"There are less besmirchy ways to summon me, you know!"

Following suit, the Ylissean swordsmaster slide into a fighting stance; crouching slightly with his free hand over his face. Honestly, it felt weird when it wasn’t his sword hand over his face. Hopefully the other didn’t see the small discomfort.

Owain was at the ready when the other spoke. Schezo did have a point. If the two swordsmen did spare here in the open, others could get injured and the buildings could get damaged. Owain stood up, a concerned look over his face. What type of Dark Mage was the other? The Dark Mages he met before coming to Stella had little care about the surroundings. Maybe Schezo wasn’t as dark or evil as he originally thought.

“I think you’re right. If we were to spare here, the sheep and other people could get injured. And my sword hand wouldn’t like to feed on the innocent.” Owain returned his sword to his side and looked over at the Dark Mage. “I’ll follow. I’m still new around here…”

The last statement came out more softer.

Schezo put his sword back in it’s sheath so as to not risk startling the sheep and the innocents as he had been so worried about with the realization he’d made: and a small sigh escaped him at knowing the other was doing the same. Well, that was good. Not that a Dark Mage should be surprised by potential ‘underhanded’ tactics, as dark beings were supposed to use such underhanded ways of winning themselves - why then, should they be granted the mercy of no underhanded things being used against them - but he would prefer to battle against warriors of light with his own strength.

Not lie and get one to lower their guard, then hit while the guard was down - only cowards won that way. Truly powerful mages were confident enough in their ability to not use such underhanded tactics: or involve innocents and people who should not be harmed in their fights, for that matter. At least that was what he, the great Dark Mage thought.

Keeping that to himself, he nodded. “I am glad to see that you agree to that logic! I shall lead the way into those forests of destiny - it is there we shall settle our match. No need to worry: we were all new here at one point, so I feel certain information shall happen along to aid you. ”

✝ : someone… wanting to do these things for him. of course no one was forced to be kind, but sometimes it is done out of obligation. this could very easily be seen as one of those times. he really was nothing more than a teacher to the other, right? in a normal, strictly work relationship, something like this may seem mandatory. yet, he was here because he wanted to be. even after finding out he had just murdered someone. he really couldn’t wrap his head around it no matter how hard he tried. humans were a work of art.

it seems like they’re both having a hard time processing this all. some teacher he is. well, at least he’s quick to recover. that’s better than korekiyo could say for himself right now. 

“no, i should be fine. although, i do have a request of you. when i am in confinement… i want you to bring me a notepad.”

he reached over and held up the worn out book that was resting on his bedside table. 

“this one, to be specific. it is where i keep all my studies. i would not like to falter on them just because i am locked away. i hope that that is not too much to ask.”

Internally, Schezo finds a wave of relief that his teacher did not call him out on being flustered like that: he doesn’t verbally mention it, however, because that would risk his teacher noticing it anyway and he would really, really prefer to avoid that! His hands were tainted with actions of past: what right did he have to claim good words about him?

Also, there was the fact he still had that image to maintain of the ‘cool unruffled’ dark mage, and that he did not want it being public to everyone that the lost, wayward child behind the dramatics actually was quite touched at praise, being so unused to it as he was. 

He was thankful for the conversation change which meant he didn’t have to dwell on it long, in all honesty. It seemed his teacher had a request, and Schezo paid attention, nodding at the request. Make sure to bring the important book to him when the time came for confinement? It was hard to miss the book because of how well loved it was, so he certainly would not forget!

“I’ll deliver it when that time comes, I promise you that. I’ll keep your precious book safe while I bring it to you: you’ve clearly had it a long time and it means a great deal, so I also promise no harm will come to it.”

✝ : even now, he still was just so misinformed. normally, it could become irritating after awhile, but in a time like this, it was almost endearing. he was so overly ridiculous that it was impossible not to laugh at him. his words didn’t do much for him at all, but his absurd train of thought and reasoning was enough to remind korekiyo of the beauty humanity held. how bizarre. he’s never met someone quite like this. 

not only was he visiting him now, but promises of visiting him within prison? he didn’t exactly understand how he became someone worthy of these things within such a short span of knowing him. sure, he promised him that he would teach him, but this level of dedication to someone… it was odd. he didn’t know what was the proper way to feel about it. he’s never had friends let alone someone who would look up to him like this. it almost felt like a responsibility. he wasn’t the one to deserve these types of things regardless. 

“thank you… you do not have to go out of your way to do such things, but… i suppose it’s appreciated.”

he felt like he’s said those words more today than he has in his entire life.

When his teacher speaks of him not having to go out of his way to make such bold promises and proclamations, Schezo shakes his head in firm conviction. “While it may be true I do not have to - I want to.” A short sentence from his overly-long dramatics for once, but still as blunt and dramatic as any other, and it carries the point quite clearly.

Sometimes, though very rare - Schezo being as direct as he was ended in good things, not misunderstandings. It seemed not was one of those times - though the appreciation made Schezo pause. He honestly wasn’t used to praise and what-not, but didn’t want to betray feeling awkward about it as a dark mage could not let slip such ‘weaknesses’ in their armor: despite him not having his powers here, the habit of holding back emotion was one he was unlikely to break easily.

All from here. Adjust as necessary.

✝ : he wasn’t sure what the other was doing at first, or what the exact purpose of it was. his hair was fine underneath the headband he constantly wore. it was simply wavy and full. it was actually quite nice. before he explained it, all he did was blankly stare at him. although, the reason invoked a reaction that he hasn’t genuinely done in so long.

he laughed. 

it was such a silly, pointless thing to prove to him, just to make him feel better or more secure. that’s not only the first time someone’s done that for him, but it was also uncalled for. he wasn’t even laughing at his hair, just the whole concept of this meaning to make him feel better. it was such a small thing, but it was wildly amusing. his absolute distaste for his own hair went so much deeper than just having wavy hair and it being annoying, but maybe that’s what made this even more amusing. 

averting his eyes back to his lap, there was remnants of a smile on masked lips. the possibility of him being completely blind to the people he’s connected with was only becoming more prominent, and honestly, it made him feel a bit foolish. he didn’t think anyone would actually bother to care about him and so he did the same. he didn’t know how to form bonds and he didn’t care to. seems like that was unavoidable. not going through hard times alone, huh? he was forced to do that his whole life. now shouldn’t be any different, but perhaps… the sentiment was nice.

“i suppose i’ve become rather immune to dealing with things on my own… but i am a person who keeps promises when he can, and i will continue to teach you about the ways of humans once i am freed. you will have to wait for quite some time, i apologize.”

Schezo, being as poorly informed as he was when it came to human interaction - of course, had no idea or even the slightest inkling that his over-dramatics were uncalled for in such a case as this. All he knew was that he wanted to help his teacher feel more secure in one of the best ways he knew to do with that limited knowledge, hence his actions: but for a moment, the Dark Mage’s stoic ‘mask’ he put forth faltered to show an expression of concern. Just for a moment, because his teacher looked blank-faced. H-had he not made his intentions clear enough?

Perhaps he needed to try another angle, because he simply could not stand and do nothing - but it was the other suddenly laughing that reassured Schezo’s worry and put that usual dramatic (stupidly infectious) grin back on his face. Aha! He’d reassured his teacher enough that not only was he smiling - he was laughing! He’d call that an amazing success: he’d never seen the other smile, let alone laugh before.

To make someone happy, instead of tainting or stealing powers like he did long ago before Arle stopped him..it was a strange feeling, one the Dark Mage was not used to. He was used to others fearing him, or treating his actions with disdain. It felt like a light inside - but not the burning sort of light he’d normally feel if he tried to use Light Magic. A pleasant warmth that filled all over? It was hard to explain, but he could certainly get used to such a feeling.

In fact, he couldn’t help a bout of laughter escaping from himself at it.

“Heh heh heh... it is good to know my words affected you as such, teacher.”

That said, he paused to listen when his teacher next spoke, but nodded in firm determination once the explanation of waiting had been given. “I shall wait a thousand lifetimes if need be for your sake, teacher!! I, too, am a man of my word...so I promise that, and that I will visit you even when you are confined!”

It’s the situation that feels strange, mostly because of how certain things are worded, less so the mobile device that the other’s holding. Of course, Makoto says nothing about it and doesn’t have a sudden change of heart; he’s offered to help and he’s not one to back down when things seem to get tough. If anything, he makes a mental note to be a bit more thorough in his explanations and to make sure that there are no loopholes left. That and, he should also be sure to not leave any open space for strange interpretations.

If he could do that, remained to be seen.

“It really depends on the model, I mean– I can show you how mine works after we’re done with the one you picked, if you want? It’s newer and it has the voice recognition option that I told you about,” granted, it didn’t always work as smoothly as one might think.

“I didn’t mean that I wanted to hold hands, I…” he blinks once, twice then three times over and then shakes his head. That’s a bit embarrassing. It doesn’t stop Makoto from retrieving the phone from the other’s hold, careful to avoid as much of the aforementioned hand holding as possible; he didn’t want to give the wrong impression.

“Let’s see,” he moved to stand side by side with the other and held the phone in front of them, making sure that they both got a good view of it. “We’ll start out easy, okay? Closing and opening it is done in the same way, so you push the same two buttons to open–” and he demonstrated by pressing the center button, then the one with the asterisk from the bottom. Immediately, the screen of the phone flashed with color and a message popped up on it, notifying that the phone was now unlocked. “See? That’s how you unlock it and then, if you want to close it, you press the same buttons.”

“Ah...so to summarize how the invention of this human item came to be, the older models which require hand-to-item contact to make them work came first, and the ones able to summon via voice came after? Yes, yes...I understand of these summoning devices a little better now! That makes sense!” It was good to know his guess of matters had been somewhat correct, and the Dark Mage nodded in a small moment of glee.

Though the fact that he’d gotten the second part completely wrong was a damper on that enthusiasm. Oh, he’d been so sure that was what it had sounded like? Human interaction certainly never would be one of his ‘strong’ points! He holds the phone out carefully, though, unshaking in his chase for a explanation despite the mess-ups.

He observed carefully...it seemed like you poked at certain symbols on the strange summoning circle (more like a summoning ‘rectangle’ from the shape), that was how you activated the summoning object’s ‘energies’? It seemed you closed the energy flow off the same way. “Can you summon anyone with these? Like...people even from other realms? I should very much like to have a few words with those from my realm again!”

✝ : there was so much to process in what simultaneously felt like such a short amount of time but also a lifetime. everything prior to this point was thought out so logically that this completely derailed him. there was too much to think out, too much to plan, too much to understand. every time he tried his brain would just turn to complete tv static. it was terribly overwhelming. after having two visitors, he was sure that’d be the end of it, and even then two was more than he thought would come. the town knew his true colors now. who would approach him from this point on? bonds and connections were never important to korekiyo, but as someone who studies humans, it is very difficult to do so when you cannot get near them. everything just seemed very hopeless. 

as he heard footsteps coming towards the room, he instinctively went to cover his hair. he didn’t want people to look at him like this. what people normally thought about his exterior never mattered, but his hair was his prized possession. without that, he felt wrong. yet, there was nothing he could use to cover his head unless he wanted to wrap the blanket around it. it was too late anyway. 

yet another surprise. someone he wasn’t expecting at all. a very peculiar man who he made his disciple after finding out his lack of human knowledge. it was an offer made lightheartedly, but it seems the other took it quite seriously. did he really make connections with all these people and he just had no idea? was he really that blind to emotion? 

all he could do was blink at the flowers. black roses. it fit his aesthetic perfectly. he’d been faking smiles for so long, that it should be easy to do the same again, but it was so, so hard. 

“you didn’t have to do that, but… thank you.” 

people were. so strange. yet so fascinating. 

Schezo blinked a moment - somewhat surprised. Yes, he’d heard on the news that whatever had happened was bad bad, so of course his teacher would have sustained some injuries - but he was so used to seeing the other with the longer hair, it was something he wasn’t used to, seeing the shorter hair? He was, at least, observant enough to see the vague attempts the other had made of hiding it before he’d come in, though.

Sighing, Schezo - without a moment’s hesitation - took his headband off. 

Suprisingly...he actually had somewhat wavy hair tucked under that thing. Was that why he wore it ALL the time and never took it off? Huh. The more you know? “There, now you don’t have to feel uneasy about me telling anyone, if you are uneasy of your hair’s current looks, teacher. After all, if I were to do it now, you could tell everyone that the ‘great Dark Swordsman of shadows, Schezo’ actually has abominably wavy hair in retaliation, so we’re even now.”

He paused to put his headband back on, then try and find a place to gently set the flowers, but the other speaking stopped him before he could put the flowers down.

“Do you not remember that promise of teaching me of humanity? I do! One should take care to support one’s teachers - granted, we do not know one another beyond that aspect, but I still wish to expand that support! Besides that first point, I am a mage who walks with blade in hand - and I have done so on such a many path alone that I know that having to go through hard times alone is not an ordeal anyone should have to face.”

A pause, before he gave a small, confident nod.

“I may not know of normal things most humans know, but I do know that much!”