"You have no claim over my body, Thing." Place turned away from the grin, back to staring at the ceiling.
"Not yet, I don't, but you can be sure of what the future holds for us."
Place snorted in response, and a moment passed in silence.
"Tch." He broke the quiet. "What do you want?"
"You know why I am here."
"And you know that that's not what I meant."
"Ohohoho! Whatever do you mean?" Evident by its tone, the being behind the voice was enjoying the frustration it was causing.
"Hng." Place wanted to curse at the Thing, but he kept himself in check.
"Well? I can't read your mind, you know?" The voice teased, but the words it spoke caused a pair of eyes to snap towards it. The grin had grown much bigger, it was now at least three times the size it was before.
"Really now?" Place narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"Want me to swear an oath?" The grin stretched even more, it would look like the work of a demon if placed on a man's face.
Place did not answer that question.
"Like I hinted the last time we had this talk, and the time before that, you are not yet worthy to know."
"Worthy..." He thought for a moment. "What defines worth?"
The grin started to shrink as a figure started to materialize around it.
"A question you must have asked yourself so many times... In this case, I am the one deciding your worth."
"Setting the fun aside for now, shall we talk business?"
The figure that manifested was formed from blue light. It had a completely humanoid appearance, except for the part where it had no features, except for the grin, which fit into where a normal person's mouth would be.
Place started to sit up, the carpet under him had a wet mark, water had seeped from his clothes into it.
"Or do you need a bit mo-"
*Knock-knock*
A knocking sound interrupted its words, making it pause as it turned what passed as its face to the door.
"Young s-ahem, Young sir? Miss Othmeen sent me with some clothes for you." A young woman's voice called out, with a clear undertone of hesitation in it
Place did not recognize the voice. 'One of the new hires? That's strange.'
The newer hires weren't supposed to interact with the family until they had acclimated to their presence. They were usually too nervous, and that made mother feel like she was a cruel employer.
He stood up and smoothed out his shirt.
"Come in." The Thing started to fade away.
"Yes sir, I'm coming in." There was a shake in her voice. Fear? That made little sense, as far as he knew, there was no reason for a newly hired servant to be afraid of him.
The door swung open, and a young woman entered carrying a pile of clothes. She was staring at the floor.
She took a few steps in and stopped in place, looking unsure.
Place frowned. She wasn't in the black uniform for new hires, but the brown ones, for normal servants.
"What is your name?" He asked, wondering how she passed the tests if she was this unsettled.
She visibly startled and snapped her eyes towards him, before looking away just as quickly.
"My name? Vanthi sir, My name is Vanthi." She swallowed and started to fidget.
A flash of memory streaked through Place's mind.
"Vanthi... From the hunting village to the south-east, correct?"
Vanthi's arms trembled, and he was pretty sure that she had just taken a sharp breath.
"That... That's correct, young sir." She swallowed again, in the middle of her sentence.
'Why is she so scared?' Place wondered for a moment, before deciding to have a talk with Othmeen sometime about this matter, he had more important things to do at the moment.
"Place the clothes down and leave."
"Yes, sir."
She promptly placed the clothes on the carpet, and immediately made to leave.
Place let out a snort in laughter as she closed the door.
She had taken his words a bit too literally, and the fact that she had even asked him if he needed anything else showed that she had not been trained well, or that her fear had overridden her training, which was a whole different cat's tail to pull.
'Another question for Othmeen.'
Place sorted through the pile, looking for something to catch his eye.
"Shall we return to our discussion?" The voice returned before its bearer, who started to manifest a moment later.
"Can't it wait until I'm dressed?" Place, now in a good mood, had a small smile as he changed his clothes.
"I can also come back next year, if that's fine." The Thing rebuffed, the grin as still as ever.
Place just hummed as he put on his belt.
"So, do you want me to repeat the details of the deal? Or do remember them clearly?"
"A refresher would be nice." He turned to face the Thing.
The grin disappeared, becoming a 'normal' mouth.
"Always a wise choice when you don't have perfect memory, a wise choice even with it." It was now moving like a normal mouth as well... Almost like a normal mouth, there was a strange delay in between its movements and the voice that sounded in Place's ears. A very, very small delay, but enough to give it a feeling of 'fakeness'.
All of the frivolity and teasing had also vanished from the voice. Now it spoke in a serious tone, declaring that now was the time for serious business.
"Very well, I shall recite the terms we had last time we talked."