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[CalamitousNag]

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{{ a roleplay by @catalyst and @CalamitousNag }}
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Have you ever had the feeling that something wasn't quite right?

That's the way Logan felt as he sat staring at the cover of a book his 10-year old sister had managed to check out from the local library.

He'd told her to get what she wanted--he was putting it on his library card, after all--and she had come home with a bunch of 'Junie B's' adventures and this thing.

Something about it seemed off. The cover's background was a dark, dusty brown with a superimposed circular diagram that screamed creep factor. Like, he would have never picked this up himself, so why had she? It must have gotten mixed in when they were checking out the books. That was the only logical explanation Logan could come up with.

So now, he was stuck with a creepy ass looking book for the next 14 days. He could take it back, but that'd require an additional trip to the library and, frankly, Logan couldn't be bothered. He'd just return it at the same time as the others.

Logan looked down at the printed receipt with the books' due dates. The creepy book was listed as "Untitled" with an "Unknown" author.

How more cliché could it get?

Logan fingered the receipt. He was staring worriedly off in the distance when his little sister bounded up.

She screeched. "What are you doing?!" the young girl started yanking away as many books from Logan as she could.

"What the--! I'm counting them, obviously. You're not losing them under my account again, Shar."
Logan's younger sister, Shardae, blew a raspberry at him before running off with her haul. Logan's eyes near 'bout fell out of his head when he rolled them. Hard.

5 books total and then this one.

Oh, boy. He was starting to creep himself out. Shardae had managed to grab all of her books and leave him with the "tome". She hadn't seemed concerned by it when she came and snatched away her books, further solidifying his assumption that she hadn't meant to check the tome out.

With all the delicacy of a mouse stealing cheese from a trap, Logan lifted up a corner of the old book to peak inside. The page was blank, so he dropped the cover to lift up another page further in.

The page was blank.

"What?" Logan pulled the book closer to him to properly crack it open. What he found succeeded in simultaneously creeping him the fuck out and cracking him the fuck up.

The pages were blank. Every. Single. Last. One. Of. Them.

"You've got to be kidding me..." the young man laughed to himself as he thumbed through the pages.

"You're doing it again."

Logan jumped. He swung wide eyes towards his little sister who had managed to sneak up on him again. "Doing what?!"

"Talking to yourself," Shardae poked out her cheeks and glanced at the book in his hands. "Momma said you did."

"Shuddup," Logan sneered good-naturedly. "It's a consequence of living by myself for so long."
"Is that why all your roommates moved out?"

Logan jumped at his sister, sending her into a shrieking fit as she ran away and hid behind the kitchen doorway. She poked her head around the frame. "What is that?"

"This?" Logan lifted an eyebrow as he wiggled one of the pages in his hand. "I was going to ask you the same thing. You checked it out today."

The offense was clear on Shardae's face. "No, I didn't! Why would I get that ugly ol' book?"

Logan frowned, his earlier assumptions officially confirmed. "You didn't see it when they checked you out? It's pretty big."

Shardae shook her head as she eased closer. "I didn't get that."

Logan blew air out of his nose. "Whatever. I'll turn it back in next time we go," he concluded before throwing his sister a look. "You got five books, don't lose 'em."

"I won't. Chill, big bro."

"Chill, big bro," Logan mocked as he stood up from the table, finally giving up on finding anything of interest in the creepy old tome. "Alright, I'm heading home. Tell mom and dad."

"Why don't you tell them yourself?" Shardae lifted her lip, giving her big brother all of their mom's attitude.

"'Cuz they don't need to know I'm here again. They already said I should just move in."

Shardae perked up at that, her brown eyes getting all saucer-wide. "Are you moving back home?"

Logan couldn't help the frown that crept on his face. He hated to disappoint her--they'd been inseparable once. "No, sorry, Shar. I'm gonna be staying in Unc's place even after the new job starts. It's closer to the firm anyway."

He could tell his sister was getting older. In place of the sadness and disappointment her expression would have once held, Shardae's countenance now only showed reverent acceptance. It didn't hurt Logan any less, though. "Okay," she said before leaning in to wrap her arms around his waist.

Logan leaned down and kissed her forehead before patting her head. She swatted at him and Logan left with a smile on his face, creepy ass book in-tow.

…

It was about 9:30 in the evening when Logan pulled up to his Uncle's apartment complex. Loud music blasted from one of the units on the top floor and there were a bunch of middle schoolers congregating out front. Whatever happened to the street-light rule?

Logan looked behind the front seat at the creepy book that lay on his back seat. He had half a mind to leave it in the car but his fear of leaving anything of value out in the open prevented that. People would steal the stink out of shit--he wasn't going to give them an excuse to break his windows again. Not now that he was living in the city.

Sighing, Logan reached back and grabbed the book before climbing out of his car. He headed up to the apartment building, swatting at buzzing mosquitoes as he went. He didn't get how the kids out front could stand it. They had to be walking pincushions by now, but they seemed too busy teasing a girl about her ex to even take notice.

Logan unlocked his room on the first floor. It wasn't glamorous by any means but it was a nice graduation present his uncle had given him when he had announced he'd be working at one of the gaming firms in the city. He was going to be a character designer for those lame, pay-to-play games that seemed to proliferate social media now-a-days. His training class wouldn't begin for another month, though (probably to soak up as many recent grads as they could humbly take advantage of), so Logan spent his time mostly dreading having to say good-bye to his freedom in a month's time.

Logan tossed the creepy tome onto the kitchen table. He was about to call it a night when he decided to crack open the cover once again. He didn't know particularly why he did it--maybe he was expecting something to be there now that wasn't there before? Logan was met with disappointment when he found the pages to be equally blank as before. He ran a finger over one blank page. That's when he noticed it.

Embossed. The pages were embossed.

Curiosity piqued, Logan lifted the book and held it at an angle, trying to decipher what designs were pressed into the paper. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it before, but he had to admit that it was the faintest embossing he had ever seen. He couldn't make it out by staring at it alone.

He could do a rubbing! Logan went over to his wireless printer and grabbed a sheet of paper (it wasn't like he had ink anyway) and one of his charcoal pencils. Sitting down, he placed the sheet of paper over a page that appeared to have a rather intricate design etched into it. Logan ran his charcoal pencil back and forth until he could make a design out.

He was right about the intricacy of the image. It wasn't anything like he'd seen before. He would swear it was a creature if not for the unnatural and uneven lines that defined it. Maybe it was one of those old 'figurative' drawings that managed to look nothing like the source. Upon closer inspection, Logan could make out Latin-looking writing that stretched around the image, creating a natural border around it.

At least he thought it was Latin.

"Cras sapien q-q-uis metus convallis eros autem nunc justo sapien ut au-au-gue...?, Logan sounded out. Times like this almost made him regret not taking Latin when he realized he had Google Translate at his fingertips.

Absentmindedly reaching for his cellphone with his left hand, Logan reached to peel off the sheet of computer paper with the other. He should have been paying closer attention. As he was grabbing for the sheet of paper, he managed to catch his finger on the edge of it, slicing it clean open. Logan yelped, mind immediately back to where it should be as he watched a droplet of blood well up on his index finger. Shit. Logan hurriedly sucked the wounded finger into his mouth but not before spilling a watery droplet onto the blank page of the book with a dull *plop*.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Logan exclaimed, frantically waving both hands. He'd forgotten about nursing his finger--he'd just debauched a hundred year old book with a bio-hazard. It's not like anyone wouldn't notice--there was a blood-red drop of... well... blood smack dab in the middle of an otherwise blank book.

Logan grabbed a corner of his shirt to try to sop away the mess but when he looked back at the soiled page, the blood was gone. The page was once again blank.

Blank? He had just spilled blood on it.

The power went out. Logan could feel the hairs on his arm stand on end. It reminded him briefly of the symptoms that occur right before a lightening strike except he was inside--and it wasn't raining.

The feeling didn't subside when the lights turned on some 30 seconds later. Great, the time on the microwave and stove were now flashing and Logan was no step closer to figuring out what in the hell just happened. The continued feeling of unease woke a dread in him so thick that Logan found himself pushing away from the table and backwards. He stumbled into the back of the couch, the air suddenly becoming too electrified to breathe.

On the table, the open book's pages now bled red.

 

[catalyst]

If there was one thing humans should know about demons when doing business with them, it was that they operated on an entirely different time scale. The time it took for the summoning to complete itself was enough time for Nyvan and other interested parties to convene for a month, a year, a decade. And the poor human, no matter who he was as a person or what his status was among other humans, could have found himself possessed body and mind by fifty maniacal fiends. But a "duke" of Hell decided a strategy: Nyvan was to use his specialty to influence his summoner's effect on other people. He was to be... a magician of sorts with demon-spurred habits that could twist everyone he met.

It was a challenge he gladly accepted. After all, failing to impact assignments made many demons, particularly those of sexual nature, "less" of a demon, the same way failure in life made men "less" of a man.

Rather than strong-arm a demon like a warrant or lasso, those actions, the blood drawing in particular, signaled the mortal's willingness and length he would go.

Opportunity. Rewards. Expectations. Pressure...

One of the underlings who was passed up played informant. "A lukewarm life," it said. "Doesn't fit any of the typical incubus enthusiasts."

Peculiar. Well, the plan was already decided. Once the instructions were complete, after mere moments of suspense for the mortal, what could be either shadows or smoke darkened into the suggestion of a figure six feet from table the tome sat upon. Color and dimension emerged from the head down, solidifying into an attractive and suave man inch by inch. He allowed his horns to show through, and wore nothing but gold jewelry and threads. The effect paused at the waist for now, leaving a ghostly genie tail. With a flirtatious smile, the incubus looked over his snack for the next - hm, how long was he given? A few months? - it didn't matter.

He was delicious.

"Helllo," he drawled, voice smooth and seductive. "My, my, what a meeting. I'd say the pleasure's all mine, but no. Much more pleasure in store for you." He winked.

 

[CalamitousNag]

If Logan had had trouble breathing a moment ago, it was nothing like he felt now. His breath had stagnated in his throat setting it on fire.

He had heard the voice before he saw where it came from. His eyes were still staring fearfully at the now blood-red book but he. Was. Not. Alone.

Although he dreaded it and actively tried to stop it, he couldn't help his eyes dragging slowly over to the source of the voice. How he hated himself for looking, and yet, he knew his only chance of survival existed if he knew what he was up against.

What he saw, however, made him realize there was no way he could ever be prepared for this.

A spectral figure had manifested in his living room. Logan swore he heard the tinkling of the golden trinkets as the spectre regarded him. It smiled.

Logan had never seen a sight so terrifying. He lost it.

He didn't have time to rationalize what he saw. He didn't have time to make excuses as to why a half-formed figure was levitating in his room. He didn't have time to debunk the fact an unnatural creature had addressed him.

He didn't have time to die.

Logan split from the room. He twisted his ankle in the process but his adrenaline was pumping and he couldn't feel it. He tore into the bathroom, slammed the door, and sank down against it. His eyes were wide in horror, his breathing shallow. Common sense chastising him, he reached up and locked the door. It wasn't until after he did it that he realized the futility of it. If what he had saw was truly in his mind, no amount of locking or hiding would save him.

As an after-thought, Logan realized he'd left his phone on the kitchen table in his haste to escape. Shiiittt. If he would have had a chance, that was it. His eyes were hot and burned with unshed tears. Maybe he was just imagining things. And if he wasn't, this was it for him, wasn't it?

 

[catalyst]

He should've just appeared as a human. A regular, un-horned, beautiful human being. Even though Nyvan knew that his clients more often than not reacted better to a first appearance as a human, he always liked to be a surprise.

Still, he was a little confused about how strongly this particular client reacted. He'd read the chant and finished it off with a blood seal, of all things. How could he not expect for something a little strange to manifest?

Perhaps half a second after locking the bathroom door, Nyvan was on the other side. He knocked twice, and this truly was a kindness the incubus was doing. Doors, walls, any man-made barriers? Frivolous. "I didn't mean to frighten you, sweet thing," he spoke loudly enough for the other to hear. "I've lost the horns and all - completely human now!" And it was true. The ghastly smoke was gone, the lights were on, and his physical appearance had almost completely changed. Pale skin instead of an ashy tone, legs instead of a genie tail, and no horns. He even wore a pair of jeans, but was still shirtless. Couldn't let the human that off of the hook.

Silence, but he could literally smell the fear in the form of tears. Poor doll.

"Please come out, I won't bite ya. In fact, I am completely and utterly at your service."

 

[CalamitousNag]

In every horror movie Logan had ever seen, the perpetrator always said "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

This was like those movies. Like hell he was coming out.

At the same time, whatever was out there would stay out there and he'd be forced to live in the bathroom forever. What would he subsist on? Toilet water?

Logan's eyes flicked towards the sink. Well, there was that. No need to get uncivilized here.

But the point still stood that he was a captive in his own home! It'd make his blood boil if he wasn't so deathly afraid of what was out there.

"I didn't mean to frighten you, sweet thing." Okay, that made Logan's blood boil. How patronizing was that?! Who the hell-- What the hell-- Arrgh!

What did it mean it was completely human now? What had it been before?!

The thing continued to try to goad him out. Logan wasn't budging.

"Look, I don't know what you are, but you gonna get the hell up out my house, man. I don't know how you got in, but you can see yourself out. I won't even call the cops. But if you don't leave right now, I'm gonna scream so loud that my neighbor's gonna call the cops for me. You got til the count of three."

Logan fell silent, listening. Damnit if he didn't start counting, but he was too busy listening to see what the intruder would do. For all the falsified bravado he'd been shouting not a second earlier, Logan was close to sweating through all pairs of his clothing. He was scared shitless and he didn't even know what he was scared of yet.

What had happened?! He read that creepy ass book and then he said some shit out loud and the next thing he knew the pages of the book had turned blood red. Okay, that alone was strange in and of itself, but then a fucking head had appeared out of thin air and what the living fuck?!

Okay. He was hyperventilating. He had to focus. He refused to be trapped in the bathroom forever. Oh, why oh why had he left his phone on the table?

"I don't hear you moving." Logan should have just kept his mouth; his voice came out in a pitiful whine and was at least an octave higher.

 

[catalyst]

Nyvan frowned, confused and a little irritated. This human was making it sound like he hadn't just purposefully summoned Nyvan right from the tome. There was no way it could have been an accident.

So what the Hell was happening right now? Maybe the mortal thought it wouldn't work and this was just how his shock was manifesting? No matter, Nyvan could be patient. With nothing more than a sigh, the incubus left the hall and sat down on the couch in front of the tome. His little treat would have to come out eventually, and perhaps he would take better to his relaxed human posture and form as he crossed his legs and hunched over, resting his chin in a palm as his free hand flipped through the seemingly blank pages.

He had all the time in the world. Literally.

 

[CalamitousNag]

Footsteps. Sweet, joyous footsteps.

Logan knew somewhere in the back of his mind it was too good to be true, but maybe the thing was retreating. Or, maybe it was just retreating to the kitchen where it could get a butcher knife and decimate him?

Oh, ho, ho, little did it know, however, that Logan didn't *have* a butcher knife. What was he going to use a butcher knife on? Ye weekly Bagel Bites? Please.

It was either now or never. The intruder may still be in the home, but if Logan made a break for it, he'd...

Run smack dab into it as he tried to run out of the door. But did he have a better plan? No. So this would just have to work.
On wobbly knees, Logan stood. He held an ear to the door before he unlatched the lock as discreetly as he could and held the doorknob as he turned it, trying his best not to make a sound. When Logan peered into the hall, he didn't see anything so he padded out. His keys were by the front door. He could try to grab them but he wouldn't waste time with it if the intruder pursued him.

Slowly he crept down the hallway. His eyes were nearly shut as he focused all of his attention on listening. He hadn't heard the intruder leave.

Then again, he hadn't heard the intruder arrive, either.

Logan was in clear shot of the door. He would walk casually out, just in case the intruder was busy ransacking in another room.

That was, until a figure out of the corner of his eyes caught his attention. He berated himself again for looking but he couldn't help it. Logan froze like a deer in headlights when he realized the intruder was sitting on his couch, perusing the cursed book as if it was the Saturday morning newspaper.

He couldn't speak. But he did open his mouth to yell--if not from fear, definitely insanity. This person was not what he had seen just a few moments ago.

 

[catalyst]

Nyvan waited patiently for the mortal to leave the bathroom. He could hear the click of the door opening, the near silent fall of his footsteps as he walked down the hall. And then... in eyesight.

"Oh. Welcome back. I hope you don't scream," he greeted with a smile, hoping his voice would lock that yell in the human's throat. "I promise, if you just stand right there, I won't go anywhere near you as we try to figure this whole thing out."

He sighed and put the book back on the coffee table on the exact same page used for summoning him. "Now, you're here. Acting like you didn't know that you were summoning. There are three possibilities. One, you summoned me thinking I wouldn't actually show up - that demons, angels, Heaven, Hell, blah, blah, blah are fake. Two, you're just faking a victim act - ooh, hoo, hoo," he wiggled h is brows, "kinky one you could be. And three, but least likely of all, you really didn't know what this book entailed."

 

[CalamitousNag]

In front of him sat a man--were there two intruders in his apartment?! What he had seen and who he saw now were two completely different things.

The easy, confident tone with which the man spoke froze Logan up even more. He was speaking perfectly reasonable English. Logan didn't know what he expected, but the normality of the situation caught him off guard. He didn't scream. He couldn't really breathe.

The man was putting space between them, establishing a boundary. Would an intruder take the time to do that? Now was a good time to force himself to calm.

Logan watched as the man set the crusty old book back down. It struck him as strange that the book would be of interest to him.
But something the man said struck him as stranger. Logan's voice was a whisper when he finally addressed the other: "What do you mean 'showed up?' I don't know what the hell you're talking about." There was an angry tinge to his voice. He glared at the man, looking up-under at him uncertainly. What the hell was this guy on?

"Why are you here? I don't have money. If you want that thing," Logan's eyes flicked to the book, "take it. But, please, leave me alone."

Gone was Logan's earlier bravado now that he was face-to-face with someone he never invited in. The man spoke words but the words failed to create any real meaning for Logan--he was too busy with self-preservation to focus on what the man was proposing. It was a few seconds later, though, that one of the words the man had said resurfaced in Logan's brain. His voice was unsure. "Summoned?"

 

[catalyst]

Okay, this was just getting irritating now. Clearly the mortal hadn't meant to summon Nyvan, so at least there was that bit of information. But the fact that he still wasn't catching on to what was happening? Was he stupid or just too overwhelmed to think? Too in denial, perhaps? At least he hadn't screamed or ran away again.

Despite inwardly being near irate, Nyvan continued to be as patient as an ox. "Yes. Summoned," he repeated. "This book here," he pointed, "is a tome of spells including those that summon. You, my dear lucky one, have summoned me. I have no idea how you could have done so without knowing what you were doing - but I find it amusing. Now, I can't just leave. We have business to discuss." He stood from the couch but made no move to close the distance between them.

"My name is Nyvaninm, but you may call me Nyvan. I am a demon of the more pleasurable affairs. Whatever you may desire," he said in a suggestive tone, "I may satisfy tenfold."

 

[CalamitousNag]

"T-t-that's not possible," Logan's mouth worked, eyes wide.

Why wouldn't the man drop it? He kept talking like this wasn't the most ridiculous shit in the world. Summon? Summon?! No one talks like that!

Logan looked at the book the man pointed towards.

Then again, what normal book was blank and changed colors before his very eyes?

Maybe he hadn't imagined it. He could explain away the power-surge. He couldn't explain why a stranger was now in his apartment, or what that thing was he had seen earlier.

"I didn't ask for that book, I don't even know what it is. I didn't summon you," not intentionally anyway, Logan thought, "and I don't know what you're talking about. Nothing's keeping you from leaving. There's the door." Logan pointed behind him without taking his eyes from the man.

'I am a demon of the more pleasurable affairs.'

Ah, hell no.

"The fuck?!" Logan screeched. "Nah, man, nah." Logan began to pace back and forth. "This shit--I didn't summon no freaking--" Logan's hands flew into his hair as he realized the gravity of the situation. He could deal with hallucinations--intruders, even--but not with a summoned spirit. A demon at that.

Logan's mind worked quick. Wait! In those exorcist movies, didn't they always say something about knowing the true name of a demon? Maybe this thing couldn't leave, but Logan could sure as hell make him.

"Business? Nah, I'm good. N-nyvam... Nyavanam…" Logan snapped his fingers towards the door, eyes wide and hysterical. "N-nyvaninm, go back where you came from. You have been desummoned. Your services are no longer needed."

It was worth a try.

 

[catalyst]

Still such a frightened, shocked thing. It was less annoying now and more amusing.

"Quite the mouth you have on you," Nyvan chuckled. It was even more amusing that he was trying to break his contract. Nyvan tsked. "Not how it works, sweetie." Sighing, the demon sat back on the couch and made himself comfortable. "Sorry," not sorry, "but if you want to get rid of me that badly, you should probably just take a few deep breaths and calm down. That way we can discuss what it is you want and don't want." The smile on his face was as devious and seductive as his nature.

"I'm not going to take your soul or hurt you in any way," he finally drawled, hoping that would help calm the human somewhat. "But the longer it takes for you to accept your situation, the longer I'm here."

 

[CalamitousNag]

Logan swallowed hard.

"What's the situation I got to accept?" he asked, his head tilted back as he regarded the spirit through narrowed eyes.

Something about Nyvanimnim--Nyvan--gave him the heebie-jeebies. Maybe because he was slowly realizing the fact that the thing he was seeing was a masquerade of a human. He watched as Nyvan slid back and settled into the couch with a confident grace that set off even more of Logan's alarms.

"I am calm," Logan huffed. "All I want is for you to leave," Logan's eyes switched back and forth expectantly, "So are we done? What do I got to do to get rid of you?" the young man almost tacked on a 'no offense', but decided against it.

 

[catalyst]

Nyvan huffed, but kept himself together. At least this mortal was finally letting Nyvan explain things, if his little shocked mind could even comprehend anything further.

"You're not a very great host," Nyvan teased. The other male claimed he was calm, but goodness gracious was it not a pleasant calm. "You just have to..." he paused, tone light and airy. "Loosen up a little." He twirled his long blond hair around a finger. "Let me explain it as simply as I can: I am an incubus. Ever heard of it? Demon of sexual desire, satisfaction, lust."

He smirked. "Though that's not all I'm good for. I can cuddle, too. Whatever your little heart," he motioned with his finger, "desires."

 

[CalamitousNag]

Loosen up? Obviously the spirit had never been on the opposite end of a summoning. There was nothing normal about this situation and Logan may have just wrecked some kind of havoc upon the world that he couldn't comprehend yet.

He watched as Nyvan played with his hair. Again, that effortless grace. Was the demon preening?

Ah. An incubus. This explained so much. If there was one thing he'd heard of before it was an incubus. Wait--no. He'd heard of a succubus. Incubus was a band.

"I've heard of the band," Logan parroted his thoughts. "Never heard of its inspiration, though." Logan looked the incubus up and down. A demon of sexual desire, satisfaction, and lust, eh? Figures.

"Cool. So how do I get rid of you? You never answered the question."

 

[catalyst]

Nyvan chuckled once more. A band called Incubus? Must be a heavy metal or rock band.

Though, with the mortal's millionth round of questions, Nyvan rolled his eyes. "I've been answering you, you just haven't been listening." He would have straightened his back if he didn't have perfect posture already. "There are many ways we can go about this. A beautiful, dreamy date followed by an even more incredible sex-filled night. We can get down and dirty right here." He kept his eyes close on the human, wanting to see his reactions. What he lightened up to, what he disliked. "Or something in between. And it certainly doesn't have to be one time."

He cocked his head. "Like I said. Whatever you desire."

 

[CalamitousNag]

Logan full out rolled his eyes. This Nyvan wasn't being upfront with him. Then again, who's to say he would be telling the truth if he told Logan how to send him back. Chances are this summoning benefited the incubus in someway. Never trust a demon to tell the truth.

"No. You haven't," Logan growled. He had a feeling this wouldn't be the last or only time he groaned in frustration. "You told me how to do something *for you*, not how to send you back... home, or wherever you go. I don't want you here and I'm not interested in what you have to offer."

No way in hell did he want to share his space with something that was obviously propositioning him. He'd just tell him to leave and find someone else.

Logan opened his mouth, just about to tell Nyvan so, when he realized that as a result of summoning the creature he was now directly responsible for it. Logan groaned and sunk to the floor where he stood.

 

[catalyst]

"My dear, my dear," Nyvan nearly crooned with an undertone of exasperation as he stood from the couch once more. Though, when he saw the other sink to the floor, he saw an opportunity to soothe, connect, touch. He smiled as his expression softened and he knelt beside the confused, in denial mortal.

Placing a careful, gentle hand on the man's shoulder and nothing more, Nyvan hoped it was enough to show that he was not here to hurt him. "I know you're probably still confused or frightened, but there truly is no need. Listen," his tone was gentle, "in order for me to fulfill this contract, I must satisfy you in some way. Can you not think of anything? Is the trouble that you're in a committed relationship? Talk to me." With this, he sat back on his bum and crossed his legs, letting his hand leave the other as he clasped both hands in his lap, ready for the gossip.