trade my soul for a wish

[from_scratch]

This is a successor to "call me maybe", which is getting crowded.

Cam is dipping a grilled cheese sandwich into a bowl of tomato soup when he feels the summons. He goes ahead and grabs it. Doesn't even drop the sandwich.


with Mark (kappa)

with Adanya (Aestrix)

with Sable (kappa)

with Ari (andaisq)

with Metella (kappa)

with Miles (kappa)

with Isabella (Eva)

with Steel (Rockeye)

with Daphne (Maggie)

with Edie (Maggie)

Comments

[thisvorlunatic]

He arrives inside a meticulously drawn circle in what looks like charcoal pencil on a large wooden square, with a slightly unusual binding - it's missing the gag, for one thing, and has no stipulations about following applicable laws, and is aggressively non-daeva-type-dependent yet admirably well-specified. He is outdoors, by the shore of a beautiful lake, on an overcast day with a slight cool breeze ruffling the treetops. There is a roughly bathtub-sized open metal crate next to the circle, and a short fellow leaning against the crate.

"Hello," the summoner says pleasantly.

[from_scratch]

"Hi! You're friendly for a demon-summoner. What can I do for you?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"I would like you to fill this container with two hundred thousand zorkmids; they're a particular type of gold coin," he says. "In return I can tell you the names of some nice songs I promise you've never heard."

[from_scratch]

"How many is some?" asks Cam, wagging his tail.

[thisvorlunatic]

"...that's adorable," says the summoner. "How does five sound?"

[from_scratch]

"Five songs. Okay, so you're just friendly, not generous. Eh. Can't be too picky. Sure."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Might be more if I hadn't been warned against writing the list down ahead of time. All right, it's a deal."

[from_scratch]

"It would be a little tricky to get your written list if all I knew was that you might have one composed and you didn't tell me the title of the list," remarks Cam, stepping out of the circle towards the container. It begins to fill with zorkmids.

[thisvorlunatic]

The summoner shrugs. He produces a fountain pen and a scrap of what almost looks like homemade paper, and starts writing:

Cinnamon Roses
After Fire
Maidensgrace
Another Century
Silver Rain

by Ash and Stars

This he then offers to Cam. "What's your name, by the way?"

[from_scratch]

"Cam." Cam takes and pockets the slip of paper. The zorkmids cease to appear.

[thisvorlunatic]

"I'm Miles. Nice to meet you. Mind if I call on you again with further business?"

[from_scratch]

"Not at all, but I will abandon you if someone starts calling me up offering libraries in exchange for terraforming Mars."

[thisvorlunatic]

...Miles grins.

"No comment."

[from_scratch]

Wag, wag.

[thisvorlunatic]

"See you later," Miles says cheerfully. Dismissal takes effect shortly afterward.

[from_scratch]

Cam queues up his new music, and adds the titles and band to his submission to his demonic library so that others may benefit.

The music is... weird. Instrumental, pretty, weird. He produces sheet music for it and the notation is very strange. There's a violin part, though. After he's listened to all five songs he starts trying to learn the violin part for Another Century. It doesn't sound right. The notation is really weird. He can't figure out what clef it's in or what some of these symbols between the notes mean. He can play the part more or less by ear if he tries, but connecting it to the notation seems like it might be a longer-term project.

[thisvorlunatic]

About a day later, Miles summons him again.

Same lake, same trees, same overcast weather. But this time there are three empty crates.

[from_scratch]

Wag wag wag wag. "Hi. More zorkmids? What are they for, anyway?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"Mysterious purposes. Mysterious purposes that consume large quantities of foamed gold coins in a surprisingly short amount of time," says Miles. "How'd you like Ash and Stars?"

[from_scratch]

Wag wag wag. "They're great, though I hope you have other bands to pay with today."

[thisvorlunatic]

"...Because you're fond of variety, or...?"

[from_scratch]

"Variety's very important."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I do have more Ash and Stars, among other things, but I can leave them out if they would be redundant."

[from_scratch]

"I liked 'em so I collected their discography."

[thisvorlunatic]

Miles sighs.

"I bet that was enlightening."