Charles Patricius

Flirting? The way Kazu saw his own words, not a single flirt had been sent Saori's way. He'd spoken only the fact of his preference, but if she wanted to tease against perceived flirting... she'd chosen the right form of Kazuhiko to do so. "Picking battles isn't slacking. And if you think that was flirting, and that I'm not allowed, you don't seem very fit to stop me... Maîtresse," he teased right back. In that moment, both were looking at each other through the corners of their eyes.

Marisbury took note of this moment. The exchange between them didn't reek of animosity. In fact, he could now more clearly see how Saori was impregnated initially. Either way, it was his task to make the necessary pushes toward whatever these parents wanted for Sena. Personal observations about their relationship would take a backseat for the time being, though... they would remain in place nonetheless. "Interesting. So, we agree on this major personality trait. The combination of Hayami-san's demeanor with Kimura-kun's underlying traits does equal what would be called a chuuni, but... yes, she is going to be quite the magical little girl. I'm seeing a desire to focus, and... well, the rest would spoil any surprises there are. I think the best part of a new creation is seeing it come into its own. Our job here is just to open the widest path possible for her."

True to his word, Marisbury worked toward solidifying Sena's 'explosive' tendencies. Saori suggested a lift to flexibility as well. "You're plenty flexible in the right circumstance," Kazu stated. In that moment, Marisbury quirked a brow. "Hmm. Even I'm not sure what the intention behind that one was," he interjected. "Though, the combination of you two does equal more than a normal amount of mental flexibility as well as physical and spiritual. I'm seeing firm beliefs, but a willingness to see other perspectives... which seems to be the perfect middle ground for you two in your current states. Anything else? There does seem to be a leaning toward... obsession, which is a very strong part of both parents here. Is that something we want altered? I'll tell you the target is something Sena would have to discover herself, and it isn't something we can get rid of entirely."

Abrasive, that was a word that could be used to describe Saori. Even now, she was finding herself being so... choosing to tease the lad for any implication of bending her over anything instead of doing what they came here for. Still the attitude he showed in response to that, was indeed much closer to the kind of thing Saori actually enjoyed. He wasn't always like this, but the more outright flirty response was indeed more enjoyable. "I'm fit to stop whatever I want. You aren't fit to start..." ah, that one was flirty. Much easier was that sort of thing when the other pieces were already inline, even so the firmness of her stance on not being involved with the craziness wasn't going away. Life was complicated enough without the additions and she knew of far more than the light-hearted form of Kazuhiko even realized, she'd even extrapolated a few things based on historical knowledge... something that lad seemed almost incapable of doing. Whatever the case, that little bit of French language was a good sounding phrase, even though she chose to ignore it.

Still according to Marisbury Sena was going to be a very magical little girl and there was an agreement about her being a chuuni. Even so, everything would be fine, and Saori was even willing to live with a few surprises yet to be seen. "Hai hai, no need for spoilers," she said waving that part off, though she was still giving a bit of a side eye to Kazuhiko. Speaking of his commentary on flexibility could be taken a couple of ways, and even Marisbury claimed to not know which way it was meant. "Unneeded commentary!" she barked. Who that was meant for? Well... it didn't really matter. What was necessary was a decision, about the nature of obsession in Sena. Oddly enough, Saori had but one thing to say about it, "No need to tweak it... obsessions are technically quite healthy for those types," Saori stated. She had at least one obsession of her own currently and she'd grown out of the others when the time was right. She had faith a baby of hers could with help learn to navigate her own feelings well enough to be unhindered by such a thing.

According to Saori, she was capable of stopping anything, while he was not fit to start. The inaccuracies were piling up, Kazuhiko thought, even scoffing at the claim. "You couldn't handle a third," he said plainly. He knew his capabilities, the weight of his soul and the power of this form whilst in it. Whether his words were arrogant or objective, he wouldn't bother saying. This Kazuhiko had no concern for how the conversation veered, how his words were interpreted, or... any of it, really. Even with Saori's exclamation of unneeded commentary, he had only a few simple words to offer. "Haah? Embarrassed? Let it go and move on," he said.

Strange as this pair was, Marisbury would now be doing nothing with the recently-addressed aspect of Sena. If they didn't want her obsessions curbed, he would leave them alone. The only thing that needed establishing was the type of parental bond, which normally filled itself in during the incubation process. To rush it along, Marisbury did need something. "If that's all, I need only one more thing from you two. If this process were to be completed naturally, Sena's soul would grow to understand the link between you two before being born. It would happen naturally, and determine how these two sub-cores meld, if at all. If you two aren't going to exchange mana in any way, we'll have to cause that convergence by other means. I could probably manage something just by knowing what you two think of each other in reasonable detail. Is that a better option?"

Oh, there was a bit of biting conversation. That was appreciable in truth. Saori preferred this kind of attitude to many others, but that was simply her own oddity. "Oh?" that was it, perhaps in a different moment or at a different time she would have called him on this assertion. Perhaps it would be something worth doing at some other point in time but it was nothing she was truly concerned about in the moment. No, there was a barking order of unnecessary commentary which came from Saori which a few words followed from Kazuhiko's end. "You could have let it go," that was it. It would have seemed like an argument but she said nothing else, such was her way, mostly so she didn't do anything unnecessary like stand up and swing a fist which did cross her mind as an option.

Ah but there was more that Marisbury needed. He claimed that the growth of a baby would naturally allow it to understand the relationship between its parents and give it time to bond its pieces together properly. Such would not be happening in this case. And since Saori had no active plans of engaging in continued sexual activity with Kazuhiko. Ah, but apparently they could talk it through, why these weird godly people had issues with conversations Saori couldn't know, but if talking was an option why they started with sex she didn't know. "Hm, I guess it works..." she said seeming to close her eyes and consider the question posed to her. Oddly enough what she had to say about Kazuhiko from one moment to the next didn't change, "I think he's bright, earnest, adventurous and legitimately nice. Though that means he is also naïve and a bit oblivious, especially when presented with one of his obsessions. But for things he's interested in, he's truly passionate about those, and that makes him infectious and oddly charming. He's a strong sense of fairness, and a good eye for the individual talents of others which make him a reliable leader and someone who is easy to talk to and empathize with. And anyone who goes all in on something they enjoy has my full respect. Even if I believe they aren't making full use of their potential," Saori confirmed. Oddly enough she had no issues saying such things, but she was a teacher she was used to analyzing people in front of their faces.

To his acknowledgement of her outcry, Saori thought Kazu could have just let it go. She wasn't wrong; he could have done that. As for whether he would or not, well... the answer would never change. "You're right. But you could have never said anything. Look where we are now?" he replied. Martha's mannerisms didn't bother this one, nor were they receiving the same quality of retort. He was equal parts too serious and too snarky for the norm.

Now, with no mana transfer of any sort on the proverbial table, Saori shared her opinion of the father in this arrangement. Marisbury listened intently to her every word, and further all the lines between. The honesty she exemplified was remarkable. She spoke positively from the heart, objectively from the mind, and acceptingly from the soul. "That was good. And what of you? What is your honest opinion of Hayami-san?" he asked of Kazu. The answer Marisbury received came with no hesitation. "Stuck-up, close-minded, brash and prickly on a good day. Too strong a sense of responsibility for someone who isn't even 30 yet. For the cost of all that, there's a do-right attitude and a heart of gold. You just can't be mad about any of the negatives, even if you know she needs to stop shouldering the whole damn world for no reason. You just want to take some of that weight off, you know? Speaking of weight, I'm guessing you don't care to hear about the rockin' body," Kazu rambled. Marisbury never stopped shifting code lines around, but he did take a moment to chuckle. "That won't be necessary; we can all agree on that truth," he answered. The two segments representing Sena's parents were wound together at a specific point: a streak of passion. As each had strong feelings of passion and respect for the other's similar drive, he could use it to create a situational link between those pseudo-cores. "This will be a little strange. The two of you seem to have a... situationship at best. By this connection method, there will equally be a situational reaction of sorts in our little Sena. Now, about the age. . ."

Pure snark, that is what Saori received from this more mature form of Kazuhiko. Seeing where they were now, she gave consideration to more words, but... she also knew herself well enough to know that if she spoke again standing up and swinging would become her more favored option. As such she took a deep breath and simply shook her head from left to right. Moving on, Saori gave her piece on the man standing in front of her she was told it was enough for what Marisbury needed. Her understanding of Kimura Kazuhiko came from two places and in both of those she had similar opinions just from different angles.

What of Kazuhiko though? His opinion of his teacher turned comrade was about what she expected. Those were things she'd heard about herself before and she wouldn't even argue the point. Her attitude wasn't for everyone and she didn't tolerate anything lesser. Those who thought her to have too strong a sense of responsibility were the ones who had some inkling of 'funner' sort of person she used to be. What else he had to say about her though, that was different. Her brows furrowed. She asked for no help and expected none... ah but that was the point wasn't it. As for the statements on her physique. She couldn't even muster a negative comment. She spent two lifetimes on a perfect body, she wasn't about to deny that perfection. "Hmph!" she didn't say anything but there was just a hint of smugness in wake of Marisbury's commentary. Situationship was the further descriptor of the relationship between Saori and Kazuhiko and she understood how it got there and wouldn't be questioning it at all... as for the age of the girl in question. "Age? I don't know what modern kids are like, but I had the most fun in life when I was fifteen. Old enough to be independent, young enough that I wasn't being hassled to make decisions... past the super awkwardness of puberty. Though I'm not sure how much my opinion on that should count," Saori said, being fair to the child in question and her potential father.

Saori had nothing to say at the end of their back-and-forth. Kazu wasn't surprised at all by that; someone had to end it eventually. Just the same, there had to be an end to this entire ordeal at some point. Even this form of Kazuhiko acknowledged that he'd rather be elsewhere getting on with his original plan, but Marisbury kept bringing up things that they all could have dealt with later. Well, he couldn't rightly demand that Marisbury change his schedule; he was an adult with a very demanding job in this world.

Age was the topic broached. Marisbury was mentally working around how to address the matter, only for Saori to begin speaking her opinion of the ideal age. That certainly changed things a bit. At present, the child would hardly be half that age, but... there was always a method. "Ah. I was intending to explain the situation before getting an answer about your preference. If you're aiming for something around 15 years of age, you'll need a lot more mana into the child than what's present. Right now, your window is between human newborn and... four," Marisbury explained. "That makes sense. Kazuki looks like an elementary school student, and that was after multiple nights spent with Sakura. If she's being born now, fifteen is ideal. She'd be able to join us at school, and we wouldn't lose to having a young child that needs constant care," said Kazu. Marisbury cleared his throat before proceeding. "Then we're back at square one. Growth accompanies mana consumed. A normal tenure in the womb burns energy to fuel the body; I'm sure you both understand that already. It's just like humans understand it. The mother takes sustenance, the child gets a share. I may be able to extend time within this space, but... even I can't make a human grow with no input whatsoever. You'll have to either make some level of connection happen between you, or make another decision. I'll leave that part to you two."

A quiet had come between the pair but that was simply how Saori handled things in situations in which fighting someone wasn't possible. To keep things as simple as possible she tried to be as reasonable as she could manage without bending to anything she considered odd. Of course, such things would work out that way most of the time. But in the here and now she'd been asked about age preferences and the opening in speech left her to decide an age she'd preferred. Ah, but what she had was a baby between newborn and four. "That's way too young," she said frowning. The idea of doing something like finding childcare and helping a little kid was terrifying. She'd not even liked her younger sister when she was in that age range, and Saori had been 9 when that one was born. Apparently, Kazuhiko also thought the better of it, as a fifteen year old could more easily fit into their regular rotation for time spent in this town.

So what? It did make sense that they'd only had one interaction of a sizable but not astronomical length. Magic did work through energy based transfers and even as she understood regular baby making it took a lot out of the person growing it mostly in the form of food. It was an annoying thought though, according to Marisbury he could do something but not the amount they'd need to get their desired outcome. Something about this felt like entrapment to Saori. But only some form of connection needed to be established. Kazuhiko could be trusted to a certain extent, she'd already mentioned that, but her stance hadn't truly changed. "Just a connection of some sort huh? You're the one with the extra experience, what's the least invasive way to meet his requirements?" she asked of Kazuhko. She could at least trust him to not be too pushy about things normally.

The age of four was at least ten years too young for a suitable member of their group. They needed someone who didn't require constant attention from at least one adult. In time, they would all be involved in a great battle. What place would a child have there? No, Sena had to be in range of them. Nothing less would suffice, and even a little more would have been fine. Sadly, Marisbury had requirements of the pair who couldn't come to terms about their mana-related bonding.

Saori wasn't the only one with a sense of entrapment in this situation. There was always a certain amount of manipulation from the well-meaning ones he'd been encountering lately. On the other hand, he didn't really care the outcome, so long as he got to move on afterwards. Saori decided to question Kazu on the least invasive ways of meeting the request. She was right; he had far more experience in these matters. In terms of effectiveness, however, what he learned was not conducive to making the decision Saori would want. "Least invasive and most effective? Oral. Least invasive overall? Just touching. It scales the same magically as it does sexually. The more you do, the more you get, quicker. You shouldn't bother asking me any of that, though. I already said I'd rather bend you over something; I meant that. Make your own decision if that's not what you're trying to have happen," he demanded. Just then, Marisbury cleared his throat once more. "If you'll be needing any time manipulation or privacy, please let me know~"

As was generally the case and her understanding, Kazuhiko had an answer for her without the added annoyance of well-meaning clairvoyant scamp behavior. At this point the only reason she'd not just swung on Marisbury was because he was being helpful... but her level of annoyance was only going to grow as the day went on. The truth of this entire situation was some combination of magical scaling versus time. Of course this was the case, why didn't anyone in this room besides Saori see the actual negatives of her continuing to have a sexual relationship with someone who was in this world a student of hers and 12 years her junior? Why was she the only one in this room with the common sense to know that a one time encounter was something to be buried, but more exposure would lead to more problems, both short term and long term. Besides, she wanted no part of his coming harem and had something she was looking forward to as well... this was just a complication. This kind of thing was exactly why safe sex was a practice so annoying life decisions could be mediated and innocent lives wouldn't be affected. The more she thought about it, the more she realized the problem of this situation and the more annoyed she became. Well, those from Munetsuchi wouldn't get it, nor would the obviously way too open children...

"Mendokusei!" she uttered. Problems she couldn't fix with violence made her angry. And those flirty words in the middle of Kazuhiko's speech didn't do anything but make her want to challenge him and make her angry too. 'Pros of this situation... getting the kid out at the least problematic age. Having said kid around at an age where it would be easiest to keep all necessary details quiet. Getting this whole thing over with before it causes me more problems. Getting to try out a more compatible form of Kazuhiko. And the kid getting a supposedly better start at life.' she listed in her head while clenching and unclenching her fist. 'Cons, having sex with a student, on purpose for reasons that can't really be quantified by normal standards. Having that loom over my head while still having to be his actual teacher. Ending up too close to this harem for my personal comfort. Leaving openings for his continued flirting and advances. Eventually having to explain this very fucked up situation to someone I actually want to be with.' With the pros and cons of this situation listed, the annoyance level of the situation stayed the same but at least she had a reasonable understanding of the stakes. Unlike most, neither Saori nor Martha would make a decision thatt would negatively affect an innocent person, once again she'd shoulder the burden of her own initial bad decision to see a reasonable for a future for a kid who was currently just an idea and a ball of code. 'Oh well, at least I'll get to say goodbye to my sister this time.' That was the main thought she had as she considered all the potential negatives of this situation as a full worst case scenario. "We need both." that was it... all that she was going to say. If this was a thing to do, she might as well fully commit to throwing her life away.