Chapter Three: First Deals
Shea and Jo shifted awkwardly on the couch, Bill seated cheerfully between them draining a bottle of Katie's vodka and gnawing on an uncooked chicken thigh; he didn't seem to understand the concept of food poisoning quite yet. Katie herself was seated on the floor near them, watching the dream demon down half her bottle of expensive alcohol. It was the day after Bill had showed up at their door, and he had made it very clear that he wasn't leaving. He hadn't really said what he wanted, just that he was sticking around. After deciding that it was best not to bicker with a creature they didn't know about, the three agreed that he could stay and sleep on their couch.
"Oh man this alcohol is good stuff!" Bill crowed happily.
"Yeah, and it's expensive, so don't drink all of it. I don't get another paycheck until next week and I need to buy more mice for Romulus." Katie muttered tiredly.
"Awww, don't be such a grump!" Bill giggled and pinched her cheek, "I can help you get food to feed your snake, and some crickets for Octavian too!" He snapped his fingers and several live mice and crickets appeared out of nowhere and fell all over them. The three women screamed and jumped up to get away from the confused animals as Bill laughed with glee.
"Dammit Bill get rid of them!" Katie screeched.
"Sure thing, Ears." he snapped again and they were all gone. The three women calmed down and returned to their previous positions.
Bill grinned and relaxed. Yes, this was going to be perfect. He didn't care what Jo and Shea thought about him, though he should probably not push his boundaries too far. They could easily try to kick him out, and he would have to kill them, and Ears would be upset. If he was going to win her trust and get her to help him with the plan he was...still working on...then he would have to play nice.
"Sorry about that. It was too funny to resist." He apologized with a small smile.
"It's...fine. Just don't do it again." Katie offered, standing up and starting to pack her things into a backpack.
"Where ya going?" Jo asked nervously; it was obvious that without her there to disapprove of him, Bill would get bored and probably pull all sorts of tricks. He had already eaten one of the tv remotes, turned the gecko Octavian into a small dragon that had set the coffee table on fire and set off the fire alarm, and flooded the kitchen. They couldn't deal with that again.
"I'm going for a walk after I pack all of this stuff for tomorrow. Gotta go to the library to study for final exams." Katie sighed and stood up.
"Oh, one of us should go with you! It's dark out, it might not be safe! Bill, why don't you go and make sure she doesn't get jumped by muggers or something." Shea gave a hopeful smile; any respite from Bill's antics was a welcome one.
"Oh what a marvelous idea!" Bill grinned and dragged Katie outside by the arm, "Alright! Let's walk!"
Katie chuckled. She had known that Bill would follow her outside. He had been attempting to follow her everywhere; class, work, grocery store, you name it. She had seen how frustrated her roommates had been getting, and it was nice outside anyway. Late Spring was a wonderful time, aside from the horrid allergies and stinging insects.
"Come on then Bill. I just want to walk around to clear my head. This semester is getting super stressful." Katie stuffed her hands into her pockets.
"Never did any schooling myself. Born brilliant, read books, got more brilliant. It looks dull. All the lecturing and note taking and dealing with people knowing more than you and lording it over you." Bill smirked.
"Yeah, wouldn't know about that."
"Hey, at least you get a break over the Summer. That's how it works, yes?"
"Well yeah, but I'm not even getting a real break. I've gotta work on my honors thesis, and I'm starting an internship with one of the history professors. He researches cloning!"
"Ooh, now that's deliciously controversial! Anything I can do to help?" Bill threw a wide, toothy grin her way, "I still owe you for helping me out a while back. What can I do for you? Smite an enemy? Make you rich? Make you famous? Come on and throw me a bone, kid, I can't follow you around forever!" He gave an exasperated sigh.
"I don't want any of those things. Sure I'm stressed as all Hell now, but that's fine. I'll get over it and keep on working. I've gotta beef up that resume so graduate schools will fight over me and maybe even pay me to learn!" Katie smiled and looked around.
It was a fairly warm night, and the air smelled heavily of the pine trees that grew in abundance there. Crickets chirped loudly around them and the noise was calming. Katie felt surprisingly calm on a walk alone in the dark with a potentially murderous demon. She knew Bill probably wasn't going to hurt her, even with the evident frustration crossing his admittedly handsome face. She shook that last thought off and tried to relax.
Bill thought for a few minutes before he stopped walking.
"Alright kid. I can't spend your life following you around waiting for something to be important enough to pay my debt. I like you, kid, you're spunky and get to the point pretty quick," Bill huffed, "But I'm not tailing you for the next 50 years. Booooring!"
"I don't want you following me everywhere anyway. Jo and Shea are almost at their wits ends with you and your pranks."
"Not my fault they have no sense of humor. Turning your gecko into a dragon was hilarious!"
"You're the only one that thought so."
Bill snorted and rolled his eye. Maybe he would stick around a bit longer. He still had to figure out what to do from here, and the girl could prove useful, if not at least fun to mess with. Free room and food was pretty nice, and a couch to sleep on was better than cold, wet earth. The good food Katie and her roommates made was definitely a plus.
"Hey kid. I'll make a deal with you. I won't do anything too outrageous if you make me a really good dinner tomorrow. Something with lots of meat and potatoes and pasta!" Bill cackled, walking back toward the familiar apartment building.
"Hmm...fine." Katie shook his hand, eyes going wide at the blue flames that hugged their hands.
"Whoa! Can you teach me to do that?"
Bill paused and grinned.
"That will require a much different deal, but we can discuss that later. We should head inside." Bill held the door open and let the girl pass, following only after casting a thoughtful glance around. He had sensed something right as they were getting close to the building, and it worried him.
Out in the dark, a shadowed form watched with blinding white eyes. It stood tall and endlessly dark, branch-like antlers blending it into the thick foliage. The creature drummed its long, thin fingers against the bark of a tree. This was an interesting development; Cipher was attempting to cultivate a disciple. While not unusual for demons (seriously, they seem to do it all the damn time holy shit), it was out of Cipher's normal pattern. Perhaps this could be useful. The creature sunk into the ground, using the light of a battered old lantern to guide itself home to its own forest.