Marik and Sai both found the new romantic comedy in front of them entertaining in their own ways.  Marik was sure that Sai found her friend crushing on someone for likely the first time ever as an incredibly interesting chance to interfere and play around while he found that his sister might actually have interests that she didn't even realize herself as a great way to point her to a better and less disappointing future than her life starting from zero after she finally beat him in a fight.  Since the both of them rather liked Derek as a person and were at the border of calling him a friend then they were all for trying to get the two of them to at least consider hooking up.  The only thing that seemed it might be an obstacle was that Derek was totally oblivious.

After almost two hours of drinking and talking about random things, Derek had yet to try any kind of approach on Sara and even though both of them were definitely at least tipsy, if not drunk, and Sara had made a few subtle passes he didn't even seem to realize it.  Marik found the situation both aggravating and amusing.  He considered just saying something about it outright but somehow Sai knew what he was a bout to do and gave him a reproachful look.  Not wanting to spoil her mood, he changed tactics and tried for the more subtle approach.

"So, hey, Derek.  I notice no earrings up top.  The right girls haven't caught your eye yet or you just ain't caught the eyes of the right girls?"

"Huh?  Ah, you ain't gonna start naggin' at me 'bout all that, too?  Look here, I'm a plain guy and I know it and I ain't got me the most secure job you ever heard, you know?  Like, there ain't many girls that would go for both the kinda looks I got while bein' all acceptin' of the work I do.  You're so lucky to have found one yourself..."

"Oh, c'mon man.  I'm sure there are plenty of girls out there that would be all for a guy like you.  I mean, even if we talk about being a merc then you're not exactly at the bottom.  You're like the highest rank around here so that's gotta count for something.  Maybe you just haven't had one around that you found to be right for you, yet?"

"Nah.  There's plenty of pretty girls around.  I just ain't their type.  No, wait.  There were those girls from that one time..."

"Oh?  Go on, I'm all ears here and my tail is twitching in anticipation."

"Well this one time some time back we had some mercs drift in from some other place.  There were a few lasses in that group that were lookin' for a fun time and apparently I was their type in that regard.  Wasn't nothin' meant to be for life or anythin' but that's about the only time in recent years that any girl been seemin' to have interest in me."

Sara was looking slightly aghast while Sai still looked interested to hear more but gave Marik a quick disapproving glance.

"No, that can't be right.  Maybe there's some girl around that has taken interest in you and you just didn't figure it out yet?"

"Pfft.  I'd like to meet such a lass so if that's true please introduce us.  As far as I know there ain't been no lass around as has said anythin' 'bout havin' interest in me like that."

"...no girl has said so, huh..."

Sai changed her looks towards Marik from being disapproving to proud for his pulling the ridiculous information from the drunk Derek.  Marik couldn't be sure but there was a good chance that there had in fact been a few interested parties and Derek had just never noticed the subtle hints they tried to throw at him.  Feeling that he'd done his part enough, he shifted the conversation over to the woes and difficulties that came with being higher rank.  Derek unloaded on them with all the things that bothered him for a while until it was about time to go leave.  Marik, who had gotten the least drunk out of all of them, asked where Derek lived to see if he needed some help getting back and it turned out that he lived at Edge Inn which prompted Sara to begin another short conversation by stating that she was looking forward to moving there soon.

Marik finally stood up and went over to the bar counter to pay their tab.  He walked back to the table as everyone had realized that they really should leave before too much longer and had started to try and stand up.  Marik walked behind the half-standing Sai and leaned down a bit to put his arms around her and nobble on her ear for a second, which caused her to let out a small squeal and fall back in her chair.  The other two looked at him and he smiled mischievously.

"So I'll be taking this girl home.  I'd rather not leave my sis to get back all alone, though.  If you don't mind, Derek, I'd appreciate it if you could make sure she gets to her bed safely..."

"Huh?  Ya, I guess I can do that."

"Wait.  I can get back myself..."

"I'm sure you can but I'd still feel better if Derek went with you to make sure.  It looks like he can still stand fine while you look like this is your first time ever being drunk."

"That's because it is my first time."

"Well, aren't you happy your first time is with such a great guy like Derek?"

Marik didn't wait for a response since he had picked Sai up in a princess carry while he was talking and immediately turned and left the other two behind with her in his arms once he had finished.  Sai didn't seem to have any complaints about being carried all the way back to the their room at the inn, although Marik's arms were a bit tired by the time they reached the inn's door and he had to set her down to open said door.  He offered to piggyback her the rest of the way so he could use his hands to open the two doors between them and their bed, which she agreed to.  They went into the inn and Sai asked him to swing by the bathroom before they went back to their inn.  He obliged and somehow ended up getting pulled in with her.  They both ended up relieving themselves in several ways before heading back up to their room where Sai kept him occupied on the bed until they finally fell asleep around the time the sun was rising.

They both woke up in the late morning and decided to get dressed and go down for breakfast without engaging in their normal morning activities.  They arrived at the dining room to find out that breakfast was over but lunch would be coming soon so they decided to just take a table and wait while sipping water.  It wasn't too much longer after they had started sipping their water in a comfortable silence while leaning against each other that Derek came down the stairs followed closely by a blushing Sara.  Derek noticed them and waved a little while looking like he had a headache and pointed them out to Sara before continuing on his way out the door.  Sara went over and sat down across from them.

"So how was last night, Sara?  Did you have fun?  That was definitely Derek coming down with you so you stayed the night together, right?"

"Huh?  Ya.  He apparently fell asleep on the floor because I wouldn't let go of his hand or something.  I don't really remember too well."

"What?  That's boring.  Why didn't you jump him when you were alone?"

"I can't do something like that.  I barely met him last night so we don't even know each other that well."

"So?  I jumped Marik and it worked out fine.  You should just jump him next time."

"I'm not you and I don't think there will be a next time."

"Alright, you two.  You can strategize on how to get poor Derek to realize that your pants have an open invitation for him later.  We got food coming and then I plan on heading out with Sai for a while.  When I get back I think we should go look for a quick job we can do as a duo, sis."

"Huh?  Did we have something planned for today?"

"Well, you have that job this evening.  I was thinking on using the afternoon for us to finally start working on some of that stuff.  After that I'll head to the guild, I guess.  Seems like the best place to meet up and look for a quick job for tomorrow while you're busy."

"Oh.  Okay then."

They went back to a comfortable silence that even Sara didn't seem to mind until their food came.  They ate the lunch set and then Marik and Sai split off from Sara, who decided to go back to bed for a little longer, to head outside town after Marik quickly went up to grab his bag that held his notes.  The guards weren't thrilled that they just wanted to go outside of town to play around a few hours and reminded them that they would have to pay the entrance fee upon returning since they weren't out on a job.  Marik made sure he had the appropriate amount on him before continuing on his way into the trees.  They decided to head near the river at a spot a little further away than where most people use to meet up.

They spent the next few hours working on creating some new variant arcanistries for Sai.  They started by making a bunch of different ones that were only set apart by color and size.  They chose one of the green colors and a violet purple one for working on adding the canceling and countering effects like they had talked about previously.  Once she had a little bit of it added and thought she could continue improving it on her own she asked for help in adjusting the purple one to be able to surround someone by studying his blur.  As they worked on it, Marik came up with a new arcanistry he wanted to create.

The idea wasn't completely there since created arcanistries rarely ended up exactly as expected.  Years ago he had first chosen darkness sorcery as the first mystical thing he wanted to learn yet it had ended up being some of his least used and worked on even after becoming an arcanist.  He checked though his notes some to see if he had any relevant spells during the times where Sai wasn't actively studying his blur and found only a few that he thought would be helpful.  He decided it was about time to create a new book of notes for references.  He shifted his attention back to fully helping Sai.

They reviewed some of the other ideas they had about the other flame colors and their possible effects and tried to see what they could adjust now with what they had.  When they both decided that they were nearing the limit of what they had in Marik's notes, as well as what they could accomplish before Sai had to go to work, Marik decided they should give Kiara a quick call.  They used Marik's bracelet to let her know and soon saw her portal open with a teary-eyed Kiara on the other side looking near to full tears.

"You guys haven't said anything for so long and I was starting to worry that you had forgotten about me."

"Sorry," Marik told her while actually feeling a little bad about it.  "We've been a little busy recently.  I'll try and make sure we have more opportunities for you to use your portals, okay?"

"Okay.  Just don't forget that I'm here.  I've been so lonely with Sai gone these days..."

"Sorry, too," said Sai with actual regret and sadness in her voice.  "We really were busy working and stuff.  I miss you, too, and couldn't find a good time to talk to you and I thought maybe we needed a reason and you're working now as well and I didn't want to just interrupt you and stuff."

"It's okay, I guess.  I made this spell for the sole reason of being able to still be with you guys in some way, though.  Please include me more."

"Okay, well, on that note, Sai and I could actually use your help for a few things.  Oh ya.  Sara, too.  So Sara needs some kind of mind reading protection.  Then we need a bunch of spells dealing with fire and ice and shadows and illusions and maybe some things to make illusions and shadows with substance."

"Wait.  You're just going to use me as your go getter?  Isn't that kind of mean?"

"Ah.  It would probably be helpful if we had some simple healing type spells to play around with as well.  Mean?  I don't really think so.  It'll give us a good reason or excuse to talk to you more that even your master can't fully deny.  In return it'll also give you a chance to get some rewards, you know.  We've talked about it a little here and there, meaning we also never really forgot about you, and we decided that I and sometimes Sai would help you with practicing your healing abilities by giving you things to heal.  The better of a job you end up doing to help us then the more things or the more difficult and...eh...painful the things are likely to be."

"Oh?  Oh.  Ohhhh.  Umm.  Can you repeat everything you need from me while I write it down real quick?  Feel free to tell me everything you need or even want!"

"Sure.  I'm glad you agreed so easily, don't get me wrong, but aren't you a little too easy?"

"Huh?  How many people do you think are around that are willing to help me feel good like that?!  It's just not quite the same when I try and do it myself, you know.  I haven't had a good orgasm in weeks!"

"And now I'm a little sorry I asked..."

Marik quickly repeated his list of things he wanted and then walked away a bit to let the sister's have some personal bonding time.  He pulled out his notes again while he waited and tried to think more on what he wanted for his new arcanistry.  He decided to go through the conditions he wanted it to fulfill as a starter before working from there.  He wanted it to be related to darkness, mostly because that's just what he wanted and it sounded awesome in his mind, while also being able to use it at range.  Since it would be based on darkness then maybe finding a way to add some kind of fear effect seemed like it might be helpful.  He did also want it to be an actual ranged attack as well, though, and maybe even something that could work as an area of effect.  So he was looking to make some kind of semi-solid shadowy thing that could frighten people who saw it be thrown out to hit multiple people.  His initial thought went to something like a throwable black hole but he realized that it would likely require gravity sorcery, which he didn't have.  It would definitely end up being fairly complicated so he would just have to think on it during his free time for a while.

The conversation between Sai and Kiara finally drew to a close and the portal disappeared so Marik put the notes away again.  They walked back to the town with Marik taking out the necessary money ahead of time to not annoy or anger the guards more than necessary.  Once they passed the guard station and made it back into town Marik told Sai that he was going to look around for a bit to try and find some good writing materials for sale since he wanted to make some more notes.  Sai decided to just go to the guild by herself so she wouldn't be late for her job and they split up.  Marik walked around town for a while, checking out several stores and realizing that no matter where he went he would need to save up the money needed for the writing materials he wanted, then he noticed the sky becoming noticeably darker and went to the guild.

He stepped inside briefly and looked around to see if Sara had arrived yet.  Figuring that she was still sleeping off her hangover and may not even make it he went to stand in the line at The Bear's desk.  When it was finally his turn and Sara still hadn't shown up he decided to just try and reserve a job for the next day.  He told The Bear that he wanted a quick job to do with his sister and that she was supposed to meet him but was nursing a hangover.  After The Bear found him a good candidate to put on reservation and promised to let Sara know to show up first thing in the morning so they could get the paperwork done, Marik headed back to his room at the inn and spent a few more hours looking through his notes and trying to put the beginning pieces together for his new arcanistry.