Daniel nods. "Now, Ms. Mitchell has given me the clearance to bring this up with both of you, but just to reiterate, what's said in this room comes under the NDA rider of each of your contracts, not to mention the doctrine of mutually assured destruction. Each of you has a backlash that if leaked to the press could ruin your career; that is, in fact, what makes you such good pairings to each other.

"While it is publicly understood that Singularity experiences increased confidence, lowered inhibitions, and loss of bodyweight as a result of her backlash, it is actually centrally the desire to destroy. There is a significant sadistic component. 

"As a result, Singularity has over the years done significant property damage to her silo in fits of backlash. Since it's in an isolated location, just in case, we've been able to keep this quiet from the media. But in practice, none of her previous matches have been done well, because they were attempting to match her public profile rather than her private reality. 

"This is where Black Flag comes in. Working under a strict NDA, we disclosed Singularity's true backlash to the matching agency, and this meeting is the result.

"Ancile's backlash is the natural complement of Singularity's, being composed primarily of bodily rigidity, vulnerability to overstimulation, and the keen desire to be hurt. There is a strong masochistic component. 

"Due to the lack of appropriate matches, this has over the years resulted in several incidents of self-harm for Ancile, which have equally been kept quiet from the media. 

"It is the hope of myself and Ms. Mitchell that the two of you will be the solutions to each other's problems."

She gazes levelly at Daniel as he starts to explain, considering the situation—

—Then turns sharply to face Liath when he mentions sadism, in a motion that can't have been kind to her stiff joints. Her expression whips through a rapid gallery of emotions, almost too fast for even an esper to catch, from shock—

—to flushed—

—and a brief moment of unguarded hope—

—before being ruthlessly smothered under a neutral mask.

Surprise flickers across Liath's face when she hears that her backlash was disclosed — 

— followed a moment later by wearied acceptance —

— and then, at last, a genuine smile at the news of Ancile's backlash.

There is no reason to be scared, her backlash tells her. You are queen of this domain. 

"I would have preferred that you told me ahead of time you were disclosing that information," Liath says mildly to her handler. "But I acknowledge that you were acting in my interests, and for this quality of match I can see why you'd risk it." She can still feel Hailey's aura in the air, making it easier to breathe, easier to think clearly. She can't wait to feel what a simple handshake is like. 

"I think it would be best to start by doing some practice B-Ranks together on a consultation basis, if that's acceptable to Ancile, before moving on to finalize the match. Nonetheless, I can tell our aura compatibility is strong simply by being in the same room with her." Stronger than Earthwave's ever was. "A test handshake would tell me more about how strong, but I'm comfortable leaving the progression of that up to Ancile so long as it happens within a vaguely reasonable timeframe. In the longer term, if this works out, our siloing requirements seem largely complementary."

Hailey grits her teeth slightly and holds out her hand toward Liath to shake. "If we're right about this, it's worth forcing my trauma for a moment to find out how right."

"Alright."

Liath slowly brings her hand in, and clasps Hailey's hand, giving her plenty of time to anticipate the touch. 

It feels like electric bliss. Power pours back and forth across the skin-to-skin connection, balancing in a rush of pure satisfaction. 

It makes her feel vulnerable, like nothing ever has. It pierces her armor, drains it away, leaves her small and lost and adrift —

She gasps.

The contact pierces through the walls and stone, shattering some of the built-up rigidity around her joints, in gloriously burning relief.

Her knees start to buckle as tension she'd forgotten she was carrying loosens — and turns out to have been a bit load-bearing.

Liath pulls her hand away sharply on instinct, a deep flush leaping to her cheeks. For once she's lost for words, the confidence to speak eluding her. 

"I — uh — ah —"

Hailey catches herself before she can fall over, holding herself upright through will rather than backlash now. She clutches her hand to her chest, gazing in shock at Liath.

"Gweh?", she replies.

Daniel gives an assessing glance between Liath and Hailey. 

"That strong, huh," he says quietly.

Liath manages to jerk out a nod. It's easier than speaking.

She takes a slow breath, nodding, then manages to speak. "Yeah."

Then she captures Liath's gaze with her own, cheeks flushed.

"Your schedule idea is great. You're also going to talk with me sometime soon about non-dungeon activities, and then we're going to make time for one."

She looks back, takes a deep breath, and nods. Some of her confidence has gone, but she's been in the business for a while — she can handle this.

"For sure, if you're willing. I just didn't want to overstep. We'll have to negotiate the professional-personal boundaries in the long run, but I'm definitely interested."

She might actually be able to go to a standard restaurant with metal cutlery without worrying, with this woman by her side. 

"I prefer japanese food due to the lack of sharp implements at the table compared to western cuisine. We could arrange a sushi luncheon as a starting measure. Ideally we do that somewhere we won't be mobbed by the press."

She knows a hole-in-the-wall place that does great ramen, but she's not going to offer it up at the first meeting. Too much risk of a too-flashy appearance. She'll wait to see how Ancile's team handles it. 

"Alternately, we could arrange something at a guild silo or the surroundings of one. There's a nice deciduous-forest wilderness area outside my silo, if you're interested and willing to trust Guiding Star's teleportation network. If you have other suggestions I certainly wouldn't mind hearing them." 

Hailey chuckles wryly. "I get what you mean about knives. I have yet to stab myself with a chopstick," then shakes her head.

"I like sushi. And noodles. And spicy things. And quiet forests where no one fusses about my being a pretty esper or having famous dead esper parents. And as much as personal time and physical contact are the only kind of pain I don't get off on, that time spent is the only way to find out if I can wind up trusting you."

Liath nods firmly. "Sounds like you've got your priorities in order. My people will talk to your people for scheduling, I'm sure. We'll see how Vault's bookings work out. Probably it'll be simpler to do a guildhall meeting than a silo transfer, but depending on the details of the silo provided by Guiding Star to you it could be simplest to host there. We have a chef on staff whose repertoire includes spicy rolls, so I'm sure something can be worked out."