Cloudless climes and sunny beams

Cornelius Choróin

Cornelius barely twitched in face of Jude's accusation. "You were not listening," the Regalia drawled. "I did not think it important to correct your assumption." He turned to Lucianne then, saying, "If this is the one you would like to pact with, then I suppose I cannot stop you."

The moment Cornelius raised his staff, blinding light enveloped the two. It disappeared quickly around Lucianne but around Jude, it swirled warily like a lion waiting stalking prey. Eventually, it disappeared into the young man, setting the new pact into place.

"There" Cornelius said. "Now if you will excuse me, I will be leaving."

Lucianne Lovejoy

"Don't worry about him," Lucianne said, after Cornelius departed without another word. "He's just like that. I'm sure he didn't mind you too much. You didn't really act rude around him, after all."

She curled her toes a bit, looking around with new wonder. "I've never had a pact before," she said, beaming. "This is exciting! What do we do now?"

Lucianne Lovejoy

"I'm easy to please," Lucianne admitted sheepishly. "I'm just glad to be here with you, honestly." It was a bit embarrassing to admit but it was just an innocent confession, wasn't it? Working six days a week meant that she hadn't really the time for personal relationships. It felt easy just to blurt things out, especially since they were true.

"If you want to go do some challenges, I'm all for it!" she said. "But if not, we can do normal things, too. Watch a movie, play some games. That sort of thing."

Lucianne Lovejoy

She froze for a moment. What exactly did she do that could be done with others? "I draw sometimes?" Lucianne tried uncertainly. "Oh and I read and flame trashy books online. I have a blog, you see, and there's so really awful stuff out there. Not even just in the world, mind you! Manta Carlos is full of awful, awful writing."

Shuffling a little, she continued, "I guess I like to sing, too? Nothing that I actually write myself, though, that would be super embarrassing." Actually, just singing to anybody was pretty embarrassing.

Lucianne Lovejoy

"I'm not really that great at drawing," Lucianne admitted. "I just like to do it sometimes. It's been an on and off hobby for me for maybe a few years now? Mostly I just like to read and write. But my art is somewhere between okay and average. It's not awful but it's nothing much to speak of." She wasn't being humble, that was just genuinely how it was.

"I'm actually terrible with hand-eye coordination so maybe that's why my drawing progress is so slow," she mused. "I never really thought of it that way before."