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[shamebat]

Hello, this is Nadja. Please leave a message and I will return to it later.

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[shamebat]

Yep! Yes. Of course. It's very nice.

[a frantic shuffling of papers. She might have lost it in her house]

[dog_lover]

[She can’t, or won’t, hold back a giggle. ]

Did you want to just talk? I can tell you the important things.

[shamebat]

No, no! I have it! I...yes! Look, I am reading it now!

[dog_lover]

Okay.

Do you have any questions for me?

[shamebat]

May...


Maybe you had better come over and help me read it with you together.

[dog_lover]

I can be there in a few minutes. Where is your room?

[shamebat]

It is on the fifth floor. The door will look like something gloriously ornate and very decorative and beautiful, like me.

[dog_lover]

That sounds nice.

[ And within about five minutes, there’s a light knock on the door. ]

[shamebat]

[Nadja, having frantically turned her cabin upside down, at last finds Makima's file buried under a pile of Laszlo's sheet music. Exhaling in triumph, she does her best to school her hair back and pretend like she's the beautiful temptress she pretends to be.

She sweeps her way to the door, opening it, putting on a big warm smile]

Hello, little inmate girl! Where is your warden? Oh! It's me!

[dog_lover]

[ Makima has dressed in a simple black dress with a simple notched collar and long sleeves. She smiles at Nadja. ]

You are. I’m looking forward to having you as my warden. You seem to care about me.

[shamebat]

Well, already you are better than my last three inmates, so yes: I do care about you. You are a polite and charming child. Come in; let's go into the fancy room to sit down and talk.

[Says Nadja, always decked out in her finest. She leads the way into the cabin]

So these are some of the rooms that came with me here. They are near-perfect replicas of my home on Staten Island. You know that we thought, when we came to America, that we thought it was actually Satan island? Only it turned out that my pigshit roommate Nandor read the parchment wrong.

[dog_lover]

She giggles just a little before following Nadja.

“My cabin is very similar to my apartment in Tokyo, but it doesn’t have my kitchen or the bathroom.”

She looks around.

“Your house is very nice.” A pause. “Nandor sounds ridiculous.”

[shamebat]

"He is a fucking idiot." Says Nadja, very seriously. "He walks around like a conquering commander, all puffed up, but he is so soft when it comes to his servants and his horse. If I have to hear about John the fucking horse one more time, I will stab myself in the ears."

She walks into the 'fancy room'; which, in essence, is only the Victorian-esque dark library with the more elaborate murals. Best not to look too closely at those because they represent sex scenes all over.

"Here, sit down on the couch next to me and we will have a look at your file."

[dog_lover]

She looks around as she walks and sits down on the couch in an effortlessly elegant little movement.

Then she looks to Nadja.

“My file may be long. I’m older than I look.”

Like as old as conquest itself.

[shamebat]

Nadja, unbothered, leans over and winks surreptitiously at Makima.

"But you are young at heart. Let that be my first lesson; we do not tell anyone our age because it is nobody's business."

She flips through to the first page and starts to scan through.

"Oooh. My devious little killer. Look at you!"

[dog_lover]

She’s curious if Nadja is reading about her deal with the Japanese government, the fact that the entire world was terrified of her, or her plan to make the hero of hell into one of her doggies.

“Thank you.”

[shamebat]

Nadja is in fact only on the first part, reading about manipulation and enslavement and murder. She pats the couch and moves closer to put her arm around Makima so they can read it together on Nadja's lap.

"I know I am not supposed to be encouraging murder but I am so proud of you. If this were not the Admiral's boat, I would put in for your graduation right now."

[dog_lover]

She had definitely manipulated devil hunters, subjugated devil hybrids, and made them her adoring mind-controlled dogs. Because then they could be helpful. And love her.

She smiles at the praise. Maybe Nadja would be even more helpful than she thought.

“”Thank you, Nadja.”

[shamebat]

"Of course, my little devil child. Can I call you that? Is that all right?" She asks, flipping to the next page.

[dog_lover]

“You can,” she agrees with a quick nod, “I don’t mind. You’re being sweet to me.”

[shamebat]

She smiles, and continues to read.

"Well, shit. I can see that this is going to be hard - not impossible - but very hard, because all the things the Admiral says about you are things I could say about myself. So I think we will have to come at this graduation thing as a self-improvement journey for the two of us. A bit of a girls' only spa time."

[dog_lover]

…this both is and isn’t what she was expecting. And she can’t help the fact that her smile widens a little.

She could but she doesn’t want to.

“That sounds nice.”

She looks around the room.

“Could we go shopping on the next port?”

[shamebat]

Nadja doesn't squeal, exactly, but she does grin wider and cuddle Makima happily.

"Oh, yes! I will take you to all the very best places. We can get nice things for your hair and your wardrobe and maybe your cabin also. This is going to be so much fun to have a little girl around to spoil and cherish."

[dog_lover]

…that is not what she expected at all. But it’s… nice. The cuddling is a little undignified but it feels good. And the affection is so genuine.

“I’d like that.”

She considers.

“May I ask for something now?”

[shamebat]

She lets Makima go, patting her arm. "Darling, you may ask for anything you want. I may not give it to you if it's sentimental or I need it, but you can always ask."