Private Finished An eye for an eye

As Caissa advanced, Tilly sunk back a little ways in the chair. She wasn’t some pent-up catholic with delusions of sin and purity, but she still had her reservations… She also still wasn’t entirely sure Caissa wouldn’t tear her throat out with her teeth or something if given half a chance. When she tried to look at her with her wizard’s senses, she sensed absolutely nothing at all. Had her dad really just given her brains?

”You say you’ve been watching me, so I guess you know I can handle myself.” She assured her, still avoiding eye contact, her face once again growing flushed at the physical contact. She blinked, and her eyes widened a bit. Caissa was doing it on purpose, but Tilly hadn’t meant to use a double entendre.

Shying away from Caissa’s cage, she felt like a cornered animal. Her eyes were firmly glued to the box, which she fumbled in her hands, opening it and rifling through the contents. ”I don’t really have anything flashy, mostly just bands and chains. They’re cheaper and easy to work with. Take your pick.” She said abruptly, practically shoving the box in her face.

”I was more concerned about assorted demon powers. Super strength, and stuff. Nothing personal.” She said frankly, retreating so far back into her chair she practically stuck between the cushions. Her explanation came out in a hurried, babbling slew, ”Spent a year waiting for you to try to kill me. Struggling to reconcile you aren’t.”

At this distance, she was able to get a good look at Caissa’s teeth, and impulsively checked to see if they were pointed. She couldn’t remember which kind of demon had those, and it wasn’t a fact important enough to check her library for. And, anyways, Caissa seemed completely comfortable just up and telling her all of her abilities. As it were, she already knew most of them, which was startling. The only one that surprised her was the bit about not breathing. Seemed a bit out of place, but Paimon moves in mysterious ways apparently.

”Literally no physical powers? No claws, no throwing trucks, no-” She began, surprised, but her words trailed off as Caissa’s hands wrapped around her neck again. She half expected a sudden jerk. Or maybe for her windpipe to be crushed. Get her all flustered and stupid and drunk on power and then off her while she was vulnerable. That certainly seemed to be Caissa’s style.

”Y-yeah. Fun.” She stuttered, her eyes finally meeting Caissa’s. ”I’m eager to see what you have planned.” She had nowhere to run. She felt stupid for letting herself into this situation. She felt stupid for relinquishing her staff. And yet, she’d wanted to. Why? Why put herself in this situation? If she squinted, she could sort of see the circuitry behind Caissa’s eye. Had she been naive to think she’d forgive her so easily?

”So, what happens now?” She asked. The question had a few meanings, and she’d have settled for any one of them.

Where does one put their hands while being straddled? She didn’t feel comfortable touching Caissa, nor could she cross them in front of her like she normally did when she was uncomfortable. They were just sort of… hanging limply, off to her sides. Her stomach was currently making an attempt at the world record for freeform diving, so her nerves were rendering her practically comatose for all she was able to move or speak. Caissa could probably feel the heat radiating off her face at this distance.


The offer hung in the air for a moment. Girls made Tilly dense as osmium, but even she could understand what Caissa was getting at. Here she was, alone with the demoness, sat right there in her lap like a present. ”You’re right…” She mumbled, and her lips curled into a wry smile. She stared up at Caissa, a mischievous glint in her eye.


”Wanna teach me a spell?” She whispered back, trying her best to maintain a poker face

”F-for now.” She said, shifting nervously as Caissa’s thumb trailed across her lips. Holy cow, she actually did it. Caissa stood up suddenly, leaving Tilly to adjust herself so that she wasn’t sunk quite so far into the couch. She sat up straighter, her legs unfolded, her posture excited, and just a tiny bit relieved. She wasn’t necessarily against what might have been about to happen, but gods did that stuff turn her into a nervous wreck.

Caissa made the mistake of giving Tilly free reign to pick and choose whatever spells she liked, which meant they might be here all day. ”Bejabbers, all the magic in the world, at my fingertips.” She mused, standing up and beginning to pace. ”Is power word kill a real thing?” She asked, glancing excitedly at Caissa. ”Or, like, could you teach me how to enchant people? I can do it to animals, but I can’t pull it off on people or monsters. Gods, that would make life so much easier. Ooh, ooh, could you teach me how to fly? I feel like wizards should know how to fly.”

Caissa might live to regret their agreement more than Tilly would, because the little blonde wizard was insatiable.

”You made that last one up.” Tilly interjected flatly, missing the joke. Then, at Caissa’s cackle, understanding dawned on her features. ”Oh.” She blinked, feeling stupid.

Caissa decided to focus on enchantment, which was fine by her. It also gave her a small glimpse into what exactly she had planned for Tilly to be doing, and that intrigued her. She was pretty sure Charm didn’t work as outright mind control, more like suggestion, so she was less concerned about the implications of that. She didn’t mind greasing the wheels of negotiation, as long as it wasn’t something predatory.

The particular notebook that Caissa had grabbed was one where Tilly had recorded a few unique spells that she’d been working on. Some fooling around with chronomancy, an idea for a mass polymorph spell she’d scrapped, and a spell of binding that seemed a bit over-the-top for most of the menagerie she usually faced.

”...Wait, are you writing it down right now?” She asked, scrambling up and towards her. She turned the desk chair to the side of the desk, using it to support her knee, as she leaned in to read Caissa’s work as she wrote it. She was gonna be awhile, memorizing this, so she may as well do it as Caissa wrote it. Her head rested on Caissa’s shoulder as she read, her mind so used to the memorization process that she could carry a conversation while she worked just as well as Caissa could while she wrote.

”You’re talking about the thought scattering thing, right? Are you trying to have me enchant people en masse?” She inquired, marveling at Caissa’s perfect handwriting. ”Huh. English this time.” She commented, her eyes not wavering from the paper. ”Y’know, I learned Akkadian and Sumerian thinking you were just bluffing about not having to answer my question last time.” She mused, nodding to the very notebook she’d given Caissa to use when she’d summoned her, which was gathering dust atop a bookshelf.