Deals With a Demon

by Koujinbutsu

What will Oliver do when Mai summons him in order to save her and her paranormal investigation crew and then forgets everything before paying the price? [Oliver is a demon AU. Oneshot] There's a decent amount of fluff, but with Adult themes, no citrus.

Disclaimer: I don't own ghost hunt nor the origins of this plot. It was a heavily inspired continuation of Snavej's Do You Want To Make a Deal. Fanfic of a fanfic.

A/N: I feel like I'm going to upset people for this one for making it both too mature for some and not mature enough for others, but the rating is more to protect myself. I guess I don't need to apologise for how long it is?

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For a second, Mai doesn't know what happened, maybe she had died and gone to heaven, maybe she was dreaming...then again, her head was aching. Dreams never hurt, did they? Only one thing is certain: She'd been crashed into all of a sudden and was now entirely too close to someone, liplocked in fact.

The feeling of his lips molding and coaxing against hers had been unexpected and alarming at first, but, now that she'd stopped resisting, she could feel the merit of it. She found herself following suit and returning the kiss, but it left her wondering "Who makes out in the middle of a fight?" It was so bizarre that it had a dream like quality, but it was true. Oliver was holding her and kissing her. She closes her eyes, no longer able to process the chaos around her. Kissing was out of place in the malstrom of violence surrounding them, but, with Oliver, it felt right somehow.

She had once again summoned him-something she had promised herself, and him, that she'd never do again. The last time had been about two years prior for a harmless prank. Back then, their deal had been low risk and easy going, but she had learned that demons were real, powerful, and that they could and would exploit loopholes in the contract.

This time, he'd been stubborn and demanding about his price. The same demanding feeling reflected now in how his tongue intruded to plunder her mouth. Oddly, the intrusive sensation of his lips and tongue moving against hers and the possessive pull of his arms serve as a catalyst to recenter her mind, drowning out all other worries and details involved. She held no doubt that he would take care of all the bad things soon enough. After the deal she'd just agreed to, nothing else really mattered and so, she found herself returning the passion, wrapping her arms around his neck, the fingers on one hand embedding themselves in his smooth, dark hair and twining her tongue with his.

A burning sensation engulfs her mouth and she finds herself momentarily blinded by a golden light interspersed with an occasional blue spark through her closed eyelids. She knew the light pattern and that it meant the deal was now binding. What it meant for her future, she couldn't fathom. In the heat of the moment, she'd tried her best to protect herself when they'd been bargaining, but there hadn't been much time to take her wording and any loopholes into account. In any case, Mai was as good as his.

At the moment, she felt wonderful. Her pains were receding and she couldn't bring herself to care about much else. Her soul was reaching out to this man, to this demon, and because of him she no longer needed to care anymore about the case, or the people from her paranormal investigation group, or the danger of it all. He would take care of everything. He was the only thing that mattered now. Lost in the kiss, she lets go of the worries of the world crumbling around her. Mai molds herself to his body, relaxing into the dream, and lets it sweep her away into a blissful oblivion.

When she wakes, Mai can't place her surroundings or how she got there. The stone, almost cave like walls surrounding her, the large, open canopy bed that she was in, the fireplace, the curtains on the far wall, none of it looked familiar. She sat up, looking around, trying to find some reference that she might know, but couldn't find anything familiar. What had she been doing? She had a vague notion that she'd been with someone, but couldn't remember any details. Currently, she was certainly alone. What had happened? Where was she?

She pulls the blankets off of her and swings her legs over the side of the bed, glancing around once more before placing her feet onto the shockingly cold stone floor. The feeling sends a shock through her body and she jerks them back onto the bed again. Frowning, she looks around, more carefully this time, for something-anything-to use as slippers. A few feet from the side of the bed, close enough to jump to, a fur rug adorns the floor with an armoire just beyond it. With what she'd seen throughout the room, it seemed like the best bet to find something to protect her bare feet from the cold.

Standing up on the bed and holding on to it's post for support, she jumps off the bed and lands well on the fur rug, thick and warm in comparison to the stones. As she stands in the midst of the fur, the enormity of the rug hits her. The size coupled with the strange shape leaves her momentarily still, wondering what animal it had come from. Unable to ascertain an answer, she moves on to the armoire.

Reaching out, Mai grasps the ornate metal handle decorated in thistles and vines, and opens it. The outfits within are masculine, the hanging shirts were mostly dark hues of blue and black with a few off-white shirts thrown in off to one side with dark pants adorning the remaining hangers. She was definitely in a man's wardrobe, a man with very few color choices. Spying shoes along the bottom of the main cabinet, she pulls out a pair. They definitely weren't her size, way too big, but they'd protect her from the chill. Dropping them to the floor with a clatter, she slips them on.

A shiver runs up her spine, just then. The feeling of being watched makes her look around, but she doesn't see anything or anyone that could possibly be the source of the sensation and she tries to dismiss the feeling. It refuses to fully leave her. Fear, she tried reasoning, was caused by the unknown. She was simply in a new surrounding and needed to explore, find the cause, and try to understand it. She decides to start with the curtained wall nearest her. The curtains are a heavier, forest green material and she finds that she likes the thick, soft texture. She finds it heavy, needing a great deal of effort more than she was expecting to push it aside and it reveals an enormous painting. The grey and white terrain she sees within it, is speckled with trees without leaves with only a few animals depicted. The sky is a purplish grey color, a grey and white, grey myst seems to blend the terrain into the sky, making it hard to know where one begins and the other ends. The overall effect leaves her with a chill and a detachment, to the view. She shuts the curtain once more, much preferring the look of the plush, earthy, forest green texture over the winterscape.

Despite her reasoning and her efforts to explore the curtain, the feeling of being watched hasn't let up nor has her watcher announced his or her whereabouts. Turning to the remainder of the room, she sees an ornate wooden door with a bit of metal ornamentation adorning it in an oval around head height. An exit! She hurries over to it and tries turning the handle, it's locked. The knowledge adds a touch of anxiety. She was trapped in here. Hugging herself, she forces her legs to turn away from the door, and walks over to the warmth of the fire. Gazing at the flames dancing within the large hearth for a minute or two, she tries to ease her anxiety, but when it doesn't work, she moves on, deciding that the movement would settle her better than standing still.

Next to the fireplace, across from the armoire, she takes in the enormous rectangular mirror covering the wall, somewhat covered with yet another draped curtain. A six inch molding served as its border, decorated with little creatures of some kind, vines, and some other things she couldn't see the details of, she clip-clops over to get a better look wondering if her watcher could possibly be behind it. As she nears it, to her shock, she realizes that the creatures she'd been seeing were demonic looking imps, and the vines she'd thought she'd been seeing were in fact, chains dangling from the imp's wrists as well as snakes. Interspersed along the border were a strange mixture of mushrooms, gems, random hands and claws, weapons and tools, as well as a few other odd details that end up sending a chill through her body, enough so that she can't bring herself to touch it to try looking behind. As she backs away once more, she catches sight of her disheveled self. Large rips stand out in places along her skirt, and shirt. None of which she remembered happening. It was like she'd been attacked by a mixture of sharp blades or maybe claws? Some of the damage was revealing and she suddenly felt self conscious.

Mai attempts to right her appearance, she can't do much about the rips in her shirt, but she finds she can adjust the skirt so that the rips aren't as openly revealing, at least on the front and back sides. The feeling of being watched intensifies once more, but instead of trying to push it away, she decides to accept and trust that her paranoid feelings were there for a reason, the unexplained rips had to have come from somewhere. Maybe whatever had ripped her clothes was the same thing watching her. She looks around the room trying to find it, but fails to spot anything moving.

Looking back at her reflection, she decides to ignore whatever it was for now. There was no visible threat at least...unless you counted the monster upon her head. Sighing at the tousled mass, she tackles her own hair's state of disarray. Several bits were sticking out or clumping together with a few stray leaves and twigs "arranged" within. After retrieving the debris, she throws the bits of wilderness into the fire and then sends her hands into and through her hair in an almost frantic manner to tame the mess until she's run her hands through the entirety of her hair. Stepping away from the mirror, she tries to forget the troubling nature of her appearance, deciding that attempting to escape would be a better use of her time and energy.

Walking back to the door, she takes in more of its appearance. The door is a dark toned color of wood, and the vines detailed in the metal design are pleasant, especially given what she'd come to see along the mirror's edge. Mai finds that she can make out light coming through the vines from the other side. She tries the handle again, still locked and unbudging. She sighs, debating if she should call out through the decorative grate. Looking again at the metal wrought vine work, she reaches out to feel the ornate design. She traces the beautiful design lightly, and is shocked when it whips out and wraps itself around her wrist causing her to yelp in surprise. Mai tries to pull away only to have the vine pull her wrist back to itself. Her need to keep quiet forgotten in her distress. She tries harder to yank away, grunting with the effort. She tries to flick off the new heavy and thorned bangle from her wrist, but it does not let go. Reaching out to aid her efforts by utilizing her other hand only manages to get it entangled as well and cries out in frustrated anger, continuing her fight.

Her efforts to fight the vine seem to make the darn thing fight harder. She'd only gotten pulled closer. What would happen if she were to allow it to pull her against the rest of the grate? Would it grab onto more of her arms and trap her further? Would she forever more become bound to a door? She loses a disparaging laugh at the thought that she was becoming a door ornament. Breathing out to calm her mind she redoubles her efforts and starts trying to think around the situation she'd gotten herself into.

There had to be a way out. The only other part of her body that would maybe be of any use in this situation were her feet and legs. She might be able to use them to force herself away, women's legs were supposed to be strong, right? After considering the slippery bottoms of the shoes, she decides to slip them off so she can use her feet against the door as leverage to pull herself free. The floor was still shockingly cold to the touch.

Pushing her feet against the door gives her enough force to pull away, the vines slowly unwrapping the further she goes. Her slow progress comes with a cost, an agonizing one. The more she pulls, the more the not so decorative thorns adorning the vine rip into her skin.

One of her feet slips from the door and the sudden uneven amount of thrust twists her body as she falls causing her to slam her butt ungracefully onto the floor, her back resting against the wooden surface of the door. The vines constrict once more, reeling her back in, only this time, they remain twisted so as to leave her facing the room. She groans out a frustrated, "No," and sighs as her work is undone. "What the heck is this stuff? Devil's snare," she yells her query to the room at large, adding a kick to the door behind her for good measure. "Who the heck would booby trap a door like this?"

She hears a laugh sound melodiously around the room followed by a masculine voice. "I think only a human would be stupid enough to get caught in a door," he says.

She looks towards the voice and spies a familiar, handsome figure high up on a series of rafter beams, well above the bed, that she hadn't noticed before. He was high enough that she would have only seen him if she'd craned her head to look up at the ceiling, but she could see him now. The dark haired man with cold blue eyes sat with one arm holding his head, the arm also resting on his knee, still laughing and grinning down at her. He must have been the one watching her, she concludes.

His laughter and odd comment annoy her, but also stirs a memory of the otherworldly demon she'd once made a deal with. "O...Oliver," she hesitantly queries. Could it be possible? Who'd summoned him? What was the human looking demon doing here? And so high, her thoughts trail off as she looks down at the bed beneath him, her jaw drops as she realizes she'd been sleeping practically right beneath him not long ago, and that he'd been watching her the whole time she'd wandered about and gotten caught. She feels her heartbeat speed up in embarrassment.

He launches himself off the rafter and lands gracefully on his feet. His eyes peruse her figure from head to toe, as well as the vines holding her prisoner to the door at her back as he walks calmly over to her, "I must say it you've improved the look of that door. It makes a better impression on me this way."

When he reaches her, he lifts his sharp nailed, human-shaped hand and runs the back side of it against her cheek forcing a blush to creep up onto her cheeks. He hums appreciatively and smiles, "Seems you also make the room more colorful."

As if to prove his point, he places his hands on her hips and they begin to roam, one down her body and the other up under her shirt leaving her skin warming and tingling wherever they caress her skin. Mai's cheeks bloom into a full, red color. "Please, stop," she requests.

"I refuse," he says flatly.

Biting her lip and looking away, she debates trying to kick him for invading her personal space out of the blue in such a manner especially while she was so openly vulnerable, but remembers just how much power he'd shown her he possessed last time they'd met, and thinks better of it. "Why are you doing this?"

His hands pause but he does not retract them. "You need me to explain?" His eyebrows raise in surprise and he lets a single scoff escapes his lips, "I thought it was obvious."

She looks back at him, expecting a smirk. Instead, despite the laugh, she finds a calm, serious look gracing his features. What she'd felt was roaming hands. In her personal life, she'd yet to try anything of an intimate nature with anyone, despite practically being a college graduate. She'd heard enough from others' experiences to know what she might expect when the time came and being "felt up" had definitely made the list as a precursor to other sexual behaviors. Isn't that what he'd been going? She'd feared that's what he'd meant by it, but now, with the look on his face, she had her doubts. They were different species afterall, could it be that it meant something else to a demon? Had she'd somehow misinterpreted his actions? She didn't really know anything about demons-she surmised very few humans did. Unable to come to an educated conclusion, she answers him with a shake of her head no.

"I was repairing your clothes and taking your measurements so I could make you something else. You need something decent to wear," he stops and looks down at her body. "Unless you wanted to wear ripped up clothes. I could rip them up for you again," he offers, showing off his now sharp, not so human looking, taloned extremity. She shakes her head furiously in response. His hand once again takes on a human look and he continues exploring her "measurements."

Sighing, with the threat now gone, she slowly shakes her head a few more times as his words play back in her mind. "Taking measurements," he'd said. The idiotic, unexpected answer brings her a bizarre sense of relief. However the relief quickly gets lost in the tumult of emotions and questions already wreathing her mind along with the new sensations he was now bestowing upon her so much so that she can't help feeling overwhelmed. The way his hands still play along her body is in an unconcerned manner, sometimes they would move together, at other times they would reach for separate locations, touching her practically everywhere from head to toe.

At times the touches tickle or tingle, at other times they warm her or make her feel inflamed; most of the time they stoke a feeling of embarrassment. Overall, his touches leave her confused. In her confusion, she repeatedly keeps telling herself that his touches are innocent, taking what little comfort she can from the phrase that his touches hadn't been intended to be intimate...even if they felt that way to her...thoroughly so. She looks away, feeling guilty because it was intimate, that she wasn't opening her mouth and telling him how intimate it was for her; she wasn't even trying to stop him. Part of her strongly doubted that it was innocent. He was a demon after all.

To distract herself, she imagines what it would have been like If her hands had been free, would she have given into desire? Would she push him away? Would she have felt less vulnerable, or his touches more desirable? Would she have tried defending herself? Could she have been able to make him stop? She remembered his speed and abilities from the last time they'd met. No, she decides, there really was no way to stop him if he wanted to do something, other than maybe convincing him with words, but that hadn't worked earlier. A small part of her whispers, that, if she had been free, she might have egged him on and pulled him closer, but the stray thought brings with it only feelings of shame and keeps her cheeks a rosy pink color.

Eventually, his arms wrap around her and hold her tight before becoming still. "This is the longest I've seen you stay quiet while you've been awake with someone. Are you ok?"

In the course of their acquaintance, he really hadn't had much time with her, so she felt surprised that he could even tell that something was off. In a way, she was disconcerted to find out that she'd been unable to hide the tumult of her emotions.

She looks back into his handsome face, his eyes locked on hers-only inches away, watching her every reaction and sending a trill of butterflies to her stomach. The questions racing through her mind to ask had seemed endless. There had been so many questions needing answers, but now that she had his undivided attention, the only question she can find and calmly give voice to is, "Where am I?"

"You're in my room, obviously," he says. Thoughtfully, he adds, "Correction, our room, once the deal is complete."

She stammers "O..our? W..What do you mean our room?"

"Have you forgotten? You and I made a deal," he purred, or was it a growl?

She'd made a deal with the handsome demon once a few years previously, she couldn't deny that so she admits, "Yes, we did." It was a deal to scare her friends at a slumber party, it was harmless, and so had been the price, hadn't it? "But I thought that we completed it," she says innocently, "a long time ago."

Oliver's arms loosen their hold around her and his hands drop to either side of her waist. He takes a step back, cocking his head to the side as he studies her face. "We branded a deal earlier this evening," he states, coming close once again, this time staring at her lips. "Rather passionately I might add."

Her face darkens to a crimson once more as she takes in what he'd said. He smiles and lightly, briefly kisses her on the lips. The sensation left behind creates something akin to a phantom kiss, a feeling like his lips were still against her own. The kiss floods her brain with a myriad of new questions and things she felt she needed to know now. First and foremost, their newest deal and why Mai couldn't remember making one. Since she knew a quick way to check, she jerks her head up to study each of her bound hands looking for the branding mark that would be the telltale sign of a deal binding, but she found no mark on either hand. Mai shakes her head and hastily explains, "The only deal we've had was to scare my friends."

Oliver shakes his head in return. "No," he corrects her, "that was our last deal, but not the only one." He pushes away from her, a tightness visible in his jaw. "How could you have forgotten our newest deal so soon? We just made it earlier today." He folds his arms and paces away, "You called me while you were in danger so maybe the stress of the situation made your feeble human mind forget," he trails off and turns to pace back toward her, uncrossing one arm and putting his chin in his hand, his eyebrows drawing together, "Your head was bleeding when you called me." Turning his handsome face back to hers, he nods as if to himself, "I'd read that blows to the head can cause humans memory loss, but" he trails off again and shakes his head a fraction.

"Sounds like I might have had a concussion," Mai supplies.

"Of course you did," he grumbles. Letting out a sigh, he turns and waves his hand through the air dismissively a few times, "No matter, it won't change anything either way. A deal's a deal no matter the head trauma. The binding is still there. Let me show you." Oliver, walking away, flourishes his hand in the air and Mai's drops free from the door's metal vines, from which she quickly scampers away.

Rubbing the ache in her wrists, to her surprise, she finds they no longer have any cuts. She looks back and forth at her wrists in wonder. It could only have been Oliver's doing, but just when had he healed them? Whenever it had happened, she was thankful. She looks back up at the door determined to never touch the cursed vine ever again.

The demon arrives at the mirror and, seeing Mai isn't with him, lifts his hand into the air and, by extension, Mai herself. He beckons her to himself lazily and her body quickly follows the unspoken command up and over through the air. Before she has time to fully comprehend her weightless obedience, she's placed back on her cold bare feet, standing in front of him and facing the creepy-edged mirror.

True to his word, she could now see that her clothes had mended and looked practically new if it wasn't for the dirt and stains still on display. She shifts her skirt back to its proper position and looks sadly at the stains she'd probably not be able to remove. She sighs. "What's the use of being able to repair clothes if they remain dirty," she hears herself ask aloud. Shocked at her own words, she covers her mouth and looks back at Oliver half expecting some kind of retribution.

Oliver only narrows his eyes and waves his hand towards and then away from her before touching her shoulder and physically turning her back to the sight of herself garbed in the same, but now clean clothes. A new question alights in her scattered mind: He'd been flicking his hand in the air using his magic to do several different things, if he had the power to clean her clothes like that, why had he supposedly needed to touch her clothes to fix them? "You lied to me about why you were touching me like that. You weren't just repairing my clothes, you were just using the excuse to touch my body."

Mai watches him in the mirror. He lifts his arms out to his sides, palms up "I did say that I was measuring you too."

She turns to him. "Measuring what exactly," she demands not trusting his words.

"Your body," he says.

She crosses her arms demanding, "What exactly."

Oliver crosses his arms. "Everything," he enunciates slowly and calmly. After a moment of silence between them, he begins naming off different sections of her body, gesturing towards each as he does, along with her measurements for each portion. The list he supplies verbally is extensive and accurate to the last measurements she'd known thanks to her most recent physical, but there were many she hadn't known. When he gets into naming off a series of breast related measurements she lunges towards him and covers his mouth, stopping him from speaking further, no longer doubting that he had been doing as he said.

Hands in place, Mai diverts her eyes. This guy knew all of her measurements, all, she had no doubt. Mai felt like all of her insecurities were out in the open exposed for all to see as if she'd been stripped naked in public. Hands still covering his mouth she finds herself quietly murmuring, "Please don't say any more. I'm so embarrassed." Just what had he measured her for exactly? He'd said something about her needing appropriate clothes, but he'd mended her clothes so what had been the point? The thought reminds her of the feeling of his touch. She tries to push away her embarrassment to further question how exactly he had measured her with his hands. On top of everything else, how could he spout all those measurements so easily? She removes her hands from his mouth. "How," she utters in shock, still trying to come up with which question she wanted to ask. Instead of any truly relevant question, she blurts out, "How could you even measure me like that?"

"Don't mind that, my mind just works differently than yours," he soothes. Done with the subject, he turns her back to the mirror. "You should be looking for the proof you need of our bargain. I doubt you'll be able to see it without the mirror," he reminds her. She gazes into the mirror noting that the way he was standing behind her made it look like she was completely outlined in black. The sight gives her an ominous sense of foreboding.

Mai takes a deep breath to still her mind and obediently, curiously, begins searching her reflection for the mark, turning and twisting her body back and forth in her attempt to exact its location. After looking in each place she can think to look, even carefully raising the edges of her skirt and shirt as much as she dares to check beneath. She peeks at him in the mirror each time only to find him still watching her intently. Oliver already knew her measurements, but she didn't want him openly perusing her bare body as well. Once seemingly all else has been checked, she even goes as far as to pull her hair up and away from her neck.

When she does, he unexpectedly wraps his arms around her waist and lays his chin at the crook of her neck, causing her to grab his arms and pause her search in surprise. He hums into her shoulder, "You never did finish reading the book you summoned me from, did you," he states rather than asks.

"Maybe I should have," Mai admits, "but I wasn't planning on summoning you or any other demon ever again."

"You did though," he points out.

"Only as a last resort, I'm sure," she defends.

"A last resort, huh, so that means I'm the knight in shining armor you called to your aid," he summarizes. Her eyes widen realizing that, in a way, he's right. When she doesn't refute his claim, he continues, "You know, not understanding all the conditions and rules doesn't protect you from receiving their consequences."

She nods and whispers, "I know."

He breaths in her scent. "I'm so glad you finally summoned me. I missed you." It comes as a surprise and a heavy distraction when he nuzzles his nose into her neck once again inhaling and proceeds to start kissing her shoulder and neck. "You have a pleasant smell." When he gently rakes his teeth along her shoulder, her breath hitches in her throat and a memory resurfaces from the last time she'd made a deal with him. Once he'd bitten and eaten a large chunk of flesh from the same side that he was now drawing his teeth over.

Was he going to eat her again? Last time she'd been numb to the sensation, only vaguely feeling the pain during the actual event, and later he'd repaired the damage he'd caused to such a degree that there had been no scars left on her. Now, though, there was a chance he would do it again, take a bite out of her. If they truly did have a deal, she wondered if she'd been smart enough to word it so that she would be protected from him for her own safety this time. The first time, she hadn't added any protection clauses and Oliver had ended up going so far as to rip her heart out, literally, just to make Masako scream and panic. What would stop him from devouring her for real this time?

The sensation of his teeth on her shoulder, although strangely pleasant, felt undamped, unmuted. With her lack of knowledge of their deal, and all too much knowledge of what he was capable of, the move acted like a threat. She holds onto his arms tighter, but her mind seems to let go, becoming dazed. She releases her breath and is surprised when a humming sound escapes her throat along with it. "Please don't eat me," she requests, her voice sounding like a meek plea.

Since she felt like she could do little more than stare at his reflection, she doesn't miss how his eyes flash open and lock onto hers in the mirror, an excited light glowing in them. He turns his head towards her neck, one hand pulling her hair aside before he bites the back of her neck near the hairline sending electrified waves crashing into her mind.

Alarmed at the new sensation, Mai tries to push away and release herself out of his grip. The movement is enough to disengage his mouth, but he only needs to tighten his hold with one of his strong arms to keep her trapped in place.

"What did you do? Let me go," Mai insists, still trying to force his arm from around her stomach.

He shakes his head in response. "I don't want to let you go until we complete our deal," he admits, "especially without your memory intact."

"Then fix it." she says, raising her voice. "Waving your hand in the air seems to take care of everything else just fine"

"I can't," he says sternly. "I don't know how your brain works nor how to fix it so If I try I could end up splattering your brain all around the room."

Grossed out, she shudders. "Understood, just let me go. It's not like I can get away. We're locked in and there are no other exits from this room besides that deathtrap," she emphasises, gesturing to the door. He chuckles at that. She huffs and keeps going, "Even if you'd left the door unlocked, there would be no point in me trying to get away. One, I have no earthly idea where I am-"

"You're in the underworld," he interrupts her.

"Ok," she says, processing the information, "but I'd still be lost if I got out. Reason two," she continues, "If I go outside into the underworld, I could get eaten by some other demon." At her words, his arm constricts, obviously disliking the idea. Mai looks up into his face and sees his narrowed blue eyes watching her, eyebrows drawn together, his jaw clenched.

He loosens his grip and informs her, "You can't get out."

"I don't think I'll try, she says reassuringly, "I'm too scared."

"You can't get out," he reiterates, "at least not by yourself. There's no door."

"Wait, what? You guys can't come and go as you please down here?"

"I never said that," Oliver denies. "Gene and I can come and go through the underworld as we please. You, on the other hand, can't phase. One of us would have to take you."

"That fact brings me to my third point." Mai says. "From what all I've seen you do, you could easily chase me down or magically drag me back any time you wanted."

"True," he says, finally releasing her, "but I'd rather finish the deal here and now. There's no point in us separating since both of us are needed to complete it."

She sighs, "Part of me is still doubting we have a deal."

He leans down close to her face, asking, "Haven't you found the brand yet?"

Pursing her lips and huffing, she turns back to the mirror and steps away from him, feeling as if he'd been calling her an idiot, "No, I haven't," she snaps, "you've been distracting me. Could you please go out and let me look alone?"

He responds by walking over to the bed. Turning to face her, he leans against the nearest bed post and crosses his arms, content to watch from there. He gestures for her to continue. At least he'd given her some space. Sighing, she turns back to the mirror.

He'd said she needed to use the mirror to find the branding. It hadn't been obvious, but if he wasn't lying it had to be there somewhere, right? The largest area she hadn't explored was under her clothes, but there was no way she was going to strip in front of him to search her body in more detail. So she went along finding small areas here and there, that she'd missed looking in earlier, to search.

After several minutes of searching without definitive results, his hand rests itself on her bicep and begins to run down the length of her arm slowly back and forth. The simple movements are distracting enough that her thoughts quickly shift back to him.

She'd been oblivious to his advance so it had caught her by surprise, but so had many of his actions this whole time they'd been together. Last time they'd had a deal, he'd only touched her a handful of times: to shake hands for the deal, to hold and eat her during the prank, and last but not least, after he'd brought her body back to normal, he'd caught her as she'd begun to fall and he'd held her til she recovered. It had been unobtrusive and helpful, innocent really. It was a stark contrast to his behavior now. He'd been so physical this time, so attentive to her body, so quick to touch and hold her, that she'd become increasingly convinced that it was far from innocent.

Oliver nuzzles and kisses her neck again and interlocks their hands, his sharp nails trailing gently along one exposed thigh in the process. Frustrated and unable to concentrate, Mai gives up looking for the brand herself, and just accepts that they have a deal. The brand was just too well hidden somewhere and he wasn't letting her concentrate on finding it.

The possibilities of her having a deal with the demon sink in and open up a can of worms to fester in her mind. Just what had she gotten herself into. Maybe he was doing all this because, in the end, she hadn't remembered to include some phrase or another to protect herself? Or maybe she just hadn't covered all bases? The thought prompts her to ask, "Since I can't remember, would you remind me? Did I ask you not to harm me this time?"

He gives her another playful bite, nowhere near hard enough to break the surface, before he aquiesses her request, "You asked me to defeat your foes for you. Your conditions insisted that I protect you and your friends from them-which, by the way, doesn't include me since I was your ally," he clarifies. "You contracted me to get everyone, including you, safely back to where you had sleeping arrangements, your base, you called it. Because several of your group had fallen before you'd summoned me and in case our deal had been made too late, the condition included that I also return any wounded or dead. You also had me agree to heal everyone to the best of my ability."

Puzzled, she asks, "If I asked you to return me to base, how come I'm here and not with everyone else?"

"Oh, you were," he assures her, "but I brought you back here after my side of the bargain was complete. There was no need to wait around."

She could clearly see the loophole he'd used. She hadn't said to leave everyone there once he'd gotten them there. She vowed to herself that she'd write up a contract with a lawyer to eliminate all loopholes just in case she ever again considered summoning any demons for protection. There's no telling how many loopholes her words had left. For all she knew, he could have killed them afterwards and still been within his rights under the contract.

One thing she'd learned for certain was that she isn't safe from him. "I," she stammers, frantically searching once more for the branding mark. "I still don't see the brand." The sooner she found it, the sooner she could finish the deal and have things go back to normal, just like they had last time.

Starting at her collar, Oliver slowly licks a line up her neck, his eyes not leaving hers in the reflection. The trail from his warm tongue quickly chills in the air of the cold room sending the feeling to her spine. When he nips her neck close to her hairline, the electrifying feeling from earlier comes again, only this time she'd expected it. He bites the tender spot again and it takes on a deeper sensation, a good, but mind numbing sensation, almost dizzying, causing her to grab onto the arm now encircling her. Her head tilts to the side, unwittingly giving him better access. He smiles into her neck and allows his lips to follow the same path again, this time ending by nibbling on her earlobe and tickling her ear with a whisper, "Don't worry, it's there," he finally answers. He pulls his hand up to kiss the hand interlocked with his.

During his pause in ministrations, the numbing feeling eases up enough for her to ask, "Where is it?"

He turns her around, holding her body against his and leans his face in towards hers. He was going to kiss her. Her head abruptly clears and she tries to pull away. Instead of kissing her, he rests his forehead against hers stating, "I'm only trying to show you."

"With a kiss," she asks disbelievingly. He hums affirmatively. He raises his head from hers to give her a slow, distinct nod. Mai breaks away from his intense eyes and he lets her turn back to the mirror. Her lips are unchanged, their same ordinary, everyday appearance.

Oliver leans down and licks the shell of her ear. In the mirror she sees something she'd failed to see earlier, a dark shadow close to the tip of his tongue. Her eyes go wide and she opens her mouth and sticks out her own tongue only to retract it in shock, gasping out a, "What!?" She steps away from both him and the mirror, but he keeps a hold of her hand. She'd clearly seen the brand looped around her tongue and adorned with a cross. It was on her tongue! Last time she'd taken on a brand, they'd shaken hands. It had been a common, but meaningful act, a mutual action to form a contract of sorts, but it had been on their hands.

"There you go," Oliver purrs, the edges of his lips tweaking up at the edges. He draws her to him once more. "You found it."

"You branded me with a french kiss," she accuses in disbelief, her voice rising higher for the final two words.

"The branding goes both ways, but yes," he affirms, "and now, if you're ready, I'd like to complete our bargain,"

In order to complete the bargain, she'd need to kiss him again. Mai's cheeks stain pink again at the prospect of kissing him intimately. Even though it couldn't be changed now, after the deed had been done, she finds herself mentally running through her head looking for possible, logical reasons, the brand would have worked using their tongues. In the end, she could only conclude that, in some ways, kissing could be considered akin to a handshake, though much more intimate. Mai wasn't naive enough to think that all kisses were consensual, many were; the same could be said for hand shakes, but this...this hadn't been an ordinary kiss. It had been a french kiss-a more meaningful, riskier kiss to perform especially if done without consent, but could a deal be forged without consent? Could he have forced her into it? "Oliver," she asks, looking into his unwavering blue eyes.

"Yes, Mai?" he asks, with an amused smile, his eyes exploring her blush.

Mai asks, "Can demons make deals if the conditions aren't mutually agreed on?"

His smile brightens before he answers, "No." So she'd agreed to the conditions, she infers, but something still didn't seem right with the situation. Last time he'd put everything to rights, collected his brother and amiably finished the deal. It had been like saying goodbye to a dear, but rarely seen friend. This time, he was acting like he'd won the lottery and then there was the fact that he wouldn't stop touching her. Plus, perhaps most troubling of all, is that she was no longer in her domain, but his. The dynamics of this deal were significantly different from the last to the point she had to ask herself, Would it be risky for me to complete this deal? What did she have at stake? And what would happen if she didn't pay? Tentatively, she asks, "What would happen if we didn't complete the deal?" Could you renege on a deal with a demon?

His smile doesn't falter. "As things stand, if you go back on your side of the bargain, you would belong to me unconditionally." She stares into his eyes for a heart stopping second in shock. She'd heard tales where people had paid high prices like selling their soul, but last time Oliver had pointedly told her that he found eating souls to be disgusting. The price she had paid in their last deal was so far removed from all the tales in story books that she'd thought them an exaggeration after meeting Oliver. Back then, the price had been paid the moment he'd shown up at the slumber party along with his brother. This time she couldn't even remember summoning or making a deal of any kind, let alone the price she needed to pay. Judging by his grin, the price had been a steep one. "What," she stopped talking, and swallowed, almost afraid to ask. Her need to know soon forces her to start again, "What did I agree to bargain this time?"

"You." Mai waits for him to finish his answer. When he doesn't, her eyes widen. She imagines herself gift wrapped in a bright yellow ribbon and bow and jumping into his arms, all the while animatedly stating cheesy phrases like, "Take me, I'm yours!" and "You can eat me to your heart's content! 3" Hiding her face in her hands, still wrapped within his arms, she shakes her head at the image, and a sense of dread worms its way into her mind. Raising her head, she asks, "How is that any different from the default price?"

"One is conditional, the other unconditional. If you failed to pay I would have every say in everything you do. You'd give up any and all will to me or fall prey to any and all consequences my whim dictated. In other words, If I had unconditional ownership, I could use you for whatever I wish however and whenever I wish it, including devouring you, which you adamantly opposed, or even bedding you."

Her eyes go wide and her face pales at his clarification and pushes away from him. He lets her go. Bedding her? As in sex!? Was that only going to happen if she didn't hand herself over to him willingly? or would it happen either way? The forceful way he'd been talking about her possible unconditional life left the idea screaming "rape," in her mind. Suddenly, Mai feels overwhelmed and dizzy. She hadn't even thought of the possibility.

Dominating her in that way made more sense than him simply wanting to sleep with her. Her mind was reeling. He'd somehow convinced her to pay the highest price despite the possible implications. No matter what loopholes she left in their contract, she was determined to give herself over to him, otherwise she'd live through the small glimpse of hell he'd just shown her. They'd already agreed to the price and the deal was in effect, there was no escaping it now. How could she have agreed to it? What in the world had possessed her to barter herself? What would be worth such a steep price? In a desperate need for comfort, she wraps her arms around herself. Everything seemed so hopeless now. Reviewing his words from earlier, she suspects that she'd been on a case. She'd never had foes before, not that she could remember, but something truly terrible must have happened during the case for her to call on the demon again. And accepted such a high price...

How she wished she could remember the specifics. She silently curses the fact that she's suffering from amnesia, probably from a concussion. Raising a hand to her head, she searches for the wound. "You won't find it," he states, "I healed you shortly before we came home just like I'd done with everyone else."

In the past, she'd tried to help out her paranormal investigation group where she could, but her knowledge and abilities were far less significant to the group as a whole. The majority of the time she'd been safe only because the others had taken care of her. They'd had some close calls recently so, in case things went seriously wrong, she'd taken to carrying a copy of his summoning along with her. She'd promised herself she'd never need to use it. It was just a backup plan and things had never gotten that dire. Then again, she was here with Oliver so that couldn't be the case anymore. She'd agreed to such an outrageous price, it must have been their last resort; a choice between everyone dying versus a solitary sacrifice. A chill runs down her spine. "I sacrificed myself," she mumbles aloud. She's surprised when a tear from each eye drops to the floor.

Wrapping his arms around her back, he squeezes her and kisses the top of her head, "For the good of the many," he agrees quietly. He lifts her face to his and he wipes away her remaining tears, "And soon, you'll be mine," he says.

Mai swallows and pushes away again, this time backing away from him, still wary. "If it makes you feel any better about your choice," he soothes, "it took me a decent amount of time to convince you to agree to pay my price. You kept trying to find a way around it." His feet slowly begin pursuit.

Not realizing her proximity to the bed, she stumbles and pinwheels onto it, landing in a sitting position. His eyes look up and off to the side for a moment mischievously. With a few long strides, he eats up the gap and leans in to place his hands to either side of her. She backs away. In her fear, she stutters out, "W..were you be...being serious earlier? W...would you really want to b...bed a h..human?"

He climbs onto the bed after her, easily staying with and above her. Closing the gap, he asks, "Are you offering?"

Shaking her head, she holds her hands up to push him away. "That's not my intention, I don't think I'm ready for that." She turns and squirms out from under him; he doesn't pursue. She scrambles off the bed and distances herself back toward the door, but keeping in mind how far it is so she can't accidentally get stuck in it again.

After bounding off the bed and landing next to it, he watches her retreat, taking in her still bare feet, they'd brushed him in her retreat and they'd felt like ice. Along with the sway of her hips, he noticed her arms and legs were adorned with goosebumps. With the lift of his hand, he grabs the outermost blanket off the bed and flings it at her magically. It grabs her, picks her off of her feet, and wraps her up before sweeping her over to the fireplace. She floats there a moment as Oliver flicks his hand in the air once more, moving the rug under her, and gently sets her down on the newly placed rug.

Because of her short weightless displacement, she stays fully covered, cowering within the blanket. When she doesn't feel any touches and he doesn't speak up for several minutes, she turns back to him. Wisely, he stays put. It's several more minutes later that he finally answers her question. "Yes," he admits. "Eventually I do want to bed you and I intend to bed you." He lets his conviction sink in, adoring the red flush to her face even if it's partially hidden within the blanket. "Eventually," he reiterates. His voice drops a degree almost sounding sad, "but even if you were to give yourself to me right now, there are conditions we agreed on that will prevent me from doing as I please, at least for now."

The price they'd agreed on would hold him back? She uncovers her head from the blanket as hope blooms in her heart. She asks, "What were...are the conditions?"

"You may not have protected yourself fully for our main contract, but that's because you were more focused on our payment agreement. We didn't have much time, and you did resist me, but I insisted. You asked a lot of questions and I avoided talking about bedding you and several other subjects, but your other concerns lead you to come up with a short set of rules that will protect you even after you're mine. For example: I can't intentionally harm you or allow you to be harmed physically or mentally by myself or anyone or anything at my disposal. That includes using traps, snares, magic or any other remote way to harm you. Rule two, I must protect you to the best of my abilities. Rule three, your free will will remain intact for the remainder of our time together, I'm not allowed to force you into submission unless it's for your well being nor can I cross your personal boundaries if it would force you against your will. Rule four,I can't neglect you. Rule five is technically covered by rule one. It states simply that I'm not allowed to eat you."

Hearing the rules she'd come up with calms Mai. She'd known that she needed to give herself to him or face an even more terrible life that she'd agreed, and had planned to do so, but not knowing had been terrifying. She felt like she could be safe and live a decent life with Oliver with these rules intact. She wouldn't have to worry about what might come next, it sounded like she could even say no within reason and get away with it. It was a good deal much more than she'd dare hope. "And you agreed to those rules," she asked. "Even if it would stop you from," what, bedding me? she couldn't ask it. He'd talked about doing things that sounded like torture, the rules made those actions less possible too, there could be loopholes, but the rules made it so that she'd not be at his every mercy at least. She finishes her sentence by saying, "doing as you wish with me?"

"Yes." He comes closer, just to the edge of the rug, as he explains, "When you first summoned me, you'd been the first person to summon me in decades. Back when it happened, I didn't really care to be summoned. To be honest, I was just following my brother's plan to keep him out of trouble, but that changed after I met you." He crouches down to be eye level with her. "This, this need I've been feeling, ever since we met, goes beyond a mere need for food or even a need for physical stimulation. He interrupts himself, his look suddenly intense and hungry, "Though I would accept that too." Abruptly he looks away and amends, "if you're willing." When his gaze returns to her, not all of the fire has left his eyes, but it is much calmer, "My need has only continued to grow, even now, but I know you are the answer. You are what I need, the one I want."

"A need beyond physical stimulation," she repeats, not quite trusting him. He nods. Mai thinks of the myriad of the touches she'd endured since she'd awakened, with a blush, but in hindsight, she realizes that he hadn't let his hands stray everywhere-he'd had plenty of opportunity to cross those borders.

She cocks her head to the side, looking at him quizzically and causing the blanket to fall off one shoulder. To a degree, all the touching and holding had seemed needy, almost like he'd been desperate for affection. It had been like he was holding onto a doll for comfort...only...judging by his smiles, he ended up amusing himself with the doll's new found ability to walk, talk, and react to his advances. She smiles to herself thinking of the powerful, handsome demon man in front of her needing a doll.

Mai rises to her feet and pulls the blanket back over her shoulder then slowly walks the remaining distance over the fur to him. Curiously, hesitantly, she opens her arms and puts them awkwardly around his shoulders in a hug.

He wraps his arms around her waist. "Are you satisfied?"

"Did everyone else get out alright? Are they safe?" Everyone besides myself, she amends to herself.

With another flick of his wrist, the armoire on the opposite wall of the room opens and a round mirror emerges and floats towards her. "See for yourself," he invites. Grabbing it, she peers at the image of a girl wrapped in a blanket both of which are enveloped in someone's arms. In the girl's hands, lies a round mirror. "That's the mirror you're looking at," Oliver states. She wipes away a tear streak and is confused when the girl holding the mirror does too. It couldn't be her could it? The view in the mirror zooms into her confused face, "That's you," Oliver smiles. "Think of your friends," he suggests.

Mai looks up at him briefly before catching on, it showed only what you were thinking of. Her mind jumps to her allies, Masako more specifically, the mirror goes dark a second and then Masako's upset face shows up, a concerned looking Yasuhara sitting next to her with his arm around her. "Why are they sad," Mai asks.

"No idea," Oliver admits, "But I think it has to do with your disappearance. That one" he gestures to Masako with his head, "tried to protect you from me both times you summoned me. I expect she feels terrible being so weak and powerless. She almost got herself slaughtered this time."

Mai puts a hand over her mouth looking back up from the mirror and at him intensely, demanding "How?"

"She grabbed me unexpectedly, probably trying to get you. I was throwing an attack and she got hit by it." Mai gives Oliver a dirty look. In response, he turns his head and cocks it to the side sternly, "I'm not infallible, Mai. It's not like I broke the deal. I, your ally, was the one who accidentally hurt her, not your foe, but It's not like she got hit by it's full force. She didn't get killed." His gaze softens and he drops his voice. "Plus, I was more concerned about protecting you in your unconscious state and fighting another demon at the time. I'm sure he saw when we branded the deal and knew what kind of a deal it was."

"How do you know?"

Oliver's hands curl inward at the memory, his sharp nails pressing into Mai's back through the blanket. "He was targeting you." Oliver finally admits. Mai's eyes widen, both at his explanation and his reaction.

"After that, I pushed her well away and threw a stasis shield on her to keep her still and safe, but It took me a while to get back to her. I got to her in time to heal her."

Mai looks back down at the image of Masako in tears being hugged by Yasuhara. The image mirror shifts over slightly centering on Yasuhara, "What about Yasuhara?"

Oliver lets out an amused snort. "He ran away again. I ended up having to track him down in the woods nearby after I'd dealt with everything else. He had a few cuts and bruises and he'd damaged his ankle, but was all too happy to see me. Seems he mistook me for Gene. I never let him touch me, just forced him to float back to your base."

Mai looks in at each of the people from her group and listens to Oliver's account of the extent of their injuries and reactions. The tour ends with her loud, perverted, know-it-all, onmyouji boss. He looked well enough in his reflection, but Mai was surprised to see that he was sitting alone in her room, just staring at her bed and possessions with his hand held over his mouth. He looked deflated and full of regret. "This guy," Oliver begins, "knew I was a demon. After I got back from the forest with Yasuhara, he tried to stop me from taking you, he'd even put up barriers to keep me away. He was defending you, but I think he also wanted to force me to submit to him. It didn't work, you and I were already bound first of all, but I doubt he has enough power alone to overpower me like the other demons he commanded. I'd heard about shiki before, but I'd never gone up against one until he confronted me. I hope you didn't think of them as your friends, they were like ghosts. Compared to their ancestors, they were hollow, dead inside; carrying out orders blindly. They were relentless and paid no heed to their injuries. I ended up taking them all out of their misery."

"All," she asks in surprise.

"Yes," his eyebrows come together in concern as he meets her eyes. "I wasn't going to harm them, but I ended up destroying them."

"Is that a deal breaker," she asks hopefully.

"No, just like your female friend that got in my way. Attacking me made the shiki my enemy but not everyone else's. I simply defended myself." He allows the information to sink in before he taps the mirror and adds, "That guy also made himself my enemy when he sent them to attack me and put up his barriers," Worry creeps in about what he'd done to the man. Oliver continues "Since he was human and fairly powerless, I let him off light. I only ran my hand through his shoulders, knees, and stomach until he passed out and his barriers dropped." Mai looks up at Oliver, shocked at what his definition of "letting someone off lightly" entailed. Her boss definitely wasn't her favorite person, but did he deserve all that? Probably not. It was a screaming reminder that Oliver definitely wasn't human, and a lesson about just how ruthless he could be. Oliver examines her face, "What, I cleaned him up and put him back together," Oliver defends.

"Humans don't consider what you did 'letting him off lightly,'" she informs him. "I'm starting to get scared of what you owning me is going to look like."

He hums thoughtfully, and pets her head. "I'll be gentle," he promises. "Now," he says, taking the mirror away and casting behind himself and back towards the armoire, "are you satisfied?"

Mai wanders through her mind looking for anything to be upset about. But finds only the worry of payment. "Have I paid you? Have I given myself to you yet," she questions.

Oliver shakes his head, "No. Though you're literally in my arms, and we've kissed and made our deal, you haven't completely submitted yourself to me in word or deed."

Swallowing, Mai looks him in the eyes and finds the will to say, "Oliver, I am yours."

"Good," he purrs. "Now submit to me."

Hesitantly she asks, "How exactly?"

"Since you are human there are only a couple ways I'll accept." She nods her understanding and waits from him to continue. "You could let me collar you," he suggests.

Mai frowns at the prospect. She could understand the submissiveness in the action, but if she did that, how was she any better than a common pet? Was that all she would be from now on?

"You don't like the idea, huh." She shakes her head negatively in agreement. "Ok, the only other option I have to ask is for you to undress and let me bed you."

"No," she shrieks in disbelief, "I already said I'm not ready for anything like that!"

He smirks, "Are you refusing to pay in full?"

"No," Mai exclaims adamantly, "no! I'm just trying to explore all options before I decide. Isn't there some other form of submission you would accept?"

"No. Humans think of themselves as dominant creatures in general. The angry, self-important twat who normally summons me are riddled with such behaviors, it makes me sick. Aside from that, the societal rules for submission for humans are inconsistent, inexact, and alterable even within a single person or relationship. The collar is something you wouldn't be able to undo by yourself. It has a certain level of permanence. The same could happen with bedding."

"You mean if I become pregnant," she concludes.

"Yes," he answers.

"So you want a symbol of absolute submission," she says in summary. "Isn't there some other way?"

He raises his eyebrow, and questions, "Can you think of any?"

Mai thinks about every way she can think of of every kind of submissive behaviors she'd seen in humans, in dogs, in cats, in any society she could think of, but found none that seemed to scream full devotion or permanence aside from the ones he'd already presented. Even marriages could have divorces, she reasoned, but maybe permanence wasn't quite what this was about. Or devotion.

She tried breaking down the two options she'd been given. The collar was a bit demeaning, but obviously submissive. Then there was sex. She didn't want to think about the possibility, it was too extreme and she wasn't prepared to do something so extreme. There had to be some other way. Maybe offering up her vulnerabilities? "Something like telling you all my secrets?"

He shakes his head, "Humans are too apt to lie, plus, they seem to be made to easily forget." He touches her head pointedly with his index finger. Mai had to admit that her current lack of memory seemed to prove that point. "You wouldn't be able to give me a full list even if you tried." When Mai offers no other ideas to counter his, he says, "It's time to choose or break off our deal."

The lesser of the two evils it was then. "I'll take the collar," she admits.

He nods as if he'd known her choice. "Good. I'll warn you now, it won't be like a human-made collar."

"How so," she asks.

"The collar I give you will be my sigil, a unique mark that represents my power and who I am. Down here, it's like a signature, I'll need to ingrain it on your body, kind of like what human's call a tattoo." She nods her understanding, trying to think about how a tattooed collar would look and not liking the idea. Oliver continues, "Placing it may not be altogether pleasant for you, but you mustn't fight me on this or there's a good chance it will wither and burn. If it does, there definitely will be pain and scarring that I won't be able to undo."

"O..Okay," She agrees. "Can I watch?"

"If you'd like," he responds. Leading her back over to the mirror, he insists that she drops the blanket. She does and he flings it away from the area.

For her own sake, she doesn't resist and also lets him push her shirt and bra strap aside, exposing her entire right shoulder to him. He places one hand on it and then maneuvers the other under her clothes to the small of her waist, his hand more so at her back then her stomach. He nuzzles her head to tip it towards her left shoulder. "Relax," he reminds her.

As soon as she obeys, she feels a ripple of sheer power flow into her, making her gasp, but she resists the desire to push away. The burning and tingling sensation ripples between and around his two hands, making her feel electrified, a mild stinging following in its wake like an echo. The two sensations creep along her skin in tandem, at rare times the waves of power crash into each other bringing irregular spikes of power to spiral off in unexpected directions. Curious as to what exactly was happening, she peeks at the mirror and watches as a delicate and elaborate filigree design branches outward from under his hands, curling, twining, and spreading along her skin, growing like vines, the delicate lines, a mixture of white, Golden yellow, and blue. As she watches the lines sprout into a beautifully intricate network of tendrils. Some tendrils had crawled up her neck and onto the back side of one cheek others had lengthened down her chest and beneath her clothes. At the hem of her skirt, another spiraling tindrel was creeping out and down her thigh.

In random areas of the design, white and gold pearl-like designs bloom among some of the vines. The forming design wasn't uniform or symmetric, but it had a beauty to it and the coloring reminded Mai of the light she'd seen accompanying him and their deals reflected in it. The overall look was more like body art than a tattoo, the delicacy and vibrancy of the colors didn't clash with her skin whatsoever and she finds she likes the pattern. The flow of energy stops and she watches as the lines begin to fade into her skin.

"Is it done," she asks.

"Yes," he removes his upper hand to her arm and kisses her still exposed shoulder on a quickly fading flower design that had formed under his hand. It was the nucleus of her almost plant-like white, blue and golden "collar," she realizes. "You now belong to me." His words and the timber of his voice send a pleasant chill up her back. She quietly allows the feeling to wash over her and she watches as the last of her markings disappear.

"It's gone," she points out sullenly.

"On the contrary, it's still there plain enough for any demon to see. He brushes her shoulder with a touch of his power and the sigil comes to the surface in a wave-like pulse making its way through the entire design before it rests again. I doubt any demon would even dare to touch you without permission now, especially those who know of me."

"What makes you so sure it will keep me safe? Aren't humans considered food down here?"

"Yes, normally they are. However, I've staked my claim on you. For all intents and purposes, to others of my kind, you're my mate, flesh of my flesh."

Mai didn't know how to react to the news. She turns and faces him trying to read his expression.

"Your mate," she repeats, turning to him, the shock was making her head process the information slowly.

"That's what I said, mate," he reiterates walking around her. He smirks, "But if you don't understand, there are plenty of other ways to say it. In human terms, you'd call me husband, your S.O, your companion, or spouse." He turns and walks the opposite direction continuing his lecture, "You could also say I'll be the one you spawn with; father of your children."

Mai wasn't an idiot she knew darn well what it meant. "You-" she huffs before he cuts her off.

"That isn't all there is to it, though." He brushes her face with his hand and continues, "You now carry some of my energy within you. If someone were to harm you, it would be like attacking me or asking for me to destroy them." She looks down taking in the seriousness of his claim. He puts a finger under her chin and raises her gaze back to him. "Along with protecting you, my energy within you will also make you easier for me to track. In addition, My mark will also enable you to come along with me to summonings if you so choose. In time, you may even be able to learn how to phase and use my other powers."

"So I'm protected from everyone, but," she trails off, she was going to day "you", but a thought interrupts and Mai realizes that no matter what choice she'd chosen as her "submissive deed," it would have led her down the same road. He'd planned it that way. She pushes away from him. He expected her to make a family with him. What even was a family of demons called? She waves away the thought. At least her new status afforded her some protection, and maybe some freedom in the future but, "What was the point of having me choose!?"

"Order mostly," he admits, "but had you chosen to be bedded, I wouldn't have to wait as long for you to be ready, but," he sighs, "I am bound by the rules we agreed on, it was your choice. I can't force it against your will so you can wait till you're ready."

"That's a relief," she admits, "but I don't understand, you're so much more powerful and talented than any human. What would possess a demon like you to want a human mate like me?"

"I like you. The first time we met, I admired your bravery. I was happy that you didn't try acting superior and that you didn't know anything. You were ignorant and innocent, but with substance underneath it all. The way you hold your fears in abeyance was enticing. You were cute enough to want to be scary and play a prank on your friends, but devious enough to call on a demon and play along with full trust. You are so much more interesting than any demon I've met. I found that I didn't want to leave you, but before I knew it our deal was complete and I was back home, back with my books, but I couldn't focus on them as well anymore. It took a while to realize I'd left my heart with you. I couldn't leave my realm and go to yours as it pleases me. I have to be summoned-in a language I can understand no less. I missed you, yearned for you, and I only had that stupid mirror and Gene to check on you from time to time, but it wasn't the same, I missed you," he concludes.

"I'm not anyone special, I'm just an orphan."

"You're special enough for me," he says turning her around to face him. "Now, if you're ready, we have a deal to close." He brings his face closer so that she can reach his and pauses.

With no other complaint coming to mind, she leans in and gives him a kiss, on the lips.

"You'll have to do more than that," he chides her with a smile.

She huffs at him and grabs him around the neck and pulls him close, he does the same around her waist. Mai stands on her tippy toes and kisses him again, this time more demanding, but utterly unsure of how to even begin a french kiss. The kissing continues, but without any further progress until she raises enough courage to poke his lips with her tongue. He smiles into their kiss and opens to her tentative tongue, taking his time to let her explore before twining his tongue with hers once more. Lights of unbinding light on their tongues and her collar glows and heats right along with it.

As they continue to kiss, She comes to a realization. After her years of being alone, she finally had a place where she belonged and someone to belong to. A demon, of all things, had claimed her and somehow it felt good and right.

---

Omake:

From another room comes the sound of things crashing, distracting and breaking the couple from their kissing. They both look to the door and Oliver curses. A yell calling out, "Oliver, I'm back," comes through the door grate. "You won't believe what happened!" The door rams against it's frame and the lock casing. Oliver turns to the door and Mai retreats behind him. "What the heck!" The person fiddles with the door knob once again before accusing, "You never lock your door." There's a pause. "Whatever," the word precedes Gene as he phases through the door. "Oliver, you'll never guess what happened."

"Gene," Oliver deadpans, staying still, allowing Mai to keep hidden behind him. Mai had met Gene before, but didn't particularly care for the scrutiny of a second demon just yet, even if she knew him, however short and minimal their acquaintance, she didn't know him well enough to want to deal with him just yet. She still feels flustered from her and Oliver's make-out session and the shock of noise announcing his brother's arrival. Now the second demon was all of a sudden in the room. Last time they'd met, he'd had Oliver's face, but Mai wasn't even sure that's really what his brother looked like. They'd both demonstrated their ability to change their form before. Although handsome, a single Oliver was hard to be around in her flustered state, but if they did truly look alike, the idea of being cornered by two Olivers right now was an unnerving one. Especially when it felt like they'd been caught doing something they shouldn't have.

Gene stares at Oliver and cocks his head to the side. "You're hiding something," he notices. His eyes wander downward and he takes a few steps to the side, attempting to look around his brother, but Naru moves along with him, keeping Mai blocked from his view.

"Perhaps," Oliver affirms, "What makes you think I need to show you?"

Gene looks at him as if Oliver had grown a second head. "The extra leg and foot." Gene points out. Mai pulls her exposed leg closer as Oliver scowls at his brother. "Come on, you don't have to be grumpy about it," Gene says with a pout. "I'm just wondering what morsel finally tempted you to bring it home." Gene smiles, raising one eyebrow as he tries to look again.

Oliver maneuvers away. "I don't want to show her to you. I still haven't forgotten what you did with your last pet." Mai grabs ahold of Oliver's shirt worryingly. "What was it, a century ago," Naru asks.

"Oh, yeah," Gene reminisces with a finger to his chin. "Oops," He says nonchalantly. To Mai, the whole incident sounded sketchy and worrisome and inwardly she noted never to let herself be left in Gene's questionable care or at least to be on guard if it ever happened. "But, I've learned from my mistake. It won't happen again."

"You're right, it won't. You're not allowed to touch her."

"Ah, come on. I won't do that to her and it's not like I'll take a bite or anything, I ate only an hour ago," Gene says in an attempt to placate Oliver. Silently, Mai scoots closer to Oliver, gripping the back of his shirt tighter, wondering what exactly Gene had eaten.

Oliver shakes his head at Gene and touches a hand against Mai's waist, awkwardly pulling her even closer to him. The gesture comforts her and so do his next words, "This one isn't for eating. In fact that was part of the deal."

"It's kind of smart then." Gene approves, coming forward. "Show me."

"I don't want to. We only just completed the deal before you came in and interrupted." Oliver backs away, still holding onto Mai and guiding her backwards towards the winterscape curtains.

"Oh, come on," Gene wines, "You've never forced anyone into a life deal before. I wanna see!"

"I don't have to share. You've never shown an interest in anything of mine before."

"Oh, come on, the only other things you own are dusty old books and tomes," Gene gripes.

Naru looks at his brother in exasperation, "I like books."

"All too much," Gene agrees, "but now you've brought a human girl home! I can finally tell my friends you aren't just a bookworm!" At Oliver's glare, Gene amends, "a powerful bookworm." At Oliver's lack of response, Gene pleads, " Please, I want to see her. You know you can't return her so you might as well show her to me, especially if you won't be eating her. Wait, you are keeping her, right? You're not going to sell her off to someone?"

"Yes," Oliver answers, still backing away from Gene, "I'm keeping her."

"Then let me see her already. You won't be able to just keep her in your room, she'll get sick, you know." Gene says factually, "Come on, I'll see her eventually anyway."

Abruptly, Mai trips over the previously disposed of blanket that she'd been wrapped in earlier and, with a short cry, pinwheels her way to the floor. She only gets a glimpse of Gene's legs through Oliver's stance before her demon flicks his hand and wraps Mai in the blanket, only leaving her face exposed from the folds. "Fine," Oliver obliges, stepping aside.

Mai looks up at the walking copy of Oliver. At the moment, his grin was more mischievous than Oliver's had been when he'd been playing around with her. Gene comes in close and kneels in front of her offering her his hand. "Hi," I'm Gene." He hadn't recognised her.

Mai looks at the hand suspiciously, but doesn't reach out for it. She tries to smile back as she says, "Hi again, Gene."

A surprised expression crosses his face, "We've met?" Gene looks to Oliver.

"Yeah," Oliver chimes in. "A couple years ago, when we learned Japanese. She summoned me and we did a prank on her friends together, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" Gene looks back at Mai and explains, "Oliver really liked that summons. We talked about it for a long time afterwards. It was a lot of fun! Sorry I didn't remember you."

"That's okay." Mai admits. "Back then we really didn't interact much, and weren't around each other for long and I know you were distracted chasing Yasuhara."

"That, I was. What did you do this time?" Gene asks the pair.

"He rescued my friends and I from a couple other demons," Mai supplies.

Looking disappointed, Gene pouts, "That doesn't sound as fun."

"It was alright." Oliver says dismissively, "I ended up ripping apart some shiki so that was new."

Gene's eyes go wide, "No kidding? What were they like?"

Oliver sighs, "Empty and annoying; completely submissive to their human master."

"No way," Gene shivers. "That's so creepy."

"Sounds like you guys make human's submit to your whims like that too," Mai points out. "It can't be much different."

"You're human, it's not the same," Gene defends.

Mai pouts, "I don't see how it's any different."

Oliver sighs, "Demons are superior. Even you've acknowledged it, Mai." She frowns pensively and reflects back on their conversation. The only time she could think of doing anything close had been when she was asking him why he'd picked her as his mate.

"Aw, such a cute little human. Where is she going to sleep," Gene asks.

"On my bed, of course," Oliver says in annoyance.

Gene squeals then impulsively interjects, "Maybe I should get a pet of my own! When are you going to go get a collar?"

Mai looks up at Oliver feeling confused. Gene was talking about a collar like a physical object-like one a human would get for their dog. "I've already taken care of it," Oliver assures his twin.

"Ah, well." Gene opens his arms and jumps at Mai for a hug. "Welcome to the family then!" Gene's hug turned out to be on the rough side and tighter than she was used to. As he squeezes her, he also inadvertently pulls the blanket down and off her face and head. Oliver lets out a low growl and grabs Gene's shoulder. "No touching, remember?"

"Ow! Hey," he yells, yerking out of Oliver's grip and releasing Mai from the full on arm lock. Gene turns back to Oliver, "She's like family now. I was just hugging her. I wasn't taking her away from you or anything!" He turns back to the girl still in his arms and his jaw goes slack open. "No way," he trails off. Grabbing the blanket, he pulls it down and off of Mai. "You didn't." He pulls her shirt up to stare.

Mai lets out a squeak and tries to push her shirt back down with a blush just as Gene is hefted above her head by an angry Oliver and forcefully detached. "Don't. Touch. Her. At. All," Oliver stresses with a growl. "She's mine."

"Got it," Gene squeaks. "Sorry, I didn't know! You've never shown an ounce of interest before so I didn't think," his sentence goes unfinished. "Did you even date?"

"No, there wasn't enough time. We can get to know each other better down here."

"Oh, that's low. Poor thing," Gene sighs, "looks like she didn't even have a choice."

"Oh, she chose alright," Oliver defends and gestures to her open handed, "We're close to equals in this pairing because of the rules she chose."

"Is that true," Gene asks Mai wide eyed.

"Yeah," she admits. She hadn't had much choice, but she'd had some say. She'd at least been content with the rules Oliver said she'd set.

"My little brother, getting a mate before me," he says in wonder. After a second or two he says, "I should go tell Mom."

"Don't you dare. She doesn't need to know yet." Oliver says with a scowl.

"Are you kidding!? She's been wanting us to spawn for ages!" Gene breaks away and with a twirl of his fingers the door swings open and he races out of it. Oliver follows in pursuit, the two becoming only blurs of movement in Mai's eyes. There's several crashes in the room (or rooms) beyond the door accompanied by other sounds like a tumble of books, sounds of laughter and cursing as well as a few threats Mai can't make out before everything goes quiet. After it stays quiet a few minutes, Mai picks herself off the floor wondering if she should be worried more about Gene and Oliver's well being or about Oliver's mom knowing about them being mates.

On the bright side, at least the door was open now. She could explore the rest of the house.

---

This chapter was crafted as a continuation for Snavej's story Do you Want To Make a Deal, with her permission. Thanks for the inspiration and permission, Snavej! I'm not sure it will show properly, but here's the link to her story:

s/13124400/1/Do-you-want-to-make-a-deal

Please R&R and then go over to read the original. It was a fun read, I hope mine was too.