"Don't embarrass me," Faustite reminded the cat on his shoulder. They were empty words, but he said them anyway; it emulated some sense of normalcy. He thought it did, regardless. Better that he could act the part, could tell himself that he was fine, that he could keep moving forward. It was what he had to do, regardless.
Autumn had begun, heralded by a distinct frigidity in the air that teased his cape tails and rattled the rings on their ends. It was a soft smattering of sounds that formed a background to his pacing — rhythmic percussions of metal against concrete while he waited. The horizon was swollen with dark clouds, the distinct line between earth and sky eroded by sheets of rain in the distance; he expected their conversation would proceed much the same way. If not that, then Tama and Murikabushi would get along swimmingly, Faustite would grow sick to his stomach at the sight, and he'd leave after sending the cat home with his new best friend.
Still, he felt tense. Keyed up as if staring down an imminent operation. Humming with energy as he predicted contingency tactics and casualty counts.
Faustite kept pacing. His moody, dejected demeanor culminated in more smoke that trailed endlessly behind him, before being stolen away by errant gusts. Occasionally, he smelled himself on the winds — copper, moondust, salt. Hints of Waru. Hints of Haru. No signs of Trey or Aelius.
Faustite sighed through his nose. He spoke without looking at his shoulder companion. "Better that he doesn't keep us waiting."
Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2022 11:08 am
Tama didn’t want to admit it, but being on Faustite’s shoulder was quite comfortable. The furnace kept him warm, his perch keep him far enough away from the flames so that his fur wouldn’t get singed and he could always hide in his hood, if needed.
“Me? Embarrass you?” The cat recalled the last time they had been together and how that had gone for him.“Considering what happened back there at Jada’s place, I thought you had that part quite covered.”
He’d had thought for a second of not coming, given what Eion had done back there. But the allure of meeting that Dark Mirror senshi again had won out, the sheer curiosity propelling him forward. If Faustite didn’t like the Dark Mirror, he wanted to know why he was willing to meet this one again and what would become of the meeting.
Reiki’s usual anxiety about powering up had nothing on how he felt as he made his way off campus on Tuesday night. Sure, it still nagged, clawing him up beneath the skin with razor-blade tendrils that threatened him with reminders of how, soon, he’d get perceived by people, how they’d see him as Murikabushi and not as himself—but nothing felt particularly special or new under the sun about that idea. More of a dull throb to which he’d grown accustomed, rather than the sharp, arctic blast twist of pain Reiki felt in his chest, whenever he tried to think about what he was walking into.
(To say nothing of how it stung that he’d tried to reach out, this time, only for nothing to come of it. Midterm elections had Levi busy, while Haruhi had work to worry about, and sure, Reiki had other people he could have asked? But so many of them, like Sappho and Bélénos, were hardly any better equipped than he was to decide how to handle any of this. He’d thought about asking Toráin, but what if it endangered his escape? Likewise, he’d thought about talking to Kerberos, but……the fewer people who knew about this, the better. Too many chances for things to get out, for people to learn about the goings-on when they had no business knowing.)
A few blocks away from the Farnsworth, Reiki powered up in an alley where sat a convenient mirror. That, he used to mirror-walk onto a roof somewhat closer to the meeting place that Faustite had specified. With a bit of a sprint and a few jumps, Reiki was where his presence had been requested, and as he looked around for Faustite, he kept his breaths deep and schooled his face into a more neutral expression. Anything but letting Faustite see him sweat. As long as he didn’t look like he was tearing himself apart on the inside, the dog who thought their human was never coming home ever, so they had a panic attack and ripped the living room to shreds—that would be enough.
He only sees me as a nuisance and maybe a potential weapon, like his team does, Reiki reminded himself. b***h doesn’t deserve to see me sweat.
……Letting him see a bemused wrinkle of those nose was probably okay, though. Or anyway, it would have to be, because as he finally found Faustite, he couldn’t help the expression. Mostly, due to the distinctly feline presence currently perched on Faustite’s shoulder.
“General,” Reiki said with a polite nod, hands folded together in front of him, out in the open where everyone could see that he wasn’t trying anything funny with them. “Tama-sama.” ……Oh, that was too much assonance, and truly, it just sounded ugly. In the back of his mind, Reiki considered demoting the Mauvian to Tama-san, if only because it would sound nicer. In the meantime, he deadpanned, “What are two such as yourselves doing in a nice place like this.”
All that ******** twisting myself in knots and it was only a meeting about working with Tama. Fantastic work, idiot.
meighei
Strickenized
Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2022 3:46 pm
Faustite loosed a sizzling sigh when the cat had the gall to mouth off to him. "Not a word of that." Word of the team's fracture getting out to someone as loose-lipped as their incoming senshi would prove disastrous in a matter of days — the White Moon would prey on that in a second, stealing every boy from under him with their beguiling bullshit. Though it wasn't long ago, he disliked remembering it — waking up alone on an overheated piece of sheetmetal, to a barren room, working from sundown to sunup in the same dour wasteland of a work area. To return to that because Tama opened his mouth and then Murikabushi opened his mouth wider? He'd barbecue them both, stuff the cat into the human, and toss them to the youma.
An aura teased the edge of his senses, then came into clearer focus. Dark Mirror, Basic by feel. Either Murikabushi didn't blow them off, or some other Mirror Senshi had impeccably bad timing. He waited, curbed his pacing to something slow and deliberate, and held his tongue in the presence of the a*****e cat on his shoulder. Only when he recognized the incoming boy for who he was did Faustite stop altogether.
"Faustite," he corrected. He eyed the other boy critically, but found no hint of new wounds — no limp, no bruising, no favoring one side or another. For as much as he speaks, it seemed he didn't get himself into trouble half as often as Faustite did.
His brows scrunched at the sound of Tama's nickname. It sounded accented, whatever it was; Faustite assumed it might have meant something in a foreign language. Haru and Hina both spoke Japanese, and Faustite thought it sounded a margin like that. One of them might have even told him what Tama's name meant, but he wouldn't have been listening at the time — seldom did, unless the words Tama and dead were right next to each other.
To his chagrin, they never were.
Faustite waited a beat before answering. "Said I would let you work with the cat." As he finished, he bent at the waist for the furbag to leave his shoulder. Straightening, he added, "Team took a liking to you. Saw something in you. The ones who aren't… Feral," he decided with the flourish of a clawed hand, for lack of a better word.
"So we're not as done as I thought."
meighei
amorremanet
Strickenized
Garbage Cat
Offline
Meighei
Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
Offline
Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 8:58 am
“I wouldn’t dare.” Tama said completely deadpan. He wouldn’t because he had at least some respect for Aelius and Trey’s privacy. Not that he gave any credence to Faustite’s wishes on the matter.
Upon seeing the Dark Mirror senshi again, he allowed his fur to puff up in excitement. He made a happy little ‘merp’ sound, too, when Murikabushi referred to him as ‘Tama-sama’.
He jumped off Faustite’s shoulder, quite disliking how quickly the winter temperature came back when you weren’t right next to a furnace.
“I’m here to help you with your magic. This feral one likes you anyway.”
Getting permission to use Faustite’s actual name earned a bemusedly quirked eyebrow. Sure, most here at home didn’t remotely follow the same rules Reiki had learned about the relative propriety (or lack thereof) of how to address people……but addressing Faustite by his rank seemed more appropriate, right? No matter how Reiki felt about anything and no matter what sort of disrespect Faustite had apparently grown used to from people—being told what he was or wasn’t allowed to feel based solely on him not being human, probably among several other traumas—Reiki felt certain that he owed Faustite at least enough respect to not assume such familiarity.
Regardless of what Reiki’s magic had done to Faustite in exacerbating his starseed addiction, they didn’t really know each other well enough for Reiki to go throwing around his personal name—or at least the closest thing to one that Reiki knew of for Faustite. Ever calling him “Phoenix Force” had been a necessity inspired by not knowing his name.
—Still, with a nod, Reiki echoed, “Faustite, then.” He’d simply need to smother with a metaphysical pillow his impulse to follow certain rules of social interaction that Faustite had decided no longer applied to their situation. Which would’ve been easy enough if they’d simply stuck to (Reiki’s idea of) the original plan and not spoken to each other outside of meetings with or about Tama, but……that? was no longer the plan?
Do I even want to know how you’re planning to address me?, he kept to himself, uncertain whether it felt rude, cruel, or just wildly inappropriate for him to think right now.
What Would Sansa Stark Do?, flashed through his mind once. Then twice. Thrice. Over and over until he’d made a mantra of it.
Despite asking himself that question—despite silently telling himself to curb his tongue, to not pop off at the mouth with his usual reckless abandon and wild disregard for the trouble he could get himself into, and to act like he gave a damn about not verbally digging his own grave—Reiki couldn’t help but furrow his brow. An incredulous frown spilled out with the widened eyes and that crease in the forehead. Instinctively, he crossed his arms in a way that definitely was not self-protectively hugging himself……except that it couldn’t have been anything else. If his sagging shoulders and the slouch in his hips hadn’t spelled out the truth, as obvious as Reiki’s height and Faustite being on fire, then the hopelessly lost expression sure did.
Lost. Confused. Uncertain of what to believe, how to proceed, everything.
“…Sorry, I—? Pardon the incredulity here, but…?” Uh huh, sure, Christine Hargensen. Had your boy-toys bleed any pigs for you lately? Briefly, Reiki glanced up, feeling around for any auras besides the three of them present……but sensing none, he looked back to Faustite and choked down the impulse to sigh. “‘Took a liking to me’? You guys have a funny way of showing that.”
……Well. That wasn’t entirely fair to Jada. Or the girl of the two latecomer siblings. Or Albite, the attack from him notwithstanding. Heliodor, Reiki wasn’t entirely certain about since he had dropped the talk of torture pretty quickly, and Abbey Roadkill had mostly seemed overwhelmed about everything, so their behaviors weren’t necessarily anything to take personally. Still, Reiki didn’t trust Fafnir as far as he could throw him, and trying to remember all the less-negative aspects of that encounter proved difficult, through the much clearer memory of how stressful it had been.
“For example, Space-Buns…?” Reiki curled his hands into C’s and placed them atop his head, mimicking the boy latecomer senshi’s hairstyle, since Reiki hadn’t caught that one’s name. “He looked like he wanted to murder me.”
To say nothing of Faustite himself, and how utterly inscrutable his intentions had turned out to be. Everything with him had felt so much easier, made so much more sense, when Reiki had just……felt content in the idea that Faustite hated him.
At least Tama made sense enough. Part of Reiki still didn’t quite fathom the fact that a cat other than Soyala wanted anything to do with him, but……he’d learn that too, he guessed. Kneeling, trying to give Tama more access to his shoulders (in case Tama wanted to get up there), Reiki smiled. “You don’t seem feral to me? For whatever that’s worth?”
Faustite nodded as he settled into his casual pacing. Hands folded behind his back, beneath the bottom lip of the grate, as he walked. "If they didn't like you, you'd be dead," he answered as straightforwardly as he could. "Spoke with them after. Preferred having an ally out of this mess." s convoluted and irritating as their continued associations were.
If he was pressed to explain how he knew they were mostly fine for the boy, he wasn't certain he could explain it adequately. So much of human communication was beyond words that trying to exchange actions for words felt reprehensibly shallow. Faustite already struggled to express himself; to do so for others was asking to annihilate their chances with this one. Worse yet, given his stay in the Rift for a count of years, he wasn't certain he was reading them properly himself. Could've been that they were interested in a Dark Mirror ally, but not the noisy one. Still, he had to try as head of the team.
Faustite looked up at Space Buns and studied the impression briefly. That one, at least, he could answer with confidence. "That one's wary of rivals." And things that hurt him, too, he supposed, but that was better left unsaid.
"Albite liked you." Albite liked everyone. "Thought you were fun. Springs that shitty magic on me, too, so don't take it too personally." He omitted the part where he nearly fried Albite into chicken tenders for doing so, however.
"Jada thought you'd make a good ally. And —" Faustite nipped that sentence back; speaking of the brothers now, to a boy so talkative as this one, was liable to bring out more questions. Better that he stuck to the teammates that he would be willing to mention further. "Tama," he finished after a beat.
He wasn't certain how Tama intended to fix anything with this one, or get him to be more comfortable with his magic, but Faustite was interested in watching from a personal interest. Would it be worth recording in the Negaverse database? Possibly, but he suspected the cat's antics would either be not easily written down or just asinine enough that he would embarrass himself by logging them.
"Just have to beat the moron out of you." Faustite headed for the parapet, then seated himself and crossed his legs as he waited for Tama to do… Whatever Tama did.
meighei
amorremanet
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 10:50 am
“I can be feral when I want to be.” Tama replied coyly. Faustite really set him up quite well with this one. So respectful and yet still fun to play with.
Tama eyed Murkabushi up and down as if evaluating him on a scale known only to Mauvians. Basic senshi. No injuries. Aura feels normal. One of the better outfits fate can provide, too.
“Well, I’m not going to beat the moron out of you.”
He said as his forehead star shined for a moment. The next, he was in his ‘human’ form, ear and tail notwithstanding.
“But I do need you to use your magic. Can’t even begin to fix what I can’t see.” His ears flicked and he held out his hand, inviting. “Use it on me.”
Reiki hadn’t expected anything like that, when he’d come tonight.
In fairness, all of the expectations he’d had for tonight had been thoroughly dashed: first, when Faustite had only wanted to discuss the matter of letting Reiki work with Tama; and second, when this had turned out to be more of an active lesson than a negotiation. So, maybe Reiki should’ve simply given up on expecting things, seeing as he expected all the wrong ones.
But he hadn’t gotten around to that yet, so for a moment, he blinked up at Tama uncertainly. Not that he doubted Tama’s intent in making the request, but……what would his magic do to Tama? Since Sailor Huge-Tits of Who-Cares, Reiki hadn’t thrown his magic around at another human (or humanoid alien), and he hadn’t thrown it at anyone who’d seemed sapient since the Blights in the old subway station (and at that, only the central one had really seemed sapient; the others had all seemed a bit……less so). He’d barely thrown it around at non-sapient enemies, for that matter, because who knew how it would or wouldn’t hurt them?
Still, what were Reiki’s options here, exactly? Run away and refuse help, no doubt having proven himself an idiot of the highest order, and probably get set on fire for his trouble……and do what the nice Mauvian was asking him to do, even knowing that the other two times someone had either asked to see his magic or given him permission to try it out, Kerberos had needed to flee to space to get away from anything he could drink, while Faustite had first tried to steal Reiki’s starseed, then apparently gone off and taken—eaten—several others from gods only knew how many people.
To say nothing of how Reiki would have risked disappointing Tama.
Although he let himself sigh, Reiki nodded as he stood and smoothed his hands down his skirt. Deep breath—Tama was only asking for this so he could help. A second deep breath—he couldn’t even begin to fix what he hadn’t witnessed for himself. Then, a third—for all the half-attempted meditation registered in Reiki’s mind as Something That Should Have Helped, it wasn’t helping calm Reiki’s heart or ease the tightness in his chest, the terrified bunny trembling of What am I going to do to him, how is my magic going to affect him, what are all the unknown unknowns in Tama’s life that I could trigger without thinking about it because I can’t account for them, because I don’t know what they are—
Even so, he raised his ******** whoever he was—he had to do this.
Reaching out toward Tama, he bent his hand back like always. Felt the magic welling up, chomping at the bit to get out of him—hungry to escape, to fly free, to actually do something besides sitting around, pent-up and unused. He wavered a moment, silently reminding himself that this would all be for the best and that, after hearing Reiki’s multiple hang-ups and myriad of whining complaints about his magic, Tama wouldn’t have asked for this if there were any other option.
Reiki’s hesitation did nothing to quell the storm of magic roiling inside him. Steadied his mind in one regard, only to galvanize the thing Reiki wanted so badly to control. Inflame it with the furious buzz and cries of outrage that preceded riots over the audacity of a thirty-four-year-old Queen-Consort, married off in her teens to a distant cousin, allegedly wondering why the peasants didn’t eat cake if they had no bread. Rouse that force into such a pique that Reiki would’ve sworn he felt it throbbing in time with his thunderous heartbeat. The thought made him so sick, a wild impulse screamed at him to give it up and run.
Yet, he had to do this.
Nothing would ever get any better if he didn’t cooperate with people who, despite having no actual obligation to do so, had inexplicably decided to help him.
Should I apologize? In advance?
I don’t know what this will do to Tama, maybe I should……?
Why does it feel like it’s radioactive or something tonight? There’s no reason……
What if I hit Faustite again—no, it should be fine—Arsenolite and Purple Rain were in close quarters, I didn’t hit either of them—
Before another second thought could hold him up, Reiki grabbed at thin air. Pulled down on the invisible string. Called out, “Gnawing Hunger!”
Quote:
Sailor Scout Attack: Gnawing Hunger. Enemies within 10 feet of him begin to feel a powerful hunger or sense of craving, one they feel cannot be sated, and yet, they are compelled to try. This craving can be for anything—food, drink, affection/intimacy, alcohol or narcotics, the answers to the math homework, etc.—but it is quite distracting. This spell lasts for 25 seconds, and Murikabushi can use it three times per battle.
Meighei
Strickenized
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2022 8:43 am
For awhile, nothing happened.
The Mauvian could practically see the gears working in Murikabushi’s head. He was overthinking this. He should have expected as much. He thought at least basic senshi would give him some heed. But life had its way of reminding him he was practically last on the Chaos totem pole.
Either way, he stood perfectly still waiting for the senshi. He didn’t know how well he’d need to aim and he wasn’t going to provide a moving target. In fact, the whole set up was supposed to be as easy as possible. The Dark Mirror senshi only needed to cast his spell — Tama would brace and steel his mind for the worst.
When the hunger hit, he recognized it for what it was — magic. Quite good magic, to be fair. But magic nonetheless less.
Still, he could feel it filling his mind with thoughts and urges he’d rather keep in check. For one, Murikabushi looked absolutely stunning. Normally, he’s say the senshi was attractive, but now it was as if the man practically shined. All Tama wanted to do was walked straight up to him, sweep him off his feet, and taste his petulant lips.
Luckily, Tama acted on none of this. There was another target in the room for his lust and it was Faustite. Suddenly, Tama noticed things about him that he hadn’t before. His frame was quite boyish and petite looking and the grate that spewed heat looked more like a candle in delicate gilding. Had the general looked that attractive before? Had he merely not noticed? Because…
Right. This is Faustite. You don’t like Faustite.
Tama forced his mind back into the moment and the lesson, but a strange blush in his cheeks remained.
“Hunger is certainly the right word for it. Indiscriminate, too.” He quickly took his gaze off Faustite and back to the senshi and his magic. “Try it again.”
Tama stood just as ready as before, a masochistic grin on his face. The only hint of what had previously affected him was that he made sure not to look in Faustite’s direction again.
Faustite observed from his perch as he swung his foot to and fro. Watched as Murikabushi hesitated, wondered what was going through that boy's mind for how quiet he was during the whole affair, then waited for that magic to be called to work on Tama. He wondered, too, how it would affect Tama if at all. The cat had such a hunger for mischief that he expected that to manifest foremost — probably wandering close and waving his feline a** in Faustite's face to warm it by his fires, or swatting at the rings in his split cape, or attacking his boots. Maybe he'd find a way to jam up Headache's tablet and cause the General even more problems.
But that wasn't what he saw. Murikabushi cast his spell. Faustite began mentally counting the seconds. he looked for visuals, found none. Then he looked at Tama, expecting the cat to begin acting out of turn.
But Tama remained well-behaved (insofar as Tama could behave himself). The fleabag looked at Murikabushi, then at him, then… Blushed? Oh, was it —
Faustite rolled his eyes hard enough that he'd pass out if he went any harder at it. Of all the ******** types of hunger in the world, the cat got afflicted with the <********> type of hunger. Just what they needed — a Mauvian in a rut. And then he wanted to get hit with that attack twice. Faustite wondered if the mangy thing could hold onto its self-discipline long enough to weather a second cast.
The lack of visuals posed a problem, however. Faustite couldn't say when the magic ended with any certainty, but by Tama's call for another round, Faustite estimated it at just under half a minute. Might've been roughly half a minute. Still, it was a helpful enough ballpark to add to the Negaverse Database.
"Piss-ridden mongrel," Faustite muttered under his breath. "'Course you'd show off your self-restraint."
meighei
amorremanet
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2022 3:06 pm
Although he hadn’t been sure of what he was bracing himself for, Reiki had felt certain that the outcome would be truly horrible. He didn’t know what Mauvians hungered for, or what Tama hungered for specifically, but kicking him in those yearnings had to end badly. Whatever Reiki would awaken in Tama, it had to prove some kind of awful, the sort of thing that Tama would not want anybody knowing about him, given his actual druthers……
……and then, it wasn’t.
Maybe it wasn’t quite as nothing ******** happened as Reiki had felt with Kerberos, prior to figuring out what his magic had done to him……but still. Wrinkling his nose and his brow, Reiki could not believe that Tama had barely reacted. Blushing at Faustite, sure, but—did that necessarily mean anything? Maybe it was related to Murikabushi’s magic, but maybe it was just a separate thing? Neither of them seemed to like each other very much, but maybe Tama really did have other feelings underlying that ostensible dislike?
But somewhat more importantly, what the ********>. Why weren’t things going wrong?
His magic was not. allowed. to just……explode all over Fang, and Kerberos, and Faustite, with a threat of ruining people’s lives in the process, then act like it knew how to ******** behave itself when someone was trying to help Murikabushi fix it!
Practically boiling with indignation, magic feeling ready to explode at his fingertips, Murikabushi repeated the gesture and called again, “Gnawing Hunger!”
Murikabushi seemed to feel it more now, allowing some of his feelings to flow into his magic. It was all the better for Tama. He needed to see if there was any variance between casts.
And there was. But it wasn’t in a way that someone who had no control of their magic might.
This time the hunger was different. The yearning was much more… concerning. Or, at least, for someone like the Mauvian who rather hold his cards close to his chest.
He suddenly wanted to be comforted. He wanted someone to bring him tea, run a warm bath and, most importantly, tell him everything would be alright. Everything would be okay. Whisper him sweet nothings, if they had to. Just hold him tight and don’t let go. Never let go…
He found holding his human form rather tedious now. It was as if it was difficult being such a large, human-shaped thing anymore. And, in an instant, he was back into his cat form.
But it was different and that was what was important, even if Tama didn’t like what this particular hunger said about him.
“Pick me up.” He said as he ran circles around Muri’s legs, brushing his fur against his calves and purring, as if he couldn’t stop himself. “Meow ~ just do it.”
Was that cat noise?
“I’ll explain your magic in a minute. Just. Gimme. A. Second.”
Murikabushi blinked at Tama’s sudden change—both in his response to the magic and his change in form. For a decent moment, even managing to pick Tama up as requested felt like a minor miracle on Murikabushi’s part because?? What?? was happening here, exactly?? Of course, he’d acquiesce to the Mauvian’s request without question, but……? Even knowing perfectly well that there were more abstract hungers out there in the universe, the concept of his magic getting something like this to happen?
Something like inspiring Tama to rub up on his legs and ask to be held?
It made no sense, but who was Murikabushi to argue with it? Having no real idea how to hold a cat, much less a Mauvian—Soya, when she went with him anywhere, tended to perch on his shoulder and without being held—Murikabushi went with the posing that felt the most natural: leaning Tama against his chest so he could look over Murikabushi’s shoulder, keeping him supported with one hand and gently rubbing the other down his back.
“It’s okay,” Murikabushi whispered, ruffling his fingertips over the crown of Tama’s head. “However long you need, it’s okay. And—is this alright? I can hold you a different way, if you want?”
Tama purred loudly for a solid thirty seconds before he spoke. He’d never looked more relaxed. He even did that slow blink thing that cats sometimes do.
“There are a number of things about your magic of note.”
The cat said this as he maneuvered in the senshi’s arms to a more dignified perch on his shoulder.
“While your sphere is hunger, your magic is entirely dependent upon the target of the cast.” He seemed no longer affected at all (aside from still being in cat form) as he waved his paw around to make his point. “For example, for the general over there it was physical hunger. For Faustite, it was food — or what counts for it by his standards. Specially, starseeds. For me, the physical hunger was entirely of the carnal kind. At least, for the first cast.”
He jumped off Murikabushi’s shoulder, if only to make things less awkward after what he just admitted to.
“The second is that your magic can vary by cast even on the same individual. For example, your second cast caused a hunger of a more emotional kind. A desire to be comforted. A simple word from you may have even sufficed.”
His voice noted a singular distain, but it wasn’t directed at Muri or his magic, but rather himself.
“A rather… undignified reaction ensued.” At this point, he gave Faustite a very stern look as if to say something along the lines of ‘if you mention any of this to anyone I will personally claw your eyes out’.
Or, that was the closest translation unless you spoke Mauvian.
“The third thing is that the response to your magic seems to be entirely dependent on the individual — at least with the sample size offered — and can even vary between casts. Who knows why. Perhaps, like real hunger, it depends on when one last ate. But it is important to note that your power only truly works on a magical level for about half a minute. Effects lasting longer are entirely tangential and clearly not a central part of the magic itself.”
