into sleep that was fortunately dreamless.

Some time later, the snick of the door latch roused Kyle to a kind of half-wakefulness. It wasn't enough to raise him to full consciousness, but he was vaguely aware of Esme moving about the room. After a minute or two, the bed swayed as she lay down on the other side of the bed, rousing Kyle further. He didn't say anything, since it was apparent that Esme didn't really wish to talk, but he was aware of her trying to read, and finally, once it became apparent that she couldn't really concentrate, Kyle opened his eyes and turned to face her.

"I can hear your thoughts whirling, even if I don't have the slightest idea what you're actually thinking," he said quietly. "You asked me a question just before you left. Let me ask you one in reply. Knowing your words would free you of my True Name, and knowing the cost to me, would you still have spoken them?”

Esme didn't really have to think about the answer, but she still hesitated in saying it because she wasn't sure how he would take it. He own heart pounded nervously in her chest for some reason, which she simply brushed off as anxiousness. "I already said it hadn't intended for this to happen," she began quickly. "I wasn't trying to get rid of your True Name. I was just trying to explain how a concept of truth actually is. So the answer is no, I would not have said them if they were going to be taken the wrong way."

"Esme," Kyle sighed. "That is where you are wrong, but you will not admit it, not to me, and not to yourself. When I gave you my True Name, I was not giving you the story of my life for you to interpret and decide what was true or not. I was giving you my life, as lived and felt by me when I lived it. It's not open to interpretation. It IS what I experienced, IS what I felt at the time. That's why the emotional component was so strong, so you could understand what I was feeling at the time. It wasn't you watching my life, it was you living my life so you could understand how I became me. There's absolutely no way for me to misrepresent or lie by doing that. When you decided that you didn't believe 'my truth', you effectively told me that my entire life was a lie. That I had somehow misinterpreted everything that happened to me, that I hadn't felt what I felt. That is the rejection that the Magic acted on, that triggered Repudiation."

Moving slowly, Kyle propped himself up on one elbow. He was stronger now, though far from his normal self. At least the tearing nausea was gone, and something smelled... Turning slightly, he saw the plate of peppers, and grabbed one and popped it into his mouth without thinking. Moments later, he was smiling as the heat of the pepper banished the last of his nausea and cleared his head slightly.

"Ah, I needed that," he said, satisfaction in his voice. "Now, in response to your answer. That is why I can't hate you. You didn't do it on purpose. That doesn't make the immediate effects any better, but knowing you didn't have any malicious intent makes it easier to bear them."

Fable Fable
(Demon is trying very, very hard to find the right words.)
 
Tarmagon Tarmagon
( Esme and her lack of filter XD )

Esme jumped slightly when Kyle spoke, saying he could hear her thoughts whirling and for a terrifying second she actually though he could read her mind before mentally shaking the stupid thought aside. She replied to his question, but his response obviously still didn't get the message through to him. She snapped her book shut, she hadn't bothered to mark the page since she hadn't actually managed to really read anything within it. She sighed and her shoulder sagged a bit as the conversation about what happened would seem to continue.

"I wasn't talking about your memories not being an objective truth but rather your self-reflect regarding them. That is the truth that was on my mind at the time. That you had told yourself you were all thing these, and that was your truth, but it doesn't make it mine. Your memories are entirely what you've experienced on your own and influenced by your own perceptions. A subjective truth. It's like... a drink of ink in water. It doesn't change the water from a liquid state into a gas, but you can see how it taints the water itself."

She struggled trying to communicate this to him since it seemed no matter how she attempted to explain it. "No where did I blatantly go 'Hey let's just drop the True Name thing'. I was uncomfortable about it, sure. If I had really wanted to break that, why now? Why not the moment I mentally spazzed at experiencing your memories; which by the way having the memories of a guy is so weird."

Esme watched as he popped a pepper in his mouth and then smiled before saying he couldn't hate her when she hadn't done it on purpose. "Well, I hate myself for it," she muttered under her breath. "I want to... fix what I did, but it seems impossible. Hell, if I could give you a piece of my soul in exchange for the one I destroyed I would."

Her mouth snapped shut as soon as she realized what she had said and she cleared her throat loudly and her checks flushed. "I seriously just offered part of my soul to a demon." As soon as she said this she couldn't help but laugh.
 
"Well, I hate myself for it," Esme muttered under her breath. "I want to... fix what I did, but it seems impossible. Hell, if I could give you a piece of my soul in exchange for the one I destroyed I would."

Her mouth snapped shut as soon as she realized what she had said and she cleared her throat loudly and her checks flushed. "I seriously just offered part of my soul to a demon." As soon as she said this she couldn't help but laugh.

Kyle's mouth dropped open at Esme's words, then he started to laugh as well. Somehow his laughter conveyed warmth and approval even as it acknowledged the whole 'selling your soul to a demon' trope.

"Thank you, but no." Kyle managed to say. "We will take the thought for the deed, and just the fact that you were willing to voice that level of concern is helpful. How can you be so perceptive, so caring, and yet so stubborn? Of course my True Name was subjective. Your personality, mine, everyone's, they're all products of our experiences as we live through them. I never claimed it was objective, like a Law of Nature. Bright Lady, but... pfft. We've beaten this horse until there's nothing left but paste, and we're still talking past each other. It's done, we move on."

Kyle popped another pepper, then grabbed a soda from the mini-bar's fridge. He needed the calories as well as whatever vitamin or mineral the peppers provided. At least now, he could eat without fear of heaving it all back up within a few minutes.

"Rather than worry about the past, we need to look to the future," Kyle said. "The Pact bonds can't be disrupted so easily, but we have lost an advantage or two. If we're separated, you can't find me anymore without resorting to a tracking spell, which can be detected. You can't scry on me without breaching my shields, and most importantly, if I am somehow banished from this world, you can't call me back without repeating the entire Summoning spell from the Grimoire, which will create a whole new Pact. I can't monitor your Power either. And any more lessons will be the old fashioned kind. If we had a few years I'd be totally fine with that, but all we have is a few days. I hope you're a quick learner."

Fable Fable
(Demon is trying to move on and look to the future. ;) )
 
Tarmagon Tarmagon
( Time for them to do fun things. )

Esme wiped her eyes after laughing so hard over her realization over what she had just exactly offered, glad that Kyle wasn't offended by amused as well. He seemed livelier as well and his color wasn't sickly like it had been when he'd had stomach troubles courtesy of taking on the alcohol in her system. She hadn't even been sure peppers would have actually helped, but she didn't exactly have a recipe book for feeding a Demon. All she had to go off of was what he said had helped in the past and hope it was at least something useful.

"Wow, that was a really bad joke," Esme said when he mention the horse being beaten into paste. "I see your Demon humor hasn't changed at least. And as much as we're moving on from the subject I will find some way to make up for what I did. And yes I am aware that is stubborn of me." She arched a brow daring him to argue about wanting to make up for what had happened.

"As for the problems as a result of this. I can only think of using the phones as sort of makeshift trackers, though they wouldn't really be accurate. Just going to have to deal with problems as they happen I guess, unless we can use the Pact to sort of create a way to do the tracking thing. We can deal with that later," she said trying to change the subject to something else. "You wanted to explore the ship right? Unless you still feel like crap, we can also just hang out in the room for today."

She stretched out her limbs before sliding out of the bed. There was some massive brochure about everything on the ship, she just couldn't remember where she had put it after she had been handed it when they boarded. She dug through her bag before finding it shoved in a small pocket, unfurling the massive thing since it had schedules for things going on with the ship, as well as stops on the way to their destination.

"Oh this is too good," she laughed. "We're going to this tonight." Esme got up and went over to Kyle pointing to a show that was scheduled for this evening. A magic show. She couldn't help but snicker.
 
Kyle arched one eyebrow as Esme declared they would be going to a magic show in the evening. In truth, he was curious what regular humans considered magic. He popped the rest of the peppers into his mouth rapid fire which earned him his own raised eyebrow. He just shrugged and grinned.

"Vitamin, mineral or trace element, " he said. "They just contain something my body craves."

Kyle took a moment, taking physical and mental inventory of himself. He had been better, but he had also been far worse. His Power was still depleted, but it was finally starting to return, albeit slower than he was used to. Nothing to be done, and no way to hurry the process along.

"Perhaps we should explore," he said tentatively. "Sitting here or moving about will make no difference to my recovery, so why not explore a bit? Oh, that magic show, and dinner for that matter, are listed as 'business casual'. Does that mean I actually get to see you in something besides jeans or a ball gown? "

Fable Fable
(Demon is recovering, slowly. )
 
Tarmagon Tarmagon
( If you want me to do a timeskip after your post we can XD )

Esme had been about to open her mouth to ask if Kyle should really be moving around, but before she could he continued and explained that it wouldn't affect his recovery in the grand scheme. So she just shrugged. If he wanted to explore the ship they could. However when he mentioned the dress code and asked if he would see her in something different she frowned for a moment before looking at the pamphlet and spotting the semi-formal attire and reservation requirement.

"What, you don't like my fashion taste?" she teased. "The ball gown wasn't in my control and a complete outlier. As far as seeing me in something that isn't average clothing, since I have to wear it to go to the show I will. I'll just... have to make something I guess." She went to use her phone to get a reservation through the cruise's app. Technology, allowing Esme to avoid having to set up a reservation in person. It was quick and thankfully a few spots were still open for them to reserve a table otherwise they would have been out of luck until a different showing.

"I could show you something that might either hurt your brain or laugh, or both," Esme said with a grin as she google for a certain image. She turned her phone so Kyle could see the image of Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears in matching jean outfits. "Who says jeans can't be formal?" She burst out laughing as she pulled her phone away, wondering if she scared Kyle she was going to wear something similar.

"I have too much pride to wear something like that. I'll probably just make some simple black dress and call it good," she commented. If she could make something that would pass as semi-formal and comfortable she would do it. "I'll just scroll through Pinterest and duplicate something I guess. Anyway, let's go explore."

She shoved her phone and room card into a back pocket moving to grab what she needed before heading out of the room. "Was there anything you wanted to really go see first? Or just wander around aimlessly and see what we see? I'd be for the latter option."
 
"Well," Kyle said with a grin, "I would imagine there are certain places that the crew would rather we didn't investigate, but that does leave a rather large area to explore. Shall we?"

Kyle grabbed his own key card and ducked into the bathroom to make certain he was presentable. Ah, wallet. Checking quickly, he found it still in his pocket. Good. A flash of gold caught his eye as he ran his hand over his hair and he paused to look at the ring he had conjured. Hmm. He wasn't quite strong enough, but if Esme would loan him a bit of Power. Oh yes, he could make this work. Returning to the main cabin, he found Esme ready to go, but he held up a hand before she could open the door.

"I've had an idea," he said. "One that will solve the problem of us getting separated. The problem is, I currently lack the Power to set the necessary spells. Would you be willing to provide the Power, or perhaps cast the spell yourself?"

"Let's go with providing Power," Esme said dubiously. "My last act of 'magic' didn't go so well."

"Of course," Kyle said, understanding coloring his tone. "And, may I see the ring that I made you?"

Esme removed her ring as Kyle removed his, laying both in his palm.

"Place your hand over mine," Kyle instructed, "Then push your Power out. I will shape and guide it. You'll fell when the spell is done."

Slowly, Esme covered Kyle's hand with her own, the rings now laying between them. Concentrating as she had been taught, she pooled her Power in her center, then began to direct it up and out, pushing it out through her palm. Immediately her hand warmed, and she could feel the Power taking on direction as Kyle frowned in concentration.

"You who were once one, remember." Kyle intoned. "Linked you were and linked you are. When asked by your wearer, find your other half."

Esme felt the Power twist and flow into the rings, but Kyle was still speaking, his words measured and commanding.

"Only the hand that places you may remove you. You and your wearer shall be as one. This is my WILL. It SHALL BE."

Power flared brightly between their hands, then Esme felt the pull subside. Removing her hand, she could just make out a golden glow vanishing into the rings. Kyle held them up and smiled.

"Now we can find each other," Kyle said with satisfaction. "The rings will find each other. And... only the hand that places the ring may remove it. You can put your own ring on, but someone might compel you to remove it. If we put each others rings on, no one could make us remove them. But, that's a choice I'll leave in your hands."

Fable Fable
(Magic rings!)
 
Tarmagon Tarmagon
( TWO RINGS TO BIND THEM! Couldn't resist some LOTR-ish quote, lol. )

Esme followed Kyle's instructions as precisely as possible. She didn't want to fuck something else up and make him lose a pinky or something awful. She listened to him as he cast the spell over their fake wedding rings. She tilted her head to the side slightly as she looked at the rings before turning her attention to the smiling Kyle. She laugh, at herself, she was still so very normal because her thought had been to just use their phones, not magic. She still instinctively looked for mundane answers to problems and wasn't sure she'd ever really get to a point where her first consideration would be to use magic.

She took Kyle's ring and quirked a brow as she joked, "As long as this isn't something that actually makes us married." She slipped the ring over his left ring finger and then held up her own left hand so he could do the same with her own. She only hoped someone wouldn't get the smart idea to chop off the ring finger to remove it. "You know, this entirely ruins any games of hide and seek," she added as a random after thought.

--- time for a timeskip X3 ---​

Esme and Kyle spent the rest of their time wandering the ship from bow to stern. They'd wandered into the small casino, walked past the large pool and its water slides, discovered there was what served as a small night club, dance club, and bar depending on the time and day, the place where the magic show was being held as well as the other stage shows, and other various spots used for entertainment purposes.

They had gotten lost a few times, though could one really be lost when they weren't really heading anywhere in particular? The only time this was an issue was when trying to weave their way back around the ship to get lunch where the food was served. Esme had taken then down a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in the gym because she thought she remembered all the lefts and rights when given oral directions by one of the cruise employees.

Eventually they did make it though and they sat down to eat lunch, which Esme just ended up eating just a regular hamburger instead of anything from the fancier side of what was offered. It was after lunch that Esme realized that while there were things to do on the ship, that she wasn't too keen on what there was. She was a bar tender so spending time at the night club didn't feel too appealing. She also was not going to gamble with money that wasn't hers. The pool seemed awfully crowded and she would prefer to swim when there was less people, or just soak in a hot tub or steam herself to near death in the spa's sauna.

She groaned with a bit of defeat as she relayed her list of petty grievances against what they could do until the dinner show. "I could always go back to the room to figure out what exactly I should wear to the show. Which what are you going to wear?" she asked, changing the subject. Kyle had asked if he was going to see her in something other than jeans or a ball gown. She'd seen him in what could pass easily as semi-formal, formal, and casual.

Esme mentally shook out the thought that she wanted to impress Kyle with an outfit she wore, wonder where such a thought came from, the thought that she wanted to actually put in effort into her appearance to be pretty. She stubbornly tamped down those thoughts as best as she could. "A-Anyway," she stumbled over her words, "I'll let you decide since I've dragged you around probably the entire ship."
 
Kyle rather enjoyed roaming around the ship with Esme. Even when they got turned around trying to find lunch, it was alright. When they finally settled down to lunch however, he could sense a slight dissatisfaction in Esme. Apparently she was unimpressed with the offerings of the ship, and none of them really appealed to her. Kyle had entertained hopes that she might relax at least a little, which would make her education easier, but there was nothing for it. While Esme munched her way through a rather ordinary seeming hamburger, Kyle tried something named 'Volcano Shrimp'. Despite the promise of the dish being spicy, it was rather bland. Kyle was coming to understand that humans just couldn't tolerate the same levels of heat in food that his people could. Oh well, he could make do.

"I could always go back to the room to figure out what exactly I should wear to the show," Esme said. "What are you going to wear? A-Anyway," she stumbled over her words, "I'll let you decide since I've dragged you around probably the entire ship."

"It was my pleasure to explore with you Esme," Kyle said, hoping she could hear the truth in his words. "And as for tonight's outing, I rather think that those dark slacks, a white shirt, and that black blazer? yes, black blazer would be adequate. It would match the 'simple black dress' you mentioned earlier I think."

Kyle cocked his head to the side for a moment, then grinned at Esme.

"Though," he said with a wide grin, "I thought the phrase went 'little black dress?"

Kyle chuckled softly at the expression on Esme's face, and smiled warmly at her.

"Wear what you are most comfortable in ashke," he said, then blushed. "I mean Esme. I'm certain that whatever you choose, you will wear it well."

Kyle had a sudden thought, then grinned. Rising, he moved over to one of the crew-members standing about, waiting to solve any issue the passengers might have. A few quiet words, a quick phone call by the crew-member, and Kyle returned to the table, grinning at the obviously curious Esme.

"You my dear," he said. "Have an appointment for a massage, manicure, and pedicure in about an hour. You should be done in plenty of time to dress for dinner and the show. As for myself, I am going to head to the casino and try my hand at the 'slots'. Have fun!"

Before Esme could protest, Kyle smiled, blew her a kiss, and walked away. He hoped she relaxed.

Fable Fable
(Surprise!)
 
Tarmagon Tarmagon
( Esme is so nervous, lol. )

Esme nearly choked on her drink when Kyle said 'little black dress' and had honestly changed the little to simple on purpose. It seemed her sharing her modern knowledge could be now used against her, she wasn't sure if she liked this. She used a napkin to wipe her mouth and pat a spot where water had dropped from her sputtering reaction. She didn't catch his blush as she was looking at the spot, but she noticed he had used a strange word, but mentally shrugged it off when he corrected and said her name, thinking nothing of it at this time.

She looked up just in time to see him get up and approach one of the crew to speak to him. She narrowed her eyes wondering what he was doing and when he returned she quirked her brow in a challenging manner for him to declare what he had just done. He then informed her he had made an appointment for her to pretty much go to the spa in an hour. She opened her mouth to try and protest, but he quickly excused himself, blowing a kiss before walking away, provoking a frustrated blush.

Now with an hour to kill sans Kyle, Esme went back to their room to try and figure out her dress situation. Part of her, a very strong part of her wanted a bit of revenge for this stunt, though honestly that was probably just her trying to find an excuse for herself to actually wear a 'little black dress'. Esme pulled out her phone and hopped onto Pinterest, her index finger gliding across the glass screen through the results that had come from her keyword search.

"Too low cut. Too short, my ass cheeks would hang out! How the heck does anyone keep from flashing someone with no fabric in the middle?" Mentally she figured magic could probably keep something like that from happening, but Esme still wouldn't wear something like that. She found something on a more conservative side and then retrieved the nightgown that Kyle had made, using that for the material and changing it to the form of the dress she would wear.

She had killed the hour wait quickly doing dress research and barely made it to the spa on time. The massage was first which Esme wasn't sure she wanted to go through with, but after being assured that the massage therapist was female she pep-talked herself that it was fine. Esme at first was not into the massage, it was painful! Apparently she had a ton of 'knots' in her muscles which were not happy being rubbed. Honestly, she felt a bit sore in spots after that, though it wasn't all bad.

The manicure and pedicure weren't eventful. She just got a simply french manicure and black polish on her toes because why not? Shit! She had forgotten shoes! Esme didn't linger long after her nails were done, letting them set under the UV light for the gel polish and then rushing off back to the room and scour shoes for her outfit. That was much easier than finding the dress, shoes were shoes and she could now walk in heels without stumbling around... though that was on dry land. She tried on the shoes she had made and experimentally walked around in them to determine if she was going to fall overboard if she wore them, finding they seemed safe enough.

Esme got changed into the dress, though she didn't really bother with makeup other than eyeliner and mascara. Her hair she just brushed out the tangles. She figured Kyle would eventually have to return to the room to change, unless he went and did so magically somewhere else. She pulled out her phone to text him, asking if she was supposed to meet him there or wait in the room. Honestly, you would think she had never been on a date-

Nope, this is not a date! Esme steered her thoughts away from that dangerous path, sitting down on the edge of the bed and checking the news from the feed on her phone while she waited.

733a70c6b3b62815f714806fad763217.jpg
 
Kyle was grinning as he walked away, the slightly flummoxed face Esme had worn was priceless. He really hoped that she would enjoy the spa service he had arranged. They both needed to recover from the events of earlier, and the evening Esme had chosen would help. For now, the casino they had found on their exploration had piqued Kyle’s interest. He could easily influence the outcome, but he had no interest in doing so.

After a couple of hours of moving from machine to machine, Kyle was amazed at the humans ingenuity in keeping interest focused on the lights and moving images. However, Esme should be done with her spa, and he needed to get dressed for their, date? Was it a date? They were pretending to be married, but except for the Glass Museum trip, and the Gala, which was a thing for Liz, they hadn’t actually spent an evening out together. Kyle hadn’t been watching the symbols on his slot machine, so he was a bit surprised when the machine began to wail.

“Please let me clear that sir,” a man in a dark uniform said, doing something to silence the machine. “Please accompany me to the cashier.”

Bemused, Kyle followed the man to the cashiers cage, where a beaming young woman took his picture and presented him with a black card she said was ‘pre-loaded’ with his jackpot winnings. Kyle supposed carrying around fifteen thousand dollars might be challenging. Thanking the young woman, Kyle made his exit from the casino, taking care to bind the card to him with a bit of Power. He moved through the ship, heading back to their room, pausing to purchase a single rose. Swiping his card, Kyle opened the door and stepped inside. A figure sitting on the bed caught his eye, and Kyle turned, then froze.

Esme was wearing a modest black dress that flattered her form, clinging without over emphasizing, exposing her well toned legs without being scandalous. Her hair was neatly brushed, and understated makeup emphasized her lovely eyes. Even the black shoes complimented the look, the modest heels curving her legs just so. Kyle knew he was staring, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away. The rose dangled loosely in his hand as his brain tried to sear the image into his memory. Finally, he found his voice.

“This is where I say something over the top,” he said, his voice unsteady. “But English says it best. Wow. You look amazing.”

Fable Fable
(Demon is stunned.)
 
( Sorry for the delay, just been busy with so much. BUT! Might be getting a puppy soon~ Kyaaa~ )

When Esme heard the door open she turned her attention from her phone over to Kyle; since who else would enter the room. She sat there silently for a moment as Kyle stared silently and her cheeks flushed and her expression was a mixture of anxiousness and glowering because she was embarrassed and his silence was not helping. When he finally did speak she got more flustered and awkwardly cleared her throat.

"T-Thhanks," she managed to say. "You do too." She mentally flailed about how awful she was at complimenting someone. Honestly, if someone could see inside her mind right now she would have been hiding under a blanket mocking herself over her inability to say something nice to someone, even to Kyle who had put up with so much of her shit for the past couple of months. Honestly, Kyle seemed effortlessly able to fit into fashion in this world. Or it was just his aura perhaps that helped him pull it off, since Liz had once told Esme fashion was mostly about confidence of the person in the clothes. Esme was more of a 'no-fucks' given and opted for stuff she was comfortable in.

"We should probably make our way over there, safer to be a bit early than get lost and lose the reservation," she said trying to change the subject. Classic Esme avoidance tactic. She got up, but left her phone on the bed since it was pointless and rude to bring it to a show. The only thing she brought with her was her card to the room, which also served as a payment method for things. She glanced at the rose in his hand, "Y-You could probably leave that in the room." It was just a suggestion because she felt it would be strange to be bringing a flower to dinner, but that was just her.

(Going to just assume he left the rose after saying it was for her or something, can change if needed.)

Esme waited for him and then hesitated for a moment before taking his hand in her own. "W-We have to look like newly weds after all," she explained quickly before moving to tug Kyle in the direction they needed to go. She managed to not get them lost this time, thanks to her really studying the map of the ship before Kyle had returned to the room. She gave the name that was under the reservation and they were taken by the hostess to a table meant for two, only a few tables away from the stage where the show would be performed.

Servers went around and were taking orders before the show since it would be more distracting to ask during. Menus had given to them by the hostess and Esme figured a steak dinner would work. She didn't get a massively large size steak, there was no way she could probably eat an entire 12oz steak and the side dishes. Besides... she would probably also want dessert too. She gave her order to the server who also took Kyle's and then took their menus, returning a few minutes later to bring their drinks along with the drinks for the others they were serving.

"The show will begin shortly. Please remember to silence or turn off your phones and to not use your phone's flash as it can be very distracting to everyone." Announced a voice and the lights began to dim shortly after than, though remained bright enough that you could still make out things well enough to not trip.

The magician soon took to the small stage and did a general greeting to the crowd, introduced his assistants and went into his act. He did some classic tricks, such as making an assistant vanish who then appeared somewhere else within the room a few moments later. He made things appear from seemingly nowhere, challenged some volunteers from the crowd to put a rope he can cut back together and when they couldn't do it, he did it himself.

"Impressed?" Esme asked Kyle with a smirk, knowing that he probably would find their concept of 'magic' amusing.
 
Kyle's dinner attire
full
"T-Thhanks," Esme said in response to his compliment. "You do too."

Kyle chuckled internally, even as he kept a smile on his face. Even the simplest of compliments seemed to fluster Esme, though given what he now knew about her background and childhood, not to mention her mother, he supposed that was to be expected.

"We should probably make our way over there, safer to be a bit early than get lost and lose the reservation," Esme went on, then gestured to the rose Kyle still held. "Y-You could probably leave that in the room."

"Of course," Kyle said simply, moving to the bed and placing it on Esme's pillow. What he didn't add was 'It's beauty is but a pale reflection of yours', since he had finally learned that Esme would consider that 'over the top' and wouldn't take it well. Best to be happy that she had accepted his earlier compliment and not push the point. "Shall we?"

Kyle opened the door for Esme, giving her a small bow as she went through. Once he had shut the door behind them however, he received something of a shock. Esme reached out and took his hand in hers.

"W-We have to look like newly weds after all," she said as she began to lead him through the ship. Kyle didn't protest, and allowed her to retain his hand and direct their steps. In truth, he was disappointed when they arrived at the 'dinner theater' and Esme let go of his hand. After a few moments, a young woman, were all the crew on this vessel selected to be young and good looking?, led them to a small table. Kyle moved quickly, pulling Esme's chair out for her and seeing her seated comfortably before taking his own seat. He thought she might protest initially, but she allowed him to do her the courtesy.

Uniformed waiters and waitresses moved through the dining area, taking orders and delivering drinks, and theirs soon materialized to take their drink and dinner orders. Kyle elected to try the grilled lamb chops. Their drinks and appetizers arrived just before the 'magician' began his act, presumably the entrees would be delivered during the listed intermission. Kyle watched as the 'magician' performed tricks that would appear magical to the uninitiated, but were clearly slight of hand, misdirection, and downright trickery. However, the gentleman was a showman, taking time to engage his audience, and making certain that each of his assistants got a moment in the spotlight. There was no actual Power expended, but Kyle found himself enjoying the show. The man was skilled and confident, and entertaining.

"Impressed?" Esme asked.

"In his skills with misdirection, sleight of hand, and showmanship? Absolutely." Kyle replied. "He is a master of his craft, be that craft entertainment, and I always enjoy watching a master at work, no matter the discipline. Thank you for suggesting this."

Kyle bestowed a look far, far warmer than simple friendship on Esme. When he realized what he was doing, he thought about schooling his features to neutrality, but decided not to. The look was honest, a compliment in its own right, and she deserved it.

Fable Fable
(Demon is enjoying the evening and company immensely. And a fur-friend? I hope it works out for you!)
 
Tarmagon Tarmagon ( Yup a fur-friend~ Much excited as much as I know I'll be sleeping less, lol. )

Esme hadn't expected Kyle to actually compliment the magician. She wondered if he would have viewed the act as comedic because of the meager human attempt to use tricks to make something appear magical. So, when he was impressed by what he had seen she laughed a bit at herself for having silly expectations. It was a good thing she didn't suggest a comedy show since she wondered even with giving him an improve knowledge of the era if he would actually find humor in the jokes.

She watched as Kyle's controlled expression changed slightly as he regarded her and her heart quickened as it caught her off guard. She wasn't sure why he was looking at her in such a way. Esme wondered if was because they had to appear like a newly wed couple on their honeymoon or if it was something he was doing that he wasn't aware of. She wanted to ease her own nervousness with a joke, asking if she had something in her hair or face, but instead she only ended up staring directly back. She could use an excuse of a staring contest to excuse this later, right?

Their server came to bring the food they had ordered and refill their drinks which gave Esme an excuse to break eye contact as she thanked the server automatically. This was dangerous territory, because it finally really hit Esme. They were completely alone with each other. There wasn't any Liz who was going to pop up. Nor her mother or anyone else to nag about how they weren't supposed to get involved romantically with each other.

The server waited for them to sample their food to make sure it was to their satisfaction. So Esme quickly cut a small piece from her steak, took a bite, then nodded her approval that it was fine and cooked the way she had wanted. "You're not going to dry rub all the pepper we have at the table on your food are you?" Esme asked, trying to strike up a conversation. Honestly, the reaction the server would have to see that happen probably would have made them gone pale and rush back to whoever had cooked it thinking it was an accident and the pepper shaker top had been loose.

"I have to wonder though why I don't really had the same need to eat spicy things with the Seal gone. I wonder if I should try to eat some pepper myself," she pondered out loud, though the idea of suffering if she couldn't handle the heat made her wonder if it was worth the risk. She was curious about it though. What was it in peppers that Kyle needed or craved? "Is there something where your from that has like the same effect, but isn't a pepper?"

She took another bite of her steak and chewed it as she thought about it. Maybe she could Google something about peppers that would explain it. Maybe there was some vitamin pill he could take instead of having to directly eat peppers, though Kyle seemed to enjoy eating them, so perhaps something like an emergency snack? She was still.. stuck on wanting to make up for hurting Kyle like she did, even if he said he forgave her, she couldn't just let it go that easily without trying to fix what she had done or make up for it.

The server came back once again to check on them, asking if they wanted to order an alcohol beverage and Esme quickly declined. After binge drinking she really didn't want to even have a drop of wine or even beer. "I think my liver is crying out of happiness," she tried to joke before taking a sip of her ice water.

"I was going to use the hot tub in their gym after this. I'm a bit sore from having elbows and fingers digging into my back. You can come with me if you want to know what it's probably like to be slow cooked," Esme awkwardly invited him. "I-It would be weird for me to go a-alone," she added quickly, turning her gaze to the stage to give herself something to look at to avoid trying to read Kyle's reaction on his face at her invitation.
 
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