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The talks continued, but it dissolved into mostly discussions of technical details, like who could be moved where to do what at which time, and it became easy to tune out. Eventually, Chiboom and Nate were politely excused and lead by the half-naked butler Imp down the corridors until they reached a room that had beds haphazardly scattered all over, hammocks slung all across the top of the ceiling, and small flat platforms jutting out of the walls. Pillows were strewn about, but there seemed to be few blankets and sheets. The butler Yobal informed them that they could sleep in any bed they wished, and would be served breakfast the following morning before he bowed and flapped away.

"So... now what?" Asked Nate, looking to Chiboom for guidance, not quite sure what the etiquette here was.

The orc snorted, and pushed some of the small beds together, creating something she could lie upon. "We sleep. Not much else to do kid." She sat on the edge of her creation, and removed some of her armor.

Nate was still somewhat confused, and began to look around, "You have any idea where the bathroom might be?" He asked, and was met by a shrug from Chiboom. "Well... thanks for earlier, by the way."

Chiboom looked up from her armor, which she had been inspecting. "For what?"

"For saving me, from that arrow." Nate looked somewhat uncomfortable, although he was aware that it wouldn't have killed him, it still scared the crap out of him.

Chiboom shook her head, "It was nothing, it's my job after all."

Nate smirked, not sure how to continue, "Well, thanks for doing your job then."

"Keep it down...!" A whiny voice suddenly came from above them, and a sullen light green Imp peered over the edge of the platform. "I've been the Imp-in-the-middle for two whole days and I need my sleep!"

Nate raised an eyebrow, "Imp-in-the-middle? Middle of wha-" He stopped as he realized the likely answer, "Oh god damnit, I didn't need that image."

Chiboom rolled her eyes before she glanced up, "And you are?"

The Imp just grunted in annoyance, glaring at the two of them through bleary eyes. "I am an Imp who's so used up he can't even get hard right now, so what does it take to make you both stop talking and sleep?"

"Where's the bathroom?" Nate asked, "I just need to get ready for bed."

Chiboom nodded, "What he said, I just want to head to sleep anyway, he's the one keeping me up."

The Imp grumbled, but pointed a disinterested claw out one of the doors. "Go that way, keep to your left, fourth door down is a washroom for you big types. Mind the peepholes, but probably no one is watching right now." He slid back out of sight, and they soon heard steady breathing coming from the platform.

"The whats?" Nate deadpanned, not exactly excited to hear that he might not be getting the privacy he desired.

Chiboom sighed, "Let me go first then, chances are, if there are any Imps watching, they'll leave as soon as they see me, and I'll just threaten to stab any that stay."

Nate nodded, and sat down on one of the beds, realizing he would have to do the same as Chiboom had to get something he could sleep on.

Chiboom found the room where the grouchy Imp had said it would be, and it swung open on rusty hinges. The inside was clean, but it had the feel of disuse about it, and the water came reluctantly when summoned. It seemed as though it had been a long time since a non-Imp had come to visit.

With her heightened senses, that came from being both an orc, and one specialized in the detection of sneak attacks, she easily spotted where the majority of peepholes were, and that they were in fact, mostly abandoned. After washing her face, she approached them, noting that the few that had been there when she entered had already left, likely not interested in females. She could sense, however, that there was still one left, and she leaned against the wall right next to the hole, which was invisible to most, it having a weak conceal spell on it. "So," she said, her words echoing in the empty room, "are you going to leave now, or am I going to have to march next door, and bury my axe in between your eyes?"

There was a few seconds of hesitation as the watcher waited to see if she was really serious, and when she made to leave the room with her axe in hand, he made a frightened yelp and fled, leaving the room entirely unwatched and safe for one's modesty.

Chiboom returned to the guards barracks several minutes later, now stripped of her armor and in more casual attire, fit for sleeping in. "Alright kid, I cleared it out, and threatened them that if they came back anytime soon I'd eviscerate them. But I suggest you make it quick, just in case."

Nate nodded and quickly made his way to the bathroom, noting how spacious it was, despite their otherwise cramped rooms. He soon got a bath going, and, after listening for a few seconds for anyone that might be on the other side of the wall, took off his clothes and hopped in the water.

Far away, Zericho sensed that something demanded his attention, but he couldn't imagine what it could be. He was just left with a disappointing sense that he was missing out on something important.

After a few minutes of scrubbing away the layer of dirt and sweat that had accumulated over their journey, Nate hopped back out and quickly dried off before slipping back into a new set of clothes. He quickly finished up and made his way back to the barracks, finding that Chiboom had already fallen asleep, and soon lied down upon his own bed as well.

---

When Nate awoke the next morning, it was because he found himself growing uncomfortably warm, and had the oddest sensation of being tied up. As his awareness grew, he would realize that there were Imps all around him, hugging him and laying on top of him, all quietly snoring without the slightest hint of respect for his personal space. One was wrapped around his leg, one was draped across his head, one was hugging him from behind, one was cuddling against his chest, and another was embracing his arm. None of them were wearing clothes beyond the skimpiest of garments, and there was no telling if he was being rubbed against someone's junk or not.

Nate's eyes were now wide open, and was currently suppressing the desire to yell at the top of his lungs and fling himself from the bed, dislodging his... passengers. He instead, slowly, and shakily, began to pry the imps off of him, trying his best not to think of how they had probably been there for hours. It wasn't the easiest task; they had a killer grip, to the point where he was suspicious that they weren't actually asleep, were it not for the fact that they seemed to automatically cling to one another when he set them down on the beds. After about three minutes of him suppressing his screams, he was able to pry the last one off of his back. He was shaking heavily and sweating profusely; not from exertion, but from the sheer feeling of panic and embarrassment he felt.

In a room full of Imps to witness his humiliation, not a single one was ever aware it happened, as the sound of gentle snoring was the closest he came to hearing any kind of mocking laughter. Indeed, there were Imps everywhere in the room, filling up every bed, hammock and platform, most of whom were naked and cuddling with another Imp or two. Chiboom was asleep on her bed, and though Imps were piled on top of her as well, they were draped over her and made no attempt to cling, just using her as a heat source instead.

Nate shivered as he looked over the scene, glad that the ones clinging to him had all had at least some form of covering, even if it wasn't much. He quickly decided he had to leave, and grabbed his clothes and made for the bathroom again.

After banging against the wall where Chiboom had said contained the peepholes, and convinced that no one was on the other side, he swiftly changed into his normal clothes.

When he stepped through the doorway, he nearly walked face first into Yobal's bare crotch. The Imp butler remained impassive as he lowered himself down slightly to be level with Nate. "If you would follow me, sir, I will take you to breakfast."

Nate nodded silently, not only embarrassed by the sight of the Imp's flaccid junk, which he quickly averted his eyes from, but also from what had just happened. He followed Yobal, not saying a word.

The Imp made no attempt to coax him into conversation, and seemed content to silently lead the way down to the same dining room as the night before. If Nate paid careful attention, he might have noticed that they hadn't returned by the way they had left, confirming Zericho's warnings about the twisting nature of this fortress. At the dining table an array of bread, vegetables and slices of the boar from the night before were laid out in the form of a sandwich bar for him to construct his breakfast as he wished. "If sir requires anything else, please do not hesitate to summon me. I will not leave you unsatisfied." The Imp promised him in a serious tone.

Nate nodded silently, not quite sure if that was intended to be a double entendre or not; although chances were fairly high it was. He made his way over to the low table where the various foodstuffs lay, looking over the collection with a shrug, he wasn't very hungry at the moment, so the cold meats, cheeses, vegetables, and breads weren't very appetizing. He made a small sandwich for himself and sat down at the table, noting that there were few people around yet; he must have woken up early.

It was several minutes before Zericho finally flew in, yawning and landing unsteadily in his seat. He leaned back with a tired groan and glanced over at Nate. "Hey, kid. How was your night?"

He swallowed a bite of his sandwich and shrugged, "Well, I wasn't molested... at least I don't think. So I guess I can count that as a win." The imps that had been sleeping on him didn't seem to have any ill intentions at the time, at the very least.

"Good for you! Wish I'd said no to Xiggle joining in with me and the Warden; that bastard got me so mad I spent half the night eating him out. Eh, at least he won't be able to sit for a while." He yawned, and then brightened. "Oh, boar slices! I need to restock my protein." The prince eagerly began building his own sandwhich, which was considerably larger than the one Nate had made for himself.

Nate was suddenly very glad that he had already finished the majority of his sandwich, as there was no way he would be able to eat for quite a while with that image in his head. "Zericho, I know this sounds insane, but could you try maybe not talking about the intimate details of your daily encounters when I'm around? It makes me just a little uncomfortable... just a smidge."

"What? It's not like I described the noises he made or the way he squirmed while I was doing it." Zericho retorted, his tone one of wounded dignity. Not that it seemed to impact his appetite, though, as he began eating his sandwich with great enthusiasm. Hopefully, it wouldn't remind Nate of what else he'd been enthusiastically eating half the night.

Nate buried his head in his hands, "Why me? Seriously, I know I'm not the most upstanding individual in the world, but why did I get stuck with you?" He sighed as he looked at the remains of his sandwich, and pushed the plate away, "So, what are the plans for today?"

"You poor guy..." Zericho crooned as soon as he had finished chomping and gulping his sandwich and licking the crumbs off the plate. "Forced to be escorted by the most desired guy in the Impire, given comfortable rooms and lodging half the time, and an armed guard to protect you as you make your way back to your deeply repressed world and the jerks you left behind. You must have really upset the Brothers to earn this purgatory." The instant that he was sure Nate no longer wanted his sandwich, Zericho snatched it up and finished it off before he began constructing another one. "The plan is that we restock and get the idiots I laughingly refer to as 'soldiers' to go with us to the border of Xelto's territory before we see about winning this war. I guess you can go read your book and try not to think about what I'll be doing with like half of the guards here at around noon."

Nate seemed to suddenly turn sullen, upon Zericho's flippant dismissal of his complaint, "I...I'm sorry." He had a hurt look on his face as he hung his head, "You're right, I could have it a lot worse..."

The prince stopped, and set down his bread to regard Nate with his hands on his hips. He'd been expecting an argument, not for Nate to just turn over like that. Was he really trying to control his anger now? Zericho was reminded of their talk from the day before, and sighed. "...Alright, kid, I'll make you a deal. I'm not going to stop whoring it up, but I will stop talking about it in front of you if you promise to control your temper. Or at least stop swearing all the time. It's bad luck." His tail extended in front of Nate like an offered hand. "Deal?"

Nate nodded with a sad smile, and accepted the handshake, "Deal, I'm sorry if I've been getting angry a lot lately, it's just this has all been really stressful for me. Normally I have my parents around to help at the very least, but... now it's just you and Chiboom, and I'd feel kind of like a huge... is chode a curse? A huge chode, going to you guys to whine about my problems, I mean I already did it yesterday."

The Imp shrugged. "We all got problems, kid, and not a single one of them is gonna get solved with just one talk. Heck, the others and I had a long talk last night, but freeing the Impire is still gonna be one hell of a chore, and you can bet your a... ankle that I'm gonna keep bitching about it. So go ahead and talk about it if you want to." He began to eat his next sandwich, when something occurred to him that made his shoulders shake with mirth, but he couldn't say it out loud without breaking his deal with Nate, so he forced himself to swallow his laughter along with his sandwich.

Although Nate was curious as to what was so funny, he decided to let it slide for now, "Saying ass is fine, just so you know. So... any tips on how to cast my magic, now that you've got a semi clear head? I mean, I've been casting duds the entire last week, so anything that might help would be great."

Zericho paused in his feeding frenzy, only just now remembering that Nate had mentioned this, but it had been lost in the general haze of lustful frustration he'd been enduring at the time. "Oh yeah... Sure, I have some time. But you should probably eat some more, you'll be using plenty of energy." He would have mentioned that energy could be shared between beings through sexual congress, but he dismissed it, as it would never apply to Nate's situation.

He nodded, and continued slowly picking at his sandwich, finding he had little appetite. "So uhm... are we going to be involved in like... battles and stuff?" Although it had dimly passed through his mind earlier, his encounter yesterday with the arrows had brought this to the forefront of his mind.

"Kid, try not to worry. They'll be aiming at me, remember? And Chiboom managed to save you from a dart in mid-flight, so I think she'll do okay at punching any wussy Cubi that attacks us. Just concentrate on keeping us both alive, and we'll all be fine." Zericho was at least slowing down in his frantic eating, and more leisurely picking the crumbs off the table to eat them.

"I... okay." He sighed lightly, and continued to nibble at the bread, "Anything I should know, by the way? About where we're heading next or whatever? I mean, I know a lot of it's probably on a need to know basis, but just basic stuff like that is all I really want to know." Well, he wanted to know a lot, but he knew he wouldn't get much, so best to keep his request reasonable.

"If that lazy fool is where I want him to be, we're headed to a forest." His expression soured, as though he'd just caught a whiff of something foul. "...A fairy forest." The Imp shuddered at the memory of his last visit to that hated place. "Brace yourself, kid. We're talking dancing with little bells on your shoes, singing that only involves endlessly repeating the word "La!", and adorable little houses built into the trees." He pretended to retch. "It's so saccharine you'll need to eat dirt just to keep yourself from getting sick at the sugary, over-the-top act they try to put on."

"Fairies?" Nate was surprised, yet another fantasy creature off the list he supposed. That said, he somewhat sympathized with Zericho, if there was anything that made him want to hurt something, it was listening to children's music. He had a bad experience as a camp counselor once, and he had vowed, never again. "If they're as bad as you say, feel free to be your usual self around them, it might make them shut up."When Zericho glanced over at him, confused at his change in attitude, he shrugged, "I hate kiddy stuff."

For once, it seemed the two of them had something to agree on, and Zericho gave him a predatory grin. "Can do. Hells, sometimes the only way to shut them up is by sitting on their face." He sighed and wandered over to sit on the edge of the table by Nate. "It's partly our fault. When the Impire took over, there was a lot of culture shock as half their males decided they liked-" He froze, glanced at Nate, and reconsidered. "-Tails. They liked 'tails' a lot. But a lot of the damn buzzing pests are still in denial, so they go overboard in acting all cutesy and innocent, like no one is gonna notice that the nymphs, dryads, satyrs, pixies and tanuki all want 'tail' as much as any Imp."

Nate rolled his eyes, "I can take you saying 'sex', it's just the more..." he blushed, "graphic descriptions, that end up bothering me." He smiled slightly, glancing at Zericho, "So how small are they, anyway? Like, should I watch my step or something? Because back home, there are stories about them, but they range in size in them."

"Your super-represssed world got it right, there. Don't worry, though, anything small enough to get stepped on has wings and the brains to not stand underfoot." Zericho flapped his wings to demonstrate. "Their sole redeeming feature is that they have strong magic, so Zyg-Zayg is studying it for the Impire's use. Which is why we're headed there, and how we can potentially kick those damn Cubi's muscular asses out of my Impire."

"Sounds... fun? I mean, maybe they can help me with my magic." Although he'd rather start with Zericho; as annoying as he could be, the fairies sounded far worse. "So, should I do anything? Like, I'd like to be helpful in some way, you know?"

"Learning how to heal will probably save our lives at some point, so let's focus on that, kid." Zericho said firmly, hopping off the table and flapping his wings to gain altitude. "Did you bring your knife? Oh, and you should probably give it a name, that sometimes helps when you're dealing with magical tools." He fondly recalled his first magical dildo, Lord Pounder, and the many happy nights it had labored to satisfy him.

Nate nodded, "It's in my pack, I'll go grab it. Should we meet somewhere else? This isn't exactly the best place to practice I imagine." He looked around, noticing the other imps slowly filtering in.

"Good point, we'll head to one of the sparing rooms. I'll have one of them guide you." Zericho jerked his horns at one of the incoming Imps. "See ya soon."

"Uh, hi." Nate waved meekly at the imp, who was a dark yellow color, bordering orange almost. "So, I'll go get my stuff, and we'll meet back here?"

"No." Zericho grabbed the Imp in question by the tail and yanked him down. "You. Go with him, then lead him to the third sparring room, got it?" The Imp opened his mouth to protest, and Zericho pressed his face against the other male's alarmed features. "No, no arguing. You don't want to be excluded from the fun later, do you? I didn't think so. Go!" The dark yellow Imp was blushing deeply as Zericho gave him a firm spank to send him scuttling towards Nate, and watching him anxiously.

Nate looked down at the imp with a slight blush, "So, follow me I guess? Or I follow you? I mean, I think I remember the way back to the barracks."

"Barracks? Okay, got it, let's go go go!" The Imp grabbed Nate's sleeve and started tugging him back towards the barracks, eventually pushing Nate into the nearly-empty room. "Hurry up, I have to lead you to the sparring room now!"

"Geeze, okay, no need to be so pushy." Nate made his way over to his bag, glad to see it had gone undisturbed, and reached in to dig through it, he eventually found the knife, managing to avoid nicking himself with it. "Okay, let's go now."

The Imp looked dubiously at the knife, though he rose into the air and began to lead Nate through the deceptive corridors. He kept glancing back uncertainly, until his curiosity got the better of him and he asked outright. "Are you really going to spar with the Prince?"

"What?" Nate was surprised for a second, before he shook his head, "Oh, no, this knife is magic, he's going to help me with spell casting."

"Oooooh... 'spell casting'." The Imp smirked. "Lucky you. I can't imagine how it must be to travel with the Prince all the time." Nate's guide sighed deeply, looking dreamily off into the distance.

Nate's face took on a very flat look, "Oh yeah, it's a dream come true." He deadpanned, wondering if everyone was just going to assume from now on that he and Zericho were having some kind of escapade on the side.

Actually, the rumors were flying thick in the air as the Imps speculated on the role a handsome human would play in the Prince's journey, and the explanations ranged from Nate being a spy from the human lands to some kind of secret weapons against the Incubi. It occurred to absolutely none of the Imps that Nate and Zericho were not having sex, however, and the dark yellow Imp was convinced that Zericho would be bouncing in Nate's lap before the 'spell casting' was over, and would gossip accordingly. "Here we are! Don't let him wear out your wand..." The guide gave Nate a wink as he opened up a side door and revealed a large stone room, in which Zericho was waiting impatiently.

As Nate stepped into the room, he looked over at Zericho and sighed, "Yo... you do know that everyone thinks we're having sex right?"

Zericho rolled his eyes. "I never told anyone that we were sliding and sinning, so don't start blaming me. And it doesn't bug me that everyone assumes I'm having fun with the hot guy I'm traveling with, so I'm not in a hurry to convince them that we aren't. Does it bother you that much?"

"Hot guy?" He shook his head, focusing on the task at hand, "And no, it's just really annoying I guess, people assuming things like that. Let's get to training I guess?" He pulled out the knife, holding it how the book had taught him.

"Alright, show me what you can do, and I'll try and figure out what you're doing wrong. Try to cast a spell on me." Zericho spread his arms wide and raised his eyebrows at Nate.

"Okay, let's see if I remember this correctly." Nate swung his arm back, then flicked it forward, smoothly as possible, the knife glowing for a moment before sputtering out a few sparks. "And that's what's been happening."

Zericho flinched, holding his hands over his ears as he grimaced at the knife. "Oh, that sounds awful...!" He poked a finger into his ear and wiggled it around before shaking his head. "You just shot off a spell that sounded like you tossed an instrument down a flight of stairs and you didn't even react." He frowned now, rubbing his chin and pondering, then snapped his fingers. "I got it! Okay, Nate, when you cast a spell, how do you sense the magic? Do you get a weird tingly feeling, do you hear a funny noise, do you see something bright, do you smell something weird, what?"

Nate was confused, "Um, my hand tingles a little bit, but I'm pretty sure that's the knife heating up because there's energy going through it. Otherwise... no." He wondered if maybe that first spell was some sort of fluke, that maybe his immunity to magic meant he couldn't cast it either. "Why, what should I be sensing?"

"Basically, your body and soul work together to cast magic. It gets more complicated than that, but that's the bottom line. Here..." Zericho approached Nate and offered his hand. "If you felt a tingly feeling, you might sense things like my dad does, which would actually be pretty good. Gimmie your hand, and I'll show you how it should feel."

He cautiously reached out, and took Zericho's hand, it felt a little leathery, yet smooth. "Okay, um... now what?"

"Okay, your magic has felt like this..." Zericho's eyes glowed, and Nate felt the familiar tingle. "But you need it to feel like this..." This time, the tingle was more pleasant, like a tickle, or the sensation of someone's hands moving through his hair. "You just gotta adjust the magic to make it feel like that. We'll do it together."

Nate smiled nervously and nodded, "Okay, but... how? I barely know how to do it in the first place. I'll need some advice on how to adjust it."

The Imp frowned in thought. To an Imp, magic was second-nature, as simple as flapping your wings or swinging your hips. He tried to phrase it in a way that a magic-resistant human would understand, and pressed the tip of his finger against the middle of Nate's chest. "Okay, like this... concentrate on your heart, and how it feels when its beating, and how your magic feels. Try to pretend that the tingly feeling is moving from your heart..." He gently traced the tip of his finger from Nate's chest to his shoulder, and then slowly down his arm. "And try to focus on it becoming the better tingle, and then cast the spell. Understand?"

Nate blushed as Zericho traced a finger across his body, but nodded none the less. "Okay, I'll try." He closed his eyes, took a deep breath through his nose, and concentrated on the center of his chest, trying to feel his heart beat. As he focused, he could imagine the tingling sensation, it felt strangely comforting, and felt it spread, moving from his chest to his shoulder, and then down his arm, and finally reaching his fingers. He slowly flicked his hand, and felt the tingle leave, opening his eyes to see the knife aglow. "Whoa."

Zericho laughed in delight, beaming proudly at the knife. "I knew you could do it, kid! Now, you feel up for testing it out?" Not waiting for a response, Zericho flew backwards and raised his hand to his mouth before biting down on it until the blood began to flow.

"Zericho!" He exclaimed, annoyed at him, "Damnit, you better hope this works you idiot!" He flicked his hand again, aiming at the imp, and watched as what appeared to be a small orb flew out and hit him, causing him to glow for a moment. He looked at Zericho's hand, but was unable to see if it had worked, the blood that already leaked out obscuring the bite area. "Well, how does it feel?"

"Uh..." Zericho began, holding his hand away from him at arm's length. "I think your magic overcompensated again..." The blood that had been obscuring the wound had stopped dripping down, and as they watched, it began to reverse direction, flowing back into the indentations that resealed themselves without a mark. But that wasn't what had made Zericho nervous, as Nate's attention was drawn to the Imp's claws, which were growing longer and longer as the prince spread his fingers to avoid impaling himself. Dismayed, Zericho saw that the claws on his other hand and his feet were growing as well, but at a slower rate, and he could feel his hair starting to stretching lower and lower on his back. "...Well, technically it worked..."

Nate blushed brightly in embarrassment, "Um... maybe we should stop for today, before I give you cancer or something." This type of accelerated growth definitely wasn't good, and he didn't want to know what would happen if he tried to reverse it. "Do you know how to reverse that? Or should I just get like some nail clippers and a pair of scissors?"

"Nah, they'll stop on their own and then I'll chop 'em off." Zericho said nonchalantly, trying not to discourage Nate on his first real solo success. "At least we know the first time wasn't a fluke. You're gonna be great once we figure out how to fine tune your power, so you aren't making Chiboom bust out of her armor or something."

"Please don't put that image in my head, I've seen enough in the past few weeks to traumatize me." He smirked, watching as the growth slowed to a stop, "Besides, if that did happen she'd probably bash my head in."

"Nah, she likes you. She's immune to my charms, for whatever reason." Zericho was secretly relieved that his claws were no longer growing, as he had no idea how potent Nate's spell might had been. "It might go the other way, and you'll turn her into a child or something. Healing magic goes in weird directions sometimes."

"Gee, I wonder why." Nate snarked at the imp, knowing perfectly well why his 'charms' had no effect on her. "And that sounds like it could be just as dangerous, especially if it turns out Chiboom was less in control of herself back then." Something told him that a 10 year old Chiboom could still beat the shit out of him.

"Agreed. But yeah, let's take a break for now. Is that offer to get me some scissors still on the table?" Zericho hoped that he could fix this without any of the other Imps finding out about it.

Nate smiled, "Yeah, sure, wait here, I'll be back."

---

Idly scratching himself with his newly shorn claws, Zericho hoped there wouldn't be any side-effects to the spell. He'd burned the hair and nail clippings to ensure that no one could use them for sympathetic magic, but he wasn't sure if his body would have any lingering symptoms from the growth and loss. As they walked back towards the barracks, he decided to put it out of his mind for the moment, and flew closer to Nate to nudge him with a sly grin. "Not bad at all, kid. Once we fine-tune it, your magic is gonna be the envy of the Impire. Oh, speaking of magic, gimmie your Charm, lemme charge it while I'm still thinking about it." He held out his hand for the glowing bracelet on Nate's wrist.

Nate held his wrist out, smiling slightly, "Thanks, it's nice to know I'll be somewhat useful on this trip." He was glad that he had been given a little instruction at least, maybe he could save someone's life or something like that with these powers and his medical knowledge. "So, what next? I mean, how long until we have to head out?"

"It's gonna be at least a few hours, so feel free to try and figure out that spell while I'm busy. Remember, it goes something like this..." Zericho turned his back to Nate and trailed the tip of his tail up along Nate's spine, leaving a tingling feeling in its wake. "Got it? Now lets get you back to Chiboom and you two can... do whatever it is people do when they want to pass time but don't want to have sex for whatever reason." Judging from his smirk, he fully understood how his action could be interpreted.

Nate followed, rolling his eyes at Zericho's comment, "A) Don't do that thing with your tail it's... weird." He shuddered a little at the remaining tingling, "B) There are things in this world besides sex. Like reading, don't you ever read?" Back home, he would have said TV or video games, but something told him those weren't a thing here.

"Sure I read. There is plenty of erotic books back at the castle. I'll show you my collection if you like." He teased him, but didn't press the issue. Not having Nate yell at him was a nice change, and he wasn't in a hurry to break their truce. "I doubt there are any books that aren't about guys and their games around here, though, so I hope you and Chiboom have become dynamite conversationalists in the past ten hours, otherwise you're gonna be really bored."

"Even if not, I've got my thoughts, those are usually enough." He smiled sadly, not mentioning that they were usually all he had back home, being relatively friendless. "And before you go there, because you will, no they aren't thoughts about sex."

"I don't know how you live like this." Zericho confided in tones of mock-seriousness. "Anyway, here we are!" He bowed with a flourish to the door that lead to the barracks, where Chiboom was sitting on one of the many small beds. "Comfy? Cozy? Good! I'm off to motivate the troops!"

Nate rolled his eyes as Zericho made his way off, flapping his wings, "Good luck, just don't talk to me about how you did it." He made his way over to Chiboom, who had been inspecting her weapon. "Weren't you doing that just last night?" He asked, curious if she had some sort of obsession.

She nodded, "I did, but I went to their training rooms, tested it out, I'm checking to see that everything is still good. Nothing sliding out of place, no frays, all that." She looked up from her inspection, raising a brow, "And you? How'd your lesson go? He didn't try anything, did he?"

Nate shook his head, "No, he actually helped a lot, even if he was still annoying." Of course, that was so expected that Nate might has well have not said it. "I think I might be able to help at this rate in maybe a week or two, so that will be a nice change."

Chiboom shrugged, "That's not your job kid, so don't worry too much about it. In the mean time, I suggest you make sure that you have everything packed up, we'll be going in a few hours, and I doubt you want to leave anything behind."

After about an hour of relative peace, a wet and naked blue Imp flapped in clumsily, bumping into the door frame and the wall with exaggerated reactions. He attempted to fly up to one of the platforms, but flew right against the bottom of the shelf instead, and tumbled down to land with a bounce on one of the beds. He weakly rose and looked around blearily. "Iz thiz the barracks...?" He slurred at the two of them.

Nate had averted his eyes the second he realized the Imp was naked. Unlike Chiboom, who glanced at the newcomer before rolling her eyes, more than used to this sort of shenanigans, he still had no desire to see dicks on this adventure. "Yes, it is," she sighed.

That seemed to satisfy him, and he wiggled his hips as he got comfortable on the bed, then he paused and looked up at them both. "You are... the Prince's consorts...?" He didn't wait for an answer, he just smiled dreamily. "You are lucky..." With a happy sigh, his head hit the pillow and began to snore... and then started to hump the bed in his sleep.

Chiboom snorted at that, "The day I'm anyone's consort, let alone his, is the day I slit my throat." She went back to her weapon inspection, ignoring the muffled sound of humping.

Nate meanwhile, looked at the humping Imp for a moment before sighing, rubbing his temples as he readied his bag for the trip in a few hours, "Everyone's going to assume that, aren't they?" Chiboom nodded and he frowned, "Great." He pushed two together, and lied down upon the beds, "Well, I'm going to take a nap before we go, might as well."

Chiboom only shrugged, and Nate slowly closed his eyes and tried to ignore the noises.