(Ranata laughs quietly.)

"Ha," says Luzia, but she smiles. "It's not part of the package. You could say we've been breeding ourselves for it, scooping up the prettiest mortals. The ones who go for mortals and breeding, at any rate." She smiles a little wider.

"Are you hitting on us?" wonders Radna.

"Aha, that explains a lot. Good on your ancestors, they chose nicely."

Zeviana's grinning back. Goodness, why could that be? It's a mystery, of course.

"Yes," Lecasryn says. "But there won't be any hard feelings if you turn us down."

"If I recall right Mother thought my father had the most beautiful hands and that was why she wanted him, but I'm sure other choices have been made for other reasons. You are just lucky, I take it?" says Luzia.

"Good to know," says Radna. And she hops forward a step.

She giggles. "I think so! For lots of reasons, even. For example - helpful, gorgeous witches. Especially the ones that are that good with a dagger."

Lecasryn is pleased by this! She makes a happy noise, and looks very interested in Radna. "And you're returning the interest, I take it?"

Ranata finds something to do off thataway. Not too far, but enough to be out of earshot.

"Especially, huh?" Luzia takes her dagger out, spins it in her fingers.

"Maaaaybe," says Radna coyly.

"Ooo, a dagger. And I bet you know how to use it, even," says Zeviana, winking.

Lecasryn laughs. "Maybe? Aw, now I'm disappointed."

She does not look anything of the sort. At all.

"Sure. Not that I get much chance for, you know, field work. Haven't had a war in decades and decades, not supposed to wave the sharps at the mortals anymore..."

"Well, we're convincible," says Radna.

"... You know, I know lots of mortals you can poke lots of holes in and no one on this plane will care, but I'm pretty sure my brother will make faces at me if I do that. Pity. I would have loved to see it."

"Ooh? Are you? What are recommendations for convincing?"

"I meant in the more traditional sense than the serial killer sense," says Luzia dryly. "Neither was ever my style for my own sake... I helped my sister with a boy she wanted once though. This was a long time ago."

"What's your usual convincing repertoire look like? I'll help you narrow it down," chuckles Radna.

"Sorry, uh - dark subject, I get stuck on it every now and then. Didn't mean to come off like a psychopath. The people I'm talking about were the type to think torturing an eleven-year-old was a good idea. It would not be random murders. They're kind of deserving bastards."

"Well, we are fairly straightforward when we want something. Flirting, kisses - Zeviana is thinking of asking for dagger lessons."

"They still call them serial killers when they're vigilante justice. An eleven year old? Seriously?"

"Dagger lessons she can have," declares Radna. "If she doesn't mind my Luzia correcting her form. Probably a lot. So to speak."

"Yup. My world isn't nice. Thus, why I and my brother left. We like it here more, anyway." To keep this from becoming a pity party, she adds with a wink, "Helps that there are such lovely people."

Lecasryn giggles. "I don't think my mage will mind."

"How'd you turn out so sane and, mmm, pleasant company?" wonders Luzia.

"Good," says Radna, hopping closer again. If Lecasryn were inclined to lean over and peck the mousebird on the head now she could do it.

"Sheer talent," teases Zeviana. "Also taste."

"You know," says Lecasryn affectionately. "I feel like there's something you'd like me to do but I can't for the life of me figure out what. Give me a hint?"

"I can see that," says Luzia. "How long have you been here, anyway? The plane, I mean. Never heard of anybody visiting from that far away, apart from a story I heard about armored bears which is almost surely false. And you are certainly not a bear." (Is she checking to see if Zeviana is a bear? Well, she's checking something, anyway.)

"Nothing pops into your head?" wonders Radna. "You'd think you don't hop up to other daemons attached to witches you're coming on to every day. Are we special?"

"I am certainly not a bear! I got here yesterday, though it feels longer now. I've seen a zoo, and now the clan lands! Both have been pretty fun."

(She is free to check whatever she's checking for as long as she likes. She understands if Luzia needs to check for secret bears. It's in the name of safety.)

"Actually, yes. I've never flirted before. There were no daemons in the plane we came from. My Zeviana's done this before, but I haven't at all. I think you're quite cute, though."

Luzia is sufficiently alarmed by Lecasryn's utterance to snap her attention to the birds, rather neatly ruining the parallelization. "What?" she says.

"What?" echoes Radna, taking a step back and looking at Lecasryn again as though to confirm she's real.

"Oh. Um, yeah. I wasn't a zombie or anything, I just didn't have Lecasryn flying around," explains Zeviana a little awkwardly. That was a mood killer.

"Yes," agrees Lecasryn. "I existed, I have memories from then, but I was - asleep? Inactive? I don't know which word seems more appropriate."

"Not having a daemon is awfully close to the definition of a zombie," says Radna warily. "Even the bears have their armor to be their souls."

Luzia picks up Radna, apparently more for comfort in the face of the idea of being daemonless than because she's particularly interested in ending the inter-daemon interaction. "What was that like?" she asks.

"Hm," considers Zeviana. "There wasn't any of the - parallel socializing. Or the companionship? But I didn't - I don't feel like I'm stronger or weaker because she's out and flying about. I just feel like how I always did except there's another autonomous part of me doing stuff."

"She wasn't soulless. I was with her, but I was - inside, I guess is the best explanation. Sleeping inside. Except not completely asleep? I remember things, and I have opinions on what I remember. It's hard to describe, I can't find the right words."

"That sounds so lonely," says Luzia. "I don't even - I suppose a lot of witches send their daemons off on errands but I don't unless I can't avoid it."

Radna asks, "Are you sure that means you were there, and not just that you got those memories when you were made?"

Zeviana pauses to think about this some more! "I mean sometimes I got lonely? Do you just never get lonely if you have a daemon?"

"I'm... Not sure," manages Lecasryn. "It feels like I was there, though. Even passively."