Giselle's statement garnered a wide variety of reactions from the three of them. Henry's own was one of downright bewilderment.

It just felt so… completely out of the blue. Was she just oblivious, or did she actually just not feel like there was any danger? He narrowed his eyes trying to find some trace of a bluff in her expression, but there just wasn't any hint of apprehension or fear in her eyes even after the big reveal.

His thoughts were stuck in a bit of a loop. He'd willingly smuggled a vampire into their midst, with absolutely zero consequences for either of them. Usually when one was discovered to be creeping around that close to normal humans, at least three bystanders were up in arms trying to fend away the monster by now. But, instead… she took it in stride and then some.

Guess we can safely cross out anyone here being 'normal', then...

For his part Henry just felt like an accidental third wheel. In fact, he was getting secondhand embarrassed just watching it all unfold. As the strange moment dragged on for far longer than anyone but Giselle apparently felt comfortable with, Enrico finally reacted to the compliment in the only way he could think of.

"Uh… thank you...?"

"Oh, so you didn't actually have a vow of silence after all," she replied. "Had me worried for a second there."

Enrico blinked. "…And… you're not worried right now?"

"Mm. Not really. If you'd been meaning to try anything, that chair you're sitting on would have pulled you beneath the floor the moment you made a move."

"Ah. Well…"

If that had been meant to be comforting, it clearly hadn't worked. Enrico wasn't able to sweat, but if he had been he'd most likely be doing so by the bucketful. Being under the microscope as he was would be enough to make anyone unnerved, really.

Though, the main culprit for that scrutiny wasn't actually Giselle. That honor went squarely to Dee, whose slight frown and unblinking stare told Henry all he needed to know.

Wingman time, Henry promptly decided. Lord knows I'd want a bailout right about now.

He cleared his throat to interrupt. "As much as I'm glad your first reaction wasn't to point and scream bloody murder the moment you realized, I'd much prefer if we moved on from ogling my guide here. I am trying to mount a rescue, after all."

Dee nodded solemnly. "Yes. That sounds like a great idea."

He replied in a flat tone that lacked his previous enthusiasm. His posture shifted from laid back to serious in short order, leaning forward in his chair slightly while steepling his hands under his chin. The bones in his chair creaked as they subconsciously adjusted to the different sitting position. For the first time, he looked focused.

"So. Business. What exactly did you have in mind to talk about, then?"

Henry breathed a sigh of relief while Enrico used the chance to cover himself back up. He'd been worried that they'd never get to the point on why they'd come here, the way things had been going.

"I'll be brutally honest," he began, "We're looking at a rather nasty situation all around. But, at the end of the day, it all boils down to one problem in particular."

"And that is?"

"The Mad Prince is on the move again. And apparently, he's out for blood."

The statement hung in the air like a sword of Damocles. Both of them understood the danger the first Devil posed to the world at large. He'd undoubtedly been an ugly monstrosity during the Kennel Massacre, but what was equally undeniable was the fact that none of the rest of them held a candle to what that man was capable of. Both physically and mentally. It wasn't just anyone who had their first reaction to an Exotic Domain be mass genocide, after all. That took a special breed of deranged.

Which made what he was about to ask all the more of a stretch.

"Right now, I need to know if you're even willing to be in a position that would stand in direct opposition to him. Even if it's just for a short moment. If you're not… I can say with almost absolute certainty that the Palatial Remnant is as good as dead."

And that was only a slight exaggeration on his part. While he had no intention of giving up on pulling Cecil out even if Dee refused, getting his help would likely be his best chance overall. And it all boiled down to one simple reason.

He technically had more bodies to throw at the problem.

Dee frowned. "Now, I don't know if you've noticed… But neither of us seem the type to be actually capable of taking on the single worst person in all of London right now. I like to think myself as more of a lover than a fighter, you see."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Giselle snorted at the remark. The rest of them very pointedly ignored it, each for their own reasons.

"So, if you want me to help you, you're going to need to give me two things." The bleached musician snapped his fingers, and from the ground at his feet rose a block suspiciously shaped like a desk, which he immediately kicked up his feet on as he began rattling off his conditions.

"First, I'll need assurances. Second, naturally, compensation for my- our time," he corrected his train of thought quickly, as he noticed Giselle pointing at herself and mouthing the amendment. "And last but not least, I want to hear exactly what you have in mind for this whole situation. And I need to like it."

Henry's eyebrow raised just a notch. "That's three things," he pointed out unhelpfully.

"I changed my mind. Happens occasionally, I'm afraid. I've also been told I'm prone to do so without warning… so you better give me an out-of-this-world reason to actively avoid that sort of situation, if this is important to you as you claim it to be."

Dee stared him down with his best, deadest-looking eyes. Now he looked to be playing the role befitting of the name Devil. It was the kind of stare actually befitting of those strong enough to be considered regional threats, the kind most wanted as little to do with as possible for threat of their safety. The kind of stare that had become shockingly common, coming from a bunch that flipped between free spirits and petty empire builders as often as the weather. Unless you stood on relatively equal footing, Henry perfectly understood how it felt to be staring down a power player like him and be immediately reduced to brown-nosing.

Given the current context, however... Henry couldn't help but cheer silently to himself. Dee had just outed himself as a terrible negotiator.

Inside the safety of his own mind, he might as well have been rolling on the floor, laughing. An outside observer might think those demands were a big ask for him, especially since he'd maintained his usual cagey attitude throughout most of the talk. But, for the sort of help he needed, and in comparison to what else he had on hand to offer…

It was cheap. Ridiculously cheap. Dee had lowballed himself with a smug grin on his face, and had no idea what he was missing out on up front. Henry would be sure to sell those back to him later… for extra favors, of course.

"…Very well." he let out a sharp exhale through his mouth, pretending there was more pressure on him than there actually was. "Guess I'll go through those from the top, then."

"Please do." Dee waited patiently for a moment while Henry pretended to squirm in his seat.

"...Right," he finally began. "For starters, I can assure you that this is not intended to be a direct confrontation with that madman, or some half-baked scheme to get rid of him for good or something. Like you said earlier, that's just not feasible, and on that we completely agree. Instead, what I'm looking for is someone who has the capacity to keep him distracted for a good long while."

"So… I was the first one on your list that fit that bill."

Henry shrugged. "What can I say? You just so happened to be in the area, and you're doubly qualified in that regard for both magical and regular talents. I'd be crazy not to ask."

"Uh-huh." He didn't sound very convinced. "So then, tell me, what exactly do you mean when you say 'distraction'?"

"Before we get to that," Henry countered, "How about we talk about the sort of advance payment I can offer to get you both on board?"

Dee was very obviously interested, despite him trying to go quiet in an amateur attempt to hide it. Almost made Henry feel a little guilty, honestly. He was so used to dealing with sharks like Guillaume that he could probably run circles around this guy any day of the week, at least when it came to hammering out a favorable outcome for himself.

Which it makes it all the more important that I don't try to rob him blind here, either...

He was still very much not the one with the bigger stick if things broke down, and both of them knew it. A skeleton army at beck and call very clearly favored Dee in a one-on-one situation, so rather than make that a possibility, he played to his own strengths instead, and offered up the one kind of bribe that held any value around here.

From his pocket, he withdrew an unassuming-looking fingerless glove. One that he'd ended up inadvertently holding onto for safekeeping, after the brief scare in the Knights' holding cells.

"Try this on for size," he insisted. "It looks like it might suit you, and I imagine you'll enjoy the other advantages, too."

"Other advantages?"

"Go ahead. I'll tell you how it works once you put it on."

Dee pinched the corner and held it up to his face between his forefinger and thumb. Tilting his head this way and that, he observed the accessory from every angle, trying to puzzle out just what was so special about it before he risked trying it on. Seemingly satisfied that it wasn't about to bite him or something, he slipped it on over his slightly less adorned left hand, flexing his fingers slightly to test the range of motion they offered.

"How's it fit?" Henry asked.

"Do you really want an answer to that?"

"The question was rhetorical."

"So was mine. Now, what does this thing do, anyway?"

He pointed over Dee's shoulder at the electric guitar currently propped up against an amplifier. "Try using that hand to pick up your guitar over there, but don't actually get up to do it. Just go through the motion, like you're too lazy to get off the couch and do it yourself."

A look of slight disbelief crossed Dee's face as he listened to his words. In the 'I'm calling bullshit' sense, rather than the 'I didn't think that was possible' one.

There was good reason for that, Henry understood. Many an enchanted product over the years had alluded to letting normal civilians tap into the infinitesimally rare powers of the Law Domain. Things like anti-gravity shoes, a bunch of designs for perpetual motion machines, and, you guessed it, a glove that pulled objects to your open hand. There'd been an uncanny regularity to the frequency in which they'd shown up, to the point where more than a few betting pools had been popularized on the subject over the years. By all accounts, this was a dead reckoning for those very same scammy products.

The key difference here, naturally, was that this one worked.

With a slight jerk, the guitar did, in fact, sail through the air into his waiting hand like advertised. He caught it by the neck, staring flabbergasted down at the guitar, then back at the glove, then down at the guitar again. Then back at the glove again, because apparently he'd now shifted back to the other sense of disbelief.

"Where'd you even get something like this?!" A faint tremor of awe was present in his voice that didn't get fully masked. "This is… cool!"

"Curse zone," Henry responded casually like it was no big deal. "I know a few places, and a few people. We swing through them semi-regularly and take what's worth taking. And believe me, there'll be plenty of chances to pick Walworth clean while we get prepared to pull the Mad Prince's quarry out from right under his nose. Plenty more chances."

Even Giselle was taking an interest in the new toy. He had to imagine this offer interested her just as much as it did Dee. That played double in his favor, given the dynamic between the two of them. From what he could tell so far, she was depending on him for protection from the dangers of the night, while he depended on her for emotional companionship. It was a bit lopsided, but it meant that if she wanted what he had to offer... then Dee's acceptance was only a matter of time.

Best not leave them salivating for too long.

"Now, that brings us to the job in question. Do well on it, and there might even be a chance for repeat business and perhaps a longer-term arrangement on top. Granted, I'll still pay you no matter what, but it would be a shame to miss out on that."

"…Tell me what you need me to do," Dee borderline demanded of him.

Henry grinned. He had them.

"Simple," he replied. "All you have to do is send enough skeletons into his webs to force his attention elsewhere, when the time comes. Though, if you have some ideas of your own on how to improve on that general concept… I wouldn't be opposed to hear your suggestions."

The other Devil shared a look with Giselle, who gave an ever-so-faint smile back.

"…I might have a few ideas," he replied.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.