"I've often wondered about some of those Renaissance sculptures where they're only wearing a hat," Corey admits as he buries his burning face in his pillow. He resembles a very large and unarmed lobster in the sheets. "Considering I never drink anything stronger than three-to-one wine, yeah. Yeah, that was pretty strong."

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"Guess I got used to it," she said cheerfully. "Clea was right. I didn't believe her at first, but look at it."

After a moment she nudged his leg with her foot. "Look at it. You can't see it with your face in the pillow."

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Once prodded, Corey looks over. "...This is a normal side-effect of.... what happened?"

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"I don't know, I never had sex before." She turned her head and got a better look at him. She was no expert, but she was pretty sure the people leaving Hal's and Aridis' bungalows in the mornings didn't have that expression. Sex was supposed to make people happy, right? "Why are you all red? Is that normal side-effect for Nova Romans?"

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"Only when we're mortified. I...I just wasn't planning for any of this. It's not that it was bad and of course you're beautiful and... I just.... if it was your first time, too, how are you so calm about this?"

...Those little magical traces were aesthetically very nice, though, his artist's mind has to admit.

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"Would you feel better if I slapped your face and sent you to a demon dimension? Sex is supposed to be fun. Mortified is kind of the opposite of fun."

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"...No, it wouldn't really make me feel better. The dirt in demon dimensions is really gross."

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"It is," she agreed. "Makes your feet feel ugly through your shoes. Anyway, don't worry, we don't have to do it again. Just don't be mortified. We'll hang out with our clothes on." She reached over to pat him in the comforting way she'd seen Sydney pat Zoey's shoulder, and paused before she made contact. She didn't want to make it worse.

"Just so you know, I liked it. I didn't know it was your first time either."

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"I liked it, too. I'll do my best to stop being mortified now, I promise." Pause. "And we don't have to only hang out with our clothes on. You've got ..." okay, the blushing was hard to stop, but this was ART so he made himself say it "An amazing body and I need to work on human figure sculpting more often." He smiles sheepishly. "Could you pass me my shirt?"

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Shirt...where had the shirts gone? She looked up first. Lots of stuff had gone up. Sometimes it never came back down. Then to the floor by the bed. There it was.

She rolled toward the edge to grab it and present it with a big smile. His face wasn't so red anymore, so that had to be good. "We could trade! I could pose for you and you could help me with magic."

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He smiled and put it on. "That sounds like a great idea. What kind of help would be useful?"

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Her shirt was... somewhere. She wasn't worried about it or covering up. It was just skin. Her time at the Defenders compound was showing. As the least of them physically she'd grown used to being overlooked.

In response to his question, she began tracing symbols in the air. "More sex if you're not mortified. Clea was right, it really does make it easier to cast magic. I could probably take on most of a zombie horde right now."

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"Well... we'll figure that out eventually." A pause. "Wasn't it awkward to talk to her about sex? I mean, she's practically your mom."

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"She and Dr. Strange used to disappear for hours when he visited. I didn't realize what was going on until I walked in on them one day." Marlow laughed. "He'd just taught me a blast spell and I used it on him! I guess lots of kids walk in on their parents."

"Clea just told me straight out. She always did. What I don't know might kill me someday, so she told me always told me everything about everything."

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He laughs, smiling sheepishly again.

"Yeah, I guess it makes sense to be straightforward."

Pause. Not meeting her eyes. "So... you really did have fun?"

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"I really did have fun." Marlow sat up to give him a kiss. "You have a good touch feel."

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He kissed her, a rather dorky-looking grin on his face when he opened his eyes again. "Well, I'm glad. You feel incredible."

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