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Devils Temptation
Super-Earth
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2021
"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not;
remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for,"
~ Epicurus
Insatiable.
A word with an explicitly negative connotation. To pursue desire that, ultimately, were unnecessary for a person's happiness... but who was the one to make that distinction? At what point did ambition sour into greed and at what point would attaining enough truly be satisfactory? Who decided that? God? A person's mind? Or perhaps it was the environment they were placed into that made those decisions? There was a simple truth to the matter that everyone must face - humans are inherently greedy. It is baked into their existence, much as a bird yearns for the sky for no other reason than it is made to. Everyone in this world has something they crave... something that, given the opportunity and conditions aligned, they would immediately lurch towards. Society prevents runaway greed in that capacity. Rules, laws, regulations, stipulations... restraints, restraints, restraints...
What about you?
Don't worry.
I won't tell on you...
Is there someone you love but you cannot reach because it is wrong?
Do you have someone you desperately wish you could hurt but you cannot because the world makes it wrong?
Perhaps... there is something you wish to possess but you cannot grant it to yourself, whether it is through lacking money or time?
You aren't a bad person for having these thoughts. Everyone and I mean everyone has them... there are those who admit it and then there are the liars of this world. I much prefer people who are honest with what they truly want - after all, some of the more farfetched wishes will never come true so what is the harm in thinking about them on occasion...?
Or... what if I told you... they don't need to be mere dreams?
With a city that sprawling, there was bound to be those hidden little spots tucked down hidden roads or alleyways... some that were held up solely on the patronage of niche clientele. Bars, restaurants, shops - but there was one establishment that had none of that. Not a singular hidden spot to find it at, not a reliable clientele, the pull of that place had been something far more basic. An offer of goods that no other place in the entirety of that city, or that planet, could replicate. It was precisely that place that the woman would've encountered on her stumble down the alleyway - maybe on the precipice of a particularly terrible day that needed to be drunk away to the bottom of a bottle... or just someone to whine to about the unfairness of the world. In bright, bold RED letters above an entry way neatly carved into the brick wall, there it was -
Umbra Noir
Faint, red hue leaked out the glass display besides the establishment, revealing neatly lined bottles of spirits and liquor. A bar. The red hue might've indicated something a little more unsavory like a strip club but nothing about the few glances inside seemed to indicate anything like that. Rather, it had a much more eloquent vibe to it with smooth black countertops and a more rustic set of seats. A standard bar, perhaps, located in some odd little corridor of the city. Entering the door would have a faint chime ringing through the establishment... it was empty? No other customers seemed to be around nor was there anyone manning the front counter. The lights had still been on and there was the faint chill of running air conditioning to indicate that everything was still on. No TV screens were mounted anywhere nor was there anything but booths in that particular bar, not even a pool table. They could have been in the process of packing up for the night...
...but before she could hurry back out a voice would have called out to her.
"Come in, miss. What can I get you?" Sitting on a stool not too far from where the woman had entered was a man dressed in a vest and a white dress shirt. Combed brown hair and between his index finger and middle finger there was a single dart that had the tip painted in a crimson hue.
One smooth toss of the dart had it sticking all the way over into a board that was positioned right besides the back door of the bar. "Hm... not a bad throw. It could have been better, though. I find people start to think retrospectively quite a bit when presented with what could be. Don't you think so too?" Shaking his head with an exasperated sigh, he would hop off the stool and made his way to the back of the counter to kneel and grab a glass. Filling it to the top with some water, he would pass it to the woman with a polite smile. Something about the way he grinned was oddly... comforting but likewise unnerving. "Please enjoy while you mull it over. How has your day gone, miss?" Polishing off a few other glasses despite there not being anyone else to serve, he kept his hands active while pressing his back to the counter and staring at the selection of liquors on the shelf in front of him.
One fingertip would tap over a few of the bottles before finally deciding on one. An amber-hued whiskey with a nondescript label which he would pour into a lavish glass. Carved orb of ice sat perfectly within the center of it - was that one on the house? No. It wasn't even for her. Grabbing the glass himself, he brought it to his lips. Drinking on the job... one of the most biggest cardinal sins of any bartender.
"Umbra Noir is a fairly strange place, to put it politely." He also spoke a lot... most people would have gone quiet waiting for an order or given the woman some space to think it over but he already had a comment or two to slide her way. Glancing over his shoulder, red eyes would meet her own finally. It was the first time they had made eye contact with each other. Staring into his gaze was... difficult. Difficult but hard to pull away from. It felt simultaneously wrong but so sinfully addictive. "On paper we are certainly a bar but we do offer quite a few other services!" Wonderful... she really had stepped into some suspicious place now. The bartender cheerfully chimed out, holding up an index finger and sliding a menu in front of her finally.
Not of any alcohol offerings. That menu was already on the wall right besides the bottles. The one that was presented to her was a... contract? What the hell was this? The details of it were jotted down on eye-catching red ink with a box for a signature at the bottom. Rather than the long, monotonous legal contracts of most binding agreements in the modern world, this one was very simple.
Contract with The Devil
In return for sacrificing something of equal value, the signer may substitute it with anything else they so desire granted they understand the stipulation that there is NO returning from this deal once it has been made. Do you agree with these terms and do you wish to partake in this deal?
"Most people that come in here, miss, these two boxes are already filled in..." Tapping onto the two blank boxes, one that showed what the signer was losing and one that showed what they were gaining, the 'man' would let out another amused smirk. "...but yet here you are without a completed contract. How rare... and delightful!" Clapping a few times as if it was impressive the clearly crazy(?) man would snap his fingers and all at once the front door would snap shut and the lights around the woman would start to dim in a supernatural manner. Not as if the lights in the bar were going off but as if her vision was focusing in on only the bar, the man, the drinks behind him... all of it seemed to vanish aside from those few things. An island of darkness would surround the two of them and it would feel like if she took a step away from that bar counter she would have fallen into the void and darkness below.
"...I find gentlemen that force themselves upon women to be rather brutish! This bar can be whatever you like. A place to drink, a place to talk... a place to make a deal to change your life. Or nothing at all - you can so choose to get up and walk out that door. I will not stop you. I am merely here for one and one sole reason and that is for people like you to act upon your desires." Nothing more, nothing less.
There was nothing that was more sinful than a humans own base urges for their desires. It needed no encouragement, it needed no push. It existed regardless of how kind or pure a person was.
It was utterly and completely unavoidable.
He did not rush her, merely gestured to the drink menu once more as well as a dinner menu that had fairly standard bar-restaurant food for her to choose from. Or, the mother rational option to... just run out of there as soon as she possibly could. The man made no attempt to stop her, instead just focusing on polishing his glass and remaining silent for the time being. It almost felt a little too quiet without the man's constant chatter...
@Passion
