(Scars do not appear to be cause of death –shock ... - Bad Request

I bit back a clever remark. Best to neither confirm nor deny my ignorance,
"Who is that burning by the entryway?"
That despair I saw on her face before flitted across it again like a
black-winged shadow before she mastered herself. "That's Ignus, one of the
greatest wizards ever to come out of this slummy excuse for a cesspool.
They caught him and they opened a channel to the plane of Fire through
him, and now he's just a doorway for it, keepin' himself alive by force o' will
alone. If someone could douse him for a few moments, it'd give him his life
back again -- but they don't make enough water to do that."
She sighed, "Fellas eventually built a bar around him. Sods who like to see
people in pain come here. Fiends like it. Folks who don't much care for bein'
bothered come here too... the name keeps out most of the berks.""
"I don't suppose you could answer some questi-"
"Do I look like a tout?" she snapped, "Waitin' around just in case some
scarred man walks into my favorite bar and starts asking 'is barmy questions.
Do you annoy everyone you meet? What a fascinating life."
"Far more so than yours, I'd wager," I said dryly.
"Oh, is that so, aye?" her face twisted into a mask of anger, and heat filled
her voice, "Have you ever been in love with a living flame? Have you ever
wanted to vanish utterly in the arms of another, to lose yourself in the heat
of passion? Your eyes tell me that you wish you had, but you've had no luck.
Don't talk to me about fascinating. Scars ain't fascinating. Fights ain't
fascinating. Tough ain't fascinating. YOU ain't fascinating."
I paused a moment after letting her finish. The silence sank in so that my
next words, quiet and smooth, scraped through the air like a dull dagger
against old skin, "Where should I start? I'm immortal, I lose my memory
every time I die, I have a floating skull for a sidekick, I'm having experiences
that would make most mortals scream their souls out through their eyes,
and you're telling me that being in love with a fire is fascinating? That's not
fascinating -- it's just crazy."
"I love you too, chief," Morte quipped.
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