34th of Summer
A slight yawn racked his worn-out body, and he glanced around the darkened Syliras streets with sleepy eyes. He had a few dark circles growing, mostly from the combination of keeping customers pleasured and meeting up with Isolde to study what they could. The Alchemy ring (or at least it would hopefully turn into one) was still in the hands of the metalsmith, so they weren't able to follow up on that quite yet. Instead, they had just decided to meet and study a few more of the basics together to better prepare themselves. Matthew let out another soft yawn and sighed, leaning his slim and muscled back against the cold stone walls of the abandoned lab. Stretching it a bit, a sharp crack echoed out through the streets, signaling that the harlot had managed to relieve some of the knotted tension in his back. He would need to visit the hot springs again, or pay for another massage session. There was a yellow and purple bruise on his cheek, the faint outline of multiple slaps giving a hint to where the marking had come from. There were matching marks on his neck, showing that whoever his last customer was had been quite the rough woman. He mumbled something under his breath, whipping his head from side to side, a few more cracks echoing out. If this kept up, he would look like Isolde in the end. Except for the tongue.
He couldn't help but briefly wonder about it. Was it like a normal tongue, or would there be a taste of rot to it? He hadn't brought up his interest in the biology of her race for awhile now, so perhaps she wouldn't mind? No, she probably would. He set his jaw, thinking it over a bit. She was really the only one that he knew, sadly enough. There had been a few of the Nuit back in Zeltiva, but he wouldn't have dared approach them with experimentation in mind. Isolde had slowly set him at ease around her kind though, so that was helpful.
Matthew was waiting just outside the abandoned laboratories that Isolde and him had first become partners. It was rather early in the morning, as Matthew was hoping they could get some studies done and then perhaps go and see if the Alchemy ring was done. Trying to soothe his slightly stressed mind, he focused within himself, Djed swirling as he dipped his mind into it. Tracing down the front of his body with graceful fingertips, he lightly touched to his stomach. He could feel the Djed swirling there, so he slowly guided it upwards, his touch tracing the path that the Djed would soon follow. His long fingers cupped his head, and then brushed over his eyes, the harlot looking as if he was holding his skull in pain. He briefly convulsed, and sparkling Djed finally fell from his eyes. They were like tears only he could see. He expended some of the remaining Djed he had summoned to light up his sight, the burning magic somehow triggering some sort of seventh sense. When he flooded it into his eyes and let it burn, the world lit up in a multitude of colors and shapes. Not that he could make sense of them, or even see them clearly. But it did help him see the Djed he produced to practice the skill that Devandil had tried to initiate him into.
He was supposed to use the strands to form a shield. Even their production was a step of Shielding, though that had turned out to be the easy part. He was used to manipulating Djed inside of him, so producing it on a physical plane had only taken a bit of effort. He could even form a shield. Tasking it was the hard thing. Devandil hadn't really even explained it, so he was going to have to figure it out himself. He absentmindedly painted the Djed onto his hands, coating them in a light shimmering shade. He didn't even really know what this would do. He just figured it was best that he practice. To anyone else it would just be the sight of the harlot rubbing his hands together, a distant look in his tired eyes. He was dressed well, like always. Sharp and clean-shaven, hair styled and soft features looking as if he wore some sort of make-up.
