Our days settled into an endless repetition of eat not enough, sleep, make out like teenagers, and invent games that we could play in the near total darkness.
One 'morning' we were laying in bed and softly talking. Her fingers were following the familiar ritual of tracing my cheeks and lips, exploring my entire face when she sighed. "I wish so very much that I could see you."
I nodded against her fingers. "I wish it with all my heart."
She pulled me close and kissed me. I started to return the gesture but then I felt a tingling wave building in my body that was entirely different from the tingles she gave me. Then it surged up through me, lighting every nerve ending on fire.
"FUCK!" We screamed together in agonizing pain as a mini star seemed to be born in the room and we were completely blinded. We threw ourselves face down into the bedding and lay there whispering reassurances and sweet nothings to each other for a good twenty minutes.
In small, measured steps, I very slowly exposed myself to slivers of light until I finally sat all the way up. I blinked the tears out of my eyes and fully opened them. I felt kinda silly when I realized it was nothing more than a Mote of Light cantrip. It had felt like sticking my head in the sun after weeks/months/years of complete darkness.
"You good?" I turned to Paz.
"Y-yeah. Yeah, I'm good." She wiped the tears out of her eyes, turned to me and gasped. Her hand came up to cradle my cheek as she whispered to me. "Fuck me, you are stunningly gorgeous!"
I blushed fiercely. "Right back at you."
We sat in comfortable silence for several minutes, just drinking in each other's beauty. I realized that at some point, she had started washing herself in the water trough. She was no longer buried alive under dirt and grime. Paz had fiery red hair, emerald green eyes, and quite understandably the fairest skin I had ever seen. Of course after all the time down here, I was pretty close to pastel pink myself.
I was standing by the water trough, giving our bedding a sponge bath. Paz walked up from behind, wrapped her arms around me, and kissed my neck.
"Where do you think it's coming from?"
"Hmm?" I turned a little to look at her over my shoulder. "Where is what coming from?"
"The light, of course!" She gestured at the little mote as it hovered nearby. "Are you making it?"
"Oh no," I shook my head, "I can't do mag-" I cut myself off as the memory of what Bethul'Dyr had said in the tent so very long ago re-surfaced in my brain. I frowned, could I be making it? "Could I be making it?"
"Well, I know it's not me! And it didn't happen before you arrived." She tried to poke at it for the thousandth time and her finger still passed right through it.
I fluffed out the bedding and sat down on it. "It started right after we wished for it. And then we kissed and I felt a surge of energy go through me."
She sat down in my lap and wrapped her arms around me. "So then, you did do it! I wonder what else you can do?"
"Huh, I guess so. But I'm still not sure how I'm doing it." I hummed quietly to myself as I got lost in thought. She was staring intently over my shoulder, her nose scrunched up in the cutest fucking way. "Gods Above, you're so beautiful." I whispered in her ear and reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. She snorted contemptuously.
Paz smacked me on the arm. "What'd you stop for?"
I pouted. "I call you beautiful and you hit me?"
She focused on me and her cheeks glowed with embarrassment. "Sorry. I get carried away figuring things out."
I smiled at her. "I know. It's adorable. So what are you figuring?"
She lit up, got really excited, and started bouncing on my lap. "Oh! I think I know what you are!"
I tilted my head. "What I am?"
She nodded vigorously. "Yes! You know, your class. The way you can do the things you can do. Or could do, once you get some more experience. I think you're a Spell-Song Weaver!" Huh. That wasn't something in the base game rules or anything I had ever written.
I stared at her, my eyebrows drawing together. "One day, we're going to talk about how you know the things you know that you shouldn't know."
She deflated and her voice got quiet as she avoided my gaze. "I said we would. Once we're out of here."
I nodded and smiled at her. "So tell me about my class?"
She lit up again and resumed bouncing in my lap. "It's the rarest class in the world! You have access to every school of magic and you can weave them together in ways that ordinary mages can't even dream of. You can also weave together the mana of multiple mages. Your primary spellcraft component is song. That's why shit happens when you hum. Like a minute ago, the light was glowing brighter and brighter because you were humming."
Huh, like the doe. She was completely docile until I stopped humming to speak. "So wait.. did I bring myself here? The first time, I had been experiencing weird effects whenever they used Divine magic around me. And I showed up here right after Hannah tested a strong spell on me."
Paz looked like a bobble head as she nodded along. "Yes, that's quite possible. I guess your heart was drawn to me."
I blushed and she blushed and then we kissed.
We were lounging around on the bed, counting the bumps on the stone ceiling.
"Four million, two hundred and fifty three thousand, six hundred and thirteen." She declared decisively.
"Nah, you missed three."
She gave a long, pained sigh. "One. Two. Three."
"So.. why have I been able to stay so long this time, but not the first time?"
"Hmm.." Paz gave up counting for the day and drifted off in thought for a few minutes. And then she suddenly grabbed my hand and yanked.
"Ack!" I yelped and rolled on top of her.
Her cheeks turned pink. "Umm, not exactly what I was going for."
I kissed her and then flopped over onto my side next to her. "So, what's up?" She pressed two fingers against my wrist and glowing blue glyphs appeared, floating just above her fingers.
Name:Alexis StevensProfession:Chef / Dungeon Master / AdventurerSex:Yes, pleaseHair:BlondeEyes:Sapphire blueClass:Spell-Song WeaverLevel:1Strength:6Dexterity:16Constitution:15Intelligence:13Wisdom:9Charisma:19Hit points:8Spell points:5Special abilities:Song of Starlight / SymphonyCantrips known:Friendship / Mote of Light / Perfect Seasoning / Tail StrikeFirst tier spells known:Flame Breath / Mine!Second tier spells known:-Third tier spells known:-Fourth tier spells known:-Fifth tier spells known:-Sixth tier spells known:-Seventh tier spells known:-Eighth tier spells known:-Ninth tier spells known:-Tenth tier spells known:Astral Teleportation