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[claritatis]

"You've reached Ignis Scientia. Leave a message and I will endeavour to get back to you post-haste."

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[dedikated]

( Fingers trace down a bare chest lightly, and Kate shifts her legs until they're curled up where she sits, not entirely willing to let the day start quite yet. )

Aye.

( But then, she's been sleeping well for... oh, just over a month. Every night they spend together a breath of fresh air, a pause in the chaos of rebuilding a broken city. There are increasingly many, often punctuated by undressing each other and getting into the realms of almost—

Almost, but not quite. She's not sure she believes that the gods really have put a hold on all reproduction. Not yet.

But we digress. )

You?

[claritatis]

[It's been different, and new, but there has been nothing about what he has come to share with Kate that Ignis has not thoroughly enjoyed. He watches her move with an idle almost-smile still on his face and knows without looking that his torso and shoulders still bear the marks of her teeth in the form of bruises at varying stages of healing.

With the nights spent together becoming more frequent, Kate is being given far more time in which to discover what makes him tick. Some of those discoveries have surprised even him.]

I did. I think I'm growing used to the amount of daylight.

[He shifts his weight, humming out a soft and content sound.]

You're thinking about something.

[dedikated]

That obvious?

( Said with equal parts mild surprise and amusement, her eyes slipping back to the window before she speaks. )

Were thinking how we got the sun and I still haven't seen it rise.

( The sunset was nice, but not quite the same. )

[claritatis]

Hm.

[He watches her and the way her attention moves, and follows her gaze to the window. She's right, and the sunset can't really be fully enjoyed when you need to brace yourself for the cold that immediately follows.

Reaching for her wrist, he idly tugs on her arm as if to draw her back to him.]

Let's wait for it tonight. We can watch it together.

[dedikated]

( Her brow raises automatically at the suggestion, as though the idea never crossed her mind. There aren't many people she's watched the sunrise with. Her mother. Faith. Marc on one memorable occasion where he didn't get back to their flat until it was rising, drunk out of his mind and ranting about weird morning people.

(Like you, Katydid.)

So she doesn't reply until she's shifted into a position where she's half-leaning over him, plait falling over her shoulder and pooling against his stomach. )

... Alright.

[claritatis]

[She leans over and he settles back, looking up at her while his fingers moves from her wrist to drum gently against the curve of her waist. It's just as well that they're both morning people, so they can enjoy these moments together without any early-day grouchiness to spoil it.]

We have some time before we have to be anywhere. [He points out, making no motion towards getting up (as he normally would even so soon after waking). The way he's looking at her is warm, but curious.]

Wouldn't you say?

[dedikated]

( It's true. There's plenty of time before they really need to get anywhere. If you want to be really technical, there's no need for them to go anywhere at all, or to turn up at a specific time. These responsibilities are brought on by no one but themselves.

She tilts her head at him in a way he's probably entirely used to by now, considering and comfortable all at once, seeing the curiosity in his expression and trying to determine the cause. )

... What?

( Why are you looking at her like that? )

[claritatis]

[There are, in fact, several reasons why he's looking at her like that. The first is that, even barely minutes after waking, she's beautiful. The second is that he still cannot quite believe that he wakes up beside her more often than he does not.

The third is how he has become so accustomed to that, that sleeping alone has begun to feel strange again after months spent growing used to spending the nights not surrounded by his friends.]

Tell me something about you. Anything at all.

[dedikated]

( It catches her off guard, the request, and Kate pauses for a long moment, staring at Ignis and trying to think of something she doesn't think he knows.

The mind does like to whisk away everything you know the second you're asked, it seems. )

Got detention once for trying to eat my dinner on the roof.

( That... is probably the most harmless reason she got detention. )

[claritatis]

[He isn't sure what he expected to hear but that makes him laugh, and he's bold enough to put one arm entirely around her and lightly pull her down against his side. The laugh fades off but the smile it brought remains, and he shakes his head minutely.]

Just wanting a good view with your meal, I imagine.

[Ignis can see that as something Kate would have done, but he also doubts it's the worst she ever did...]

[dedikated]

( She doesn't object, taking a moment to get comfortable against him before she replies. )

Guessing you never had detention?

( She can't picture it, and while he's entirely right to have those doubts, she very much doubts that he wants to hear about the time she punched some douche in the throat, the skipped classes or myriad other things that happened. )

[claritatis]

Not as such.

[He shifts a little to get comfortable with his arm still around her, and as the peace and warmth of the room soaks in he relaxes against the bed and brings up his free hand to tuck it under his head.]

But I was in trouble fairly often, taking the blame for Noctis' adventurous nature.

[dedikated]

( ... Of course. As if she expected anything else. (And should she ever meet the esteemed Prince of pain Lucis, that is going to be a Time. Sorry, Noct.)

A moment of silence before Kate lifts her head to look at Ignis, regarding him with the same curiosity he showed her a moment ago. )

...Tell me something about you, then.

( No Noct involved. Aka Hard Mode. )

[claritatis]

About me? Hm.

[Something about him. That's only fair.

He shifts the arm around her so that he can run his fingers up and down the dip of her spine, and he looks back at her with a small smile.]

My vision is more than reasonably passable without corrective lenses.

[dedikated]

( Now that surprises her enough to cast a glance over to where the glasses lie on the bedside table. Most people she know who need glasses tended to wait until it was all but unavoidable, as far as she ever knew. )

Why'd you get 'em?

( They do suit him but that's an expensive accessory to go for. And there are cheaper ways to get the look anyway. )

[claritatis]

[It's a fact that few people know, and half of the people who once knew are dead. Ignis finds himself chuckling at her surprise and follows her gaze to the glasses beside the bed.]

Because I have never settled for anything less than perfection. Particularly in matters pertaining to myself.

[But at least now she knows that stealing his glasses is never going to do any harm at all.]

[dedikated]

( Then you're in the wrong relationship, Ignis. Her eyes settle on his, the mesmerising hues sharp as ever and that ghost of a smile, the soft curl of her lips which is becoming all too common around him, washes over her features. )

Shame we didn't meet when I were a few years younger. Could have enchanted them.

( Probably would have, here, to give him that extra boost of information when fighting the monsters that come through the door. But she moved her powers on from that, away from hours of tapping at random objects until they responded to supernatural powers. )

[claritatis]

[He's noticed the way she looks at him, particularly when they're this close to one another. She looks into his eyes like she's enchanted by them, and he smiles faintly as he notices her doing it again.]

You could have done that? [Ignis hums softly, moving his hand from the dip of her spine to settle it at her waist instead.]

How do your powers work?

[dedikated]

( That was either the wrong question, or the best question you could have asked, Ignis. It really depends on your view.

As if the question's a cue, Kate pushes herself up and shifts, placing legs either side of his hips and comfortably settling down onto his lap. )

Guess th' best way to explain it is-

( By straddling your boyfriend?

Okay no, not that. Her lips purse together for a moment, and a finger quickly finds the pulse at his neck, trailing along the skin there, following the vessel for a moment. )

Superhumans have somethin' like a second circulatory system. Goes through our body and contains the energy we need to make everything happen. ( Her eyes trail down his throat, across his chest, just for a moment. This is not the worst view to have while explaining this. ) Y'wanna run faster, you use some of it to do that. Same for becoming stronger or using your power.

( That's the very basics of it, and Kate pauses a moment to shift her braid back over her shoulder, shifting a bit in his lap. )

Mine work by reacting to others'. Used to have to use another item to make it work. Would make people's powers stronger or drain 'em and store 'em in the item. ( Which is what they called enchanting back home. Manipulating items with power. Carl could do something similar, though it was restricted to improving the physical attributes of whatever item he wanted to enchant. ) Usually just make things that'd react to other powers. Glasses that can see powers. Shit that lights up if something with powers were near.

( It was always a fiddly one, back when it worked like that. )

Now it works direct.

( And it's here her fingers find his throat again, slightly to one side of his pulse, her fingertips growing warm for a second. ) The Formost Veins are here- ( The next touch comes to the inside of his elbow, brief and warm; ) Here-

( And finally, one that trails across the dip of his hip, near a fading bruise; ) And here, for starters. They're the easiest places to access if you want to manipulate power.

[claritatis]

[Alright, so he doesn't think that this position is entirely needed for the explanation she's about to give him, but he doesn't complain about it, merely places his hands on her thighs and looks up at her with the small, wry smile she's no doubt become used to seeing on his face.

Her gaze trails after the path of his fingers and he feels goosebumps rise up in the wake of one or the other, he can't be sure. When her fingertips grow warm against his pulse he closes his eyes and breathes in softly, then glances down to the touch to his elbow.]

I see.

[He shifts under her carefully, sitting up and resting his weight back on his hands.]

Do you sense anything from me?

[dedikated]

You don't have powers.

( It's automatic, not because she can't sense anything right now, but because she's looked before and seen nothing. Well, it's that or she can't see anything. Which is also possible, because- )

Things work different when you're dealing with other worlds. ( That she learned quickly. None of the people whose powers she has seen look or work anything like the powers she's used to seeing. ) S'pose I should say y'don't have powers far as I've seen.

( Shrug. Accuracy is as important as finding the correct position to deliver your lecture on powers, of course. )

[claritatis]

You are not incorrect. I have no powers or magic of my own.

[The ability to immediately assess a situation to the point of the uncanny is not a power, as such, though some people might be baffled enough by it to call it one.

She wouldn't have seen anything in him before Noctis arrived, but now...

He keeps his hand clear of her, held out to one side as he clenches his fingers around thin air and pulls a spectral dagger from nowhere. It appears solid enough the moment his hand closes around it, and he looks from it to her with a subtly raised eyebrow.

Surprise.]

[dedikated]

( ... Okay.

She wasn't expecting that. And for once, the usually controlled expressions of her face seem to melt away into genuine, unbridled curiosity. This city, despite all the routine of godly events and now an ongoing war, never ceases to surprise her. Always bringing in something that goes against everything she knew.

Kate's eyes glaze over with a sheen of white, not at full strength but still visible enough to be obvious. How-

... Ah. )

Looks like... a bond of some kind.

( Not quite the same as the ghosts of primrose yellow she would see in Marc, and now in Faith, representing how her telepathy had attached to them, but a shadow that she can't really explain any other way. )

Guessing this isn't new.

( He hasn't looked like this before, but it's done with too much familiarity to be a recent development. So all that comes to mind is the appearance of his friends. )

[claritatis]

No.

[The dagger is dismissed as easily as it was summoned, in a quickly-fading shower of blue lights, and he hopes he's not going to have to explain that to a certain someone when he sees than later.

He shifts Kate's position slightly and taps his fingers against her thighs lightly, before sliding them up to her hips. He can't recall that he's seen her use her ability like that before, and he watches her until it fades.]

It's Noctis. [Because everything always comes back to him.] More specifically, the power of the royal line of Lucis, lent to those sworn to protect it.

[dedikated]

( She has to admit, since coming back, it's largely just been a convenient torch when everything goes dark. It's not necessarily a bad thing, though. So many people here have powers that make Faith's seem dull in comparison. The kind of things that can induce headaches if stared at for too long.

And while Kate's noticing this theme of everything coming back to Noctis, Ignis' hands against her hips are more than enough motivation for her to lean in and brush her lips against his, brief and gentle, and she lingers, hovers above him when she speaks: )

Interestin'. ( Which it is. She's never really heard of lending your power in that way. Using your power to affect others, sure. That's how healing works. How teleporting people does. Even how her own works. But lending sounds more conscious than bonding, than finding out your emotions burn so strongly for a person that you link to their mind. ) How's that work?