Luckily, the same man is sitting behind the counter, halfway through painting his nails. He looks far too comfortable precariously balanced in his chair, and he looks up when he finishes his nail to grin at Hakuryuu. "Ah, pottery boy! Glad to see you back. Looking for more?"

"There's something wrong with it," Hakuryuu says lamely, trying to figure out how to explain his situation.

"Oh, come on. You knew it was dirty when you got it. This is kind of an 'as-is' sort of place, you know?"

Hakuryuu shakes his head. "I know. But somehow it's been making everything around it dirty too, and-"

The shopkeeper holds up a hand and narrows his eyes at Hakuryuu. "You didn't clean it, did you?"

Hakuryuu can't meet his eyes, and the shopkeeper sighs heavily. "Let me see your hands."

He hesitates, before holding one out. The shopkeeper takes it and carefully looks it over, a deep frown settling on his pretty face. He finally lets go and Hakuryuu stands awkwardly, waiting for an answer.

"I told you not to clean it. It's cursed and now you've gotten yourself cursed too, because you didn't listen."

"What do you mean, cursed? Don't tell me you expect me to believe something like that?"

He stares at Hakuryuu, unnervingly bright red eyes seeing far deeper than Hakuryuu is comfortable with. "You can't stop thinking about cleaning it, can you? Even now, you wish you could go home and scrub it clean, even though your hands are already broken and bleeding, even though you're trying to have a conversation with me. Tell me, Hakuryuu...have you been missing important commitments lately? Work, perhaps?"

At Hakuryuu's silence, he continues. "What other explanation could I give you that explains this?"

"Curses aren't real," Hakuryuu says, but there's a slowly growing feeling of dread and understanding. Nothing and everything makes sense all at once, and his head hurts.

"Sure there aren't," he replies sarcastically, and goes back to painting his nails.

Hakuryuu can't believe his calm. "Aren't you going to do anything?"

He doesn't even look up. "Don't have to. You signed the contract, remember? It's not my fault you broke the rules."

Hakuryuu is nearly rendered speechless, but his ire returns quickly. "But it's cursed! You're acting like you see this sort of thing all the time."

"I do deal in antiques. I'm quite familiar with nasty little curses. But oh, I thought they weren't real?" The shopkeeper is looking at him again, looking quite like the cat that caught the canary.

He takes a few deep, calming breaths. "I don't know what else to do. I'm sorry that I intentionally broke the rules, but it just seemed so silly…"

There's a sigh as the shopkeeper shakes his head, dropping his attitude. "I don't just say things because I like the sound of my own voice. I mean, I do love my own voice, but I was trying to warn you. That's a rather deep curse, one that I couldn't fully remove myself, or I wouldn't have left it on there."

Hakuryuu sucks in his breath. Ah. That's why he's being so evasive. "So you can't help me."

Instead, the shopkeeper looks offended. "I didn't say that. I just meant it would be a pain in the ass to free you from it."

He breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank you-"

"Don't thank me yet. I never said I'd do it for free," he interrupts, grinning again.

"I figured. It's fine, money isn't an issue. I just want to be free of this."

"Oh, Hakuryuu," he says, chuckling. He eyes him up, and Hakuryuu feels like he's being judged and measured. It's uncomfortable. "I don't need your money. I'll have to think of something more...exciting. I'm a picky man, you know. But I do want to help you."

Hakuryuu watches him as he sits at the counter, pondering his fate. He looks contemplative, tapping his now finished nails on the counter, and Hakuryuu's not sure what else this man could possible want from him. Silence stretches between them as Hakuryuu fights every urge to run home and start scrubbing the filth from every surface, until he finally looks triumphant.

"Got it!" he says, looking quite pleased with himself. "I could use an assistant...so serve me for a while as payment, and then you'll be free to go."

He considers this. It could be worse, he guesses, even if he would have preferred to just exchange some sort of money instead. But...he doesn't trust something so vague. "For how long?"

Somehow, the shopkeeper's grin grows even wider. "Well, you did break your contract. I really shouldn't be helping you, but I think you cute. So for something this difficult...oh, a couple hundred years should do it."

Hakuryuu stares at him, waiting for him to laugh at the joke or change his mind. But just like the absurdly low price on his pottery, he seems dead set on his offer. "We'll both be long dead before that time is up."

"Will we?" His eyes seem too large, his mouth too wide, and Hakuryuu shivers. He's in too deep. He's in far too deep, and he has no idea how to get out.

"And if I don't agree?"

"You'll go home and you'll clean and clean and clean, scrubbing the never ending dirt and grime in your life until it grows so large it overtakes everything you have, until you scrub away every bit of yourself and there's nothing left but a bleeding mess of bones, skin stripped away as it infects your very core and blackens your heart," he tells him, leaning closer until he's in Hakuryuu's face, the last few words barely above a whisper. "I warned you, Hakuryuu Ren, but you were too prideful to listen."

Hakuryuu swallows deeply. He doesn't question how he remembers his full name, not now. He's stuck, trapped by his own foolishness, and he's half ready to believe that the man in front of him truly will live for hundreds of years. He'll be forced to as well if he agrees. But when it's between life and death, Hakuryuu isn't ready to die yet. Especially not like this.

"Alright," he says softly, and the shopkeeper's eyes light up. "I agree to your terms."

"Fantastic!" He leans back, digging under the counter until he pulls out some paper. "Let's just draw up a contract real quick so I can get to fixing you before it's too late. You came just in time, you know."

"Lucky me."

"You are," he insists, and then glances up again. "You can call me Judal, by the way. I figure you should know my name if we're going to be spending so much time together." He goes back to the focusing on the paper, not waiting for a response as he carefully works out the details of the contract.

Judal finally passes over a finished copy, and Hakuryuu makes sure to read over it carefully this time. He's going to learn from his past mistakes before he completely ruins his life. After realizing it's as they discussed, he reaches for a pen. "This looks right."

"Nope," Judal says, snatching the pen away. "This one's a little different."

"Oh?"

Judal produces a knife with a flourish, its gilded handle glittering in the light. "Let me demonstrate."

He slits a small cut in his thumb and lets the blood drop onto the page. It shimmers for a second before twisting into a signature, Judal, glistening in bright red at the bottom of the contract.

"Your turn!" he says cheerfully, passing the knife to Hakuryuu. "But since you probably can't do that sweet trick, you can just use a fingerprint."

A contract literally signed in blood...Hakuryuu can't help but feel like he's making some sort of deal with the devil. But he's out of options, so he follows Judal's example and slits his thumb with the knife, quickly pressing the blood to the contract. This time, the words glow, and he can feel the power in the words and the blood. It's overwhelming and Judal's eyes are practically glowing as well, and then the shop is plunged into darkness.

"Oh, damn it," Judal swears. He waves a wave and light glows around it, casting sharp shadows across his face. "I didn't think there'd be enough magic to kill the electricity, but this building can be finicky. Sorry about that."

Hakuryuu just nods, still adjusting to the low light and the steady thrum of - magic, he thinks? - pounding in his veins. Everything feels different, and he has a brief respite from desperately wanting to clean. But it fades and he wants to claw his way out of the store so that he can get home and-

"Alright! Let's get this party started," Judal says, now seemingly excited. "I've got some supplies to gather but then we gotta head out before you get any worse." He ducks behind the counter and takes the light with him, rustling around until he comes back up with a messenger bag over his shoulder. "Come on, Hakuryuu. Take me to your home."

"What?"

"I've gotta get to the cursed item, obviously. I can't just wave a wand and fix your problems."'

Hakuryuu nods and follows him out, leading the way after Judal holds the door open for him. It's a short walk home, Hakuryuu taking long strides to get there quickly with Judal at his heels.

When they walk in, Judal lets out a long, low whistle. "This is is a real mess, huh?"

He nods, hands clenched at his sides, afraid that if he says anything or moves closer, he won't be able to resist cleaning again. Seeing it now, it seems like another world. The living room has a stale stench of mold, and the walls are streaked with stains that look like they belong in a condemned building, not a modern apartment.

Judal walks around the apartment, picking things up carefully and inspecting them. After what feels like an eternity, he walks back over to Hakuryuu. "Okay, so it looks like only this room is tainted. I should be able to get the curse back to just the pottery and off of you, it just might hurt a little. Just… just stand there and try not to touch anything, alright?"

And then he goes to work. Judal pulls a wand out of his bag, followed by some plastic baggies. Hakuryuu can't do much but watch Judal, trying distract himself with that while he fights the urge to stop him. Almost every part of him is screaming that Judal needs to stop ruining things but deep down he knows it has to be done or his life won't be his anymore, and he can't give up. Judal is putting stange powders on the shelf around the pottery, sprinkling more where the grime has spread through the room, and humming to himself the whole time.

Judal steps back at one point, looking over his progress. There are murmured words and the powders glow a bright blue, nearly glittering, and Hakuryuu watches the blackened grime twist and flow back onto the pot. The stains melt down his walls and dirt seeps out of the carpeting until it's all centered back on the source. It's disturbing and heart wrenching and he wants to fight Judal so badly; he needs to stop him. This isn't right, this isn't the way it should be cleaned, only he can do it-

"Hakuryuu!" Judal snaps, suddenly right in his face. "Calm down. You need my help, remember?"

"I-" he begins, and everything hurts, his throat scratchy and dry from stress. He swallows deeply and nods. "I know. Sorry."

Judal takes his hands and magic pulses in them, raw, barely restrained power, and once again Hakuryuu wonders what Judal is. The cursed pottery is calling for him, begging to be cleaned and cared for, but Judal is still gripping his hands tightly and speaking quickly. Hakuryuu can't understand a word of it but he can feel it drawing something out of him, until-

His throat seizes up like he's about to choke or vomit. He coughs, gagging, desperate to get rid of whatever it is that's blocking his throat. His knees feel weak, and it's only Judal's iron grip, coursing with magic, that keeps him from falling to the ground. He's gasping for air now, tears pricking at his eyes as he coughs and gags, thick, ichorous drool dribbling from his lips.

"Come on, Hakuryuu," Judal urges, "you have to get it out."

Hakuryuu clenches Judal's hands back because he's trying, trying so hard to be free of whatever this is. Something bubbles up, not from his stomach but scraped from his lungs, his veins, his very being, and he vomits a thick, roiling mass of sharp black sludge onto the floor.

"Gross!" Judal exclaims, but he sounds triumphant. He finally releases Hakuryuu's hands and grabs a container from his messenger bag. He lifts the ball of noxious sludge with magic and drops it in the container, sealing the lid firmly. "Ew, this is what was in you!"

Hakuryuu sinks to the floor without Judal's hands to support him, clutching at his stomach."I think I'm going to be ill."

Judal laughs. "Look at this!"

Hakuryuu tries to look away but pauses. "Is that tupperware?"

"I have a spell on it," Judal explains, pouting. "Just don't touch anything yet. You should be fine, but I wanna be sure. How do you feel?"

"Kind of nauseous."

"But you're not about to jump up and clean it again?"

Hakuryuu pauses, considering the question. He doesn't. He's finally feeling almost like himself again, for the first time in weeks. "No, I think I'm free."

Judal shoots him what looks like an honest smile, for once, before it turns into a cocky grin. "I'm still going to remove the pottery, but you're in the clear."

"Good," he says. "I don't want it around. What are you going to do with it?"

He's wrapping it in paper, carefully avoiding touching it himself, and looks contemplative. "I was considering putting it back up for sale, but I don't think I can trust people to listen to me. And the more it spreads, the bigger mess it is to fix! So I'll probably put it in storage for awhile."

"Why not lift the curse?"

Judal puts it in a box and tapes it shut. "Can't. I'm good, but this curse is centuries old...like I said earlier, if I could remove it myself, I would have done it already. At best I could transfer it to something else, but I'd rather not risk it trying to curse me in the process." He pauses and looks back at Hakuryuu. "And before you ask, I can't break it, either. It would be like your apartment but worse, because there'd be nowhere to herd the grime back to. So! Storage it is."

"I see." He doesn't quite see, but what other choice does he have?

Judal gathers the box up and dusts himself off before slinging his bag back over his shoulder. "Anyway, I have to go fix the electricity back at the shop and put this away before it causes any more trouble. See you!"

He heads to the door, leaving Hakuryuu feeling relieved, confused, and oddly empty. It's been a long day, and all the missed sleep from the past weeks is starting to hit him.

"Oh!" Judal pauses on his way out, looking over his shoulder at Hakuryuu. "Stop over tomorrow so you can start working. Don't think I'd forgotten already."

"Of course. What time?"

"Hmm, let's say noon. I should be up by then. Probably."

"I'll see you then," Hakuryuu says, and Judal leaves him in peace. It's time to finally get some rest.