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ooc: I've gotta' house this somewhere or I'll lose it. To be updated as it proceeds! Takes place before RP with Malodore

Done VIA Messenger between Roxy and Bili

Sin was tired, the trip had been draining, and so had the days following. She recovered from her injuries, the bruises fading, but her mind had gone wild with thoughts, plans, worries. She had come to realize how much certain things meant to her and how little others did. She still felt guilty for not paying visits to everyone, but she could only handle one thing at a time. Her inability to get around and manage her things while her ankle was injured had left her with a concern. She knew exactly the fix, which was why she was out walking looking around for a certain hunchback. Her legs were still a bit sore but she had to force them back into action especially if she was going to get back to Fearleading practice without issue.

The hunchback in question had been very busy since his return. He had made no rounds, nor had he spoken to a soul- of course. He had been consumed by an Idea. An Idea that was hard to shake.

Scruff returned from the underbrush of the forest with a fresh lepus dangling from his gaping jaws, looking quite pleased with himself. Christof patted his leg gently, trying to summon the beast, but at the sight of him and his shovel, the Scareon bolted between his feet. With a frustrated grunt, he turned to take chase, dropping his shovel behind him. A left and a right and around that hedge Scruff darted through and he took a flying leap to catch him and-

Landed at the feet of a light lavender pair of ankles.

Sin had taken to wearing flats since she had gotten back, mainly because her ankle was still recovering. Despite the loss of an inch or two without her heels her legs remained naturally curvaceous and the horrible bruises were gone which no longer constituted the use of leggings. She was startled when Christof landed infront of her, she hadn't expected finding him to be so simple.

She extended her hand down to help him up and arched a brow curiously. "Christof what in jack's name are you doing?" Her aversion to touching undead had faded, yet another reminder of how much she had changed at school.

The hunchback fumbled up to his feet, still looking completely disheveled. He was wearing nothing but his stained work-shirt and pajama bottoms still, tucked into his boots as he brushed himself off, staring at the offered hand as though it was something he didn't deserve. With a swallow, he pointed to Scruff currently gnawing on their fresh kill a few feet away.

Sin pulled her hand back slowly feeling guilty, she should have gone to make sure Christof was alright when he came out of the portal. She should have done that for all her friends, but she had been too afraid of breaking down. She glanced back at Scruff and then looked back at Christof.

"Hunting Lepus?" She asked wondering what the purpose would be. Christof didn't exactly strike her as the type to hunt for sport. Then again she had only known affluent demons to partake of wasting lives...like herself. She pushed back a strand of hair and then looked around uncertainly. "I could help? I wanted to talk to you..." Ha, more like she wanted to talk at him and hope he accepted.

He quickly made a shooing motion to the scareon, finally managing to grab the half-mangled rabbit from it's teeth and sighed. Great, he had eaten a good portion of it... again. Well, maybe one more would do it... at her invitation, he glanced up, face flushing as he wobbled. Talk to him? About what? Was it Miss Morrigan? He knew they were friends, maybe Sin was jealous? The thought pulled him out of the dark revere their... "field trip" had left him in, straightening up (as much as he was able) to wait for what she had to say obediently.

"It's about a contract...I...after everything that's happened..." She sighed and then looked down at the dead Lepus. "Er...we can continue with your hunt if you'd like?" She wasn't exactly dressed to kill...well she was but not if the prey was lepus.

"Christof, you're an excellent igor, and Malodore and Riley think the world of you. I need someone who's trustworthy...certain matters come up and some need to be handled with...discretion."

Still clutching the dead animal, he stared at her, brows furrowed in confusion. A..... contract? With... with Miss Sin? his mind was whirling. He had never thought... and the lack of Barth's contract mark on his shoulder made him feel empty... but... she... she had complimented him even!

"I know your not averse to making deals with demons like some...but...this one...I'd like something...permanent. I'd like to know theres someone I can depend on...always. Of course it's not as if I would want you at my beck and call every second. In fact it would be best if this was kept quiet...not a secret exactly...just not public. You don't have to worry about me taking advantages, I can word things carefully, I know how loyal you are to Riley. Riley and I have our own understanding in regards to demon politics. I wouldn't ever try to cause her any grief." Especially now that she had felt the jarring pain of loosing Riley and realizing she had started to think of her as a friend more then just a good alliance.

She looked at Christof hoping that she was saying the right things. She knew she needed someone to be her behind the scenes man, someone who could protect her interests nicely and quietly...and Christof was perfect for that. He would already defend Riley, he had always been kind to her, she saw no reason not to trust he would be perfect for small situations.

A... a permanent contract? His hand instinctively went up to where the red mark of Riley's curled across his chest between the unbuttoned part of his collar, his mind racing. It was tempting... so tempting. He liked demon marks, it meant consistent work and need and if one Master had had enough of him... (His mind slowly turned to Barth and he stifled the ache away)... he had back up. He wouldn't be just thrown away. He made an anxious noise in his throat, clearly looking a bit confused.

"The contract would be binding until non-revivable death...but to protect your interests I'd make sure it only included small favors. I know it's a big commitment, you can take time to think about it....and of course what type of compensation you would like in return." She placed a hand on her hip and looked around and then at the lepus in Christof's hands.

"Are you alright? I mean...after the trip...you seemed..." She lightly moved to place her fingers against his arm. "It was hard on all of us..."

His breathing quickened, palms sweating and fingers trembling and he nearly dropped the carcass when she touched him, his face turning from her's to hide his flush. He... but... Mistress and... could.. he really take on another Master? It was tempting... he wished he had brought a notebook with, but he hadn't thought he would run into anyone this early in the morning. His expression said enough, at least- unconvinced and worried by the proposal. His eyes slid down to those legs, though, happy to see that they were in one piece. He had spent countless hours in class staring at them under her desk.

"Look...if you want I can write something up and you can look it over and have someone you trust look it over as well. I know demons have a bad reputation for taking advantages of contracts...look if you don't trust me just ask Calder if I'm trustworthy." She sighed and gave his arm a pat before moving her hands back to her hips.

"Well...thanks for listening to the offer at least...need a hand with your.." She motioned to the dead lepus.

He shifted, brows furrowing. If it was supposed to be a secret, showing it to anyone wouldn't do any good for the overall point of the thing. He swallowed again, taking a step away from her before shaking his head slowly.

"No? Oh...well...alright..." She stood for a moment uncertain wishing she could communicate better with the undead. "Well...I hope you'll at least consider the offer...and...and I'm glad you're alright...after all that happened." She flashed him a small smile and then sighed and turned, so much for that going as she had hoped.

A faint noise came from behind her, like an anxious, unsure sort of "Wait"- from a boil unable to open his mouth anyway.

Sin glanced back over her shoulder and paused looking at Christof uncertainly. "Yes?"

He shifted, expresion twisting as his mind reeled. That... that would be a fairly serious contract. Barth's contract hadn't been as much... most of what he did- had done- for the demon had been voluntary, if only because it made the other commands more tolerable to have the place not erupting with mess. And Master Malodore didn't have a contract at all, not as such- and Mistress Riley... he swallowed, looking anxious. He had no idea what he would want in return. He wouldn't know exactly how to negotiate such a thing. But... Miss Sin... since even before he had met his Mistress, he had pined after her. Maybe that's what made the situation so difficult now. He wobbled, uselessly silent.

"Christof you really don't have to decide this second if you're not comfortable..." She offered noticing how he seemed to be anxious. What was it? Perhaps he didn't trust her? Perhaps it was the idea of a contract that would last far beyond their years at Amityville? Still this was what she needed, someone competent, loyal, reliable. She trusted Christof because Riley trusted him, and she in turn trusted Riley...which was frightening and nice all at once. Oh her mother would say she was a fool to trust anyone at all, but Riley was...candid, for lack of proper terms.

The corners of his stitched mouth twitched, brows furrowed before raising a trembling, clawed finger up to tap the red mark on his chest once again. He would have to ask permission, that much seemed clear to him.

"Your already marked? Oh...to Riley, yes...I can understand not wanting your loyalties divided. There must be some way to put you at ease though..." She looked around again before glancing at the dead lepus. Christof collected...err dead things didn't he? Was that a hobby of his own or one he had picked up on Malodore's behalf?

"I would offer you monetary compensation but I'm sure you'd prefer something else...I'd offer you rights to use my innards for your experiments if you were willing to be patient enough for me to kick the bucket." She half laughed and then bent over slowly to rub her ankle, it was still a bit tender. She rubbed a moment before her fingers slowly slid up the curve of her leg to settle again on her hip.

His breathing quickened, eyes dipping down to follow the movement of her hand, his pulse palpable all the way up to the stump of what remained of his tongue. Had... had she really just... offered.... no, no, she hadn't meant it, not really- Malodore had said, "Not without permission". But... but here was his permission! Right here! And... and she hadn't said HOW she might kick the bucket- that thought was immediately squelched, his knees feeling weak. Trembling, but not truly answering her question, he numbly bent down to gingerly touch that sore ankle. Nothing broken, right? Needed to check the goods, of course. Of course. Still anxious, he timidly started to massage, feeling her demonic heat up through his undead fingers.

Sin watched at first confused, then curious, then smirking as Christof reached down. She had said it in jest of course, but maybe she had stumbled on something the undead wanted enough to become her secret errand runner for. She slowly arched her foot, her leg extending as she stretched the muscles.

"I just sprained it on the island...I was wearing heels." She explained and watched as Christof lightly rubbed the soreness away.

"You know...when demons pass on our bodies are usually still in perfect shape...especially succubi. Of course...we're also laid to rest in family crypts...high security and all that. Unless of course someone had permission to take whatever they wanted from the remains."

"Hn.... Hrnnnn?" Came the weak reply, his voice cracking despite his eternally pursed lips.

"If someone was loyal to a demon their whole life don't you think they would deserve the rights to that demon's body when the FEAR ran out and they died...for good?" She slid her leg down a little allowing Christof's fingers to move higher along her ankle.

His breathing came in short rasps, his fingers convulsing on her thigh before he suddenly jerked back, mind reeling. It was all too much... too tempting. Far too tempting. Too good to be true. He'd have to ask his Mistress. He couldn't just... But... and... no! He couldn't fathom ever harvesting his Mistress, the idea somewhat disturbed him.

"It's not like I'll need it once I'm gone Christof...but...think about it like I said?" She took his hand when he jerked back and lightly rubbed her thumb against his palm. "Please consider...it would mean a lot to me." She slowly released his hand and offered him a reassuring smile.

His eyes were locked on her face like a deer in headlights, all thoughts of resurrecting life and escaping the clutches of pergatory forgotten, replaced instead by long slender legs dancing through his mind's eye. With a frantic snort he pulled back, rubbing his hands together before stopping to pick up the mangled lepus corpse, giving her a stiff bow before turning to bolt back to his shovel.

Sin watched him go and then waited a moment before slowly turning. She gave a tiny stretch and then sauntered back across the grounds towards the demon dorms. She'd have to pay Riley a visit soon as well. At least she had left Christof something to consider.