N-ice to Meet You (Juumbled x Vekraihr)

[Vekraihr]

Prologue​

Late was the hour as a crescent moon hung low in the starlit skies above the city of Elliston. Well-planned, the city was constructed in a simple grid that lent itself well to the sudden surge in population and business as the years went on. Street lights, neon signs, and headlamps burned the night away as the city bustled and swelled with midnight activity. Buildings reached for the shimmering lights above, climbing high enough into the sky that many needed signal lights to warn aircraft of their position on the horizon. Elliston was nestled in a valley between the Blue Mountains-- though time had since eroded them from their previous heights-- and the Ellis River, carved in the midst of the deciduous forest that stretched off in each direction. Rolling hills surrounded the city to the southeast, providing some incredibly breathtaking views of the skyline as the moon glittered on the river’s surface in the backdrop to the northwest. Even in the dim colors of the moon, the warm, subtle colors of fall could be seen taking hold on the trees.

At the crest of one such hill sits the manor of Asher Regulus Myles, a beautiful structure of Tudor inspiration. Overlooking the city from a particularly lovely view, Asher had purchased the land his home was in addition to many of the plots around to ensure a wide berth from his neighbors. He’d not desired them to know the things he did with his private time. Particularly since Mr. Myles was one of a specific talent set; a warlock from an ancient bloodline which stretched back to before his ancestors came to this new land. Asher could typically be found spending his late evenings, enjoying a scotch and gazing out to the city below, admiring how the lights illuminated the light haze which covered the city and reached their rays up towards the heavens in a glowing arc. However, on this night, Asher was beneath the manor in the extensive basement network he’d had constructed to house the various implements of his craft. One room, in particular, laid almost completely bare save for some candles and ritualistic chalks.

A runic sigil circle had been inscribed upon the stonework flooring, painstakingly copied from a tome that lay open and hovering just above Asher’s hand, suspended by wisps of gray, translucent force. His deep brown hair was groomed short on the sides and several inches long atop, styled to a sweeping point that pulled attention towards his stern, masculine face. His square jaw was prominent with a five-o-clock shadow which seemed to continually renew itself mere hours after shaving. His posture was strong and confident, still wearing the gray vest, tie, and white button-up shirt from work that day. Asher was fit, but not overly muscular, his figure reaching just above what would be considered average for a man of normal weight. His long legs were covered with a pair of slightly darker slacks, his matching blazer having been abandoned on a wooden coat rack as he came through the door. His feet still bore socks, though his polished black wingtips were placed within the coat closet upstairs.

His voice resonated with power as he spoke the words of the incantation, careful of his phrasing as to not accidentally unleash some unspeakable, horrifying entity upon the world. In this nearly hollow chamber, his voice reverberated and amplified within, though not through just the echo. Soon, it was as though a chorus of similar timbres had joined with him and his eyes began to lose their deep brown hue as the irises and, soon, scleras were filled with a jet black tone. His hand lifted towards the circle, invoking his power towards it as he continued his rhythmic speech. Suddenly, it felt as if his hand was scorching hot as his skin lit up briefly with the release of the power coursing through his blood. Rays of energy streaked along the lines of chalk, lighting them up intensely and briefly before the spell completed with a ‘whoomp’ as he brought the ritual to an end. Asher panted softly as he refocused his gaze towards what lay in the circle, eager his summoning had gone to plan.

Instead, his mouth fell agape with shock as he noticed, rather than the demon he was intending to summon, what instead lay there was a woman who couldn’t have been older than 24. Additionally, she was entirely asleep and very much inside of Asher’s basement, much to the warlock’s dismay. “Ah, that’s not what was supposed to happen…” Asher’s speaking voice contained an accent of questionable origin but seemed regal and the words fluidly flowed from his tongue as if his alone was created for them. Slowly, he approached the girl and began to examine her curiously and thoroughly as his neat brow pinched together. Surely, she lived and breathed and seemed no worse for wear from the trip. He had to admit she was beautiful, and she was entirely asleep...he could probably just-- “Rakzihel be damned, she can’t stay here!” he hissed to himself as he began to gesture quickly and began to speak another, shorter incantation. With the hastened gesture, he’d sent her back home and hopefully none the wiser to any of his surreptitious activity.

 

[Vekraihr]

A few days later, Asher had been walking through the offices at Vertical Pharmaceuticals, a company he’d helped found which developed and marketed high-quality replacement organs to those who had the financial capability of affording them. He was attired in his typical three piece, with polished black wingtips and his hair waving in just the right angle. Such as the business was, they were in high demand and therefore without much time to be slacking off. Unlike Kevin, who he noticed was sitting at his desk while scrolling through an ImMedia feed. The younger guy nearly jumped from his skin as the stern-voiced older male called, “Kevin, I don’t pay you to look at pictures. I pay you to generate leads. Unless that’s somehow boosting your productivity, I don’t want to see that on your screen.” However, something had caught his eye-- or, rather, someone. On the page, he noticed an image of a woman who he couldn’t shake as being familiar and he glanced quickly at her handle, ‘Eye Sage’. He supposed she must be one of the many ‘makeup gurus’ who made a living doing tutorial videos and getting sponsored by name brand makeup lines. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d seen her somewhere before.


Continuing to his office that he was satisfied no other shirking of responsibility was imminent, Asher then proceeded to load ImMedia on his browser and searched for this ‘Eye Sage’. Her page was as he’d expected; lots of makeup, filters, and other things which served to make other girls either envious or avaricious. However, some of it was well done, he admitted and he couldn’t help but think about her striking familiarity. Suddenly, he came across a picture of her, with her head half-turned and eyes closed with her face peacefully placid that he realized why he’d recognized her. That was the girl he’d summoned that past Monday! What were the odds? Suddenly, as if a man possessed, Asher was going through every picture she had and he scoured her page, trying to find some reason as to why she would have appeared before him.


Not finding the means to which his ends would be satisfied, Asher loaded a private program meant for himself and few others and he began to load the woman’s profile through it. Soon, he’d access to the metadata behind each photo, seeing where they were taken, where they were uploaded, and at what time the photos were taken. Almost every single one was flagged with a ‘digitally altered’ warning, to which he rolled his eyes. Of course, she altered them, how else would someone look like that?! He wondered to no one in particular as he gestured towards the screen to her display photograph which looked like the camera was in the process of being frozen and the girl seemed to be emanating winter’s breath herself. However, he’d the means to track her down, though it seemed that it would be rather easy as most of her pictures were taken from the same location they were uploaded. Must’ve been her home, no doubt.

Sighing and pushing his fingers between his brows, he massaged the bridge of his nose and groaned. He had more important things to worry about than finding out who this random woman was who he'd incidentally abducted a few nights ago. Asher exited the program, setting his algorithmic overwrite protocol into place to scrub the recent information from his drive before walking out of his office and down a long hall. His business wasn't merely using the height of technology to develop organs; they used magic from various warlocks, witches and other (and mistakenly thought to be fictional) creatures. He boarded an elevator and pressed a panel, which was actually a hidden button with a biometric scanner onboard. It took mere seconds to verify Asher's fingerprint before the elevator began moving to the secret subfloor beneath the building. This was where he'd set up the ritual spaces needed for various types of magics and he had a specific purpose for his visit.


A few weeks prior, he'd been visited by a member of the DWD (Department of Weapons Development) and was asked to use the company's knowledge to develop a muscular graft which would overwrite the cellular structure of the host and turn them into more powerful and nearly indestructible soldiers. Such a marvel would surely upset the balance of the world, but what did he care? They were paying lucratively and there were always those who vied for more power, suppressing those incapable of defending themselves better. Such was the nature of things. To do this, Asher'd decided he would need a special essence to infuse the implants with; specifically, demonic flesh. He'd read many legends about the abominable race of fearsome, hulking beasts. He practiced a summoning a few nights ago, with a reversal spell prepared in case it went awry.


And, it absolutely had. He'd pulled a human woman with the spell! How had such a thing come to pass? He wasn't sure of the answer, but he didn't like the thought of failing so abjectly and completely. Painstaking lengths were taken over the next few nights, perfecting the language and empowering the runic sigils used for the summoning. After he'd finished, he was proud of what he'd accomplished, combining both a summoning spell and an anchoring spell which would shackle he and the demon together. His only problem was that they wouldn't be able to drift further than several hundred feet apart, else they would be forced to move back towards each other. However, such wasn't going to be a problem as he planned on dispatching the demon fairly quickly. He didn't need the specimen alive, he merely needed to harvest samples from it's tissues and organs in order to isolate specific traits in the lab to be used in tests.


He was approaching the flat, gray room where he'd set all the ritual implements out, the door shut with another biometric lock that only he had access to. Several men stood by, however, armed with different types of weapons -- both arcane and military hardware -- ready to interrupt if things looked like they were going poorly. As he entered, he went to a podium to the right of the room and lifted his grimoire, the book through which he focused his arcane talents to call forth the various spells and effects he had at his disposal. A circle had already been drawn and all that was left was for him to ignite the candles, a flourish of his wrist and a snap of his fingers. Beginning his chant, his words began to collapse and fold over each other, building to this frantic, hymnic pitch as he reached towards the circle. His eyes were emanating a smoky-gray energy outwards and little smoke-like tendrils of energy wisped away from the corners of his eyes. He felt that familiar surge of heat run through his right hand as the incantation finished, that same 'whoomp' as had happened the first time resounding in the chamber. Also, as with the first time, Asher hadn't pulled through a demon. What stood in front of him was the same humanoid girl who had been brought forth the last time. "What in the...?" he asked aloud, his voice still humming with the remnants of the powerful spell.

 

[Jumbled]

The week had been a drawn out one for Lumina. Work she had been ignoring throughout the week was piled up so high she needed a crane to lift her out from underneath it. She sorted through various contracts, filing them at her desk— a place of proper organization. Her office, quaint, but finely furnished considering her finances, housed an antique desk of sturdy wood, several bookcases that were barely filled, and multitudes of cameras, tripods and screens shoved off in the corner. Okay, so mostly proper organization.

Her desk was heavy enough to break a toe and still not budge from its position on a large purple rug, permanently stuck with one wrinkle in it near the base of the desk. It made her frown every time she saw it. Strength wasn’t Lumina’s strong suit— well, not physical strength at least. Lumina versus the 200 pound desk was not a fair fight. The desk had several drawers, all with their own purpose and magical properties that could send documents flying off into another dimension entirely. Or, in this particular case, the FAEvon HQ branch, just upstate. She pushed herself to meet her end-of-week deadline, burning the midnight oils, as they said, to get through the last few forms. With a heavy sigh, and a long, well deserved stretch toward the ceiling, she finally removed herself from the office and wandered into her room where she’d promptly dropped face first onto her bed, muttering into her blanket as she dragged herself the rest of the way forward. She hadn’t even bothered to pull a blanket over herself as she’d slipped away into a heavy slumber.

For the life of her, Lumina could not understand why she’d woken up the next morning in her bathtub. She groaned, her neck kinked and shooting warning signs of an approaching headache to her skull. Pulling herself up out of the claw-foot, porcelain tub was a challenge all by itself. She tugged herself up, but her feet were consumed by the icy tingles of limbs that had fallen asleep and protested to being used. She ended up rolling herself out so that she could lay flat on her bathroom rug. “I should really clean in here more often,” she muttered as she shoved herself up from her arms, looking around the dimly lit room from the tiny window above the toilet. “I was not drinking. I don’t have a hangover. What the hell happened to me?”

Lumina spent the following days working on the more enjoyable part of her job. She prepped her computer, her cameras and lighting. She lined up her choice of makeup for the nights and prepped her face for tutorials on ImMedia.

“Hey guys, it’s me, your Eye Sage. I’m going to talk to you today about the shimmering ice brands we have from FAEvon,” she’d begin. Her videos were always a little different and she always seemed to have exciting new lines of products to talk about. As her user handle suggested, Lumina preferred to focus on eye makeup specifically. It wasn’t all that she did, however. She enjoyed doing the silly things, too. Halloween specials where the face became a canvas and her products the paint were some of her fondest nights to look back on. The pay wasn’t always the greatest. Living as a single human girl and really sticking to the lifestyle meant certain luxuries were off of the table. But, human life was fun. Lumina enjoyed the attention and feedback from her fans and customers.

Taking a break while visiting her local coffee shop, Moondoughs, she leaned against the counter as she waited for her coffee. People recognized her there because she was a regular, though she certainly had the occasion or two when younger girls would get all giddy and ask her for a selfie together. Lumina really enjoyed people.

“Doing alright today, Mina?” the woman behind the counter asked. It was Gina. She was a kind-hearted, lion of a woman. She was broad and darker skinned with beautiful braids in her hair. Mina was a name Lumina had earned from people that were friendly with her. She liked that, too.

“Oh yeah, you know. I didn’t wake up in a bathtub today, so I’d say I’ve started off on the right foot!” she said. Gina looked at her with utter confusion. “I’m joking. Sorry. Obviously I need that coffee so that my humor makes more sense. Gimme! Gimme!” she playfully demanded with grabby hands at the cup that Gina had just finished mixing.

“Girl, I don’t know how you’re always wanting these iced coffees even when there’s a chill in the air.” Mina said, shaking her head.
“Ah, you know. I love the cold! Scarf weather!” she chimed back happily. Lumina left the shop with one more wave goodbye the way she often did.

Another day had gone by and as Lumina paced back and forth from her room to the living room, she eyed the bathroom suspiciously each time she passed it. She still couldn’t get it out of her head. How had she done that? It wasn’t like she teleported on a regular basis. That wasn’t really a skill set of hers, either. She huffed as she finally settled in her kitchen, digging out a bag of Muddy Duddy’s Chip Mix from a cabinet. She opened the bag, munching on a few of the yummy treats when she felt the oddest sensation. She looked down at herself, wondering if she was losing her mind. It felt as though her skin was being pulled off of her body, but everything was properly in place. Her vision began to twist in front of her and she stumbled with her footing as she centered herself. “What—?” she managed before the strongest sensation of flying down a large hill made her stomach float and flip inside of her. Some force was taking hold of her, but it was invisible whatever it was. Her arms burned as though they were being bound by tight sashes made of pure fire and her legs felt the very same only moments after. She cried out in pain as the bindings ripped her from her home, dragging her into some strange void where she floated through it, frozen in some timeless space that felt like the color violet.

Mere moments later, Lumina felt her body falling as if it had been dropped from a plane and she had been frozen in place. Her dark auburn hair whipped up around her delicate features, fluttering in a rage against the gust of motion that enveloped her. And then, so suddenly, she landed on her feet. With honey-brown eyes that shifted from one side to another, she slowly reached her hand back into her snack bag, removing a singular piece, placing it into her mouth. She chewed her snack as she stood there. It was highly possible she was in shock. She hadn’t seen him yet. As the man spoke, Lumina jumped and threw her bag at him, the contents flying about the room and scattering around on the floor.

Lumina stared at the man that had summoned her there. Her hair was down and around her shoulders, her face clean— she was going to do a video soon— and her body was clothed in very casual wear: a simple band T-shirt, in black, that read “The Nearly New” and dark blue jeans that hugged her hips and held tightly to her curves. As she had been in her home moments before, she was barefoot with toenails that were properly groomed, painted with classic french tips. The man before her was frightening. She looked down, there was a circle beneath her feet and suddenly she realized what had happened. She looked back at the man once more, not daring to move from her spot. He looked rich and powerful, and also full of power. How did he find her, though? She wasn’t even sure how to act. Play dumb human girl? The point of screaming in utter terror had probably passed. She wished she hadn’t thrown her snacks. She was still hungry.

“So—o. Uh. How’s it going?” she finally asked.

 

[Vekraihr]

Asher stood before Lumina with his mouth hanging slightly agape as he took her in slowly, eyes tracing along every inch of her form scrutinously. His intentions weren't certain, hiding behind his coffee brown eyes and mildly slack expression. Asher's clothes were a stark contrast to hers, purely business and powerful; charcoal gray colored slacks with thin, darker striping and a singular crease pressed neatly into each leg. A crisp, white button-up fastened all the way to his neck, secured via a crimson tie, and holstered within a lighter gray vest, which rests beneath a blazer that matched the slacks. His complexion was tanned but fair and his persistent five-o-clock shadow framed his nearly too perfect square jaw. His hair had been a little tousled by the wind which had been produced by the incantation, though the slight messiness didn't appear unbecoming on him anyway. Nor did it for her, either.

Around them was a flat, gray room with no discernable features built into the walls. Overhead, circular lights were recessed into the ceiling tiles and the wall to Asher's right was a little more silvery than gray, the 2-way mirror obscuring the armed guards who waited just beyond. Set within the room was the dark wooden podium with evocative, leafy filigree from which he had retrieved the book which still hovered in the air above his hand, suspended by those gray tendrils of force which he maintained a slight facet of his focus on. Around her, the runic circle, drawn in pale blue chalk and surrounded by candles of pure white and black. There was a noticeable lack of anything else discernable in the room, its purpose being utilitarian and focused so he'd not placed anything else within.

As he gazed at the girl who had startled with a fright --who threw what appeared to be Muddy Duddy's all over the ground-- his left eye twitched a little with frustration as his jaw began to clench. Gesturing with his hands and without any verbal cues, the snack foods began to levitate into the air, along with the bag and each piece individually funneled back into the container as if driven by an invisible current of air. However, if one looked closely enough, they would see small strands of energy which appeared as gossamer as spider's silk intertwining with the chocolatey confection. Each filament connected to his fingertips as a puppetmaster's marionette would be attached to its control bar. Slowly, the bag settled back into her hand and hovered until she grasped it as Asher thoroughly searched for the words he wanted to say.

"You are not supposed to be here..." his tone started with low, threatening quality as his eyes flashed briefly with power and he pointed a finger firmly towards her. He didn't seem all that amused on the outside to her whimsical behavior. Though, from outside the room, he swore he heard a laugh when she threw her bag of snacks all about. "That ritual is supposed to bring me a demon from the Infernal Plane, not a human woman. So...What are you, exactly?" shifting towards the accusatory, Asher stepped towards the woman, his spine straight and shoulders back. With his stature, he wasn't quite imposing, but his demeanor lent well to the air of intimidation he was trying to exude. "You have to be magical of some sort...Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to interfere with my casting like this...So, who do you work for? How much are they paying you to run interference? I'll double a doubling of that amount if you just tell me who you are and how you did this," bargaining now, his voice remained fierce as his speech became more charismatic, even with the mild undertone of the threat still lingering.

In the better lighting of this room, Asher was able to get a much better look at the woman than he'd been able to previously. Expressive, honey brown eyes met him, locks of auburn tumbling over her shoulders in waves and her face held a delicate, sweet appearance which had to drive men from all walks of life wild. He could understand why she had so many followers on ImMedia, she was quite lovely. If these were different circumstances, he might have been interested himself, however, more pressing matters demanded his full attention. He also noted her choice of apparel, casual but flattering; especially the jeans, he'd not seen hips quite like hers in a while. His slow, calculated appraisal of her finished on her bare feet, seeing the nicely pedicured and french tipped toes of hers. She certainly did have an image to maintain and he was certain she took pride in her appearance. He didn't seem to care that he was standing right in front of her as his eyes obviously raked her from head to toe.

Outside the room, the guards continued to watch on with a mixture of curiosity and caution, hands holding primed weapons and spells readied, one of the men having an emergency override to the door so they were able to open it without Asher's biometrics. There was something oddly oppressive about the atmosphere, whether it was the fact they were underground, Asher himself, or just the air of a corporate headquarters. Whatever was happening, it was nearly stifling as the well-dressed man continued to stare at her, jaw still tense as he waited for a response.

 

[Jumbled]

Great, A witch. No, wait— what were the boy ones called? —A Warlock! Yeah, that was the word.

Lumina stared at the man before her. He was the only one in the room aside from herself, so she didn’t have to guess who had summoned her— though she couldn’t fathom why he would need to. He looked well off, dressed the way he was with his powerful suit and hair combination. He was likely loaded. That sort of suit was hand tailored, she could tell quite easily. The tie spoke loads to how he viewed himself, too: powerful. Lumina gave him a quick once over. His expression was hard to read, hidden behind cold, brown eyes— just how she liked her coffee. She nearly grinned at him, though avoided it as he had no awareness of the musings she entertained in her own head.

Whatever demon had given Warlocks access to summoning spells needed to be kicked in the 'nads. Demons were strong and powerful in their own right, but for some reason, they could be shackled to a guy, like Mister Business over there. So, because he knew how to speak in Latin or whatever other language he’d used to pull her to him, she was stuck. With a disgruntled expression, she took note of the room that was something close to a prison cell without the bars. The trap below her feet was plain as day with its faint blue lines and symbols, along with the burning candles. She was contained in his gray room with its bright lights and creepy mirror that was obviously a two-way type thing— she’d still use it for applying makeup, though. That thing was huge! A great mirror with good lighting wasn’t something to be mad about— well, usually.

Lumina idly ran a hand through her hair, ruffling it back into its normal part, fixing it from the windy teleporting. She twirled the ends into a spiral before releasing it, allowing it to widen out and unravel as it landed along her clavicle. She watched him, amused at his clear agitation with the mess she’d made, as he motioned with his hand to her snacks. They floated upward, spinning in the air and collecting magically to land back into the bag that then floated into the grasp. She looked down, wondering how it might look if she began to eat them once again even though they had been on the ground. The floor looked clean enough— she shifted her eyes back up from the Muddy Duddy’s to his floating tome.

He wasn’t satisfied with his summon; with her. She wondered if she should be offended. Lumina’s eyes shifted in such a way that suggested a cocked eyebrow— she didn’t have actual control to move them about freely though her face was very expressive without such a skill. “Oh, well, I’ll just go, then.” she said, her tone thick with sarcasm. Lumina was only clued in after he said “human woman” what his issue was. He didn’t know! She giggled, realizing his folly. He was some clueless type of Warlock with disillusions about what demons were supposed to look like. Good. She suddenly liked him more.

“I’m just a girl,” she said with a soft smile. She wasn’t afraid of him— well, that was a slight lie. She was wary of him, at least, but didn’t wish for him to know such things. She could probably give him a run for his money. Though, as she suspected, he likely had a lot of it.

Yes. Money. That seemed to be a big play in all of it. Lumina could stand to get a better, less wrinkled rug in her office. She glanced at him with a mischievous look. He wanted to buy her. How adorable. The only problem was, it wasn’t at all what he thought. She wasn't some spy, or whatever it was he suspected her of. She chuckled to herself. This whole situation was going to be a problem. A pain in the neck, just like waking up in the tub— Lumina looked at him suspiciously as the thought crossed her mind. Had he—? But, no. No, she would have felt that.

Lumina glanced down at her wrists, wondering if there’d be markings from where she’d felt such searing pain earlier, but there was no physical evidence. “Hmm, a demon, you said? What does someone like you want with a demon, I wonder?” she said as she crouched down, eyeing the candles. They’d pooled with a good deal of wax in their centers by that point and she focused on one for a moment. Ice began to form around the base of the candle, rocking it suddenly as the glass began to fissure. The ice pushed the candle forward, tipping it until it toppled over toward her, spilling black, semi-translucent wax over the seal that bound her to that spot. She looked up at the Warlock with a grin as she ran her finger into the wax, smudging the chalk with the fast-drying liquid. She placed her bag down, then straightened again, stepping a foot out of the circle.

"And why must I be the one to introduce myself, hmm..? Seems a little demanding. Shouldn't the gentleman offer his name first? After all, you brought me here on this first date of ours. Completely blind date, I might add, which I am strictly against. You just never know who you might get paired up with." she toyed with him. She walked over to him, clearly shorter in stature than he, though not enough for it to matter. She reached forward, grabbing at his tie, pulling it forward playfully. She was being risky, but it was slightly in her nature. She wanted that stern, hard look of his to crack.

"I'm Lumina, but I feel like... you already know this. Am I right? I'm quite the internet sensation," she teased. She didn't actually expect him to know her. He didn't seem the type to wear eye shadows. Though she suspected he could pull it off. Warlock... She grinned with a tasteful "Mmm," under her breath at the thought. He had a handsome face. Despite him kidnapping her, she appreciated his features.

"Tell me, Mister Business. Why do you require a demon." she asked as her voice shifted into a more serious tone. She still held his tie in her hand, her grip strengthening against the fabric, though she hated the thought of damaging the silk. Her eyes began to gloss over with a dangerous frost as the temperature in the room began to drop steadily. Frost began to coat the tip of his tie, though she didn't let it move enough to really threaten him.

"I really do have a life I intend to get back to."

 

[Vekraihr]

His eyes remained trained on her, calculating and bothered as she mused idly and said nothing yet beyond her initial greeting. She seemed...peculiar was a good word for it. Her eyes looked him over just the same, taking stock of the man in the well-tailored suit which fit his trim physique rather well. Asher, as if picking up on her thoughts about the tie, adjusted it slightly as she stared at it. He briefly wondered what she must think of him as her expression revealed little of her internal dialogue. However, that changed as she seemed to grow a little disgruntled as she began to look around the room. Nothing would give her any hints as to where she was or what she was doing there.

Asher’s stern expression remained unchanged as the girl had joked about leaving, seeming as though she knew what kind of trap she was in. Any mundane person would have tried to step out of the circle so she had to have had some sort of knowledge of magic. “It appears you know well of the trap beneath your feet,” he commented, his eyes looking at the runic circle which glimmered faintly with power. Though, when he commented on her being a human woman, she giggled and his eyebrow suddenly, and briefly, cocked as he gave her an inquisitive stare.

Her next comment made him even more skeptical, pointing out that she was just a girl as if he couldn’t plainly see her feminine features. Only people with things to hide would point out such a thing. Asher watched as she inspected her wrists and lowered herself to the ground, oddly focused on one of the candles. He’d ignore her question about his business with a demon, preferring not to answer at just this moment. He didn’t interfere as he watched her begin to rock the candle to and fro before it spilled wax over the runic circle, the pale blue shimmer fading as the magic left the now broken lines as she crossed her finger through it. As she stepped out of his two-dimensional cage, Asher’s stoic expression remaining with that hint of inquisitiveness in his eyes. He knew something was amiss with her and he was intent on finding out just what that was.

With each step towards him, Asher stood terra firma with his head fixed in place, eyes following her face as she approached. ~A blind date? How cute,~ he thought as his eyes narrowed upon her as she stopped just before him. Then, she reached forward and grabbed his tie and tugged upon it gently. At first, Asher resisted the motion before slowly leaning towards her. As he did, his stoic expression did finally crack for a broad grin. In his eyes, there was some sort of gleam. Madness? Excitement? Bloodlust? It was hard to say with a man who had spoken so little. She saw the recognition when she gave her name and he grinned further, the corners of his eyes wrinkling a bit, “Yes, I recently became aware of your existence.” What the hell did he mean by that? Just the way he said it seemed as if he knew something she didn’t.

As she held onto him, eyes shifting to that of a fresh frost and the room temperature dropped so severely that Asher’s breaths came out in puffs of wispy moisture. Frost had begun to creep over his tie and Asher would have been mad had he not been so entertained by the circumstances. “Well, first thing’s first...I am Asher Myl--” he’d begun with a nearly warm introduction before there was a loud ‘clang’ as the door to the room shot open. Immediately, 8 men rushed into the room, 6 of them dressed in matching uniforms with large, probably bulletproof vests and helmets, and the other two were dressed in business casual attire with their hands rapidly gesturing as they spoke simultaneous incantations for binding. The mercenary men seemed to wield assault rifles, each one covered in glowing runes of different colors of the chromatic spectrum. They were not fucking around, apparently.

The group got only a few steps into the room, weapons raised and trained on Lumina as Asher lifted his balled fist slowly towards them. “Did I tell you to come in?” he sounded exasperated, his tone horribly severe and harsh; much more intense than when he’d spoken to her. His eyes, which were still focused on hers as they were coated in frost, began to light up from the pupils outwards with that smoky gray energy of his. “N-no, Mr. Myles, sir…” the man who had opened the door stammered, seeming unnerved just at Asher’s tone. Soon, she would see why. “Then...Tell me...WHY THE FUCK DID YOU?!” Asher’s voice rose in ferocity and she’d swear she’d heard more than one frequency in it as he screamed. His palm opened towards them and his arm pushed towards the group. Suddenly, each of them was flung back like ragdolls and slammed into the mirror hard enough to break spiderweb cracks in the glass. Groans of pain accompanied that spindly cracking sound as Asher’s hand shook with anger. Typically, magic required incantations to work, especially those of a higher level like that of his casting, now. However, Asher seemed to need none of it as he gestured with his hands, the cracking growing louder before he gestured to the floor with two fingers and the men slammed to the ground with a cacophony of sounds. One of their guns discharged, shooting themself in the leg as the explosive blast echoed through the chamber and out of the open door.

He’d not broken eye contact with her the entire time, a nearly electric hum of energy buzzing around him as he forced his will upon his own men. “Insubordinate…” he hissed, sounding as if he were disgusted by their actions. His face was furious and taut, skin pulsing on the right side of his forehead giving away a telltale vein which indicated his heightened blood pressure. “They send dumber every year…” he muttered with agitation as he drew a long, slow breath through his nose and shut his eyes. Then, as suddenly as that anger came, she watched it leave his face, and the hum of energy dissipated from around him.

“Now...If we’re done interrupting me…” he said lowly with the traces of frustration leftover in his tone, though nothing quite as severe as mere seconds ago. Lids opened again to reveal the warm hues beneath and his hand that had been extended to the men came back to grab hold of her jaw and lift her face a little more to him.

“I am Asher Myles...CEO of Vertical Pharmaceuticals...And we’re developing a new product…” It didn’t matter how much or little he revealed to her, she wasn’t going to be leaving his sight.

 

[Jumbled]

The man remained stiff at first, but then something switched and he began to lean into her as she teased him, pulling at his tie playfully the way she had. She felt a rush of warmth pass through her, something that was rarer for her— but even demons that controlled ice blushed sometimes. She couldn’t help but show a force of power. He had been waving that book around in the air for so long, she wanted to play, too. He admitted to becoming aware of her, but it was vague enough to mean anything. He could have meant he’d become aware of her simply in that moment in which she stood there, teasing him with that little grin of hers, and that would have been alright as far as she was concerned.

As soon as she’d started to play with her ice show, she was startled into stopping. Asher, the only part of his name she had managed to catch, didn’t look the least bit happy for the intrusion, either. The temperature in the room was no longer under her control— she had quickly released it— and the cold began to dissipate from the air, flowing right out of the open door. Her hand had instinctively released his tie, and she might have let her eyes fade back to brown, but Asher hadn’t managed to look away from her, so they remained iced over. Her attention, however, was all over the place. There were weapons aimed at her with different colored laser beams pointed at her curvy figure. That was too scary! What did she do to them? She didn't want so many people knowing about her; who she was and what she was. She turned inward, pressing her side snugly against Asher’s frame, attempting to block herself from their view.

He felt good.

If she hadn’t been so terrified, she would have enjoyed it more.

She looked up at him, focusing on the gray tendrils that activated within his eyes. That power seemed familiar somehow. The room grew louder with his booming voice as Asher raised a fist, screaming at the armed men. His tone was far harsher than something she may have expected from him— not that she knew him well. He didn’t look so fierce in his suit, but perhaps that tie had been the right color choice after all. She looked up at his face, as he screamed at the insubordinates, his voice reverberating around the room, he hadn’t stopped looking at her. She wasn’t sure that leaning against him was the wisest choice, yet, but he had bound her to him when he summoned her. Either way, she was stuck. At least it seemed as though he didn’t want her dead. She just hoped for her sake that he was the guy in charge. As Asher’s rage grew heavier, so did his magic. He moved like a demon, pushing men around like they were puppets on his strings. While a couple of the men that had originally barged in waved their hands around, tracing imaginary shapes and symbols in the air, he didn’t need to. She couldn’t help but smirk with delight at his own show of power.

Maybe he had planned the whole thing. Perhaps he was just giving her an example of how he could destroy her if he wanted to. Doing it just to command obedience from her. Somehow, that seemed believable. People could be cocky, especially rich people. Especially rich people that were Warlocks— though that last one she only assumed. She hadn't really met any on purpose before.

As the soldiers flew, she heard the glass of the mirror crack. Part of her died a little inside. That poor mirror. Her sadness was soon lost to shock and a painful noise in her ear from the gunshot that had gone off. She groaned and shifted her head away from the origin of the noise. The situation had actually become more frightening than she first thought it might be. Not that a gun would kill her, or anything. Still. Her line of work for demons didn't typically involve her going full-fledged demonic.

Her ears were ringing as the room quieted. She didn't know it was possible for ears to physically hurt from the inside until then. Asher said something, she could feel him speak as she was still pressed against him, but she didn't have a clue what he'd said. She looked up at him again, his hand finding her chin and tilting her face up. Her eyes had reverted to a soft, golden-brown hue as she stared back at him. Finally as he spoke more she was able to hear his full name, and job position. That seemed right. But, why would she need to know about a new product? Was it makeup or something? That was the only thing that made sense to her— why he might have summoned her specifically. She could push a product.

"So, you need me to advertise it?" she asked, clearly confused.

 

[Vekraihr]

Asher had noticed as her cheeks tinted a soft, warm pink hue when he leaned into the tie. Such a color was becoming on her, especially as porcelain as her skin was. At the interruption, she pressed into him with fright and he’d almost sighed at how wonderfully voluptuous her form was against him. His frame was strong and felt surprisingly firm considering his prowess as a warlock. Most interpretations of them had shown them as slight and meagerly framed, but his was average albeit strong. As she pressed against him, his arm instinctually drew around her, hand clasped over her shoulder, and pulled her tighter against him. From the outside, it might have appeared as though he was protecting her and, honestly, he might have intended for that as well. He had brought her here, after all. Someone had to take responsibility.

His smell was warm and alluring, a combination of cedar and pine, slightly floral and citrus notes, along with a light, attractive musk which enrobed itself within all the other subtleties. His suit was noticeably nicer than most wore, even at her own touch having a delightfully smooth texture. And, the CEO couldn’t help but notice how her form gave ever so slightly when he pushed her into him, indicative of what must have been a luxurious plushness beneath those clothes of her. Although, now was not the time to be entertaining such thoughts.

As the men started to rise to their feet amongst the raucous groans and curses which were muttered beneath the breath, Asher shook his head and lashed out once again, “Get out and go make yourselves useful elsewhere! This one isn’t going to hurt me.” It seemed he trusted her to some degree. Or, at the least, didn’t expect her to try anything in particular which he felt would be harmful. He knew she wasn’t harmless and, hell, he didn’t even know the extent of her power. However, his thoughts were pulled away from what harm she could or couldn’t do as she spoke up to him in regards to what he wanted from her.

A slow, deep chuckle rumbled from him as her question came forth. Misguided, but he understood how she might come to such a conclusion. “No, no...I have an entire team dedicated to marketing and I don’t really do...advertising. What I needed...You don’t really want to know. We were likely going to end up killing it if it wouldn’t come to heel. Though, maybe we were wrong about something...I’ve never actually seen a demon...No one has in...Years and years. Maybe they’re all gone...Maybe they’re nothing like we think. I don’t know. All I do know is now I’m back to square one and I need to figure out what the hell I’m going to do about this,” he said as he pushed his fingers between his brows a little and massaged the bridge of his nose, growing visibly frustrated the more he talked about it.

“Basically, what we do here is we grow organs for people and modify them with magic in order to make them stronger, better,” he explained to her as he grabbed hold of her hand and began to lead her out of the room. His grip was almost firm to the point of being painful but he at least didn’t walk full speed, instead matching whatever pace her feet would carry her. “We cater to a specific clientele here, which is why we don’t really need to do any form of advertising. Recently, we got a contract and I basically need to develop something new, which I will not disclose since it’s a matter of national security. At any rate, I’m directionless at the moment and need to regroup,” as he spoke, he was leading her down the hall towards the lift, preparing to take her back above ground. He wasn’t sure why he was explaining everything to her as if it were going to do either of them any sort of good. Maybe it was because she was a pretty girl, he thought to himself derisively. Certainly, he had better self-control than that.

However, where they were going to remained to be seen as he brought her into the enclosed lift with him and pressed the button to take them to the ground floor. If she’d had any plans on doing anything to harm him or make an escape, this would probably be a great time to do it. Alone, in an enclosed space, and with no one around to stop her, besides him. As they began to lift upwards towards the higher levels, he hadn’t let go of her hand despite them having stopped walking and he looked at her for a moment before sighing slowly. “You alright?” he asked her with a faint amount of concern in his voice, though it seemed he was trying to be more genuine about it. Or maybe he was trying to sound less concerned than he was.

 

[Jumbled]

Lumina felt Asher’s arm wrap around her shoulder— the strength behind it surprising— bringing a sweeping wave of his scent along with it. She breathed in, and had the situation not been what it was, she would have really basked in the aroma. Reality, however, was that of guns aimed, bodies flying and magic at the ready. She hadn’t signed up for any of that, nor had she been prepared for such a day when she woke up. Her bare feet were proof enough of that.

He pulled her tightly against his body and she felt a little reassurance from his magic— so expressive and fluid— that she’d be alright. Lumina wondered. She was certain he wasn’t a demon; she had never heard of an Asher Big Money Guy before in their inner workings and he seemed to give off the vibe of being rather important among his own inner circles. So— definitely Warlock. But even so, as the men crumpled into heaps on the floor, she was intrigued. Perhaps there were sides to magical men that she didn’t understand in the same way he was a bit clueless about demons.

The men struggled to find their strength as they groaned, pushing themselves up off of the ground slowly. One of them was wounded and the scent of blood and gunpowder were fighting for her attention over Asher’s own alluring scents. The Warlock demanded they leave, referring to her as “this one” which left a whole new series of questions for Lumina to consider. Why “this one?” Were there “ones” before her? Did he make it a habit to summon demons while having a slew of bodyguards to toss about whenever he liked? And why was the room so cold and empty? Just what had he planned to do with her? She thought to move away from his embrace as she reconsidered all of the possibilities, but she was entirely outnumbered by those men, disabled or not, and Asher’s grip was strong. If only she was one of those brute strength types of demons. She tried not to slip into a panic over it. Even though using her own powers didn’t seem like the best route to take, if it was a last resort, she was actually quite powerful. Lumina frowned momentarily. She was supposed to be keeping a low demonic profile and a high human one. Her current position was tricky.

After she’d asked Asher if he needed her assistance with web-marketing, learning that she was completely off base— though she still didn’t understand why— her expression shifted to that of concern. He didn’t want her for what she specialized in, and she “didn’t really want to know” was his best version of an explanation. She shifted with more tension and unease. And then he’d said something about killing it. It? The demon? Lumina’s brow furrowed. Perhaps she wasn’t following his segmented thoughts the way he meant for her to. Did he even understand what she was? She was left wondering as he rambled about demons being gone and being back to square one. She supposed with his earlier accusations toward her, she could theoretically pretend to be a Witch. She could have called upon the elements, right? Lumina really didn’t know much about magical humans if she was being honest. They hadn’t ever interested her or caused real problems in her life— until recent events at least.

Asher began to openly explain things to her in what she assumed was his best attempt at "dumbing it down" for her. She appreciated it, seeing as she wasn’t that sort of intelligent.

Smart: yes.
Common sense: certainly.
Knowing the ins and outs of the medical field: absolutely not.

He took her hand and began to escort her out of that plain room, abandoning her floor snacks as they went. She’d have to remember to pick more up on her way home. She only then wondered how she was supposed to get home. She had no idea where she was. How far had she been taken from her apartment? His grip on her hand was incredibly tight, nearing being painful. She looked down at his hand that clamped onto her and how her skin was white around the areas he’d pressed down into. She grimaced and her skin began to frost over with an almost icy barrier between his hand and her flesh.

“I’m not resisting you, so you don’t have to be so rough.” she said haughtily.

They continued at a standard pace, her bare feet padding along the cool tiles that had been like glass— buffered to perfection. The building seemed to have a lot of money sunk into it, much like Asher’s appearance; such things seemed to be important to him. “National Security really doesn’t make me feel one way or another about anything. But I suppose you’re pretty deep in whatever shit you’ve stepped in. Sorry to be a disappointment.” she said, her tone anything but apologetic. They approached an elevator and as they waited, Lumina reduced the layers of ice that coated her arm down to a light shimmer and cold-to-the-touch feeling. He led her inside, and even while inputting the commands to the lift, he hadn’t let go of her. He stood back from the control panel and glanced down at her with a sigh. She hadn’t really moved as she stood there, one hand in his, the other hooked into the back pocket of her denim jeans. She shifted to peer up at him, curious about his sudden switch.

“Me? Oh, I’m a little hungry I suppose. How are you?” she asked him. It was silly, her responding in such a way. She knew it wasn’t the direction he was leaning to go with his question, but she didn’t feel like humoring him with her real thoughts. “Though, on our next blind date, I do hope you choose a nicer venue. It was so noisy in the last one I could barely hear myself think. Honestly, dear. You could have splurged for a nicer dinner, too. And let’s not forget my lack of shoes.” she wiggled her toes as she rocked on her heels. The elevator dinged and the doors opened up onto the level of his choice. “What’s next then? A movie? Even so, I should really stop by the house and have a change. Put on that little dress you like. Some heels.”

Lumina wondered if he was going to let her go, or if he had a new, cold, steel room he intended to keep her in.

 

[Vekraihr]

Her protest about his grip was met with it softening a little, to the point where he was no longer causing the skin to discolor. “Apologies. I suppose you haven’t given me a reason to be so forceful,” he said with a hint of sincerity to his voice. In all actuality, he felt like she had just by her showing up but her behavior afterward had been nothing untoward. His wingtips clicked against the tile floor as they walked along, echoing down the nearly deserted halls as they approached the larger doors to the lift. Whether through sheer force of will or ignorance, Asher didn’t seem to be bothered by the ice she had formed as a barrier between them.

He couldn’t help but shake his head at her sarcastic tone, his brow pinching together as his jaw clenched a little bit. “Not a disappointment...Just...Unexpected is all,” he said with a long, drawn-out sigh followed by a short chuckle as his expression lightened. “Those idiots in the government have no idea how long things like this take. We weren’t given any form of a timetable as what we wanted to do is...highly experimental. I likely wouldn’t feel any pressure over this for half a decade or so. And, by then, it won’t matter anyway,” he said with a confidence in his voice that bordered on arrogance, but never quite crossed over that threshold.

Her response to his concern was guarded and dodging, causing him to shake his head again as he chuckled. She continued with this whole ‘blind date’ routine that she seemed overly fond of, eliciting a smirk from him in the process. “You know what? Lunch would be good. Maybe take you out for a little retail therapy, get you a better dress that I’ll like even more. How’s that sound, sweetheart?” he hit her back with her own game, his eyes flashing briefly with mischief.

As the elevator doors opened, she was greeted by a huge, beautiful atrium. Overhead, on the wall to their right was a large window through which the midday sun was basking the plants in its golden light. Large trees of several varieties reached up through what appeared to be the first three levels of the complex, which had all been built with a large opening to accommodate the space and viewing platforms to overlook. A pile of gray and black stones rose about an entire story off to the furthest corner to the left, a waterfall cascading down before them into a large pond which was surrounded by ferns and various water-loving flora. The air here smelled clean and fresh, much less stifling than the air below ground. Even grass had been planted here, surrounded by a stone walkway with various stepping stone pathways leading deeper into the large, verdant space.

“We might have to shop, first, so you can get some shoes. Sorry if you’re looking forward to lunch more,” his sardonic tone was a little more fun for him than he might be letting on with his serious demeanor. He pulled a brand-new smartphone from his pocket, a model she’d not seen before, and he pulled up his contacts and quickly navigated to the desired one. He barely had the time to lift the phone to his ear before his call was answered. People apparently didn’t like to keep him waiting, either. “Yes, James, would you please bring a car around for me? I have a date,” he said with a matter-of-fact tone. There was some chatter nearly audible from the other side before he replied, “Perfect, thank you.”

He’d play along with her for a little while, maybe chip away a little at her defenses so he could get a little more of the truth from her. He had his suspicions about her heritage, as she was using elemental magic without any incantations and there weren’t many in the world who were like him. However, he released her hand as they stepped towards what looked like the large, glass doors to the outside world. “Follow me,” his request felt more like a command coming from him with that authoritative tone. He was curious if she would try to run when they got outside. She’d no shoes on, though that hadn’t stopped others from running from their captors in many situations.

His walk was assured and fluid, moving with purpose as men in his position tended to do. As he approached the automatic doors, a gorgeous black and silver car was being pulled up to the door. It had no obvious markings as to what the make and model were, though it appeared to be very expensive with deep window tints that blocked all visibility within the car. He pulled his phone out as he got to the door, waiting for Lumina to step through as he made another, brief phone call. “Hello, Vivian. I’ll be stepping out for the day. Please forward any calls for me to my answering machine. I don’t wish to be bothered,” he said politely but sternly, making it clear that he indeed didn’t wish to be troubled.

 

[Jumbled]

Lumina liked a good bit of banter. It was entertaining if someone could actually keep up with her. She hadn’t taken Asher as the type to play along, however. She’d genuinely expected to make him mad or perhaps fluster him, causing him to lose his train of thought. He surprised her with his matching tone and flirtatious response to her game. She grinned. Oh— he was a fun one. With a tilt of her head, she shifted her shoulder to the side, nudging him gently. “Shouldn’t tease a girl like me. I’m expensive and now you’ve made commitments. Making deals with— well. Heh.” she trailed off with her words. He could fill in the blanks if he wanted to. He seemed smart, too. Hopefully a good deal of common sense was part of his overall skill set; being book-smart wasn’t everything. Maybe Warlocks were supposed to be more fun? Why hadn’t anyone ever told her?

The doors parted and the scene before her was the last thing she’d ever expected to find on the other side. Her jaw dropped open and she inhaled deeply, finding a strong whiff of Asher’s scent filling her senses. It hit her rather hard, she’d forgotten how good he’d smelled before. As the tiny forest within the office building soaked in the warm rays of fresh, early evening light from the sun, shining lazily through the large windows, Lumina staggered back, bumping into Asher a bit clumsily before she corrected her footing. She was reminded again of his firm body that she’d pressed against as she shielded herself from the threats of attack earlier. He had steadied her with the hand he still held. She looked up at him, trying to see what really lay beneath those dark eyes. What was he up to? He’d told her general things, sure. But—

They needed to get off of the lift. She stepped out, seemingly captivated by the indoor waterfall that splashed pleasantly down into the pool of water below. She would have run over to it, just to get a closer look, but his hold was still there and she didn’t feel like having a second set of militant men aiming weapons at her. She sighed, suppressing her thrill for the time. Once she figured out where they were exactly, she would make a note to come back to go play in the pond, possibly during a security shift change— because, well, why not?

His voice tugged her senses back to him. She couldn’t decide if the overall pull she felt to listen came from that bond he’d placed on her or just his rich, accented voice. He removed a slim new phone from a pocket and her attention was fixed on its shell. It looked like it was made out of black tungsten, or perhaps something more expensive. It was hard to tell, it was up to his ear before she had enough time to investigate. As he said he had “a date,” Lumina’s eyes glittered with entertainment. Good.

He walked her toward the building’s exit. She glanced around as people bustled by, most of them too busy to notice, though Asher drew quite a lot of attention to himself, so there were a few gawkers that took note of the girl with no shoes on her feet, tight jeans and a t-shirt. This must have been embarrassing for him, she thought. She felt a bit out of place as he dragged her forward, letting her go before the men stationed at the automatic doors nodded as they saw Asher striding by. His tone was authoritative as he told her to follow him. With both hands free, she shoved the second one into the other back pocket of her jeans, casually following the suit out the door into the big wide world.
“I dunno, I might cut my foot out here. Maybe you should carry me.” she said playfully.

 

[Vekraihr]

Asher wouldn’t have openly admitted it, but Lumina was starting to grow on him. Was it the witty way she was sarcastic, how she carried herself, or the way she teased him with those doe eyes and flowing locks? As she nudged him, he couldn’t help but give a soft chuckle and shake of his head once again. Expensive? Surely she didn’t understand the meaning of the term. However, what she had begun to say about making deals with...How curious. His intrigue continued as his dark brown eyes deepened with equal measures of suspicion and interest.

Then, as the lift doors opened to the captivating atrium, she seemed bewildered enough to bump into him as he stood unyieldingly against her. His hand even found a place on her shoulder reflexively to help to steady her before slipping back to his side after a brief contact. “Fun fact, I own the building. We can play in that later,” he said as if picking up on her thoughts. Or, maybe that was the line he said to all the girls who stared at the display of rushing water. Asher ultimately didn’t seem to care what the others thought of her and he seemed to carry himself in a dignified way regardless.

He’d caught that tease of hers and he considered it for a brief moment before she felt his arms grab her by the waist and he lifted her with a small grunt of effort and slumped her over his shoulder. “Like this?” he asked, knowing damn well how she’d meant to be carried. The temptation was too great and continued as he briefly entertained the thought of smacking that full behind of hers. His hand even twitched with the withheld musing. He walked towards the car, a beautiful, luxury sedan with a slightly longer rear cabin than normal and a sleek but powerful looking body. As they approached, the blonde-haired and green-eyed driver had gotten out of the car and walked to the rear passenger door in order to pull it open for both of them. The seats inside were a sophisticated blend of tan and brown shades, areas bordered with stained wood trim, and a divider of the same tan hue as the seats separated the front from the back.

Crouching with Lumina over his shoulder still, Asher put a hand on the back of her head to shield it from the upper doorframe, in case he miscalculated and began to push her, feet first, into the car. Depending on if she was struggling or not, it might appear that he was kidnapping the poor girl. Inside, the car smelled fresh and clean— like how it does when you first get it back from the detailer —and the air was a pleasant temperature as well, which was fairly easy given the temperate fall they were having. Once she was on one of the comfortable seats, Asher climbed in next to her and sat down and the door shut behind him as he stretched out. Even the carpet felt nicer than normal cars— and still better than some house carpeting as well.

As he heard the front door close, they soon began to move as Asher smiled and glanced at Lumina, a little mischief still twinkled in his eyes. Pressing a button next to him, he spoke, “James, would you please take us to Blossomvale’s? My guest needs, at least, a new pair of shoes,” he said and a voice came back through the speakers with a warm British accent, “Of course, sir.” She might have recognized the name, it being one of the most popular clothing boutiques in the entire world, let alone the city. So incredibly smooth was the car ride that she wouldn’t even notice when they’d gotten on the road without looking out the window. Nor would she have been able to tell when they drove out onto the highway to get to the middle of the city just that bit quicker. Either through recklessness, hubris, or confidence in his own abilities or the driver’s, Asher had not put a seatbelt on and, instead, turned a little more towards Lumina.

His brown hues were bold and probing as he focused them on her, speaking, “So, your magical abilities there...Where do they come from? See, most witches and warlocks, minus a few, notable exceptions, have to perform verbal and somatic components in order for the spell to work. Elemental magic is particularly tricky because nature, in its very essence, doesn’t want to be tamed. However, you hold mastery over ice I’ve never come to see in all my years. So, tell me, Lumina, who appeared— not once but twice— when I performed a ritual to summon a demon, what are you? As if I don’t already know,” his eyes burned with curiosity and there was a surety to them that he knew what she was. Or, at the very least, a powerful inclination. His tone of voice didn’t sound threatening nor mad, rather he seemed genuinely interested in knowing the answer; or having her say it. They wouldn’t be too terribly long to get to the boutique, his business complex located within a larger development of commercial enterprise which was in the neighborhood adjacent to the downtown shopping district.

 

[Jumbled]

Lumina eyed Asher with suspicion as he flirted with the idea of playing in the water. He didn’t look like the type to “play” at all. He was an important figure head, tall in stature and serious in his demeanor— not to mention his fury that he’d unleashed upon that crew of armed men and warlocks. No, that was not playful at all. And yet, she considered the way he had leaned into her, the smirks she’d drawn from those tight lips. She grinned at him while biting her bottom lip. He was at least observant enough to realize that she’d been thinking similar thoughts. He hadn’t taken long to move toward the exit, though.

With a small yelp of surprise, Lumina’s hands flew out from her jean pockets as she wobbled a little in Asher’s grip. She awkwardly wrapped an arm around his neck, trying to somehow gain control of the situation as he tossed her over his shoulder. Of all the things, she had not expected him to do that. “You know, there are far easier ways to carry a lady!” she huffed at him. She could only imagine what the people were thinking after such a display, and as he turned to exit the building, she slumped her head down so she wouldn’t have to see anyone and start guessing.

Asher placed her into the car and she only felt more embarrassed at such a display. Even his hand over her head didn’t help her feel anymore at ease about it. She had her own image to upkeep and although a playful, bridal-styled scoop would have been funny or cute, this display was just degrading and awful. She sat against the car seat with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. She crossed her legs, her feet pointing away from Asher as she stared out a window. She didn’t even look at him as he eyed her mischievously. If her ears had been the animated sort, however, they would have perked up at the store name that had come out of his mouth. Her eyes shifted to glance at him curiously. He’d turned toward her more, not bothering to buckle up. She hadn’t bothered either, too busy keeping her arms folded under her chest.

He got straight to the point, asking her about her abilities. She huffed a puff of air out of her nose, and looked away again. He rambled on and she ignored most of it, nearly tuning out the part where he’d said the word “twice.”

“What?” she exclaimed suddenly, standing and bonking her head instantly as though she’d forgotten she was in a car. She sat back down, looking at him directly with daggers for eyes. “Do you mean to tell me that you’re the reason I woke up in my bathtub?” she demanded. That had really been bugging her. She glared at him with her jaw tightly clamped together. Sighing with a much larger huff leaving her nostrils, she leaned back, crossing her legs the other way, allowing her foot to lightly rest against Asher’s leg.

“That depends on if my answer will ruin our date. I wouldn’t want to miss out on the kiss at the end. You know, standing at my door, shifting awkwardly as I wait for you to be a man and all that,” she said with a grin. He was crazy if she thought she was going to just give it up that easily to him. Giving up other things though— she let her eyes run up and down his form as he sat there watching her. Yeah, she might give that up.

 

[Vekraihr]

Asher didn’t seem to have minded that look of suspicion she gave him, though he did take notice of it as he looked at her grinning visage. As she fought against how he’d carried her, a hearty laugh bellowed from him as she chastised him for his behavior. “Oh, I’m aware! I’m not carrying a lady, though. I’m carrying a brat,” he taunted her in kind, his tone deliberate in its provocativeness. However, his words didn’t ring entirely true, as he did view her as a lady and quite a lovely one at that. He wasn’t sure why, but he’d felt that overwhelming urge to carry her in such an embarrassing fashion. Perhaps it was how she’d made a fool of him by showing up to his summons twice and he was holding a grudge?

She was cold to him after that and he almost regretted his decision. Almost. Asher wasn’t one to dwell and he continued on as if nothing was the matter; even her scowl and crossed arms not enough to deter him from his objective. However, he’d hooked her at the name of the store and he saw the glance she shifted his way with those honey-brown eyes of hers. However, it seemed yet another piece grabbed her attention as she suddenly stood and rammed her head into the car’s ceiling. “Everything alright back there, sir?” a speaker suddenly jolted to life from behind them and Asher spoke loudly and firmly, “All is well, no need to worry. Focus on driving.”

He bit his lips to stifle a laugh when she’d said she had woken in her bathtub. Her glare didn’t help matters, either, as he hadn’t found her to be all that intimidating, however powerful she was. She did seem rather upset by this and he wondered if maybe she’d ended up at a peculiar angle. The more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable his neck felt and he gave a slow nod. “Yeah, sorry about that. Return spells are a little less than accurate when the caster doesn’t know the destination,” he said genuinely to her before adding, sternly, “Be happy I’m as adept as I am, else you wouldn’t have even landed under a roof, let alone your own home.”

Her foot on his leg made him tilt his head a little towards it briefly before her response came to him. His neck cracked a little as he rolled the tension from his shoulders momentarily at her evasiveness. It was growing a little tiresome at this point. His coffee-brown hues crystallized on her before he leaned towards her as he cocked a brow, grinned slowly, and spoke amorously with his accented voice, “Well, who could possibly resist kissing you? Like I would let something so...insignificant ruin this moment for us.” His charisma was convincing, to say the least, as he let his eyes wander over her slowly. Men had killed each other for less.

Asher felt the telltale curve of the exit ramp from the highway shortly thereafter and the slowing speed of the car indicated they were reentering the city proper. “Should be at Blossomvale’s shortly. You don’t mind spending some of my money, do you? I’d hate to see you passing up on something you truly desire,” he informed her before goading her a little further. Truly, she was a curious creature. Open in some ways and closed off in others, he was driven to continue prying and prodding until he’d discerned every little facet of what made her so uniquely her. And, on a subconscious level, he knew what she was even if his conscious mind wouldn’t accept it until he heard it. There simply weren’t a lot of casters in the world who could wield magic— let alone of the elemental variety— without the use of somatic and verbal components.

Even he derived his capabilities from the deep bond with which he’d formed with his patron— Kalista, the Evershadowed. There were times when he questioned why she’d chosen him in the first place, though he didn’t know too much of her other than the singular vision he'd had in which she appeared and granted him her blessing. After, he found that not only was he capable of powerful magic but he was able to learn to do so without the need for the other components needed by sorcerers, sorceresses, witches, and even other warlocks.

After ruminating for a brief moment, he wondered what it would take to get her to open to him. He began to toy with the idea of merely exerting his will over hers, curious to see just how well she would fare against him in a battle of the minds. He had a feeling she would be more difficult than the people he’d performed the act on before, but he hadn’t any desire to as of yet. For all her irritations, he was still enjoying her company, as strange as it was.