Conversations From The Bottom Of A Mineshaft

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In the depths of the cathedral...

The work restoring the motive systems which will raise the golden cathedral through the earth is going well. Frost, despite his insistence that he's 'just lifting', has actually been instrumental in coordinating the workers (along with Kraik) and his sharp eyes have revealed several flaws in Mari's work, which she's rushing.

They're working on a particularly run-down section on the "outside" of the sunken cathedral when suddenly the ceiling caves in, burying her under tons of rubble. Almost immediately, there's a geyser of rocks from below the debris pile. Through a small clearing in the debris, Mari can be heard grumbling as she punches the rock covering her as hard as she can...

"Stupid rock, get out of my way-"

"Wait! Mari! Stop!" Frost shouts.

His eye is focused on the newly expanded ceiling above the pile, which looks cracked and dangerously fragile. Given how hard she hits, the shockwaves travelling through the ground could bring it down on the Manse... and the half-dozen assistant working furiously to re-etch the pentagrammic runes of warding back into the walls.

"You might hurt them," he says, pointing behind him, and she notices the men and women behind the Lunar.

"Oh. Okie..." she says, ceasing her assault immediately. "Sorry. Hmm. But how will I get out?" she asks.

"Hmmm. How about I dig you out?" he asks. The Lunar is privately concerned that Mari's idea of digging will be no less forceful than her attempts to punch her way out of a debris pile. Frost slowly digs his way toward the girl, carefully removing the larger bits of rubble by hand, lifting them away, mindful of both the young woman trapped beneath them and the potential structural damage to the Factory Cathedral.

"Say, Frosty... Kitty's apparently my Lunar, right? What should I do with him? Should I sex him up? You and Nee-san sex each other up a lot, right?"

He grunts, lifting one away, and looks at her in surprise when she asks the question. "I...Mari..." This far Shrike had managed to shield him from the awkward duty of discussing sex with the young woman. He shakes his head, reaching into the hole and drawing the girl out, setting her on a pile of rubble.

"Yes...Kitty...does seem to be your Lunar mate. But that means many things to many different Solars and Lunars. For some, it involves sex, for others they are just the closest of friends. That is for you - and he - to decide." He strokes the girl's cheek affectionately.

"But be careful Mari. We Lunars, we may seem tough and durable, but to our mates, we are...very vulnerable. You have a powerful hold over your mate, just as Shrike has over me."

"I do? Is it like wrestling him? I think I could pin him..."

He nods. "You do, and no, I don't mean arm wrestling him."

Killing Frost hugs the girl gently, thinking. "Do you know how Shrike can sometimes make people do things they might not necessarily want to do, and they will love her for it anyway? But sometimes they fight it off?"

Mari nods. "Yup! But Nee-san's so lovable!"

She tilts her head to the side when Frost does not immediately agree.

"...isn't she?"

He sighs softly. "A Lunar mate is vulnerable to that kind of influence, in ways no other being in Creation is. Shrike for example, has a frightening amount of power over me if she chose to exercise it. So too do you have over your mate."

The girl's hair is ruffled affectionately. "In the First Age, when the Solars were at the height of their...madness...their Lunar mates suffered greatly. For we were strong enough to bear it, but not so strong as to leave."

"Eeeep."

This news seems to disturb Mari. She's never been the sort to want power over others - friends that you have to force to like you... aren't really friends at all, are they?

"I don't want to do that to Kitty," she says in a very small voice. "I just want Kitty to like me because I'm me, not because I tell him to."

The Lunar smiles affectionately at her. "Yes, your Nee-san is lovable. And I believe your mate will like you because you are you - he certainly seems to. I only tell you Mari because you deserve to know, and I don't want you accidentally getting hurt. Just be careful with him, be kind, and things will be okay."

She nods vigorously.

"I can be nice! I like being nice! It's easy to be nice to kitties! Well, and otters..."

Mari squeezes Frost to herself just a little. He's kinda huggable.

Frost lets the remarkably strong young woman pull him in for a hug, his expression indulgent. By the time they are done with their conversation and rejoin the construction crew, a white river otter dangles from Mari's arms, held tightly by the young woman.