bakerstreet | Too bad nobody loves you

Tche, yeah.

[Uggghhhhh right, it's a little annoying having to do this. He doesn't consider himself a singer at all, but he studied music in school and the very first spell he cast was a hymn. He can do this.

He draws in a deep breath and sings a few bars of the song he found on his phone. He's pretty good! He's definitely not tone deaf, at least. When he finishes he looks over expectantly.]

Well?

...It will do.

[It sounds good. Pleasant, warmly so, and certainly worthy of stealing.] Very well, then. I'll take your singing ability, in exchange for magic, and healing magic that should kick in as soon as the haemorrhaging starts. I'll come and collect in a week, once I've researched healing magic a little more and found the solution.

[Time to make good on signing up, at least. Azul whips a golden scroll out of thin air, and as a fish skeleton quill appears to write down the terms and conditions of their contract, he chants:] The song ceases, the sun sets. I extend my benevolent hand to you poor, unfortunate souls. Now, to business! It’s a Deal.

All you have to do is sign.

[He honestly wasn't sure if his singing was going to be good enough, so it's a relief to hear that it is. Accelerator does his best to keep a straight face though there's a bit of that relief in his eyes as he nods firmly.]

Alright.

[He reaches carefully for the pen. This isn't like when he had made a contract with Qliphah. She had been in a broken state, injured by the fight with Aleister and abandoned by Coronzon for failing to kill him. He'd pulled her out of that situation and given her a better life in exchange for magical knowledge.

This is different. Instead of being the one to offer someone desperate a contract, he's the desperate one here. But it's worth it if it means keeping the kids in his city safe.

He signs the contract.]

[As soon as Accelerator's finished signing his voice away, a dark tentacle, barely tangible, lashes out from Azul and into his mark's chest. Gotta steal that singing voice somehow, after all! Now, should Accelerator ever go to karaoke, he'll sound like he's just chugged broken glass.]

Good choice. A week from now, no later. Perhaps earlier, if we're lucky. I'll see you then. And-- if you're worried about me holding to my end of the deal, the contract applies to me too. You'll get your ability to sing back if I fail to uphold the outlined terms and conditions, so no harm, no foul.

[The scroll rolls up into itself with a snap, and Azul stows it away in his coat with a satisfied little hum. Time to hold his hand out expectantly, shit-eating grin on his face all the while.] See you then?

[That tentacle is creepy as hell and even if it's faint, Accelerator's reflexive response is for his free hand to fly up to his choker. He holds off on activating his esper power though - as physically invasive as this is, it's just part of the contract, so he needs to chill out.

Still, he grumbles a bit as he slowly lowers his hand.]

Yeah, yeah. [Accelerator meets that grin with his own glare. He's feeling less sure of this by the second, and he's trying hard not to show it as he looks down at Azul's hand.

There's a beat as he struggles with being mature, or being rude. In the end he opts for the former, grabbing Azul's hand to shake roughly.] You'd better not disappoint me. I'll be pissed if you do.

I understand; I've promised quite a lot, after all. However, as I said; if I fail to deliver, then all that you've lost will be returned to you in perfect condition. You may not even realise, so feel free to test that out by singing if the week runs out.

I do take pride in my client satisfaction, however.

[A little roughness is fine; he's used to getting manhandled and manhandling in turn, after all.]

In fact, I'm so confident that things will be resolved, one way or another, to your satisfaction...That I'll even give you my business card. You can come and find me yourself, should you find anything that displeases you within our deal. [Of course Azul has Mostro Lounge cards printed out. Of course he does. They're embossed, on good card stock and everything.] Sage's Island, Night Raven Academy. Ask for the housewarden of Octavinelle; that's me.

[Why does this seem like a legitimately good deal? Azul did say he's changed, but this also feels like one of those 'deals that's too good to be true' kind of situations.

He releases Azul's hand, keeping his own stuck out to take a business card. Might as well get it, just in case.]

Fine, I'll take one. What happens if one of us breaks the contract? [If that can even be done? He's broken a magical contract before, but there's no guarantee the same trick would work here. He's hoping it wouldn't be necessary to find out, anyways.]

If you break it, I keep your singing talent whether I've delivered on my end or not. That's what collateral is for, after all. And normally I'd get to have you working for the Lounge until I decide to release you, but you've got me in a good mood right now, so I changed that to a week of indentured servitude instead. After all, even a week seems like it would be too long to have you out of commission for, doesn't it?

If I break it, you get your singing voice back. [He smiles warmly, tips his gay little fedora.] ...You should really read your contracts better if you expect more out of me. I need to profit somehow.

.... Even a week would be too long.... [He's grumbling that under his breath. One week is infinitely better than "until I decide to release you" (what the fuck, Azul) but it still isn't great, and he doesn't want to test the limits of that condition, so he'll keep this in mind and do his damnedest to live up to his end of the bargain.]

I was just checking. It's fine, I don't see any good reason for either of us to break the contract, so I'm not worried about it not working out.

Exactly. It serves as a punishment for trying to wriggle free and screw me over.

[Not so warm now, that smile.]

You just need to behave yourself, and be patient. That's not so hard, is it? I believe in your restraint, besides. And I really hate breaking contracts, so I fully intend on delivering. Bad for my reputation if I fall short, after all.

['Behave himself.' Okay, thanks to everything Azul has said he's officially unnerved. This guy is sounding like he's still got some control issues, even if he's been working on that.]

I've gotten some practice with being patient. Not so much with that first one. [He's an asshole and a monster, the very antithesis of someone who can behave.] I'll do what I can.

[He'll do his damnedest to not screw up.]

Good boy. [You are barely a year older than him, Azul. Please.] Perhaps I should reframe it as less 'behaving yourself' and more 'not compromising me or our contract'. Does that sound more achievable?

Either way, you simply do or you don't. You know the outcomes either way. That's all there is to it.

[Accelerator's eye just. Twitches. Somehow Azul is making himself sound slightly more reasonable while still making it seem like he's talking to his pet dog, that is equal parts worrying and impressive.]

Yeah, you're right. I know what I've gotten into, I'll fucking deal with it.

[Ah yes, he has that effect on people. The Insufferable Little Shit effect, even when he's trying to kind of nearly reform...Tragic.

Not really. I digress.] Marvellous. Then I'll see you either in a week, or earlier should you wish to discuss further. Do take care until then, won't you?

[Time to tip his hat a little, still insufferably insufferable and smug, before trotting off. Twirling his gay little cane all the while. Maybe even whistling. Oh, there's little better than a decent deal. What does Azul need cosmic magic for anyway?]

Too bad nobody loves you

UNLOVEABLE

apparently Floyd and Accelerator have the same VA lol

oh my god do they. not the voice of his boywife...azul's in for it now

rip azul lol at least Nobuhiko has a great voice

this is very true. the man has a type but by golly does he also have a voice on him

he does also I read the TW Octavinelle manga oh my god OH MY GOD BB!AZULLLLLLLLLLLLL

oh no I'M SO SORRY isn't he cute though. isn't he just the squidgiest thing you ever saw!!!

he's absolutely precious just the cutest lil guy

a pity he grew up into whatever the hell's going on now. (also why is accelerator also a cute kid a)

Accel 🤝 Azul: cute kids growing up to be total messes

i blame society for this disaster. they could've been so cute and kind but no. society!!!

it's absolutely society's fault

they could be SOOOOO normal. can you even imagine. (i actually can't RIP to these twinks)

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