They call them, and it goes ok

James put the number into his cellphone.

Before he dialled, Nadia put her hand on his wrist and, through gritted teeth, reminded, "Hey, remember, they think I'm your plaything."

"Hello, I got your message." He laughed. "Very creative."

Nadia scowled, to which James shrugged and mouthed "what am I meant to say?!" She watched him listen to the phone for a few seconds, pause and frown.

"Well I'd be happy to email you with how I did it... Can you just tell me what I need to undo this ... creative message. I don't think my -- I mean, I don't appreciate my plaything being defaced like this."

Still somewhat aroused, being called a plaything by her lover did tickle her for a moment. She watched him listen for a bit more.

"Well. That's not--." He looked frustrated. "Okay, fine, five o'clock. I'll text you the place."

He put the phone down, exhaustedly, and explained to Nadia that they insisted on meeting in person to undo the tattoo.

By five o'clock, the sun was starting to make its way down, and the staff were busy rearranging the furniture around Nadia, putting away the sun loungers, bringing out tables and chairs for the bar, and setting up the lighting.

Thankfully the place was still warm enough to swim, and thanks to James' magic, they hadn't asked Nadia to leave the pool. Yet it was uncomfortable to be the only person left in swimwear on the rooftop. She was still wearing the choker; since they couldn't risk these clearly unpredictable rogue magic-bearers figuring out that they'd invented something as dangerous as the collar.

James waited with her at the side of the pool, explaining, "I know it sucks, but we don't exactly want them to come to our room, and where else can I take you with your ass out?"

Begrudgingly, she agreed, and went back to swimming lengths.

Magics could, of course, sense magics. Despite their lateness, James immediately noticed the pair as they stepped out onto the hotel's rooftop bar. Their magic wasn't particularly powerful, but he could tell that they invested all of their craft into a specialism of some kind. He could guess what it might be.

This was also the first time Nadia could get an eyeful of the people who had ruined her day. They were typical rogues -- the kind she'd have to deal with at work all the time. The pair were an attractive male and female, walking apart so likely not a couple, going to no effort to hide the fact they were staring at every attractive person in the bar.

The man stood confidently in a tailored shirt, at least three buttons undone, white shorts and espadrilles. Conversely, the bright red streaks in the woman's wavy black hair were highlighted by her completely black wardrobe. She stood in a plain black t-shirt and a mid-thigh leather skirt with block-heeled leather boots.

The woman spotted her and bent down at the edge of the pool. She asked Nadia, condescendingly, "Hey there, little thing, where's ... daddy?"

Angry, Nadia bit her tongue and did her best to not provoke the woman into causing more trouble for her. She pointed at James and went back to swimming.

The woman turned to the man to relay the information, but somehow he already knew who he was looking for and was striding in James' direction. "I knew it!"

The woman frowned, confused by her companion's excitement.

The two magics introduced themselves as Hugo and Scarlett as they took their seats at a table set for three.

"I've read your book! I'm so excited to meet you in person. As soon as I saw your work I thought," Hugo stopped himself to regain composure. "Anyway, I thought I recognised it, and I'm glad to meet you. I've followed your podcast for years."

Scarlett looked embarrassed on her friend's behalf.

Hugo leant forward end began in a condemning tone, "However, you know it's super illegal to be casting on non-magics like this, right? They're not toys, you know."

James gulped and started to realise how he looked. Even if they were enforcers, in fact especially so, he wouldn't be able to tell them the that she actually did have magic, and this certainly looked bad out of context. He realised that, to an outside perspective, he looked like he'd picked a random girl and cursed her with eternal edging on a whim, or worse, taken an interest in capturing her permanently.

"Anything is bad, but permanent chastity is evil," Hugo continued.

Scarlett nodded, folding her arms.

The blood drained from James' face as he started to look around at Nadia for support, but she was trying to calm her nerves by swimming.