I read through my character sheet with my mouth hanging open. "Oh wow, that is so cool. I guess I hit level one at some point? Maybe that's why I'm still here."
Paz nodded eagerly. "Sure! Did you kill someone?"
I remembered Sumnor. "Yeah. There was this piece of shit slaver named Sumnor." My stomach gave a threatening flip-flop at the memory. "I felt that surge of power right after, but it was different. It made me sick to my stomach."
"Huh, very interesting." Paz was absent-mindedly tracing her fingers up and down my thigh as she thought. Which was all well and good for her, but it was distracting as hell for me and I couldn't put two thoughts together. "My guess would be that the magic feels differently to you depending on the source and type. Like you took Sumnor's energy when you killed him, which gave you a level up, and nausea when you sub-consciously channeled it into your mana. What do you think, does that make sense?"
"I, uh.." I giggled nervously, "I honestly can't hold any thoughts in my head at the moment." My face was flushed as my eyes darted down to her fingers that were inches from the fire raging between my thighs.
Paz laughed and pulled her hand away. "Sorry."
I whimpered and stuck my tongue out at her. "I wasn't complaining."
She gave me that complex smile of hers that says so much without saying anything. "One day." I nodded agreement.
"So, how about yours? Can I see it?" I got excited and reached for her wrist without thinking.
Paz pulled her arm away and looked guiltily at me. "That.. would fall under The Talk."
I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I wasn't thinking. Sorry. Just more to explore with you in future. You're layered. Like a parfait."
She smiled blankly and tilted her head. "W-what's a parfait?"
"Oh, uh.. like an onion?"
Her nose wrinkled in that cute way that makes my knees weak. "I don't want to be like an onion! Those are gross!" She paused, and considered her own words. "Have I actually had an onion? All I can remember is slop."
I blew out a long, long breath of frustrated air. "Yeah, slop is all I can remember too. And as a chef, it breaks my soul to admit that."
She rubbed at her eyes and looked like she was holding back tears. "I'm sorry that you've been trapped in this Hell with me." She huffed and forced a weak smile. "Well, not literal Hell, that's about a thousand miles that way." She pointed toward a corner of the room.
I pulled her close and gently kissed her. "I couldn't ask for better company to spend eternity trapped with. And I still believe that we'll find a way out. Somehow."
She gasped as her eyes went wide and she slapped her hand against her forehead; a very me thing to do. "Fuck! I had an idea while you were sleeping and then I forgot it!" She sat up and pulled me up with her. She was getting really excited and I was getting really excited because her excitement is contagious. She sat on my lap, intertwined her fingers with mine and gazed into my eyes. Her breasts pressed up against mine in a very distracting way. "Okay, teach me that song you're always humming."
"Oh, okay!" I thought for a minute and then whispered the notes under my breath. "Down A, Down A, Right Down, Right Down." Hm hm, hm hm; hmm hmm, hmm hmm. I ran through it a few times with Paz repeating notes until she had it down.
"Hm hm, hm hm; hmm hmm, hmm hmm."
"Hm hm, hm hm; hmm hmm, hmm hmm."
As we hummed together, the room started shaking and splitting as cracks formed in the walls. I could feel the magic building inside me like waves crashing against a levee and threatening to flood over it. Paz kissed me, our lips locking together as we hummed into each other's mouth.
The door crashed open and the demon monstrosity charged into the room. ~Second girl back? No cause trouble!~ He growled and came running for us.
Without breaking the kiss or stopping the song, Paz turned her gaze to the demon and reached out her arm as if she wanted to pull him closer. A giant spectral hand formed in the air behind the demon and swiped down, scooping him up between its massive fingers. Paz clenched her fist and there was a sickening crunch as demon blood squished everywhere and dripped out between the spectral fingers.
So this feels like a good moment to mention that the spells I've cast so far; Mote of Light, Friends, and Tail Strike, have all been cantrips. Essentially they're magical party tricks. As my mana weaved together with Paz's and she channeled the fifth tier spell Spectral Hand while neither of us had anywhere close to enough levels or spell points to cast such a powerful spell, I felt like I was being forcibly pulled inside out. I bit her lip, hard.
"Fuck!" She pulled away and pressed fingers against her bleeding lip. "You bit me! I can't believe you bit me." She mumbled through her fingers.
"You tried to suck my uterus out through my mouth!" We both started giggling madly as the nerves and adrenaline settled.
She looked down at the broken demon corpse and spit. Her face was a mask of pure HATRED so unlike her, that I didn't even recognize it. "Piece of shit." She turned back to me and sheepishly smiled, instantly melting back into the Paz I knew so well. "Sorry." She mumbled.
"It's really okay. I understand." Her eyes closed and she purred as I gently ran my fingers along her cheek.
She opened those beautiful emeralds and focused them on me again. "So, are you ready for the main event?"
A very complicated look settled on her face; fear, trepidation, and resignation. This was my last chance to ask. She knew I was going to ask; I had to ask about the elephant in the room that I had been pointedly ignoring ever since we met. Instead, I pointedly ignored it and nodded. "Yup, let's blow this Popsicle stand!"
She opened her mouth in confusion and then closed it, deciding not to ask about my Earth reference. And then, when she realized that I wasn't going to ask about the thing she had been dreading this entire time, she settled on an affectionate expression that said 'I just realized I love a complete idiot.'
"Hold onto your butts." I started humming along with her as we renewed our kiss. She shrugged and slid her hands under me, digging her fingers into the soft cheeks of my butt. I giggled into her mouth.
The wind picked up around us, turning into a gale as the magic swirled and built and climbed ever higher. It lashed at us over and over and I was afraid we would be torn apart, but then suddenly we were falling into darkness. The darkness gave way to stars. Stars in every direction as we slowly tumbled through space. I felt twelve immeasurable, incomprehensible minds turn and focus on us. And then we landed on top of Marn.