Logs:A Ritual All Its Own

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Content Warning

Oblique references to an off-screen BDSM scene, oblique references to non-sexual on-screen nudity (taking baths and cuddling naked).

Cast

Liezel Richardson and Little Fox

Setting

The Firebirds Penthouse, aka Oligarch's Aerie

Log

After the collar, the ropes and all the rest comes the necessary, yes, mandatory, aftercare. Fox lifts Elizabeth from the floor with an absolutely wild strength partially gifted by Life Magic, and carries her off to the bathroom. Basically every room in this place has an en-suite, and Fox does have her own room. Vasha has the Gun Room, and Fox has her own bedroom for the nights when they're spending time with someone or when Vasha wants to stew in his own vodka juices. She minds Liezel's hair but it ends up getting wet in the ridiculous bathtub anyway, which means the routine extends to Hair Washing, which is its own long and complicated ritual, and which, by this point, Fox knows well. The washing and the gentle squeezing of curls with a towel and then she dries Liezel off with a fluffy towel and brings her out to rest for a moment while she hops in the shower to rinse herself off.

That part doesn't take long -- Fox learned long ago how to bathe quickly when necessary, since no one wants to stay in an icy stream more than they need to -- and she comes back out clean and dry with the jar of leave-in conditioner. "If you scoot forward a bit, Elizabeth, I'll sit behind you and put this in for you," she offers in her quiet, gentle voice.

It's a ritual all its own, designed to enhance their relationship rather than a spell or a summoning. They're both talented Force mages. They could handle the washing, the drying, the cleaning, all of it in remarkably short order with a fraction of the work... and they never do. It's the patience, the deliberate care, that helps reinforce that everything is in love, that they are supported by bonds besides rope. So Liezel comes into the ridiculous bathtub a mess, and allows her hair to get wet, and washed, and gently pampered dry, and when Fox slips out with the conditioner, Liezel scoots just so as directed, hands in her lap, one toying with the bracelet locked onto the other. "Yes, Sir," she offers, barely above a whisper. Calm. Relaxing.(edited)

Fox scoots behind Liezel after snatching up the satin-lined cap in the nightstand. Always best to keep one handy, though the pillowcases themselves are the same material. Fox attends to little details. There's a contented sigh when she settles in, and then opens the jar for one of the final steps before it's all just snuggles. Careful, nimble fingers slip through Elizabeth's curly hair, scrunching the conditioner on just thickly enough. "How is being here settling with you? Have you spoken to most of us yet?"

"I like it here. Almost everything I could want is here. It is high up which is useful for reasons our enemies will find unfortunate. And I have spoke to you, and to Mei, and to Tanya. Not Zoya. Not really Vasha, though we have, some. I have worked with him, though. And not really Leta," Liezel listed out. "So halfway there. One more makes most."

She continued the work that's basically elaborate snuggling, continuing to gently work the conditioner through and softly scrunch the curls. "Mm," agrees Fox "Tanya isn't technically a member of the Firebirds. She lives here because she's my apprentice, and I look after my own. She may choose to do so later, but I wouldn't allow an apprentice of mine to join a cabal. Apprentices aren't ready. Once they're released, yes." She finishes the conditioner, wipes the last bits off of his hands into her hair, and then reaches for the cap, carefully and gently wrapping those curls into the loosest of buns, barely a twist, just enough to get all that hair into the cap itself. "There you go." And he leans to kiss her cheek. "You are unbearably beautiful, my Elizabeth."

"Oh. I'm not sure why I assumed she was. Probably because she was here," Liezel admits. "Has she said any more on what name she may take?" Liezel is still, settled, content, while Fox works her hair, his fingers delicate and clever and oh so practiced. Her cheeks burn with the compliment, and she looks away. "I-" A petulant huff. "I will not argue your judgment, Sir." Not out loud where your faceears can hear it, anyhow.

"No, it makes sense. I probably would have assumed that, too." He reassures her gently, and then wraps their arms around her shoulders and pulls her back to rest on him. "Mmm. Not where I can hear it, anyway, hmm?" Fox kisses her temple once she's all settled. Her hands pet Liezel's upper arms. "What else is on your mind, pet?"

(Only to the ravages of pizza- it's super dumb but I brought it back and had noplace to set it down so i just ate it)

Leaning back into the arms of her Sir, Liezel melts, relaxing completely. Her lips curl as he susses out exactly the thought on her mind, though, shoulders rocking in gentle laughter. "Lots of things. There's always a lot. Shuffling combinations of ideas to share with Vasha to help him in his work; designs for the gifts I wanted to share with everyone to thank them for letting me spend so much time here; drafts of Petra's commission; a near endless stream of "what ifs"." You know. The usual.

Slow petting down her arms, another kiss. Fox is made of absent affectionate gestures, as she so often is. "Mmmm. This sounds like an excellent combination of activities for my Elizabeth. I approve greatly, as I do of the fact that you have been expending so much of your energy lately on being social and trying to make connections with people. I know that can be harder for you than for other people to whom it comes easily. I see your work and I appreciate it." Kiss kiss along her hairline. "What are your 'what ifs'?"

It's like cracking a dam. "What if I cast Deny The Reaper on a vampire? What if I reverse Narcissus' Mirror so my Nimbus rebounds on me? Should I try to map the Underworld? What should I study after I master Prime magic? Should I start a Grimoire with all the Rotes needed to create Perfected metals the long way? Should I make a Daimonica so others can learn the secrets of the Orphaean journey? Are the Firebirds going to like me? Is it kinder, or crueller, to Thrall a mage briefly rather than injuring and possibly killing him the hard way?"

"I don't know that spell, I don't think. You can be affected by your own Nimbus anyway if you want. Uhm, maybe! I think Time. Sure! I have no idea. I think so! And that is, I think, very very illegal." Fox answers the questions the best she knows how, one at a time. He cuddles her close. "Those are all big, thoughful questions, pet. Tell me about the spells you are talking about, because I don't think I know them."

Ahh, invitation to info dump. Fox really does love Liezel. She smiles wide and starts to share.

"Deny The Reaper is a Master-rank inversion of Death magic that Unmakes the damage and entropy in a body. Restores lost function, heals damage- it can raise the dead, too, though it's all within a certain time frame. I don't think I know any vampires young enough to affect."

Blink. "You can let your Nimbus affect you whenever? Really? What have I been doing wrong..?"

"I can go back to any place there I've been, so mapping the Underworld could prove tremendously useful. I could always try to erase.my existence temporarily while I do, too. It's like the most perfect invisibility."

"Time sounds interesting! I half expected you to say Spirit, though."

"And... yes. Illegal and thus inadvisable regardless of the answer- but still worth wondering if it might be less cruel to temporarily render someone unable to force a fight and then simply fix them than to risk their life and yours in a confrontation. Should I? No. But - well." What if?

And she does. "Gotta have proper Mage sight up," Fox explains, re: Nimbus, and hugs tight around her shoulders, and she listens quietly, though she does shiver at the thought of erasing her entire existence. "Oh, well, I'll teach you Spirit if you want, absolutely! Or Life, or... anything I have, really. I'm learning Time soon though."

"Thralling someone is... I don't know. For most of us, I think, it's a kind of fate worse than death."

"Ohhhh." Liezel frowns, puzzling at that. "Do you mind if it try?"

"I can take time to decide. I have not mastered Prime yet, after all."

"Mm... it is... not pleasant, surely. But worse that for a few moments than death or maiming, do you think? I don't pretend to know. If I did, it would not be on my list."

She takes a long, slow breath. "Pulling out someone's soul hurts you as much as it hurts them. A Mage without their soul still moves and acts, though she cannot defend herself, cast spells, exercise her will, and is just... broken. That sort of experience can absolutely shatter someone's mind, permanently. You will only make an enemy more determined to kill you by that. Leaving aside the illegality entirely, which one ought not... " Another kiss to her temple. "Please, try to test your Nimbus."