Exit: If This is Love... (Pt. 1)

James' Perspective

Okay: I think I'm good with this so... I Exit.

A rush of ambient noise graces my ears as the frozen air all around me is suddenly... not. It's not loud - quite quiet, actually - but the difference is still noticeable enough to comment. In the distance I hear birds - outside - and murmured voices, and a dozen other things all in a moment of hyper-awareness.

And then it's gone as Arma shifts in place on the bed and draws my focus back to the room around me. I'm eye-level with her tits, even though she's sitting on the bed, which is drooping heavily beneath her weight. The hearts are, indeed, not part of the wall: They're idly twirling around her baton-whip. She hums quietly, but otherwise makes no move beyond idly twirling her... I dunno, spell focus? Toy? Whatever: She's just kind of waiting, with a mild, expectant face.

"Well," I start, uncertainly. I'm not sure what led up to this moment in this reality, so I don't want to make a faux-pas but... somehow, I intuitively know that Arma's not going to take the initiative here. She's patiently waiting for my input: maybe just a little curious as to why I'm so nervous, but otherwise completely neutral.

"Well," I say again, with more confidence, "I'd like to talk about our relationship a bit. I'm sure you don't mind that, right?"

She doesn't: I can tell before she opens her mouth to say, "Certainly not," as she shakes her head lightly, "what about it would you like to discuss?"

"How do you perceive it?" I ask, before rubbing my chin in thought, "Actually, that might be a bad way to put it... what's your understanding of it?"

Arma hums pleasantly - melodically, even - as she considers her answer. But that's a lie: There's no consideration at all, she's simply putting on a show. The answer was ready before I even finished the question. "I'm your ****, of course, Master." She says cheerfully, without an ounce of shame. "You've summoned and contracted me to serve as your 'loveslave' for the rest of your mortal life. I'm yours to make use of in any way you please - whenever you please - and in exchange, I receive the unique pleasure of experiencing what it means to 'love' something."

Arma smiles warmly, cradling an unfamiliar feeling in her chest as she pulls her hands together - the hearts twirling around her baton drifting idly beneath them. It's... love, I suppose? Or her interpretation of such. Contentment and pleasure, simply being around someone. I'm... really curious about this, honestly, because this contract seems more than a little one-sided.

And where demons are concerned, that's usually a bad sign.

"Is that really all you get out of it? You make yourself the servant - plaything, even - of a random human and in exchange you... tell yourself you love them?" I ask, careful to keep my tone level and neutral: Academic, even.

Arma shakes her head in denial, still placidly smiling, "No, no: You're not a random human at all, Master! Beyond the obvious - that you're my Master, and I love you - even before that you... were willing to let me love you. What normal man would trust a demoness at her word - that all she wants is to try such a simple and human thing? I think it's quite remarkable, even if you're fortunate I was being genuine."

Arma hums again, crossing her legs with practiced allure, before going on to explain: "As for me simply... 'telling myself' this is love... that's not how Demon Contracts work. Once the pact is sealed, the magic settles as thoroughly as required to ensure both parties keep themselves honest... Which is to say: per the magic, I _do _love you and - in fact - cannot... not love you. Furthermore, if I were to try and refuse you in any way well... why would I do something so silly to begin with? I couldn't imagine doing such a thing anymore, let alone put it into practice."

I take a moment to let all of that settle before concluding: "You're... a very reckless woman, aren't you?"

Arma's smile shifts with playful mischief as she lightly taps herself on the head, "You got me! This is my first contract, after all. I'll surely live on after you're gone, so... compared to immortality: What's a human lifespan? I want to know. Is it really impossible for a demon to love a human? I don't think that's the case... ahah, of course: I mean to say that I didn't think that to be the case, even before we made our contract."

"And what if I were to betray you, or make you betray someone else?" I ask, trying to find some kind of opening in the implacable wall of contentment sitting on the bed of this room, "What if I were to hurt you? Mistreat you? Wouldn't you regret it? What if I killed you?"

"Why would I care? I'm yours." Arma shrugs, "...although, if I die under contract, you'll die too so... Even if you find a way: Please don't kill me, for your own sake."

I seize the opening, "Aha! So it isn't entirely onesided."

"I... I thought you knew? Everyone knows... "Arma shrugs helplessly, "That's the basic nature of a demon's contract. Your life and my life mingle and bond. If I'm hurt, you're hurt... That's one sided though: If you were to die, I would simply absorb the mana tied up in your end of the pact." Even as I process that and start pointing out the obvious catch, Arma's eyes widen in panic and she starts hastily clarifying things further, "But unlike a normal cancellation I'd still be bound by my end of the pact! So, in this case, I'd... I don't know what I'd do without you."

The thought of it's terrifying her, even, which seems equally strange as the contentment she was basking in earlier. I can feel it twisting her up and grimace myself. "Alright!" I say, catching her attention immediately, "Alright, enough of that. I don't plan on dying anytime soon and... I guess you're pretty capable, right? So we'll be fine. In the meantime... Are we going to be interrupted by anyone if we have some fun?"

The existential dread vanishes from Arma the instant I tell it to, and that's kind of frightening to me, but we're trying to move on from that so... focus up. "-why would we?" Arma asks, "As I understand it: This is your home."

...it sure wasn't a few objective minutes ago, but alright. "In that case... what can you do?"

Arma smiles slyly, "With a contract like we've made, what can't I do, if it's for you?"

[AN: This ended up being a lot of setup. Why? Because... 1) I wanted to lay out some particularities about demon contracts in this setting and 2) I'm not sure where to go for the 'fun' half of things. BDSM is pretty much not my thing at all, but I don't want to do a fade to black without making any headway at all. To that end, I'm taking viewer suggestions. If no one has any I'll just write something relatively tame, probably, if I don't just do a fade-out.]

[I've created a poll to see what Exit you guys have the most interest in creating a new story-branch from, linked here (the preceding is a strawpoll link: remember to check the destination before clicking a hyperlink everyone.)]