"Jane." Damian started with a small laugh. He was a professional loner, but if he had to work with someone it would be Jane Howard. She would be prepared and take things as seriously as they deserved. She was the best of the best, but he still had his concerns. "The important question was: How are you?" Damian was often silly, but he was always sincere.
"My secret weapon in situations like this is a full heart. Started my day sleeping in without an alarm clock and having eggies in a basket like my mum used to make. The leather jacket, the music, my favorite cologne. All alchemical ingredients to keep my fire burning. Sometimes I visit a shelter and pet all the dogs, or I go out to dinner and kiss someone pretty. There's no room in here for whatever is in there to latch on to." He punctuated this by pointing at his heart and then at the locked door to the chamber. Damian was well aware of the dangers that his line of work entailed. It was an inevitability that some darkness would take root, but this did not make him a dark wizard. His love for life allowed him to defy the darkness in all its forms.
Jane knew all this. She was a master alchemist. The archeus and the ethers. Life, light, chemical, reflection. He was just doing his best, and it helped to say it out loud. Pulling an old brass key from his jacket pocket, Damian gently placed it inside the lock and stepped aside. It would be up to her to turn it when she was ready.
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In over his head |