The Married Life Of Immortals

Once Harmony stopped talking, Bane took a sip of his drink, then lowered his cup. "So, where do you want me to start? More reading? Or do you just want to try curses out on me?"

A gear slipped, and Harmony stared at Bane for almost a full minute with a blank expression, but then she put a finger in her ear, wiggling it around. After that, she gave Bane a questioning look, asking, "Come again? Did you just offer to let me test out curses on you? After you just threatened to pop my eyes if I tried it again?"

Bane nodded. "Yeah, but I meant if you tried to do it because you didn't like the way I spoke. If you can honestly tell me that experiencing the curses will make me more resistant to them, and help me learn them, then okay. While no part of me thought that was fun, nor have I experienced something so mind-bendingly horrible, I still think that this will be useful in my future adventures. Never know when I might need to get information that someone doesn't want to give up."

Harmony had to cover her mouth to avoid spitting out her tea, and her whole body started to tremble with excitement. The way he had just so casually talked about resorting to torture was the most refreshing thing that she had heard. Most people just wanted to learn curses for a quick way to kill or maim someone, but she could sense that he had the mind of a true professional.

Bane frowned, not sure what to make of Harmony's reaction. He didn't get much of a chance to ponder it, though, as Harmony appeared in front of him, her hands touching his cheeks.

"Can I have a kiss?"

"Are you looking to die?"

Both Bane and Harmony stared at each other for a moment, but Harmony pulled back, and returned to her seat. "If I would have known you were this type of person, and I had met you before the elf... This could have been a lot more fun than I thought. Well, at least we can still have fun with your training, but it will be a long process, and a lot of curses will require you to actually perform them on people, or something else."

"Something else?" Bane asked, not sure what she meant.

"Like, a sacrifice. It doesn't have to be a living creature, but it does need to be something meaningful," Harmony explained, and then snapped her fingers, and a small bracelet appeared in her hand. "This is a curse item. While not as useful as a normal curse, it is more versatile, and it gives you the ability to use your curse in both negative and positive ways."

Bane's brows shot up, and he leaned forward. Will this was interesting stuff to him, there wasn't many uses he could see for curses beside using it for some form of torture. Useful, but nothing Bane was going to get excited about. The idea that curses could be used in a positive way, on the other hand, was enough to draw his attention.

"How can you use curses in a positive way?" Bane asked, and Harmony handed him the bracelet, and it floated over and wrapped itself around his wrist.

"Think of this as a simple curse. If someone tries to touch you, their skin will burn. The longer they touch you, the greater the burn," Harmony explained.

"So, a self defense item, not that it will be much help if someone comes at me with a weapon," Bane commented, and she nodded.

"There are limits, but certain curses can actually be used in somewhat positive ways. Like the Curse of Diarrhea," Harmony said, and snapped her fingers, making a ring with a brown gemstone appear in her hand, offering it to Bane. "When worn, it will cause the person to have the shits almost immediately."

Bane pushed her hand back. "Thanks, but no thanks. Give me another round of the bugs crawling in and out of my skin. Last thing either of us want is me accidentally activating that bad boy," he said with a shake of his head. "How is that positive? You could literally kill a person with that thing! Imagine that tombstone!"

"While you as a male might not understand, many women were pay good money for an item like this. The simple process can clean your body out and make it easier to get into clothing without losing weight. The ring only takes about thirty minutes to clean your body out, and after the ring is removed, all effects leave the body as if nothing has ever happened. Compared to the dangerous drugs that some women take, this is a safe, effective alternative," Harmony explained.

Bane looked down at the ring and rubbed his chin. "I see. So, is that why you decided to be a curse master? Squeezing into an outfit that just didn't fit right? Was the dude good looking at least?"

This time, it was a vein in her forehead that popped, and Harmony controlled her hand, refusing to give in. It would be so easy for her to apply over thirty different curses that would destroy another person's mind, but Bane's timeless eyes made her think that it wouldn't work on him.

"That is a long story that doesn't really matter. What matters is that this is how I found out how to create curses. It started with a revenge, and it became my life. Now, I will ask you to leave so I don't do something I will probably end up regretting," Harmony said, holding out her hand.

Bane stood, and then bowed. "I will admit, you were a real bitch at the start, but now you don't seem as bad as everyone made you out to be, and I appreciate the help. I will come back once I get the time. My schedule is about to get really busy."

"Good, good," Harmony said, but the smile on her face looked more sinister than kind. "Don't forget. You said I could use curses on you. If you want to learn, you will have to pay the price. I promise that I will make sure to use every curse that I have on you."

"Oh? Is that what you consider a date?" Bane asked with a smile as he started to leave, then, without looking back, he said, "Don't worry. I will try not to be as flippant the next time we see each other, but maybe I better bring Lysia with me next time."

"I highly doubt that she would come. Like a normal person, even if she is a monstrous elf, Lysia knows I can do things she can't defend against. She is also not as crazy as you are," Harmony countered.

"We will have to see, now won't we?"

Harmony watched Bane as he left, and once he was gone, a shiver went through her, but not a bad one. "What a truly terrifying and flippant person...