forum Make the Deal with Me, not Them! (Closed with phantomflame & DEFINIATELYNOTLOKI) (2/?)

Started May 12, 2023 by @RhysTheFirebird group

tune

Erebus continued smiling her easy smile, although for a brief moment, her eyes flashed orange and became almost snake-like before returning to the brilliant deep-gold that they were before.
She chuckled, finally glancing at the man behind her before looking back at the cashier. "Oh, he knows who I am. And he also knows that I don't wait for anyone."
She flickered her wrist and a wad of hundred dollar bills appeared in her well-manicured hand and she set them down on the counter. "Now, I'm sure this is more than enough to pay for everyone's orders, given how cheap this place is. Get me my drink, darling."

Icares takes his coffee. "Erebus. Dramatic, as always." He nods to her politely and takes a seat at a table.

Roman pushed the money away, “Look, sweetheart, I don’t really care. I just know these people have been waiting patiently, and you just skipped the line. If you want to pay for their drinks, then ask them. But I am not going to let you just push your way through and do whatever you want. Now please, go wait like everyone else.”

He looks past her again and smiles at the person behind her, “Your usual, Mr. Cetirek?” When the man nods, Roman turns around, starting to make another drink, completely ignoring the woman.

Erebus had no doubt in her mind that Icares was laughing at her from wherever he was sitting, and her eyes became red fires. If she didn't have an audience watching her, she would have outwardly respected this mortal. He had fire in him. She liked that. But he should learn that she had fire too.
She heard the shadows whispering their familiar song in her ears, telling her a name, and her smile grew more wicked, her fangs showing beneath her human disguise.
"Well played, Roman Denino," she purred, looking behind him and to the coffee machine that was in sight. She felt the heat radiating from it, courtesy of her power, and prompted the heat along, and a few moments later smoke started curling out of the machine as a small fire appeared underneath it.
When she was satisfied that she did enough to make the pathetic mortal's day harder, she turned on her heels and swiped an iced latte from a customer who was on their phone. Their fault for not paying attention.
She stopped by the table that Icares was at, grinning at him as she sat down across from him, taking a sip of her stolen drink. "What can I say, Icares? This realm is so boring. I'm doing these miserable little creatures a favor by being dramatic and lighting it up with my brilliant presence. They should be thanking me for doing this for them."

He shakes his head, grinning. "You're chaotic, you know that?" He leans back in his chair and looks at her "Of course you know." He sighs and waves his hand, and the fire goes out. "I'm going to win this bet" He grins at her, completely confident in himself. He knows he can mess with her, by getting inside her head with his teasing.

Roman sighs heavily and then huffs, smirking slightly. He then turns, “Sorry, about that, machines malfunctioning. I’ll be right back.” He wipes his hands off and walks to the back, grabbing a kettle like object and coming back. He plugs it in and waits. As he waits, he grabs a few coffee filters and pours the ground beans into them, placing them over the cups. He then grabs the kettle thing and pours the boiling water.

He turns, making each persons respective caffe. He does this for the last five people in line, quickly making the coffee. He looked even more comfortable doing this than using the machine. He then glares at the woman before going back to his notepad, drawing.

Erebus' grin grew wider. She was thousands of years older than Icares. He didn't seriously think that he could beat her, did he?
"I highly doubt that, hon," she drawled, leaning back in her seat and taking another sip of her drink. "I've been dealing with mortals for ages. I know the things they want, even before they know that they want it. I'll be taking the glory for this adorable little bet you're so desperate to humiliate yourself with."
She paused, lost in thought for a moment before flicking her finger slightly, and in the blink of an eye her appearance changed, the blood-red dress turning into an expensive red-velvet suit, and their hair immediately being put up in a low ponytail, its color still a vibrant shade of dark purple.
Much better, he thought, still grinning at Icares. He glanced over to the cashier who had denied him a drink, but quickly looked away with boredom when he saw that the mortal wasn't doing anything interesting.

Icares watches Erebus carefully, reading his expression. You can practically see the gears turning behind his eyes. "Your pride will be your downfall." He smiles, almost to himself. "And it's unwise to underestimate your opponent, wouldn't you say?"

Roman keeps doodling. At this point, it was a gruesome picture. Two demons in mid fight. Teeth flashing and claws flying. Roman sighs and then finishes adding the final details. One could look at it and say it was a black and white photograph. He shakes his head and tears it out, crumping it up into a ball. He tosses it into the trashcan a few feet away. Why would he even draw such a thing? It was way too dark for him. But then he knew they were real, he was the prime example of it. And he preferred to stay out of that life, he was incredibly mortal, though he hadn't aged since he's turned 24 about 31 years ago. And he was stuck like this. Until he died.

He chews on the end of his pencil, absent minded.

"It's not underestimating if you already know the abilities of your opponents," Erebus replied mildly, already losing interest in the conversation. He and Icares could bicker like this for eternity, but nothing entertaining would happen unless he did something. Yet again, he let his gaze wander to the cashier mortal who had just thrown away a piece of paper. An idea crossed his mind and he tilted his head thoughtfully before turning back to Icares.
"Here's a fun little idea," Erebus said, finishing the last of his drink. "I'm sure you're already aware of that mortal who's working this cheap dump of a cafe, the one who has some fire in his soul. I propose that we make a bet within our bet to spice things up a bit: whichever one of us that can get him to sell away his soul to either one of us first wins. How does that sound?"

Icares looks at the mortal as well, and he thinks for a while, weighing each pro and con. This is his way of thinking, his self-preservation mechanism. Eventually a soft smile spreads across his face. "What are the conditions?"

Roman sighs and puts the pencil to the paper. He kept doodling, occasionally walking over to help a customer. By the end of this doodle, it was not any better than the first. A savage wolf with bared cainines and bristling fur. He shudders, crumpling the small piece of paper and throwing it away.