Xaviers!

"Fragarach is a most deadly weapon. Most do not survive encountering it," Lila says as she leads the way up some stairs, slowly enough to allow Will to get used to things.

"One of the advantages of not technically being alive, in a biological sense, I suppose," he smiled.

"I don't know how long this solution will hold up, but if it breaks down, I'll find a new way around it. I always do."

"If we are still here, you can come back and we will do our best to repair it," Lila says good-naturedly.

"I mean this as no offense, but I hope I do not make a habit of having to come to the land of the fae on a regular basis. It's not exactly a place for my kind."

"Not usually, no," Lila agrees, "Maybe the rules will change. We will just have to wait and see."

"I didn't think magical rules were the sorts of things that could change. Aren't they normally baked into the seas and the skies and the earth below or some such thing?"

"Are humans usually made of clay? Sometimes things change."

"You're just saying that because you're a potter and you find clay naturally interesting," Will teased.

"I'm not a human, and I haven't been for quite some time."

"Spoken like a human," she says with a smile, "And clay is interesting, full of possibilities just waiting to be realized."

"And I wish more of my friends would recognize that. Ah well; you can't expect everyone to understand."

"You just need to make friends with a potter," she says, "We always see the possibility of clay."

"Are you flirting with me?" Will laughed back.

"What? No!" She says, maybe a little too defensively. "Even if I was, which I'm not, you are certainly above my station."

"I'm not above anyone's station, and certainly not someone as skilled at working with clay as you are," Will smiled back. "Don't sell yourself short."

"I'm a house craftsperson, a commoner. You're... well... a hero."

"I'm a tool. I'm legally property of the university where we came from; the headmistress has proof of purchase and paperwork backing that up.

You're an artist. That's impressive. Don't sell yourself short."

"A... most unusual situation," she says, pausing on the stairs for a moment to consider it before she continues up the stairs.

"I'm a most unusual fellow," he shrugged.

"The real heroes are upstairs. I'm sure they'd love to meet you."

"You charged the Red Lord with no regard to your own safety," she says before trying out the phrase, "Do not sell yourself short... is that right?"

Will was quiet for a moment as they walked.

"He had Sam. That was more important than me staying on piece.


Stupid, right? She's the Morrigan; of course she could have handled it herself. And it turns out that I just got in the way, and he escaped. I'm selling myself for the proper amount here, I think."

"With Fragarach at her throat? She wouldn't be able to move and he could have *killed her*. And without the Morrigan, where would we be?"

"You underestimate her," Will said, after another moment's pause, though he clearly looked a little uncomfortable.

"Perhaps we both have something to learn about our own worth," she comments, stopping at the top of the stairs.

"Perhaps.

Thank you, Lila. Have a good evening."

"And you as well, hero," she says, giving him a bow.