Just read the last chapter of HWBASK (I somehow missed that chapter 😅) and... I've got to ask...
What does/did Raphael do when a current/potential client insults Tav?
What does/did Raphael do when a current/potential client tries to flirt or make a pass at Tav and/or tries to include some funny business involving her as part of their contract with the devil?
What does/did Raphael do when a current/potential client does both?
“Color me not surprised to see the Hero of Baldur’s Gate here,” said the brute of a man who had come to the Devil’s Den seeking a deal - as anyone always ever did.
Since arriving a minute ago, full of swagger, he was pegged by Tav to be ugly, arrogant, and unpleasant.
“Is it true, hero? You’ll fuck a devil to save a person’s soul? How many fiends have you spread your legs for?”
Ah, and what he had for brawn was there to compensate for his lack of brains.
But, to answer his question, she’d spread her legs for two fiends to be exact. One of which she fucked on a regular basis - irregardless of a soul hanging in the balance.
The very fiend (who looked quite handsome as a human) stood not too far away from where she sat pretending to read her new favorite romance novel. Being a lawful fellow (though still evil in many regards), Raphael cooly leaned against the writing desk with no outward reaction to the salacious attack against her reputation - outward being the key word. She snuck a glance from over her book and could tell he was visualizing a future where the man’s soul was nothing more than a tasty meal.
“Are you deaf, hero?” asked the man.
“Speak to me, not to her - you are here for a devil’s deal, are you not?”
The man snorted in her direction before turning his attention to Raphael.
“Alright, devil. Let’s talk.”
—
“Then we have an accord?” Raphael oozed warmth - his steps slow in taking him from the desk to the man. “You are to procure a Bag of Devouring and personally deliver it to me in this very room - in three weeks time. In return for completion of this task, I will see to the end of your rival and his gang. If you are unable to deliver the item I seek within the allotted time, then there is the unfortunate matter of a price to be paid.”
“My soul, is that it?” asked the brute, smiling with yellowed teeth.
“Why, yes - your soul would be a fine price,” responded Raphael, smiling with devilish charm.
Anticipation burned in his eyes.
The brute was not so brainless to accept on the spot; he mulled it over for about half a minute, but it was clear he predicted a favorable outcome.
“Agreed - and I think I’ve heard of this schtick.” The brute regarded Tav. “You’re gonna travel with me, yeah, sweetheart? Help me out?”
Rather than read (for the fifth time) the paragraph in which the protagonist and antagonist expressed their hatred for one another before kissing, Tav pondered on ugly, arrogant, and unpleasant souls and what they tasted like to fiends.
Something flavorful, she supposed, for behind his mask of congeniality, Raphael was gnawing at the bit for a bite.
Snap!
An infernal pairing of contract and quill appeared in front of the brute’s face - conveniently obstructing his view of her.
“All that’s left to do is sign,��� Raphael said evenly.
The brute snatched the quill from the air with his meaty hand, pointed tip and ink was put to parchment, and the words blazed after a quick scrawl of a signature. Little time was given to the man to read anything (as if his tiny brain could understand Infernal in the first place) for the signed contract quickly disappeared in a plume of smoke and embers.
“Best of luck to you,” Raphael purred, allowing a sneer to eek through.
“I’ve had worse odds before,” the brute replied with a cocky shrug. “But, speaking of luck, how about it, sweetheart? How about you give the devil a good fucking when I leave? A good fuck for good luck - all for my dear, sweet soul.”
“Infiltrating Zhentil Keep for a Bag of Devouring…” Tav whistled as she flipped to the next page. “I remember doing something eerily similar not too long ago. Whether or not you make it out as I did… well…”
She pulled a face that said: unlikely.
“Aren’t you coming with me?”
“I might be too busy fucking the devil - not for luck or for your soul, mind you.” For the first time, she met the brute’s stare - his arrogance was fraying into worry. “But because I enjoy it.”
“You’re obligated to do this with me!”
Tav laughed, “Says who or what? The rumors?”
“I put my soul on the line because of the guarantee!” The brute snarled, moving towards her in anger.
There was a flash and burst, and a large, pointed red wing fanned out to block the brute’s path. Tav was saddened that she could not witness the man’s reaction to seeing Raphael’s true form - especially when her cambion looked so wonderfully antagonistic.
“A fool shall run a fool’s errand,” Raphael announced. “Run along, little fool.”
The brute snarled again in anger, and his bootsteps stormed for the door.
“Wait!” Tav shouted. The steps halted and Raphael refocused his glare on her. “If I were feeling up to a journey, when and where would I meet you? No guarantees, of course…”
An audible sound of relief.
“The bridge from the Lower City to Wyrm’s rock - dawn.”
After a moment, the door opened and then shut with a slam.
There was another flash and burst of fire as Raphael returned to his mortal disguise.
“Don’t look so peeved with me,” Tav scoffed. “I’m peeved with you! You know I hate Zhentil Keep…”
“You are under no obligation to go. It’s the fault of your own moral code - helping any and every mortal who steps into this den...”
“He’s not the first asshole and he won’t be the last.” Sighing, Tav closed her book and stuffed it into the pack that laid at her chair’s feet. “But, in all honesty, I won’t be too upset if you win this one either. The odds aren’t looking favorable - given your stipulation of three weeks.”
Raphael smirked. “A fair stipulation.”
“Says the devil,” came her droll reply. She stood while throwing her pack around her shoulder. “I think I’ll walk home tonight and will probably hit the hay as soon as I get back - early rise and all.”
“Mm, I’d join you on your stroll, but there are other matters I must attend to.”
Tav headed for the door. “Don’t take too long - I’ve unfortunately grown accustomed to you being in my bed.”
When she reached for the handle-
“Does it bother you?”
Raphael did not need to clarify his question; the remnants of his play, particularly the gossip that overran the city and followed the local hero wherever she went, had evolved into other less-than-savory rumors. Seeing the futility in denying the slander, Tav leaned into taking each blow on the chin and hoped that rumors of her good-deeds would one day overtake the bad.
“Some days more than others,” she answered truthfully.
Raphael blinked at her, something on his mind, but he merely nodded for the exit.
“Hurry home, dearest.”
“I will, under the fair stipulation that you hurry with your business - it’s cold out and I’ll want to wrap around my personal furnace.” She twisted the handle and opened the door. Pausing, Tav threw a last look his way. “I’m happy, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“And I’ll be happy - when this man’s soul is mine,” said her beloved antagonist.
To counter, the protagonist held her head heroically high. “Not a chance in Hell, you rat-fucking-bastard.”
At that, Tav left the Devil’s Den with a smile on her face.
—-
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