clan.

Knowing that Adolphe is calmed by him makes him happy, too. "I know," he murmurs. "You've done the same for me... I was so scared of everything before I got to know you. Now I have someone I can trust no matter what..." He flicks his ear against Adolphe's cheek in response. "Night, Adolphe... thanks for spending time with me." Even if he is going to be sore and bruised tomorrow. Well, more bruised than he is already.

Salome is already moving to her study with a stern nod. "I'll prepare some remedies right away."

“I see… but if I apply a rune to myself, is it possible that other people will sense it? Like with you…” Blinking, he takes Momonashi’s hand with a nod, then jumps back when a deluge of water suddenly soaks him? “Ah? Sorry…” Apologizing even though it was Momonashi’s intention all along is just like him. The fur on his tail stands on end at the splash of water, too. In this form, he doesn’t mind getting wet, but there’s still a tiny bit of cat instinct that makes him want to flinch away from it. “Oh… hmm. I see. Well, you didn’t have to do all that…” Absently, he raises his arm to dab off Momonashi’s face with his sleeve, then hesitates. “Um, is there a towel somewhere? I could…”

"You don't need to do that. I'm quite fine, you see. I'm in human form, but I've chosen to align the way I regulate body temperature with my other form. It's convenient." Momonashi crosses a leg over the other, placing the pen on the table. "Now, as for your question, the only one who will sense it is the caster. Until the rune is activated, of course. But you can adjust the requirements for rune activation... for the one I just showed you, I created it so that it would be activated with pressure." Momonashi shows his palm, where the rune has disappeared. "That was a temporary one, but you can make it last longer, of course. And... hm, you can make a rune invisible as well. That requires slightly more magic. Lastly... I mentioned that you need permission from Tachibana-san to place a rune on her, but if your own magic is powerful enough, you would not need anyone's permission to place a rune on their bodies."

He stands to turn off the water, taking a towel for himself and wrapping one tenderly around Adolphe’s shoulders. “I would never be able to get through any of this without you. When I think I’m going to break from exhaustion, you’re there, and I…” A lump forms in his throat, and he sniffles. “Let’s get in bed. I know how you feel about my crying… another one of your perversions.” He chuckles. “I wish this could last forever… this nice relaxed feeling. But I promise… when things are settled, I’m going to get that lazy day in bed with you.”

Adolphe clears his throat to try and regain any semblance of maturity. As he tries himself off with the towel that his partner has graciously given him, he can't help but reach out to pinch his nose. "I'll always be here for you... perversions kept at bay and all." The two exit the bathroom and dress themselves into sleep clothes, before Adolphe tugs the mouse-beast into bed with him, looping an arm protectively around his waist. "I have to admit, the thought of a lazy day before all this made me feel restless already. Now, I'm looking forward to it than I ever have before." He sighs, resting his cheek against one of Mathis' ears. "... Aside from that, you've also kept me steady, you know?" That inexplicable ability for his emotions to calm in Mathis' presence is quite amazing to him.

A rune linked to the speed of her heartbeat... no, he can't accept that, either. Sou-chan, I want to create one for you too, so I can keep track of you, she'll say, and then she'll know that his heart goes crazy around her. And then he'll have to just die. "I see... a tracking spell seems like it would work. Could you teach me something like that? Even if it takes a while... I'll study it." Soshiro nods. "Um, she... will. She wanted something like that on me anyway. This way, we can protect each other in a mutual way... I think she would accept that."

"I'm sure you know the basics to rune magic. Therefore, I will talk about what's not spoken in our academy books." Momonashi pulls out a fountain pen, quite elegant in design and clearly imbued with magic. "We use runes for defense and transportation magic... you might have seen some on the way here, in fact. However, precedent dictates that runes are only applied to inanimate objects. It's unheard of to apply to to a living being. That being said..." Momonashi opens his right hand and draws a rune on his palm, humming idly to himself. The magical symbol glows briefly before it disappears, a tiny shudder running down his spine. Then, he offers his right hand to Soshiro, keeping his thin smile. "A demonstration, Yonaga-kun. Please shake my hand again... ah, I promise I will not hurt you." It's much too early to mess with Soshiro like that. But Momonashi is not against messing around with himself. So, that being said, if he shakes his hand, then Momonashi will be doused with water.

Mathis sighs, taking a small dollop of shampoo into his palms and massaging it into Adolphe's hair. "I'll try not to pull." With a tiny flinch, he manages to meet Adolphe's gaze when he's fiddling with his hair. "Adolphe... careful." He won't even be able to put his hair up in public if Adolphe keeps nibbling on him. "I see... well... I think it'll be a while before I can... manage that kind of confidence all the time. But I'll try..." Mathis is glad to at least be able to have these kinds of conversations. "I like when you get flustered about it... you're cute when you, um, are at a loss for words." See, he can dish it back. A little.

His hair isn't as long as Mathis', but it's a pleasant feeling to have his scalp rubbed. That being said, it's hard not to get a little embarrassed when they're face-to-face like this. Sex is one thing, but the quiet and peaceful intimacy of being in each other's space and lightly teasing each other is far more daunting to Adolphe. When the brunet retreats back to his original position, he rests his arms on Mathis' knees and leans forward with a huff. "You can pull my hair, if you're into that." He grins, kissing the corner of Mathis' lips as his own type of retaliation for the teasing. "Hm... you're the only one who can get away with calling me cute. Hope you enjoy that kind of power, sir Mathis." Don't let his smug ass grin fool anyone, he's very much trying to hide a flustered heartbeat underneath it all.

The idea of allowing Kisa into his obsessive thoughts is absolutely out of the question. "I can't just ask for her blood," Soshiro murmurs, then balks at his suggestion. "A-Ah? Intimacy?" Like what Kisa was doing when he was in that other body, and...? "N-No, I wasn't intending anything like that... I just wanted to be able to... sense if she was in danger, so I could help her... something like that." Soshiro smiles weakly. "No telepathy, then... maybe I could help with potions? Or... hm. I'm not sure. I want to help her with everything..." He probably sounds ridiculous. "Do you have any suggestions, Momonashi-kun? You have so much more experience than me."

Unfazed by the implications, Momonashi smiles. "Though I believe I can assist you in your predicament. If you wish to sense when she is in danger, you could create a rune that's designed to link towards the speed of her heart. The downside to that is the rune would get activated in situations where she's nervous or excited, and not necessarily in danger. Or..." He tilts his head, genuinely intrigued by the desires that Soshiro has which allows Momonashi to explore his own creativity. "A rune in conjunction with a tracking spell. The rune activates when it senses she's in danger, and the tracking spell allows you to find her location. Though that's a more advanced skill to learn... and it's difficult because it's not exactly subtle. Tachibana-san would have to give you permission to access her magic."

Mathis sighs. "Did you wash your hair while I was being pampered? Sorry I couldn't help..." A sigh. "...What about my hair up is erotic? Is it because my neck is exposed?" It probably embarrasses Adolphe further, but he's curious! What if he writes a romance novel one of these days and needs to know the reason?

"Ah, I forgot." Oops. Adolphe kneels in front of Mathis, leaning forward with a smile. "You wanna do my hair then? Makes us even... hm." Oh, he's still stuck on Adolphe's weird kinks, huh? Duly noted. With a flat look, Adolphe reaches up and moves Mathis' hair away from his neck. "Yes, part of it is because your neck is exposed and it makes me want to do this." He leans forward and bites the nape of his neck, leaving a tiny mark. "The other reason is because it... I dunno. It's like the same energy as when you're translating. It makes you look... confident and focused." Also very attractive to him.

"I have no desire to use you for any reason... I live to serve my master." Soshiro shrugs awkwardly. Befriending Momonashi seems like the quicker path towards helping Kisa, anyway. "Yes, it was a potion... huh?" His ears flick. "My scent...? So, you're like Suzu-kun, then? You have heightened senses even in this form?" That's a bit unsettling to consider. "Is there a way to... use magic to make my connection to Ki... my master even stronger? Like... telepathy? Without, um, without her having access to every thought..."

At the query, Momonashi chuckles and flicks his tongue out, exposing the forked tip briefly to "smell" before retreating. "You had oyakodon for dinner last night. It lingers faintly in your hair." He tilts his head. "Comparing me to Orimaki-kun is... quite interesting. But yes, I've learned the skills required to combine this form and my animal form." He's not very interested in turning into a snake in front of Soshiro though. "Hm... telepathy is an all-access pass to those thoughts, I'm afraid. The simplest way to strengthen your connection to Tachibana-san is by ingesting her blood." It's crude, but the most effective. "Or sharing your magic with each other, which does require a bit of intimacy." Momonashi blinks at him. "Unless I misread your intentions, and you truly did just mean something along the lines of communicating more with her."

He sighs. "Is Camille actually getting to you after all? I'll kick his ass." And he means that. "I want to see your sides, Adolphe... even if some of those sides are perverted. We can keep that between us... it's safe. It's not like I want others to know those things about me, either..."

Adolphe considers the concern briefly. "... Mhh. I don't like admitting it, but maybe... a little. It's not worth acknowledging anything he says, but I can't deny that there's some truth to it." The brunet gets to his feet, grabbing the shower spout and rinsing off the suds of soap from his partner's body. "But I won't let his words separate us... you might have to deal with my clumsiness now and then, but I'm way past running away from you." He chuckles quietly, patting the top of his head. "Besides, I've tied you to my existence. So..." The threat of death might be distant, but Adolphe remains serious in those vows he made to Mathis when he had returned from his possession.

He sits down nervously. "Not to make you trust me less, but logically speaking... I don't think blackmail would have helped. If I had tried to expose you to our class, it probably would have bounced right back in my face, and I would have been accused of lying. You're the one with a good reputation... I don't have much clout." May as well admit that before Momonashi thinks too highly of him. "Similiarities? Such as... being unsatisfied with the limitations of being a familiar?"

"Hm... your logic is sound. But I believe you underestimate the extent to which others might be willing to step on each other to achieve glory. As the saying goes... the higher one climbs, the harder they fall." There's plenty of people who would take advantage of that knowledge to knock Momonashi from his pedestal. Not that he would blame them. He would do the same thing if it meant he could be closer to Chui. "... Yes. Dissatisfaction." Might as well go with that, since it probably wouldn't come off great if he launched into a tangent about his childhood. "I assume the blindness was induced by a potion rather than a spell. I could taste a bit of mugwort from your scent." Momonashi taps the book. "How did you want to improve your alchemy? Potency? Duration? Type?"

"W-Well, sorry..." They just had sex, and Adolphe is getting flustered because his hair is up? Is that really the correct priority here? "Um, I don't get what you're so worked up about... I mean, we're together. I want you to be... attracted to me...?" Shouldn't this not be a problem? "Adolphe, please. I... like knowing that I, u-um... t-turn you on, I guess. Um, I'd like to know your preferences, so... there's no reason to get so strange about it."

With a tiny bit of courage, gaze still averted, Adolphe reaches out and holds Mathis' hand. "Most of all, I'm afraid that... the more I express myself, that there'll be sides of me that are... unpleasant to see." He sighs again, closing his eyes. He feels like he's falling back into old patterns sometimes, which he hates. At the same time, he supposes that this kind of vulnerability he wouldn't have allowed in the past (actually, he would have just run away altogether).

Honestly, he understands where Momonashi is coming from. "Well, I don't know you well enough to know if you're humble," Soshiro teases back with a helpless smile. "Mm... I understand. I don't feel like I can do enough to help my master as I am now..." Maybe he shouldn't speak of his master like this, lest he garner envy from Momonashi. "Why did you choose me...? And why did you help me? When..." Soshiro swallows. "When I was blinded... surely you could tell. You could have taken advantage of me, but... you helped."

Momonashi takes a seat at one of the stools, opening a spellbook to a page detailing the specifics of potions that alters bodies. "And... in a way, you earned my trust. I used my magic around you intentionally, and you did not breathe a word of it to others, nor did you blackmail me with that knowledge. Your life would have been significantly easier if you had used the advantage of my reputation to protect yourself..." Momonashi glances up at him, and smiles. "Lastly, I sense that we have some... similarities between us. I could not help myself, even if my senses were inaccurate."

...But he's curious at heart. "It makes me look...?" Mathis turns around to blink his wet eyelashes at Adolphe. "You're always scolding me for not finishing my sentences... makes me look... what?" Experimentally, Mathis gathers his wet locks and holds them up from his neck, staring at Adolphe. "Like this...? How do I look, exactly?"

He promised to not ravage him. He promised! So, Adolphe musters all his strength to calm the rapid beating of his heart, cheeks flushing red as he simply stares for way too long. The combination of Mathis' appearance being soaked and having his hair up is... damn. His eyelashes are so pretty too? Adolphe hates his own horniness. Eventually, what snaps him out of it is the warm line of blood that drips from his nose. Adolphe lifts his hands to cover the lower half of his face, hastily looking away. "E-Erotic! It looks erotic, okay!!!"

A bit embarrassed, he looks away. "Why is someone like you rebelling against convention like this? I can't help but wonder..."

"Hmm... you're referring to the fact that I'm an elite student, correct?" He hums. "But that is the very reason why I would rebel. I maintain the right decorum no matter the setting, but I'm not quite as humble as you or others might believe me to be. I have all these capabilities, but I cannot act without the permission of a witch." Momonashi lifts his hand, summoning a tiny yellow flame. "... Well, that, and I wish to draw the attention of the witch I desire to be my master. In order to do that, I must achieve greater heights, and I cannot do that with the current conventions that have been set upon me."

Trying to shake off his embarrassment, Mathis relaxes on the stool as the warm water pours over them both, closing his eyes as Adolphe massages his scalp. "Thank you..." He does try to take good care of his hair, so he's glad it's acknowledged. "O-Oh... mn, that feels nice..." For some reason, he hadn't really considered that he could ask Adolphe to shampoo his ears too, but it's the only fur on him, and it feels so good. A mortifying tiny sound between a squeak and a sigh leaves his lips. "Hmm...? You want me to keep it long?" Mathis hadn't intended to cut his hair, but he's surprised to hear Adolphe express a preference like that. Another good sign that he's expressing himself. "Well, I wasn't thinking about cutting it short... but I, um, didn't realize you liked it that much."

As usual, he falls into the role of caretaker too easily. But Adolphe likes to think that any opportunity to dote on his adorable partner is done out of care than obligation. "If... it's not much trouble to keep it long," Adolphe mutters. "It suits you... I like the way it frames your face. And I like running my hands through it, when we're cuddling or... doing other things." His stupid little heart decides to skip a beat as he expresses his admiration for his partner's hair. "Pretty color, and anytime you tie it up, it makes you look er..." Realizing that's a bit too depraved, Adolphe coughs pointedly. With a sigh, he massages soap over Mathis' body next, cleaning off sweat and other substances without the intention of teasing.

"I... do, but..." Soshiro takes Momonashi by the arm and angles him so that he's only facing Soshiro. "I... don't really know what to do in crowds like this," he admits softly, his ears twitching in embarrassment. "And I'm not particularly strong in magic, other than theory... could you potentially... teach me?" That way, if they work together, Soshiro can ask other questions, such as the obvious why that's been hovering over him since he was invited to this place.

Momonashi hums. "What type of magic are you most interested in, Yonaga-kun? Elemental? Alchemy? Illusion?" Of course, there's too many different types to name them all, so Momonashi doesn't bother. "My specialty is in shadow magic, though I have an average level of understanding in all the domains. I hope it will be of use to you."