Apprentice-shipping

APPRENTICE-SHIPPING

From the moment we begin our lives, we're learning. It's imperative to surviving, to growing - don't walk in the shadows, it's dangerous, don't touch the fire, you'll be hurt. These days, most continue to hone this natural instinct with formal schooling, but that's certainly not the end all, be all of knowledge. If you go to school or not, if you have the opportunity or otherwise, you won't stop sharpening your mind after those formative years. That's just not the way our incredible brains work.

You, specifically, have actually decided to something equally incredible: you want to really dedicate yourself to learning a skill, and what better way than an apprenticeship? Formal or informal, you're under someone's tutelage, absorbing everything they can teach, growing closer to them in the process...

...unfortunately, though, you've gained a little something extra with that bite from the fruit of knowledge. You've fallen for your mentor.

Do you realize this pitfall immediately, or will you have to learn the hard way?

Comment with your character, preferences, what role you'd like them to fill, and any information you'd like to include.
Like it says up there, the situation or setup can be strict or loose, and there may or may not be an age difference involved. Be specific in your preferences.
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( i love this. okay, i'm thinking post-war apprentice in secondary studies in magic? so could be arithmancy, charms, potions, w/e, hermione has a lot of talents! )

[OOC: Did someone say apprentices?! My favorite theme, lemme at it!

Ienzo is a prodigy young among his peers but showing promising scholastic talents, with a knack for illusionary magic and wheedling things out of his masters with emotional manipulation. I can play him very young (11-12) for hopelessly susceptible infatuations or in his early 20's for sexual situations. Looking for either corrupting or redemptive influences.

Age gaps younger or older are OK, Magical or Scientific Mentors/Masters/Disciples Welcome, Political intrigue is awesome, Unresolved sexual tension is A++, also Down for Smut where applicable. Castmates Most Wanted: Xehanort, Riku, Aeleus. Willing to try modern AUs or canon crossovers of any flavor. Other Kinklist/Prefs stuff here.]

[ pfft you need to stop posting in memes i could see these two fitting into okay. or we're going to have like a bazillion threads going on lmao. ]

((OOC: This is my guilty pleasure ship to be honest. I'm thinking a situation where it's a modern magical AU where Larxene is slightly older than Ienzo but a prodigy in a magical field he struggles with, namely more offensive magic. For one reason or another he becomes her apprentice. Whether that was forced upon him or he really just didn't like that gap in his knowledge is up to you.

I'd like the idea of them living together during his apprenticeship. Larxene is well Larxene at first. Hostile, teasing and sadistic. Though more sexually teasing than she is canonically.

We can play by ear from there but I like the idea of them growing fond of each other over time. Larxene liking Ienzo's more quiet nature and Ienzo liking the high-energy nature of Larxene.

Then basically we share most kinks especially stuff to do with Zexion's illusions but also I'm pretty fond of somnophilia and scenes in a bath/shower.))

(absolute musical prodigy - uses his magical powers through music and sound in his canon as well. could be master or talented apprentice.)

In many ways, Zoisite was incredibly fortunate. Aware of his talent and willing to nurture it, his family had also possessed the means to send him to the very capitol of the kingdom, Lithmore City, in order to pursue his studies in music. There, perhaps he would even be able to - eventually - find a position as a court bard to some noble family.

He had also been fortunate to find that the Poet Knight was not only willing to take him as her direct apprentice, but she was a very attractive and charming woman, enjoyable to watch and listen to as she instructed him. And, of course, she was immensely talented in music herself.

Today, at the appointed time, he brought his lap harp to the lesson room, and performed a graceful bow that would not have been out of place at court, greeting her properly as befitted her station. There was a small glint of mischief in his eye as he did so, as he recalled her in very different positions and situations.

Edited 2016-07-09 17:01 (UTC)

( bahaha, the more the merrier! )

(( OOC: I prefer a new reaper, although I would be also willing to play a back-up Death given some canon things... ))

[Info's on her journal. Apprentice role preferred but can do mentor as well with younger teenaged characters. Prefer F/M for shipping but open to F/F, too, it'll just take a bit more work. If you have any questions or want to plot something, PM me!]

[M/F preferred for shipping but open to F/F if you have an idea in mind! No characers under 18 unless you're looking for something unrequited. Mentor role preferred but might be able to make apprentice role work with a bit of work. Assumed CR is fine and I'm open to modern AU as well! If you have any questions, feel free to pm!]

[OOC Sounds good! I can work with that. Prose ok? If not, I have no problems swapping style to match]

It was very unusual for Ienzo to find himself wide awake so early in the morning, but having the extra time to brush up on his theory undisturbed was a rare opportunity- his teacher teased mercilessly to find him with his nose buried in books, trying to grasp the intellectual side of magical learning before launching himself into practical applications.

Being so careful about using his talents was why he struggled to make more concrete effects with his magic- the young man was exceptional when it came to fooling the mind, bewitching the senses, but when it came to even the most basic elemental spellwork he seemed timid with allowing his power to grasp its fullest potential. Manipulating people was easy- having faith in his will to shape the world proved far more tricksome.

Xehanort had noticed his shortcomings, his self-imposed limitations. And so his master had sent him to live with a second teacher, who was awful, who taunted him endlessly and sometimes called herself his babysitter out in public and too often proved brutal in a duel of quick reflexes. Ienzo's wits were put to the test with Larxene, his plodding and reactionary methods constantly tested, rigorously challenged in ways he'd never been pushed before. As a young prodigy he'd always been handled a bit delicately, his surrogate guardians protective, but with her the kid gloves came off. Larxene was a bewildering tutor to behold.

And when he was worn down and humiliated by her, he could feel his disciplined determination growing, stretching, loathe as he was to admit it. Larxene taught him in new ways, and even though he still longed to rejoin his colleagues, this season of 'remedial' apprenticeship was finally turning out tangible progress.

He was grateful, beneath all that sullen hair, and secretive smiles were becoming more frequent than his petulant scowling. He worried for her, a little, when she came stalking in late last night in a terrible mood, but instead of taking it out on him for a change and proceeded directly to her room.

So Ienzo took his time this morning, sitting with his tea and paging leisurely through the academic articles in an old publication of Black Mage Quarterly Review, her pour-over coffee all set to start as soon as he heard Larxene stirring. He resolved not to ask about whatever had upset her on her night out- that, he knew, wasn't really any of his business.

But that didn't mean he couldn't make his own silent observations.

When Xehanort came to her asking her to teach one of his students she hated the idea. Why did she have to teach some book worm and let him live in her house?

However she owed Xehanort enough favors that she ultimately agreed to his request. She did warn she wouldn't pull any punches with him. If he was going to learn he was going to learn HER way.

As time went on she slowly grew fond of the book worm. Seeing Ienzo grow in ability was far more of a pleasure than she had expected it to be. Because of this her biting hatred for do-nothing academics turned into what she considered to be good-natured teasing.

Late night excursions were fairly common with Larxene. She never said what it was for but Ienzo likely put two and two together that it was going out to socialize at bars, clubs and similar places. She never came back drunk, but she carried the distinctive odors of someone returning from such activities.

Last night clearly didn't go well since she looked like if she had just been a bit more angry she would of had literal storm clouds over her head. She had barely spared a glance in Ienzo's direction before going to bed. An abnormality to be sure as usually when she was frustrated it usually resulted in sparring or some other exercise.

Ienzo wouldn't be hard pressed to hear her get up. It seems her bad mood had translated into a groggy morning so she slowly shuffled out of bed and took her time getting her clothes on.

When she finally came into the kitchen her storming rage had clearly taken a turn. She moved slowly and despite sleeping enough wore a tired frown. She breathed a sigh "Morning brat." Even her insults sounded half-hearted.

"Morning Mistress." He returned, chiming mildly in that insufferably well-balanced, inscrutable mix of cooled manners and just enough dripping sardonics to deny them the moment he was accused of backtalk.

His electric kettle was still steaming away merrily, although the cord didn't run to the wall sockets, which had been blocked up with those embarrassing child-proof safety plates... another babying punishment of sorts for daring to charge his electronics in her home when he could barely manage a controlled Thundara spell without knocking the power out.

That was several torturous weeks ago, before he learned to survive the lonely evenings with a dead laptop, and then to cast and maintain his own low voltage currents. He used the toaster and the kettle now to start his mornings as a point of stubborn pride, as wel as an exercise in patience and endurance.

"A wild night?" Ienzo finally ventured with a faint smirk, after watching the way she slumped around the kitchen.

He was at-ready to pass off a mug of piping hot coffee the moment she approached, feeling entirely too domestic about their developing routines. At least he was a very tidy person to cohabitate with- didn't leave his dishes in the sink, kept the living room more free of clutter than it had been when he moved in. He even scrubbed down the bathroom top to bottom twice a week without being told to, which was likely the product of growing up with Even. (To be honest, sometimes Larxene was even easier to live with than him.)

Ienzo never asked much about how she spent her free evenings, what she did, or where she went. He had little desire to join her, introvert and homebody that he was, although lately he wasted an awful lot of time wondering what she got up to, with her nocturnal activities. If she was thinking of seeing anyone seriously, or just out 'having fun'. Some of Larxene's friends moved in the same circles of Xehanort's disciples, but they were very much not Ienzo's favorite colleagues by a long shot. Hopefully if she was mad, she was mad at one of them, and it would free up a little more of her time to work on technique with him.

This was one thing Ienzo had some victory in. She couldn't really punish him for something this minor and it was very hard to actually tell if he was talking back sometimes. So she let it go a long time ago.

At his question she only frowned and said "Hardly." A little bit of that anger coming back.

However it seemed to melt away into a look of slight surprise when Ienzo handed her a cup of coffee. She even mustered a "Thanks." before going to apply her usual amount of milk and sugar.

When it came to being housemates Larxene had quickly come not to mind Ienzo. He wasn't needy and kept the place tidier than she did though she wasn't a slob by any stretch. Larxene even made it a point to get his preferred tea, a reward for some of his early progress.

"You know brat," she spoke up with her back still to him as she made her coffee "you're a bore but at least you've got decent manners." A rare compliment even if it did contain an insult.

So it had been a rough night, then, whatever it was. Ienzo studied the irritation on her face with the same intent enthusiasm he reserved for pouring over words on a page, wishing he were better somehow at reading between the lines. Had she gotten into an argument with someone? Had some old bad blood been revived?

His coffee offering seemed to be received as a welcome sight, if unexpectedly. Good. It was best to stat off the day on the right foot... or try to, anyway.

"You're...welcome?" Manners will get a man anywhere, or so it was said- but could it get him anywhere well, and with Larxene on board?

"You walked right past me without even saying good night, you know." Zexion added reproachfully- not that Larxene ever said Goodnight in earnest, but usually she made some sort of indication that she was headed for bed and wanted to end things there, all further questions or snarky commentary.

If they went back to that periodic airing of griefs once more, maybe it wouldn't be such an issue.

At his comment she put down her cup of coffee and moved uncomfortably close to Ienzo. A sour look on her face as she approached. Once she closed the distance she leaned down so her face was mere inches from his.

"What? Did little Ienzo need me to tuck him in?" Something about her insult was off. Like she didn't really mean it and it was just a cover for something else.

Of course it didn't take a genius to see she was avoiding talking about why exactly she was so angry last night and why she lacked energy this morning.

It was moments like these where his poker facing was really put to the test- when she moved in close and imposed herself upon his space, making the tips of his ears flush pink from the nearness. He'd been so very put off by it at first, but lately that queer clenching feeling in his gut had been moving into other territory, and his fierce embarrassment was not so much for her belittling words anymore, but for the way his body seemed to stand on end with anticipation. Every short, fine hair at the nape of his neck prickled at attention, and his breath stilled in his lungs, although his expression remained stonefaced.

She wanted the offended reaction from him, and he certainly wasn't going to give it to her- not so early in the day, before the crackle of static and the adrenaline rush of her magic got the best of his frayed nerves and the bruising of his ego. Ienzo could tolerate an awful lot of her baby-talk nonsense before he snapped.

"No," Damn, but his ears were still burning, betraying his brief preoccupation with the notion of Larxene leading him to bed. "But it's common courtesy, you know. I asked if you had a good time out, and you acted like you hadn't heard me."

Not that she was obliged to, of course, when he was a live-in student and not really a friend, but he hated that his attempts at being nice and companionable, trying to be her confidant at home were rebuffed when she made such a point of edging in all over him whenever she felt like it, and asked too-personal questions whenever it suited her.

Being this close to Ienzo wasn't easy for her either. Before she even knew what she was doing she had her hand on his chest. It wasn't until she glanced down that she realized what she was doing. She immediately tried to pass it off as a very light shove.

Larxene turned on her heels. "Well maybe I don't want to talk about it. You ever think of that genius?" Her tone was...for lack of better word strained. It was the fiery anger Ienzo would be used to, but it was most certainly frustrated.

She started to walk away saying "I'm taking a shower. We will start your lesson later so no playing hide and seek brat."

With that she was gone. Likely for the best as Larxene clearly wasn't going to respond to the confrontation right away anyway.

There were her dangerous fingernails, curling delicately just beneath his breathbone, but still too close to his throat for comfort. She glanced down at them as if contemplating her next move, and Zexion braced himself on the countertop stool, expecting more than the little push she wound up giving him, not even enough to send him reeling backward and struggling for balance.

And there she went, calling him genius again. Brat seemed a cozier insult now, because it meant she acknowledged him showing some cheek in arguing back, but genius was a sore spot for the both of them- with Ienzo being rather advanced in scholastic accomplishments for his years, but Larxene managing to find glaring flaws in his basics and hesitance in his combat magic that must have seemed like slow stupidity, to her. Or maybe it unnerved her in turn, to be teaching a younger man who had already had several articles on illusion theory accepted to very respectable publications. Could he live up to that ivory tower reputation as a magical prodigy, when he wound up jinxed up and down in a back alley standoff?

"Maybe I could have taken your mind off of it?" He countered simply, when she turned away and announced she was taking a shower.

Now? After she'd just gotten dressed? And had barely touched her coffee? Talk about going out of her way to avoid the subject.

Maybe she'd had a bad fight with Marluxia last night. (He quietly hoped something had happened that would make her see less of him.) Maybe she'd pushed someone too far at a party, or the wrong person had called her a bitch, or some fool with a death wish had tried slipping something in her drink.

Ienzo was too overly curious for his own good, and once he'd heard the shower running, decided he'd pull out his laptop on its remaining 18% battery and have a little snoop around her social media, at least to have some idea of where she'd been, who she'd been out with.

Her leaving for a shower was for a mix of reasons. Mainly for once Larxene had decided she needed to have a cooler head about the situation. Here Ienzo was trying to be helpful if a little prying and she was berating him. She might of been what some could describe as a bitch, but over time she had come to enjoy her apprentice's companionship. Throwing it away now on harsh words wasn't on her agenda.

Social media was pretty sparse. Larxene had certainly not stated what happened. The only thing Ienzo would learn is that Larxene was at a local club. No note of who she was with nor what happened in the hours she was there. Scanning other acquaintances pieces of media would reveal nothing more than some of them were there. No mention of Larxene's storming out.

However with his head buried in the laptop for some time trying to piece things together the source of his answers came from behind him "You're really that curious about it huh?"

It seems Larxene had finished her shower. She was wrapped up in nothing but a towel and had taken at least some effort to sneak up on Ienzo.

"Fine, but if you tell anybody I'll fry you." She sounded like she meant it.

"Long story short I was at the club and seemed to hit it off with a guy. Had some of the same tastes. Sense of humor that kind of thing. Except the minute he finds out I'm a mage he completely flips. Some of the nastiest insults you ever heard."

She scoffs "Not why I'm still upset of course. Bigots are a dime a dozen. I get angry but I usually just forget about them."

Her expression turned sullen. Rare for Larxene to show that kind of weakness. "No why I'm upset is. I'm a little tired of the whole dating game. Might sound a little unbelievable but having a good relationship is something I want. Except I never seem to go after the right person."

Larxene sighs "So that's it. The big secret. Just didn't want you of all people looking down on me because I cared about that sort of thing. I mean you academic types see that stuff as pretty frivolous, right?"

Stars and lights, she was silent as a shadow or a cat on a rail, when she wanted to be!

He snapped his laptop closed, redhanded and shamefaced, attention snapped over his shoulder to see her standing there, bare-shouldered with her hair even more plastered back than usual. She still smelled of shampoo and shower gel, and the real embarrassment was that he hadn't sensed her nearing till she spoke.

"Who would I tell?" Ienzo laughed weakly, shrugging in a sort-of pathetic way. For all those times she'd called him a nerd with no friends, she wasn't so far off base. The older scholars he'd grown up with didn't care about trivial gossip- Even couldn't be bothered with hearing about 'personal nonsense', and Aeleus could at least keep secrets. But Ienzo had been quiet about how things were going with Larxene lately, and Aeleus knew better than to inquire. Ienzo only used him as a sounding board when he really needed it, and relished his growing independence.

It wasn't Marluxia, then. Just some disenchanting mundane with opinions that weren't worth a handful of lint between the couch cushions. He wanted to ask what kind of deep sensitivity she was expecting, from anyone looking to hook up at a club. But she was the sort who went out to do just that, and Ienzo reminded himself to tread carefully, to try not to offend her, at least not straight away.

"No?" He lied through his teeth, blinking. It was frivolous, the way she went about it, but he tried for the diplomatic approach. "Lots of people date... want to find someone significant in their lives."

"I'm just... not sure a club is the best place to get to know anyone... That is, I know I couldn't 'hit it off' in a crowd where you have to scream over the music, just to be heard? But at least you managed to cut that imbecile off short?"

Ienzo shrugged. He tried not to stare at the place where her wrapped towel tucked into itself, between her breasts.

"I wouldn't know where to start looking myself if I started, to be honest." He admitted, looking away across the living room and running his fingers over the emblem on the back of his laptop. "Guess that's more 'abnormal kid-prodigy' life for you," Ienzo said wryly, a little self-effacingly, "But most of my colleagues and the people they're connected with are older than me by some years... and most women around my- around our age seem to have different priorities. Not... frivolous, persay, just... the things we'd find exciting are different. The things we'd really want are... probably distant from each other."

"There's not even many girls who study in my field, at this level, so... you're the first one I've spent any time with at all, in years."

"I don't know. Guess somebody you normally work with might try to get information about me out of you." She really didn't know who, but it was pretty clear she felt some shame in the things she was feeling.

After all she was supposed to be Larxene. The sadistic destruction witch. Who would think she longed for a decent partner?

It was pretty clear Ienzo was judging her or at least her choice of venue. However instead of getting upset she just laughed. "I guess we both just do what feels comfortable."

"The booming music, the dancing, the excitement. It feels like my element."

She shrugs "Guess a place like that doesn't make for nuanced romance though, does it?"

For the moment it seemed Larxene had forgotten she was supposed to consider Ienzo a brat.

'No one else is particularly interested in you' would be a needlessly cruel thing to say, so Ienzo doesn't. Instead he just shrugs solemnly.

"Whatever you want to be kept private, Larxene, is just between us."

That was a strangely intimate thing to say instead, he realized in the same moment the words left his mouth.

Her idea of nightlife couldn't be further from his idea of comfort, and the scholar listened to her wax poetic about it with a straining smile.

"What kind of nuanced romance are you looking for, exactly? Someone to bring you flowers and leave you handwritten cards and cook you dinner?"

The latter he'd been doing at least a few times a week lately, his oddly complex dishes, which he wasn't exactly sure she'd appreciated, especially as the jars of quick pickles and experimental dressings began overtaking shelves in the fridge, along with carefully packed bento lunches of leftovers. He got the impression that if it were up to her, they'd be ordering in a lot more.

"Thanks." She responded simply to the promise, but it did mean something to her that Ienzo was willing to keep conversations private.

At his question she laughed a little. "Well maybe that last one, but I already have you for that. Even if you make some weird things sometimes."

When it worked out well she did appreciate his cooking, but certainly if she was the one who made all the decisions on food they probably would eat takeout a lot more.

She shrugs her shoulders "I don't know though. I guess just someone that keeps me company, you know? Someone I can have a good time with that doesn't run off at the first sign of hardship. Guess it's not that nuanced, but it feels pretty hard to find."

Weird? Well, his tastes were unusual.

"Sorry." His mutter sounded sheepish. Maybe he should stick to figuring out her reliable favorites in the dinner rotation, instead of trying to impress her with novelty. Larxene seemed like the type who thrived on fresh experiences, but maybe in her food she craved comfort. Maybe in her relationships, she wanted stability.

"Dependable people are hard to come by." Ienzo agreed softly, frowning. He set his laptop aside. "Even when you do find someone dependable, there's always twists of fate that can put them out of your reach."

She shrugged "Whatever it's not like you need to make me food anyway so if it's good great if not I just do whatever I was going to do anyway." One would have to wonder exactly how Larxene is as fit as she is with how poor her diet was.

At his statement Larxene found herself getting her hackles raised. "Oh that's such bullshit. That sounds like another excuse to sit around and think about things. Unless they're dating somebody if there's somebody you're interested in then just go for it!"

"Sure you might get rejected and that sucks but if you just sit around thinking about what might be you're just going to end up a loner."

She seemed to wave his efforts off as though they hardly mattered, and Ienzo's mouth pursed defensively for a moment, the passing look in his eyes almost wounded, until he's bold enough to voice the basic etiquette that serves as justification for his cooking-for-two habits.

"It would be incredibly rude of me to use your kitchen without making enough to share with you?" He insists, still seeming flustered. Perhaps he ought to pay closer attention to her cravings, and try to meet them with a homecooked substitute.

Ienzo shook his head and held his ground, when his opinion seemed to rub her the wrong way.

"I"m afraid I have to (respectfully) disagree with you, because ... well, there are certain circumstances where you can't just 'go for it', because... there are other things going on, a different kind of connection that trumps romantic involvement, or... if it would just be inappropriate, for one reason or another. I suppose it's not the sort of thing you need to worry about happening too often in nightclubs, but... sometimes there might be a different kind of connection you don't want to jeopardize by trying to hit on someone?"

He was babbling a little- the most he'd spoken about anything other than technique or magical theory in days.

"For example, have you ever been afraid your soulmate could have been born a generation too soon, or too late?"

"Maybe, but I'm not such a bitch that I would deny you something basic like food. It might of been different if you were a slob in the kitchen, but you clean up after yourself."

Larxene sighed "If you're that hung up about it though why don't we talk later about what I do and don't like?"

For now though there were more important things to talk about. "Do I really look like the person that cares about appropriate? If they weren't able to deal with you expressing your feelings whatever relationship you had wasn't that good in the first place."

"As for separate generations. As long as you're both legal and have similar expectations I don't see a problem with it. Sure it wouldn't work if the younger person wanted kids and the older person didn't or something, but other than that if you're after an older woman Ienzo I say go for it."

"The people I used to live with didn't tolerate sloppiness at all." The scholar shrugged, a bit sheepish about his own tidyness. It was an uncommon quality in most men of his age- he might've gotten teased about it before, when showing exasperation over little messes and jobs left half-done. Somehow, picking up after Larxene was becoming almost more of a fond routine. "It's a habit worth retaining, I suppose, if I'm going to be imposing myself upon a teacher's home."

Talking about what Larxene liked seemed an interesting topic, and Ienzo seemed hopeful, nodding. Being open about emotions was a harder thing to swallow, especially when Larxene seemed like such a volatile personality when she was pissed off, or toying around with people for a laugh.

"Better to avoid intimacy with those who can't understand a lifestyle that incorporates magic entirely." He muttered distantly "It still sounds like you dodged a bullet with this gem of a fellow, so there's really no need to let it get you down? Prejudice and fear will always rule those who find themselves at a loss for power in the face of our kind. He was probably no one that would impress you in the long run."

Her encouragement in turn made him tuck up knees under himself on the couch, hunching forward a little and fiddling with the zipperpull on his laptop case. "There's nothing like that. Anyway, I've got so much work to do, it's foolish to expect someone to just wait around for me to have free time to spend on... hanging out, going out, planning for the future, putting in the kind of lover-labors that anyone I would like deserves."

"Oh of course I did! That guy was a complete jerk and not worth my time. It was just the final straw in my frustrating love life."

She wasn't used to being this open. Especially with Ienzo, but this back and forth had opened her up a bit more.

Larxene decided to sit next to Ienzo. Although this had the consequence of bringing her current state of undress back to the forefront. While the towel did stay securely on sitting down shifted the fabric a bit. The part covering her lower half sliding up some to give an even better view of her thighs and the part on top loosening just ever so slightly making it easy to imagine what would happen if it loosened more.

Larxene however wasn't thinking of any of this as she reached over to give an affectionate ruffle of his hair "Ienzo, you worry too much. People with time-consuming jobs get into relationships all the time. Anyone you would be into would get that you're actually busy a lot. I mean it's pretty consistent across all our fields for one. I know I make it look easy but I think I've beaten it into you how time-consuming training is for destruction magic."

She laughs. A bit of a sadistic joke, but she was more happy for the progress he made than anything in truth.

"You are also the kind of person I think would learn to make the time he could. You might over-think things but it also means you're considerate to a fault."

It would be hypocritical of him to toss down some disparaging remark, so he kept his mouth shut and watched her settle in beside him on the couch, the scent of her clean skin that much stronger up close, not yet tinged with the heavy note of ozone on the air that filled up his nose during their practice sessions. His eyes lingered on a bead of water that traveled lazily down her neck behind the ear and rolled along the line of her collarbone.

If that towel fell away, he found himself wondering, would she just casually tease him for looking, or play up being scandalized and offended?

He ducked as he damp hand ruffled at his hair, making it even messier than his morning usual.

"I have the bruises to prove it." Ienzo agreed dryly.

"I guess it's just hard to find someone with compatible priorities." He reasoned, eyes stilling on her bare knees. Ienzo fought to urge to shift around until he felt comfortable. "And I wouldn't want to distract myself from our training sessions, either, over some love fleeting love interest."

The last thing he said earned a raised brow. It also earned Ienzo her curiosity especially because she could tell where he was looking. She had to test the waters on this.

Larxene shifted her legs ever so slightly. So it seemed like a mistake, but it was enough to slide the towel up her legs just a little more. Quite dangerously close to revealing more than just legs.

"Really now? Wouldn't trade personal time with me for a pretty illusionist girl?" Her tone was teasing. A warning of more to come.

"Then I have to wonder if it's true what some of my colleagues say some of them do." She pauses "Do you use our training to vent certain frustrations?" To emphasize her point she leans forward slightly so if he were to look up from her legs he would get a good look at her cleavage.

"I'm hardly well-acquainted with any pretty illusionist girls, you know that." He demurs, holding up his hands and shutting his eyes to keep from staring at anything that could get him bug-zapped. He had his suspicions that Larxene was playing half-naked and loose with him on purpose, just to jostle his boundaries, but giving into temptation was probably just asking for trouble. He needed her instruction too badly to cave to carnal pressure.

Or so he kept desperately trying to convince himself, wishing his corduroy trousers fit a bit roomier around the crotch.

"Oh? What do they say?" He cracks one eye open and arches an eyebrow, curious what sort of lewd rumors circulated about illusionists and their talents. They were probably true, he could cheat at touchless stimulation a lot, if he had half a mind to. Larxene would probably punish him for a phantom hand sneaking up her thigh just as much as she would lash out at actual fondling.

"No..." Ienzo blinked, carefully stonefaced. After training, trying to cool himself off from the charge of energy left on the air was a different story. He was guilty of using sweaty palms and tissues for plenty of relief, after the swallowing of potions and painkillers, but Larxene might be at least part of the cause he ended sparring sessions feeling more violently horny than his teenaged years had ever left him. "Do you?"

"Sure but we were talking hypothetically." She was more than a little amused Ienzo's initial response was to close his eyes.

Larxene had proven she most certainly knew about illusions even if she wasn't as great at them as Ienzo. She could counter them. Illusions only worked so well when an area of effect spell was her counter.

His stonefaced approach only seemed to make her push more. "Not exactly."

Her hand went up to move her fingertips gently along the back of Ienzo's neck. "To me sparring is a different kind of intimacy. Sure it gets the adrenaline going, the heart pounding, but it's not exactly the same sort of thrill. It's certainly not the kind of team effort sex is."

Larxene's fingers continued to tease Ienzo's neck as she spoke "With sex you move together and hopefully give the other person the sort of ride they want. Sparring is, especially with me, brutal. Still it is fun."

Her fingers moved down his neck, down to his arm continuing their gentle caress there "Even with that being the case though. You've given me the most thrills I've had for a while." Her tone turned slightly sensual at that.

She did wonder if perhaps she was overdoing it but the prior conversation and Ienzo's reactions made her want this. To see how far she could take it.

"Then, even if we're speaking hypothetically, I'd still prefer to be with someone who didn't have the same skillset as me, who wouldn't know the same bag of tricks." He reasons, still trying to remain as straightfaced as he could beside his almost-naked teacher. He was guilty just for the itching curiosity flitting across the forefront of his thoughts, preoccupying himself with pointless speculation- if she shaved down there under her towel, or if her hair was damp and curled and just as corn-blonde. His fingers closed into his hand, resting impatiently on his own thigh.

He nearly startled when she touched him right against the top his spinal column, remembering the times she'd poked him in the back with a light shock that traveled all the way down to his tailbone and left the nerves ringing. This time he's not feeling any magic, just the deft graze of her nails and a bit of softer fingerpad, and the sensation's... well it's sort of lulling, actually. No one's ever pet him like that before, and his hair is quite downy back there on his neck, where it's not grown out long and clumped together in thick slate-grey shanks. Though he'd shut his eyes to avoid peeking at anything promiscuous, now they stay half-lidded same the way a cat looks when its scratched behind the ears and blissed out by the touch.

Ienzo slumps forward a little, bowing his head. Larxene's voice is attractive, when she's not baby-talking at him or trying to sound particularly vicious. The subject matter helps, too. Did she have a lot of sexual experience, to be able to talk with that kind of confidence?

Maybe he should just gather up his courage and try to play this smoothly, right along his her. While her hand is still lingering on his arm, he shifts his own hand over cautiously, deliberate, till it's resting against the outside of her thigh, thumb skirting along the edge of her towel.

"So..." He tries to keep his voice level, from sliding into anything too syrupy with suggestion, like this was just the most casual revelation he's encountered in awhile. "Were you looking to give me a different sort of lesson this morning, then, before you put on clothes?"

The worst she could do was laugh and be dismissive about it, probably. After all, she'd been the one to initiate contact, and it wasn't the first time, either.

Ienzo's face as she pet his neck was positively cute. She would have to keep this in mind for later. At this rate Ienzo might even catch her looking at him with a more fond smile on her face than he's used to.

Admittedly she was actually surprised at this turn in Ienzo. She was proud of him though just feeling his hand on her thigh sent a different sort of electrical feeling up her body.

It left her quiet for a moment, before her usual smirk came into place. She placed her hand on a similar place on Ienzo's thigh. "That depends. Despite your fears do you want to give it a shot? We can keep it as private as you want, but if you're getting that sort of lesson then we're going to actually be an item. You know I don't like to do things half way."

"I never said I was afraid, just that I had reservations about the whole...dating scene." Ienzo grumbles, about as guarded as he can dare to be while his own hand is against someone's leg. "I sort of skipped on the years when people are meant to experiment with the ins and outs of all of that." He says, like he's already accepted the inevitability of his twenty-one year old midlife crisis.

But there's no time like the present to catch up on skipping traditional high school and diving straight into refining the art of what to do with a half naked woman on her couch who also happens to be your tutor.

"What would... being an 'item' entail, exactly?" He hazards, sliding his thumb along her skin by small increments. "You don't skip straight to sex unless you're serious about commitment?" Shame on him for assuming otherwise, he supposes. Larxene seemed like the flitty fuck and go sort, which he had suspected might be the source of half her problems. Maybe she'd resolved to turn over a new leaf.

"Being together isn't anything too difficult. We would just spend more personal time together that isn't me training you and go out every now and then." After a pause she adds "That doesn't mean I'm going to drag you to a club though. I know you hate those places so we'll just go somewhere we can both have fun."

Honestly if she thought Ienzo wouldn't be prickly about it she would of taken him dancing already.

"Really it's more work for me since I would have to juggle being your teacher and girlfriend so I don't skimp on either."

She isn't really shocked Ienzo thought she was what some might call easy. She did emit that party girl persona at times.

"It wasn't always the case, but yeah pretty soon after I realized I wanted a serious relationship I also stopped having sex just because I had chemistry with someone on the dance floor. When I said fighting you was the most action I've had in a while I actually meant it."

Ienzo's eyes went wider the more she casually spoke about the possibility of being together, as if it wasn't only a cruel joke. His expression wavered uneasily between hopeful with surprise, and guardedly suspicious, like he was expecting her to double-punch him in the gut then flit away from the couch adjusting her towel and howling with laughter any moment now.

"You're really not kidding." He marvels out loud, hoping he wasn't making a fool of himself by speaking too soon. She even respected his boundaries of places he'd never think to go, even though there had been nights alone in the apartment, mind wandering out of energy focusing meditation, where he did wish he could have invited himself along to wherever-Larxene-was, out of some mad itch of curiosity to see what sort of things she got up to when she was 'having fun' outside of training.

"(The juggling could get tricky for both of us, probably.)" Ienzo admits sheepishly, shoulders rounding. "It's hard enough impressing you as your student, nevermind what you'd expect out of a...a partner?" Although how many of Larxene's disposable would-be boyfriend material prospects had cooked for her almost every night of the week, or responded to her most brutal rounds of criticism with the kind of humility only Aeleus's unmovable patience could have ever taught him?

"Wait, so if you're not looking for sex, then why are you always trying to taunt me with it, like you are?" He demands, mouth pulling into one of those cross, slightly-pinched pouts of perceived unfairness.

Larxene kept her cool outwardly but was surprised she was a bit nervous. Suddenly the ball was in Ienzo's court and while she felt he would say yes he could very easily say no and leave her feeling awkward.

Still she kept her confident smile.

"Dating isn't some sort of competition. Being my boyfriend is a lot easier than my training. Getting to be my boyfriend is that hard part, but you can already tell you've gotten that far. As long as you don't suddenly change who you are when we're dating I think I would be pleased."

At his question she couldn't help but laugh. A familiar giggle of glee, but didn't have the sadism it usually had behind it.

"Oh that's easy Ienzo."

She moved closer to Ienzo pressing in so her barely covered chest was against his arm "You're cute when you're flustered."

She spoke of this like it was inevitable, a breezy sort of ease in the way she declared that they could date, and Ienzo was still trying to shake off his shock- This was him and Larxene in a nutshell, her moods and decisions seemingly capricious and not so easily predictable. He was better with things he could control, people he could easily figure out and keep one step ahead of, but Larxene posed the kind of challenge that was both fascinating and trying to cope with all at once.

Did he dare to let his heart in on that, or all the other vulnerabilities that came along with taking a big risk and having sex with your tutor, for that matter?

She was pleased with everything he was now? Found him boyfriend material? After weeks and weeks of tormenting him over every little flaw? If it was still last night, Ienzo might be questioning exactly how much she'd had to drink.

But instead she was here, and very much almost naked in the morning light, and leaning against him in such a way that he really couldn't bring himself to try and brush off.

"So I guess you're bored with acting like you're babysitting me, then." he counters archly, with as much dignity as he can muster while entirely tempted to peer down at her cleavage, shifting his hand so that it rested right over her thighs, where her skin looked softest between them.

"...if you're sure, this is what you want, I..." He let go of too much breath that he'd been holding in. "We could try dating. I'm not really sure what we'd do differently- I already live with you."

There's a laugh at that she had been teasing Ienzo with that one for a while. "Yes I'll stop saying that. Haven't felt like I was babysitting you for a while. I admit I thought you were some bookworm that would give up a few weeks in at most."

A genuine smile curled on her lips "but you didn't. You're still here. Sure you're still bookish, but you have the determination to keep at it."

Feeling Ienzo's hand on her thigh sent a shiver through her. It was getting harder to keep her feelings contained, but she did for Ienzo's sake.

"Well we could always turn your room into more of a study instead if you're comfortable with that. I know you like your space, but if we're dating there's more than enough room in my bed for the two of us."

"Before any of that there is one last thing. I definitely want to date you, like you said we're practically dating already and I do like you. I want to hear you say the same. Maybe show me your desire in more than just words if you want. Do you want to date me?"

Larxene stroked his face affectionately. However she didn't move more than that. It was pretty typical of Larxene's training. She wanted Ienzo to be more bold. To make a move rather than sitting back and letting things happen.

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