“Well, I didn’t know he was Jimi Hendrix at the time!” she laughed back at him, shaking her head again before looking back to them. “How was I supposed to know I was shagging one of the greatest guitarists of all time?”
“One of?” Kevin said. “You mean the full stop, end of sentence.”
“Hell of a lay in the sack too,” she giggled. “But that’s me telling stories again. Who’s your friends, Kev?”
“This is my partner, Fatima Davies. That’s the head of her security detail, Jackson. And next to him is my bodyguard, Miriam.”
“Aaaaand…?”
“Oh? Oh! Oh, and the little dragon flying overhead is Strazo, who was a gift to Miriam from Merlin during her one meeting with him.”
“What did he ask of you in return, my dear?” Morgana said to Miriam sympathetically.
“One secret of his choosing,” she said, blushing a little. “One which I hope you won’t make me repeat here and now.”
“No no,” Morgana said, snapping her fingers to dismiss the thought away. “That was your bargain with the wizard, and Strazo looks like you’re looking after his health as much as he is yours in turn, so that’s good.”
“He likes sweets a little more than he should, especially salted caramels.”
“Mmmm. Don’t let him have too many or he’ll fatten up, and that won’t be good for either of you. Are you happy you’ve got Kevin in your life, Fatima?” she said, turning to look at the Brit.
“Yeh, he was the sort of man I didn’t know I needed until I found him, or until you sent him to me, I guess, or until you sent Elizabeth to send him to me… who, actually, sent him to me in the first place?” Fatima said with an odd smile. “I’d like to know who I should be thanking.”
“A little bit of both. I certainly gave Elizabeth a long list of names whom I thought might make an excellent pairing with Kevin’s wants and needs, but she had every right to decide how and when it was used,” the sorceress said to them.
“There’s a list?” Kevin asked.
“Mmm,” Morgana confirmed. “One which you will never see, Kevin, so don’t ask.”
“I wasn’t asking to see it,” he chuckled. “I guess I was just wondering how long it was.”
“Nothing overly large. A few thousand names or so.”
“Thousand?”
Morgana made an overly dramatic exasperated noise at him, shaking her head. “I think there was, when I was putting your gift together, about four thousand women or so that I thought would be 98% matches or better, although that number fluctuates all the time, so I wanted to give Elizabeth a leg up. Can’t expect the poor girl to do all the work, now can I?”
“I guess not.”
“Other than Merlin’s meddling, everything else pleasant enough?” she said. “If I had known it was just Merlin sticking his nose in where it didn’t belong, I might not have revisited you, but when my magics have been tampered with, I take an interest in it, because no one will ever accuse Morgana Le Fay of not holding up her end of the deal.”
“It’s all very generous of you, m’lady,” Kevin said, bowing his head a little, which made Morgana giggle a little bit more.
“See, Kai? Some people still know how to offer up a bit of respect to someone who’s doing them a favor!” she yelled over at the man with the sword, who had tucked it into a scabbard on his back and was walking towards the bridge.
When the man got close to them, he jumped up into the air and onto the bridge, probably an entire story upwards, making the entire motion look easy and effortless, as he landed next to her, and Kevin immediately felt tiny, as the man towered over them, his broad shoulders making him look almost like a cross between a biker and a Viking.
“I’d like to think we’re about even on the favors, Morg, wouldn’t you?” he said with a sly grin, bending down to press a kiss to her forehead. “Otherwise I can pick up where I left off last night…”
She reached out and swatted at him with a hand, although Kevin could swear she was blushing. “Not while there’s civvies present, you oaf,” she said. “Kevin, Fatima, Miriam, Jackson, may I introduce to you Kai, also known as the Ostrogoth.”
Kai raised one hand in salute and Kevin realized the man’s fingers could easily envelope his own head. “Afternoon, good and gentle people.”
Morgana sighed. “Well, Kevin, as much as I would love to tell you that Merlin’s meddling is the end of it, unfortunately his magics have a tendency to draw all sorts of magical misfits towards it like moths to a flame, so I’ll reach out to Elizabeth and give her some contact information for me. I should stress, however, that the time between when she reaches out to me and when I reach out to you might be quite a bit, as I don’t always check my deaddrops as often as I should. I’ll try, though!”
“Magical misfits?” Miriam asked cautiously. “Dare I even ask?”
“I’ll send you a care package, dearie; a gift from me to you, no strings attached, although you’ll probably need to spend some time practicing with it. Nothing you shouldn’t be able to handle, though. I can’t imagine it’ll get anything bolder than a vampire, and even they generally know better than to try and feed off those touched by mages. The blood’s too volatile for their liking. It can catch fire in their veins sometimes.”
“Not literally, of course,” Fatima said.
“No no, quite literally,” Morgana corrected. “But the rush of danger is part of the thrill for them. Anyway, it isn’t all that much to get in a tizzy over. Just mind your P’s and Q’s and everything’ll be right as rain as long as the rain keeps coming.”
“And this Midas Day?” Kevin asked.
“Knowing Merlin like I do, he’s got some sort of endgame in it. You just need to figure out what it is.”
“That easy, huh?”
Morgana giggled, rolling her eyes. “Nothing easy about it, but nothing to be gained by complaining either. Go forth, Kevin Bishop, and continue enjoying the gift I’ve bequeathed you,” she said, lifting her left hand to make a sort of silvery-purple cloud of mist start to envelope her and the Ostrogoth within its vapors. “And maybe give me a thanks in the liner notes of your next album. I always like seeing my name in print.”
Before he could answer, the column of vapors collapsed, and the space where the two had been standing was now completely empty.
“Magicians are strange folk,” Miriam said, breaking the silence, which made the other three start laughing.
“Off to meet Dad?” Fatima asked.
“Sure sure,” Kevin replied. “After this, how rough can he be?”
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