"I'm hot-blooded," he claimed boldly, though he hardly sounded it, voice rough and leaning on her and a little lightheaded from the wound. "All good adventurers are."

And indeed, even if he was the one who was half-dressed, he didn't flinch away from her hands as they huddled beneath the cloak. He was quiet for a spell after her question. Her magic wasn't as dangerous a topic as some. Not as taboo as bringing up Rachel or that fateful day in Vector, or anything like that. But it wasn't common for either of them to talk about it without cause. Even if he wondered, sometimes, when he saw her or Terra. He never asked.

"I guess," he said, finally. "Sometimes. But I always sort of felt like I was only borrowing it anyway, you know?"

Freely given, for the most part, but borrowed power all the same. Even Phoenix was little more than another pretty stone, now. Free of cracks, but powerless all the same. The espers had given their lives so they could gain magic from the magicite. And then magic itself had been sacrificed so they could save the world. As dramatic as it sounded, it was true enough. He reached over to take one of her chilled hands between both of his own before returning the question, carefully.

"What about you?"