Is the contract worth the price?

kurochi-akuma • 7 July 2013 at 11:33 AM

@ems

Yes, but it depends on how severely they were infected with the virus. Some who weren't /too/ infected have memories of their human life, but its in pieces. I guess with help from friends it can be pieced together to make them /kinda/ human-like.

@luv

You could make her a human if you want~ We have a lot of contractors. lol

Just edit her forum and then I'll accept~

And yes! We can start if you wish! 😸 @meta_knight_lover told me she would be joining sometime next week with her characters, but we can still start. ;3

luv • 7 July 2013 at 11:46 AM

@kurochi-akuma @marinalily (remember who needs to open the door! xD)
I'll edit that soon. 😊 Here is the post I've been working on. xD I hope it's okay.

Chris stumbled out, mist following him, and he hit the ground hard. He took a few large, raspy breaths, relishing in the feel of breathing real Earth air, for the first time in about a year.

It was almost impossible for him to get back up, but he knew he had to get out of there before they followed him. He dragged himself to his feet and started to sprint. It was funny that he still remembered the way after everything that had happened, but it was like his feet were moving on their own.

Soon enough he was at the door he used to knock on everyday before the incident. He started pounding against at furiously, looking over his shoulder and screaming his name. "CLIVE OPEN UP! CLIVE OPEN THE BLOODY DOOR!" No answer. What if they didn't live here any more? He knew that by now, he had probably been legally pronounced dead, or at the very least missing. Everyone probably thought he was dead, and he would be if nobody opened this door.

"MARIEL! CLIVE! ANYONE! OPEN THE DOOR!" He looked behind him and thought he saw a shadow lurking at the corner. He started screaming in his head, somehow feeling like he could telepathically communicate with his old best friend.

"MARIEL! CLIVE! MARIEL! CLIVE! OPEN UP!" He screamed, desperation creeping into his tone. He knew the shadows couldn't cross the threshold without being invited, but they could easily grab him and drag him back to the Shadowland.

marinalily • 7 July 2013 at 11:54 AM

@kurochi-akuma @ems @dramatic @luv

Mariel was reading quietly, until someone started banging on the door. She sat up straight. That voice... Memories came back to her- of innocent childhood, games, and secret crushes and diaries. And of heartbreak. Surely, he was dead. It was probably someone else.. someone who knew their names. Well, now she was curious. Mariel got up, dog-earing the book and carrying it in one hand, opened the door. In front of her stood a very bedraggled, but still recognizable, Chris. She gasped. "But.. you were missing..."

luv • 7 July 2013 at 12:00 PM

@marinalily
Haha. Mariel's reaction to this is going to be priceless! xD


Chris literally threw himself into Mariel's arms, kicking the door shut behind him. "Oh my gosh." Was all he could say. She wasn't his best friend, Clive was, but he hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry," He said into her hair, "You're just the first human I've seen in about a year, and I could literally kiss you right now." He pulled back, realizing he'd just got dirt all over her.

"I'm sorry. I just never thought I'd see a living, breathing human being again. I would've even hugged a stranger at this point!" He gasped, sitting down against the door, reaching subconsciously for the lock and bolting it.

"Is Clive here?" He asked, looking up at her with his green eyes and blinking a few times, still completely in awe that she was there. Really there. "I just... I can't even believe you're real. I just can't... comprehend." He thought he felt the door move slightly, and bolted away for a second, pointing to it, shaking slightly. "I recommend you don't open that." He said apologetically.

marinalily • 7 July 2013 at 12:33 PM

@kurochi-akuma @ems @dramatic @luv

Mariel blushed, ducking her head so that Chris wouldn't see. He could kiss her right now! And he was hugging her! She couldn't even mind the dirt he had smeared on her- never mind where he even came from. But.. he would've hugged another stranger all the same. Mariel couldn't stop disappointment from coursing through her. She was hopeless. Rearranging her face into a smile, she poked his cheek playfully. "Real enough," she said. "I'll go get Clive." She walked out of the room, bursting through Clive's door. Clive turned around, looked at Mariel, and rose out of his seat with a, "What's going on?" and followed her back towards Chris.

luv • 7 July 2013 at 12:49 PM

@marinalily @kurochi-akuma @ems @dramatic
Chris noticed Mariel was slightly scarlet. "Sorry, did I embarrass you? I just haven't seen another person in so long, I couldn't control myself!" He said, watching her carefully, he didn't want to make her embarrassed or anything. They were friends, and yes, there had been times in the past when he had a crush on her or thought she was pretty, but he didn't want her to think that was why he was doing anything, because he knew she could never like him.

As soon as Clive walked through the door, Chris almost wanted to hug him, but instead he restrained himself, looked at Clive carefully and said the stupidest thing he could have possibly said in the situation. "Hey. 'Sup?" He couldn't think of what else to say, even if that was incredibly lame.

marinalily • 7 July 2013 at 2:24 PM

@kurochi-akuma @ems @dramatic @luv

Clive burst out laughing. "You come back and the first thing you say to me is 'sup'?" He snorted. "Missed you too, Chris." Throwing all pretense of dignity aside, he hugged his friend tightly. Chris was dirty, and something about him was.. different. "Where did you go?" He said quietly.

Mariel watched the two of them, standing aside. Once again, she was the third wheel in the friendship. She sighed inaudably. "I'll go cook whatever we have left," she announced to no one in particular. "I think a meal is well deserved." Leaving the living room where her brother and his best friend was, she proceeded to go around the kitchen, fishing out one of their can of spaghetti, Mariel set up a pot to cook it. Clive had trouble finding jobs, as humans didn't exactly like contractors, so Mariel had to do a lot of work in order to pay their rent and bills. Sometimes though, Clive would come home with new clothes, or maybe a small wad of cash. Mariel didn't question it.

kurochi-akuma • 7 July 2013 at 4:00 PM

@marinalily
@luv
@ems
@dramatic

Sorry for the odd intro. xD
--

In the back streets on an unknown city, the sound of footsteps echoed in the distance. They were soft and barely heard at first, giving the impression that they were far away, but slowly they became louder with each step and soon were fully heard.

A teenage boy, not much older than 17, raced through the back streets in the farthest outskirts of the city where most of the city's residents lived. He was carrying a tan leather bag in his right hand- though it was hardly distinguishable due to the tight ball he had the fabric in. He was panting heavily and his head turned back behind him like he was being chased by something or someone. Sure enough, three other dark figures were a few leg-lengths away from the boy, getting closer by the minute.

"Oh shoot!" The boy managed to yell, turning his head back and running even faster.

He could hear an older guy yell after him, "Hey! Get back here punk!"

"Yea! That's ours and you know it!" Another said soon after.

The boy didn't stop though. He knew it would be bad if he did, so he continued to run, hoping that he could get somewhere safe before he ran out of energy. "I just need...to make it to...my car!" He thought to himself, pushing himself to go even faster, since he could see the dim silhouette of his dad's pick-up truck in the distance.

meta_knight_lover • 7 July 2013 at 6:40 PM

@marinalily
@luv
@ems
@dramatic
@kurochi-akuma

Posting my forum now. If someone would post again so I can add my other character. I'm an NPC mod right Kuro?

Name: Dallas Volden

Gender: Male

Age: 31

Race: Police Officer - Detective - Native American

Appearance: Tanned skin color and slightly wrinkled face. He has dark hair and a gray beard. Eyes are brown. Generally wears a blue dress shirt and red tie with black pants. In the winter though, he has a black coat to go over his dress shirt. There's also a leather watch on his right hand. He can sometimes be seen carrying a briefcase with files to keep organized. He keeps things like his cell phone, keys, and money in his pockets.

Personality: Rather quiet and prefers to observe. He usually lets his partner, Rick Peters, do the talking while he catches anything that might help investigations. He seems to be neutral in matters and doesn't get emotional or aggressive even when contractors are being discussed.

Brief History: He grew up in a small Native American reserve, but moved into the city with his family at 16. His father was previously a police officer and admired by Dallas. However, unlike his father, Dallas wanted to be more involved and studies to be a criminal investigator. With his father now retired and his mother in a nursing home recovering from dementia, he works full time to help support them both. This was around the time the gate incident occured and he became very busy investigating all the problems caused by contractors.

Other: Contract, and he's Rick Peters' partner. XD

kurochi-akuma • 7 July 2013 at 6:45 PM

@meta_knight_lover

Accepted. 😊

EDIT:

Oh. And yes, you're another NPC mod for the players! ^-^

shirochi-tenshi • 7 July 2013 at 6:52 PM

@luv

Also, could you perhaps...be more detailed when describing your human character's past? "Spoiled and bratty" is very vague and kind of...cliched? What happened to make her that way? What does she do now? Etc...etc....

meta_knight_lover • 7 July 2013 at 7:17 PM

@marinalily
@luv
@ems
@dramatic
@kurochi-akuma Got ya.

Second forum.

Name: Violet West

Gender: Female

Age: 27

Race: Contractor - Caucasian

Power: She can disappear and reappear wherever she likes, even in other dimensions. This is why she has become excellent at hiding from the authorities.

Contract: She must make herself vomit

Appearance: Peach skin and long, black hair with blue eyes. She wears casual clothes and likes the color blue and purple. When outside she wears a large white jacket that conceals herself well. When pondering she tends to bite her pointer finger. She carries a small black bag around her shoulder to keep all her items including a silver pistol. Her doll, Amber, has short, blonde hair and pale skin with red eyes. She wears a red top and short, black and wavy skirt. Most of the time she has her hair in short pigtails. In order to find people, Amber must touch the ground with her barefeet, so she does not wear shoes.

Personality: Has a lot of built up anger towards society. She can't help glaring at those she dislikes. She seems like the type of person to laugh at others' misfortune, but really she becomes more irritated at their faults. She believes that contractors are the superior species to humans.

Brief History: She was young when her father left her family. Since her mother was very old, by the time Violet became an adult, her mother passed away. She had to learn to fend for herself on her own, which did not work out. She lived a life of homelessness and went from job to job. She was exposed to the virus though and found a way to make a living through stealing. Her current wherabouts are unknown and the police continually try to catch her with no avail.

Other: Contract, and she has a doll she calls Amber

luv • 8 July 2013 at 10:11 AM

@shirochi-tenshi @kurochi-akuma
I know, I know. She was a doll, and then I had to make her a human so I'm kind of stuck for inspiration. I'll think of something. O.o

kurochi-akuma • 8 July 2013 at 10:29 AM

@luv

No worries, just thought I'd let you know! 😊 You can tell me when its finished and then I'll look over it, no rush~

luv • 9 July 2013 at 1:00 PM

@kurochi-akuma
I've added more. :/ I don't know if it's enough.
@marinalily

Chris shrugged slightly. He honestly couldn't think of what else to say, and when Clive hugged him, he just hugged his friend back with no regrets. All the haunting events he'd gone through were coming back to him, and tears were threatening to spill out of his eyes. He pulled back from Clive after a second, and tried to compose himself. Men don't cry, he thought quickly. He was pretty sure Clive hadn't seen it, but Mariel might have seen him crying. That was embarrassing.

"I... I don't know." That was the honest truth. He'd begun calling it 'The Shadowland' but he honestly didn't know what it was. Chris was snapped back to reality when Mariel said she was going to go cook some food. "Don't." Chris said, standing up and following Mariel into the kitchen, and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to the front room.

He couldn't really explain why, but he couldn't stand to be alone, even if Clive was still there. "I'd rather if we all stayed in one room for a little. I'm sorry, but I haven't seen you guys in about a year, and I might have put you in danger by being here." He knew he had their attention now.

"The place I was in... it was after we went through the gates... I was trying to test my limits, and it backfired. I ended up using my powers about twenty times within ten minutes, just to see how much I could stand. Then this thing... it grabbed me and dragged me to..." He didn't know how to explain, and a shiver ran through him. "I called it the Shadowland. It was an awful place. I... I thought I was going insane. I just sat in the corner of a dark room with my head in my hands, only moving to try and find food and water every day or two." That was probably why he was slightly underfed and scruffy.

"Moving meant they saw you. And when they saw you, they went after you." He shivered again. "I think they followed me. And until I can figure out whether or not you guys are in danger, I don't think any of us should be alone." He looked at Clive when he said it, that childish glow he'd always had in his eyes gone, replaced by dark circles and a haunted look that would probably never go away. "I'm so sorry if they follow me. I didn't know where else to go."

He realized he was still holding Mariel's wrist, and he was probably cutting off her circulation from holding so tightly. He was just overly nervous. "Sorry." He muttered, letting go of her quickly.

marinalily • 9 July 2013 at 9:05 PM

@kurochi-akuma @ems @dramatic @luv @meta_knight_lover

Clive groaned. He himself had never tested his own limits- but rather used them sparingly, only when it was needed to perhaps slip a wallet down his pocket or take an apple or two from a market. "We're already in so much trouble, Chris." He said. "I mean-" he pondered his thoughts. "We both are so, so happy that you're safe, and back into the land of the living. We would rather have this than you missing. It's just that-" he sighed. "It's pretty rough out here too, with the war going on and everything. Plus we need to keep a low profile from policemen. And this apartment is a challenge for us to rent." He looked down, ashamed to be talking about their financial issues. But heck, it was his best friend. None lf that stuff mattered. "You'll be expected to contribute to the house- although I don't think you'll be able to top Mariel on that." He laughed, despite the situation. "If we all stay in this room, I'm afraid we all might end up dying of starvation. Or too much contact with others." He gave a pointed look to his sister's wrist, which looked like it was turning white from the lack of blood. "If you want us all together, I suggest we move to the kitchen. Although," he said. "Sleeping arrangements might be hard."

Mariel tried her best to ignore the tingling that had started at her wrist and had spead up her arms and buzzed along her body. Why on earth did he seem to touch her so much? She sighed. It was never going to happen, she needed to get over it. Fast. Maybe that guy at work that was always shamelessly hitting on her would be a good distraction. After all, he wasn't that bad to look at either. If only she could remember his name... Mariel pulled her wrist up after Chris had released it, wincing at its whiteness. "Uh, it's alright," she said with a smile. "Although my cooking will have to be delayed until I can properly move my fingers." She tentatively curled and uncurled her hands, forming small fists and outstretched fingers.

ems • 9 July 2013 at 9:33 PM

@marinalily @luv @kurochi-akuma I dunno how to start. ;-; @meta_knight_lover @dramatic
--

It wasn't worth it!

Storm shivered in the nippy air. Logs lay in front of her, seemingly forming a fire. She had tried everything except... No! It still wasn't worth it! Her thin jacket hung loosely on, and with a final grmace, she pulled her pocket knife, setting the shining blade in front of her. "... Fine." She mumbled to herself, giving up. It was just too darn cold!

A flame flickered to life in her hand, and Storm lit her logs aflame, putting the fire in her hand out. Without really struggling against her contract as she used to, Storm picked up the knife and held it over her arm, gritting her teeth. She quickly brought the blade down, slicing her arm open with a small cut. She'd been getting better at not making serious wounds. The cuts needed to be deep enough to create scars, but didn't need to be overly large and life-threatining.

Storm pulled out some gaze and her ace bandage, wrapping the cut dully. She was used to it now.

kurochi-akuma • 9 July 2013 at 10:39 PM

@ems - No worries, neither do I. Tee hee! xD
@meta_knight_lover
@luv - Yes, much better. When I move to my side, I'll add that. 😊
@marinalily
--

The black haired boy ran across a back street with no cars, other than the few parked cars along the sidewalk, and slammed against his truck, barely able to catch his breath. The loud footsteps behind him were coming closer and he knew he should hurry if he didn't want to get caught by them. He reached into his right pocket for his keys, pulling out a small bundle on a key chain, and unlocking his car door. He looked behind him to see the three guys, who were chasing him before, coming up the street in a full sprint. He opened his car door as quickly as he could, jumping inside and turning it on. He didn't bother to put on his seat belt and sped down the street as fast as he could, until the three figures disappeared beyond the horizon in his review mirror.

He relaxed a bit, focusing his eyes back on the road. He tried to slow down his breathing and managed to get it down to deep breaths. "That was close..." He thought, leaning his head against the back of the seat.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the bag still clutched tightly in his right hand. He slowly opened up his fist and placed the bag in the passenger seat. Now that it could be seen more clearly, the bag itself was a tan backpack. It had dark brown, stitched lettering on it that formed into the name "Derek" on one of the pouches.

He turned his gaze back to the road, frowning. High school really sucked sometimes.

meta_knight_lover • 15 July 2013 at 11:31 AM

@ems
@marinalily
@luv
@kurochi-akuma

(Where did everybody go? O.o)

kurochi-akuma • 25 July 2013 at 4:06 PM

@ems
@meta_knight_lover
@luv
@marinalily

Everyone alright? I'll post again to start this thing up again~ 😊
--

The teenage boy had driven down the road for quite some time now. He was on the outskirts of the city, close to his parent's house, with nothing but woods surrounding him from all sides. It was a back road, so there wasn't much light. The only thing he had to guide him was the high-beam headlights on the front of his car and even then it was still hard to see.

He wanted to get home. He knew he was driving a little fast on the road, but since he took it so many times before after school, he figured it would be alright.

He thought about not going school tomorrow, since he didn't feel like facing the bullies for another day. The classes were okay, but again, they always had him doing homework or work in general, which he despised very much.

While deep in thought, he wasn't paying attention much to the road. Something, large and brown from what he could see, ran out into the road and stopped right in the middle. A deer. Out of all the things he dealt with today, it just HAD to be a deer. Was what he wanted to think, but sadly he didn't have much time.

He swerved to the right to try and avoid it, but ended up flying the truck over the guardrail and crashing down the side of the hill he was on. The truck stopped after hitting a large oak tree head-on and sputtered a little till the engine eventually died.

The boy slowly lifted his head. Everything was ringing around him, as he tried to focus in on his surroundings. His head pounded and there was a pain in his left side. In the distance he could see some light. It was faint, but he could see it...
--

Okay, I'ma gunna stop there. The light he saw was Storm's campfire, just so you know Ems~ ^^;

Sorry for the weird post, I'm distracted and typing at the same time. :c

ems • 25 July 2013 at 4:28 PM

@kurochi-akuma Yay something for me to do. XD
@meta_knight_lover @marinalily @luv @dramatic
--

Storm heard a large crashing sound, and her head whipped to the side just in time to see a huge object--a car--roll down part of the hill she was sitting on. She gasped and leapt up, forgetting her fire for a moment to sprint towards the crashed car.

She shouted as she came up on the broken object. She pounded on the cracked passenger window, seeing a boy inside. She desperately tried to shatter the window with her fist, eventually succeeding. Blood dripped down her arm.

"Hey! Can you hear me?!"

kurochi-akuma • 25 July 2013 at 4:55 PM

@ems
@meta_knight_lover
@marinalily
@luv

Yea, I needed something to do~ xD
--

There was a black haired boy in the driver side of the truck. At first, he heard a deep voice yelling at him to his left. It took him awhile to realize that it was a young girl. He managed to move his head to look at her. 'At least my neck isn't broken.' He thought, pushing himself back against his seat and away from the steering wheel.

His chest felt tight, which made it hard to speak or even form words for that matter. He decided to try, hoping that the tightness in his chest would disappear once he did. "H-" Nope. Try again. He coughed, clearing his throat. "Hey...I...can." He managed to say, opening and closing his eyes to clear his blurred vision.

His head dropped to see what was causing pain in his left side, he could see that the driver side of the door had been crushed into him. He figured he must have slammed into the crushed part when he crashed into the tree. He looked up back to the girl.

She looked pretty cute, kind of familiar too, but cute none-the-less and if this was a totally different situation, he'd probably ask her out. "Um..." He thought, "Mind...helping...me- You know?" He didn't really feel like saying the rest. Too tired to.

ems • 25 July 2013 at 5:26 PM

@kurochi-akuma xD
--

Storm didn't answer, reaching through the broken window to unlock the door. She yanked the door open and leaned over the boy, using her knife to slice off his seatbelt and pop the airbag, noting the car door and been mashed into his side.

"Alright, lets get you out of here." Storm looped the boy's arm around her shoulders and attempted to drag him out of the car.

kurochi-akuma • 25 July 2013 at 5:49 PM

@ems

He pushed up out of the seat and stumbled out of the truck with the mysterious girl. He tried not to lean on her too much, since he was much taller than she was. "T-Thanks..." He said under his breath.

The woods were really dark by now and lots of insects could be heard in the distance. The light he saw before was a campfire in the distance. He figured that's where this girl must have been hanging out and thank god she was. He wouldn't know what situation he'd be in if she wasn't there. He was truly grateful.

ems • 25 July 2013 at 6:56 PM

@kurochi-akuma
--

"Yeah. Come on, you can rest soon and we'll see about the damage." Storm replied, helping the injured boy towards her campfire. She looked down at her ace bandage, noting how a small patch of blood had leaked through. Maybe her cut had gone deeper then she'd originally planned.... No matter. They were already at the campfire, and once she had helped the boy get some much needed rest, she could always try burning the cut closed. She but her lip. That would cause more pain than necessary.

"Here we go." She gestured to her small campsite complete with a sleeping bag and a bag of food. "Make yourself at home, I guess. I'll check your injuries in a minute... The fire's already out, dang it." She scowled at the dead coals that smoked slightly in the chilly weather. She'd have to do it again!

Storm stepped closer to the fire.

kurochi-akuma • 25 July 2013 at 7:21 PM

@ems
--

He limped in sync with her steps, using her shoulder as a support so he wouldn't put too much pressure on his side since he didn't exactly know how much he was hurt. When she got to her campsite, he eased himself down on the ground so he was sitting, wincing from the feeling.

Everything seemed like it hurt. His muscles, his bones, his head, his side; everything. But that would make sense since he had just been in a car crash. He never had the chance to really think about what he had just survived. He could have died and he shivered at the thought.

He noticed how the girl cursed at the fire being out and she walked closer to, what he guessed, inspect it. "Don't you have any more matches?" He asked, finally noticing the bandage on her arm.

ems • 25 July 2013 at 7:55 PM

@kurochi-akuma
--

Storm cursed under her breath. "I don't need to carry them, though I really should..." She crouched down to the coals, tossing fresh wood on before closing her eyes. A flame appeared in her cupped hands, and she dropped it onto the wood, watching the fire quickly take form.

"And now," Storm pulled her pocket knife out with a sigh, holding it to her uninjured, yet terribly scarred, forearm.

Without flinching, she sliced a small cut in her arm under her favorite scar, a long, thick jagged scar that stretched a bit diagonally across her arm just under her elbow. Blood seeped from the smaller cut, and Storm looked at it curiously for a moment before stepping back over to the boy.

"So. You survived. Now we really should be checking out those wounds."

kurochi-akuma • 25 July 2013 at 8:14 PM

@ems
--

"Yea...you really should..."His words trailed off as he watched her light a flame in her palm and set the wooden logs in the campfire on fire. He then watched as she took out a knife and begin to cut her arm. She was so emotionless about it, like she had done it so many times before. Was she some suicidal cutter? No, that can't be right...

"You're a contractor, aren't you?" He asked her as she approached him. His bright blue eyes met hers and now that there was more light he could see her more clearly. She was definitely younger than him, but not by much. He wondered who she was and why was she out in the middle of no where. 'Didn't she live somewhere or go to school?' He thought to himself.

He didn't have much of a chance to ask as she wanted to check his wounds. He, himself, wanted to know too. He sat up, resting his body weight on his right hand and used his left to raise his shirt a little. He looked down at the damage to find it wasn't all that bad. A really bad bruise was only there, but nothing had broken the skin.

He could tell he had some small cuts along his face because of the glass, but once again they were minor. For being in a car crash, he got off pretty lucky.

ems • 25 July 2013 at 8:20 PM

@kurochi-akuma
--

Storm clicked her tongue. "Yes, smarty pants, I am." She smirked slightly, glad that the boy was only bruised. "Very very lucky, though I'm sure you know that. Here," She tossed him the sleeping bag. "It's starting to get dark. I'll just sleep extra close to the fire. Lemme..." She trailed off to ruffle through her bag of food and goods, pulling out another bandage and a can of beans, hucking the beans at the boy without looking before wrapping her other arm.

"Stupid contact.... So not worth it half the time. Comes handy in a pinch, I guess..." She murmured, almost to herself.

kurochi-akuma • 25 July 2013 at 8:47 PM

@ems
--

He let the sleeping bag she threw at him fall on his outstretched legs. "I'm good, you can have it." He sighed, laying back on the flattened out ground. His home wasn't too far from here, so why did he have the need to stay with her in the dark woods? He simply shrugged it off as he was just tired and left it at that.

His reflexes kicked in when she chucked a can of something at him. He reached up and grabbed it in one of his hands, looking at it to see what it was. 'Baked beans. Yum...' He thought rather sarcastically.

"You have a can opener or something, girly?" He asked.

Of course, with his powers he could easy rip the can in half no problem, but he didn't have a textbook nearby nor did he really feel like reading one. He heard her murmur to herself about her contract and figured he'd pry into more of it. It's not like he had anything better to do. "Contracts are never worth it, but yet we use our powers anyway."