Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Go Ahead and Sign The Scroll [Private 1x1]

Bo looked up. "Well.. I suppose I have one topic I could talk about." Bo said calmly. "What's it like, in your world? The people, the scenery?" Bo asked, "I know about the planar turtles and stuff, but I want to know about other stuff." He smiled a bit, before nibbling back onto the breakfast.

Bo wanted to know more about Othello, because it wasn't everyday you were saved by a demon from a world not of your own and cared for by said demon due to a contract. It was obvious why someone like Bo would be so curious, especially being a boy who stayed inside most of the time, and was waited on by a nanny most of his years. Bo wanted to gain more knowledge, even if it was of Chinvat, and not the usual learnings of a human being such as math, or science, or history, or whatever else.

"Asking what Chinvat is like is akin to asking what your world is like," Othello remarked. He nibbled on his eggs and sighed. Rubbery and underseasoned. "It is a world like this with continents, countries, cultures, and climates. In those ways it is identical to here. In many other ways, it could not be more different. On Chinvan, the poles are the places of heat and deserts, and the equator is like a belt of ice. It is the reverse of how I understand this world operates."

Bo listened with a curious smile on his face. "That's so interesting.. It is so different, but so alike." Bo said, before sticking the fork of food in his mouth.

After swallowing it, he spoke up. "Do demons have jobs like humans do? Other than, contract making." Bo blinked, "Which I know of." Bo nervously laughed.

"My dad used to work for a electronics company, I think." Bo added, "He would sometimes bring back prototypes of smartphones to test, and the ringtones would always startle me. Because they are so loud and sudden."

"Of course I do. While contracts are the most lucrative career in Chinvat, most cannot make enough of a living off of contracts alone. Some do, but not all, and since it is possible to be randomly selected without a choice, all businesses have adapted to learn to do without an employee here and there." Othello took a sip of tea. Terrible. So weak. So old-tasting. Like leaf water. "I work as an interlocutionary representative. I am quite advanced in the team, as well, but now is not a busy season for us."

Bo didn't know what a interlocutionary representative was, but he nodded to acknowledge it anyway. "Chinvat is so interesting.." Bo said, glancing up at the ceiling for a moment, seeming to be daydreaming of what Chinvat was like. "What do the kids like me do? Do they have to go to school or study too?" Bo asked, looking away from the ceiling and back at Othello.

"I have no idea," Othello sighed, setting the cup aside. "I do not have much experience with children of my own kind, and you are the first child I have met directly. I have observed some Gaian children from a distance, but never this up-close and personal." He pursed his lips in thought. "I suppose things are similar there and here, but where I am from, if a demon does not willingly answer a contractual summons, one is chosen at random. Thus, children must learn from a young age how to fend for themselves, and fellow demons will look after them to ensure they continue living. They attend schooling, and I suppose they play and whatnot. Get into trouble and make messes. Loudness is a constant state of being." He ran out of things to say. He had never intended to become a family man, and therefore children were nuisances to be avoided. He supposed he shouldn't say that to Bo.

"They sound quite similar to Gaian children, in some ways." Bo smiled a bit and continued eating.

Bo stopped for a moment, then glanced up. "What were you like when you were a kid, if I may know?"

"Me?  That was a good eighty-seven years ago," Othello mused.  He set his fork down and leaned back.  "Hmm.  I was a regular child, I believe.  We had school every day for five hours save for one day each week.  On our days off, I would join my friends in games.  My favorite game to play was one involving hopping over the lava flows in the rivers.  I lived far north where the climate was far warmer and dry, and the lave flowed down from even farther north in the mountains.  We were not supposed to play in the streams, of course, but we did anyway. We would also dare each other to touch the grindersnort and catch hognoses.  Eventually, I discovered books as a good way to have fun without burning my feet or risking my fingers and life, and I settled down from there.  I became quite boring by the time I was fourteen or so."

Bo giggled at the playing in the streams and the daring each other to touch the creatures of Chinvat.

"I don't think you're boring now, Othello." Bo spoke up with a soft smile, "You have such amazing magic, power stuff, and, and you have so many interesting stories to tell me about Chinvat." Bo said warmly.

"Back when I was in school, before I was taken out of it thanks to the bullies that were being mean.. I had two friends, one that had moved here from India who had so many cool trinkets to show me, and one that had cute freckles and the most curliest hair I have ever seen. We would exchanged notes to each other in class, that is, until the teachers caught us." Bo laughed, but then frowned a little. "I kind of miss them, but oh well." Bo shrugged, a sad smile replacing the frown he just had. "I wonder how they are doing nowadays?" Bo wondered.

Bo then pushed his dish aside, as he had finished his food, and drank the last of his drink, before setting that aside too.

"Did you not stay in touch with them?" Othello frowned as he stood and started cleaning off the table. "There is no reason why you cannot meet them for games."

The child's parents removed him from a situation where he was being threatened, that was understandable, but they took him from the societally acceptable way to socialize and culturize the feral beasts that were "children," and then isolated him from what sounded like all friends and kept him indoors. How was that healthy? How was that not just as abusive as keeping in a dangerous situation? Was this normal for human children? His lips thinned slightly in the severe judgment of the childless from a completely different culture.

He'd just taken everything into the kitchen when the doorbell rang. "Ah. That will be the house keeper. If you will stay back for a few moments, please, I will ensure they are not some sort of demonic creature. Then you may meet them."

Bo frowned a bit. "No, I didn't. I forgot to ask for anything I could connect them with. And I felt too shy to ask mum and dad to bring me back to the school to ask them."

"I kind of regret not asking now, I hope my friends didn't forget about me." Bo leaned on the table a bit, watching as Othello cleaned the table off.

The doorbell rang, making Bo snap out of his little, sad spell, and glance up. Bo nodded okay at Othello with a small smile, then attempted to quietly get himself to stop thinking sad thoughts.

Othello finished putting everything down and washed his hands. Then, calmly and stately, he walked to the front door and opened it. "Yes?"

The young woman standing on the steps was a vision in black. She held a lacey black parasol over her shoulder, and her sleeves were black lace that hung down several inches past her hands. Her black dress ended just below her knees with more lace, and a small corset laced up around her middle. She peered out at Othello from under straight black bangs, her hair hanging to her shoulders. Thick white makeup covered her face except for the dark makeup around her eyes.

"I'm looking for Othello Nessuno?" she asked in a gloomy voice.

Othello studied her seriously for a moment before stepping back and opening the door further. "Yes. You have arrived at the correct place. Please enter."

She stepped inside. She wasn't short, but her black platform heels added even more height. "This is a good space you have here, but I sense great trouble," she said, her tone still gloomy. "No one has cared for this place in decades. It will be much work to restore it to its former self."

"I am sure," Othello said, unimpressed. "Come sit in the parlour, and we shall discuss the parameters of the job.

Bo wandered out of the kitchen, in the foyer, and if Othello and the housecleaner was looking, could see Bo walk by, not even noticing them. He was humming a little tune, something he made up on his own, and he went into the room just before the parlour. Bo opened one of the windows curtains in the room he had entered and sat down to watch through it, seeing a few birds chirping and pecking at the ground. There were a lot of birds around this area, and it made sense, because of the lovely plants and trees surrounding the house.

The conversation between Othello and the potential house cleaner didn't last too long. They established the basic house rules, her working hours, wages, and work parameters. When they finished, they stepped out into the hallway, and Othello called for Bo to join them.

"This is Boucemissaire. You may call him Bo. He will need some guidance in his schoolwork, as discussed, but he handles most of it on his own," Othello told her gravely. "Bo, this is Belladonna. She will be cleaning the house, cooking one meal, and aiding in some schoolwork five days of the week."

Belladonna looked down at Bo and waved her hand as if encompassing his face. "You are troubled by my presence. Do not worry, child. All will be well."

Bo was called into the hallway, and walked in, only to slow his steps upon seeing Belladonna.
He looked her up and down, he found her very interesting and pretty, but also unsettling and eerie in a way, he just couldn't pinpoint it. But he ignored it for now. "Hello, Belladonna. It's nice to meet you.."

"I hope we'll get along well." Bo added, tugging gently at the end of his shirt as he spoke, putting on a smile.

"I doubt it. That rarely happens that a child of the light and one of the dark can truly ever be together however they may dream," she sighed. "However, I am sure we can achieve our mutual goal of maintaining peace and prosperity in this house without much trouble. If I may see the tools I shall be working with?"

"I believe there is a cleaning closet, uh, this way," Othello said, guiding her to the closet. "I am not certain what is actually in there, but if you tell me what you need, I shall pay you to procure it."

"Of course," she said, opening the door to explore.

Othello took a few steps back to give her space to look and raised a brow at Bo.

Bo found himself a bit confused with the child of the light and one of the dark comment, but didn't ask.

He watched Othello guide Belladonna to the cleaning closet, and then watched as she explored it.

Bo glanced up at Othello and raised a brow too. He glanced around before standing on his tiptoes and whispering into Othello's ear the best he could (since he was shorter than Othello). "What does she mean by.. Child of the light and one of the dark?" Bo asked Othello.

Othello bent down to hear Bo's whisper and replied quietly, "She is being dramatic. It does not really matter, but I will explain more later if you are still curious." He watched Belladonna sail down the hallway to continue looking around the house. "Any further thoughts on her?"

Bo listened, then replied to the further thoughts comment. "Well, she is interesting. I've never seen someone dress like her before. But I don't dislike it, I respect her style choices." Bo warmly said. "Though, I'll admit, she speaks even more confusing than you do sometimes to me." Bo added, an awkward smile on his face.

He was confusing? How could he possibly be confusing? He only ever spoke as plainly as possible while attempting to illuminate the boy on certain questions. Othello gave a quiet sigh but moved on. "She seemed the type to potentially be more tolerant of certain facts she may discover. I am feeling less assured now than I was before, but we shall see how this plays out."

Belladonna glided back toward them. "I think this is an acceptable job. Shall I begin today?"

Othello inclined his head. "Yes. Please proceed how you feel best to do so."

"I shall begin with the top as the sun is high and follow it down to its slumber in the basement," she stated and started looking for the stairs.