"I agree that we should aim for avoiding a fight with the actual spirit at all costs, though."

"But if we can't I'd definitely be useful for that."

Okay she can't actually ignore him that long when he's being so obnoxious so instead she'll glare at him.

Yeah he’s making a pest of himself, despite her obviously clear and correct strategy of just ignoring him.

“If your soul doesn’t get rubbed off and you don’t turn into her puppet. Which is likely. Because she already brain blasted you. Besides, I’m also thinking exit strategies if we can’t pull off this very difficult thing. Teleporting two people out is harder than teleporting just one.”

"...it's not, actually." It might have been strategic for her to not mention this but on the other hand Akiho is wrong, she can too very easily teleport two people out with her.

"See, that works fine. And now that I'm knowing what to expect it'll be a lot easier to deal with it."

"It's unnecessary risk. To you and to others."

"You saw how I acted when I noticed her and had a goal in mind. I was able to resist her effects."

"Until you weren't."

"I wasn't prepared for it to ramp up so much so quickly. I could deal with it now. And I would be very useful in fights, I'm faster than both of you and a better damage-dealer—"

"So if you get turned against us—"

"—and I feel responsible," he finishes, in a smaller, quieter voice.

“…. This is emotional manipulation,” grumbles Akiho, who is admittedly starting to be worn down by his arguments. After all, she can help strengthen his soul, and prevent the very situation she’s worrying about. That’s kind of her whole deal.

"But it's true," he insists. "And I care about her, I want her to be okay. And what else am I supposed to do, sit on my ass for however long, not knowing if you two are still alright, not knowing if she ate your souls and might be coming back with a vengeance at any minute, chewing on my fingers?"

“…. I’m going to cover you in protective seals, you are going to stay within my sensory sight the entire time, and if you so much as start to look too pale I’m dragging you back out by the scruff of your neck, no teleportation required. Understood?”

She sounds very irritated about this, but: yes okay it would be a good idea to have someone who is good at stabbing things around. She guesses.

"...I'd want a less restrictive trigger than just looking pale, and I'm not even sure you'd be able to tell I'm pale with my skin colour, but. Yes. Thank you."

Here's another grain of rice to the forehead for his trouble.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You know what."

“No, the purpose is to be restrictive, even covered in seals and with me around to babysit the state of your soul, no really, this is dumb.” Huff. “But you do presumably have a rapport with her already, and I’d worry that if we recruited any other damage dealers, they might blast first, ask questions later. So. Fine.”

"We should wait until the morning, though. It will allow all of us to recover some, and we'll be more able to act intelligently and quickly."

"We could always pay for a very quick rez and die first."

She... actually stops to consider it. It'd be kind of stupid expensive but Taharqi is kind of stupid rich, or so he's implied.