[PRP] The Dreaded Day (Titus / Riyo)

[Inu-Mitsu]

Titus was curious now. What the hell had her backup plan actually been? "Yeah, I would still rather not think about the fact that its my birthday. So what had been your-"

But suddenly Riyo was remembering something and he watched with furrowed brows as the catghoul produced a candle. His expression shifted to something flat and disinterested as she set the wick ablaze and held it out to him, hearing the fat cat's meow in the background.

"How about I don't. Wishful thinking usually bites me in the a**." He reached out to quickly snuffed out the flame with a pinch of his fingers before taking a seat at the ghoul's table. "I think you're asking for a bit much in one day."

But the sketchbook gained his attention again as he scooted toward the table and flipped it open to the first page. One hand reaching for his snacks the other pulled the box of pencils forward to look them over. It seemed they were different grades of lead and not just a box of the same standard pencil. "It's been a long time since I've drawn with pencils." Maybe too long, but it had to be similar to making designs in coffee. If not easier.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Riyo watched him pinch the flame out with a smirk. "I'll consider that close enough." It had at least been enough of a distraction to turn the conversation in a different direction.

Scooting the candle back out of the way, Riyo rested her head on the table as she watched him open the sketchbook and take out the pencils. A long time? The feline imagined that meant there had been an original time when he took interest in that sort of thing. "Why'd you stop?" she asked softly, her ears twitching as she waited for an answer.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

"I'm sure you could wager a guess." Titus said simply, picking out a pencil and putting it to paper. He seemed unsure at first but when he got started the design flowed across the page. It didn't make much sense at first and the style itself was somewhat abstract, but the image finally took shape as a creature made out of various shapes and patterned lines. It looked familiar in a way though Titus didn't know why himself but Riyo might have recognized it as the demonic form he had in his dreams.

"You don't really want my sob story on how my dad was an a** about it do you? The details are pretty boring." Or maybe that was Titus' way of saying he really didn't want to talk about it. His father had been cruel but he had learned to live with it the best way he could.

"If you really want to know I might ask for something in return." He said, his eyes glancing up from the paper to look at Riyo with a smirk.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Well sure, Riyo could guess and speculate until her brain seized from all the activity. In fact, she probably would if he didn't feed her overwhelming curiosity. Her eyes followed his pencil, mesmerized by the slow, but amazing progression of an image she hadn't been able to forget.

"You-" She started to say 'you don't have to', but meeting his gaze as she tore her own away from his art caused a quirk in her brow. The demoness raised her head from the table, just enough to tilt it.

It was a gamble, of course. What he wanted could've been something of equal interest, or it could've been the worst thing the boil could muster from the dark chasm that was his mind. 50/50 shot.

"... And what might that something be?" Seemed like she might be developing a gambling problem. Probably wouldn't stack well with her alcoholism.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Titus' smile grew all the more as he turned back to his picture, his pencil still at work. "Ah, why not keep things interesting, hm?" He chuckled lightly.

"You agree or don't without knowing what I will ask in return. It makes the game of roulette a little more interesting that way. You can easily say no and there is no risk or you can agree, learn something about me, and potentially be faced with something awkward you have to answer. Or it could be something completely harmless."

Titus continued to doodle a bit more before picking up a different pencil. He looked it over for a minute before he decided it would work, glancing in Riyo's direction before turning back to his drawing. "So what will it be?"  

[Sexy Cocaine]

The feline's eyes narrowed at his words, a dry smile not far behind. Riyo, of course, wasn't surprised. She had tried this game once herself, just with a slightly different twist.

Half of her wanted to tell him 'no', and then sit in silence to see who would crack, but she knew better. Titus didn't want to say anything if he didn't have to, and... Honestly... She sort of wanted to know what he was going to ask in addition to the information on the table.

Curiosity, her arch nemesis.

Riyo's nails tapped on the table as she contemplated, tail swaying behind her. Eventually she let out a long, exasperated sigh. It was a sign that Titus had hooked himself a big catfish.

"Fine. I'll play along." the ghoul grumbled. "As if you had any doubts that I would." Now regale her the tail of your sad childhood, Titus. She was all ears.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

The sigh was a sign he had won even before Riyo said a word. "Curiosity is your weakness." He agreed.

He continued to draw while he thought of where to start. Sharing details of his life still didn't come as the easiest thing. "I think when I look back I don't remember a time I didn't have a pencil or paint brush. Though most kids like to draw and paint I guess." He hadn't quite finished his picture but it still filled most of the page. Leaving it where it was he flipped to the next and started a new image as he continued to speak.

"It was also a time when I was dumb enough to look up to my father. I really wanted to make him proud you know, but nothing I did ever seemed to catch his attention. I'm the third child in a second marriage I hardly rank of any importance."

The demon had a bit of a sour expression on his face and his mood seemed to affect his drawing as odd screaming faces began to appear in what had at first seemed like random mindless lines. "Mother liked my art so I thought he might as well. I couldn't have been more wrong." There was a bit of a dry humorless chuckle as Titus continued. "At first it was mere disinterest, I thought what I was doing wasn't good enough so I tried harder. I spent a lot of time practicing until my dad decided to tell me it was a wasted effort. That it was garbage. He made me destroy the things I had made to teach me a lesson about life and attachment, or so he said."

But somehow Titus didn't seem sad about it, apparently he had taken the lesson to heart. Getting attached to things just made life harder to cope with. "Well, that's my bullshit story so..." He smiled, setting his pencil down so that he could steeple his hands. "About that contingency plan. Don't skimp on the details."  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Riyo listened intently, glancing every so often to the drawing he was slowly creating that was more or less a visual of his emotions. Her brow furrowed as the nightmare demon painted a picture of his father that wasn't completely unfamiliar to her.

This was, at least, a lesson her mother had missed out on.

"It's not garbage." The feline fixated on his drawing, deciding it was better to leave it at that. No pity, no sorrow. What had happened had happened. All the apologies in the world couldn't fix what had been broken. Only actions could do that.

It seemed, however, the feels session would be cut short.

It took Riyo a moment to process what had just been thrown back in her face, unable to stop looking at the paper.

"Oh Jackdammit." Her hand smacked against the table. "I should've realized that was what you were gonna ask." Her red eyes glanced up to him in frustration, cheeks puffing up before she finally resolved herself to let it go. "I was gonna..." The feline tried to think of eloquent ways to explain her plan B, but... There were still just some things she still couldn't bring herself to say. "See, I thought I could- wait... I mean, I figured that..."

It was hard to miss how flustered Riyo was becoming. "You know what?" She practically leaped from her chair. "Why don't I just show you?" She'd let you have your birthday cake and eat it too if it got her out of explaining it in detail, Titus.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Apparently Titus had hit the jackpot with questions if Riyo's reaction was any indication. He placed his arms on the table in front of himself, leaning forward with interest and giving her his full attention. "Should have guessed and yet here we are."

He waited for some sort of explanation but it seemed Riyo was having trouble with her words. Just as soon as she would start a sentence it would trail off and she would pause only to start all over again.

"Eh? Show me?" He sat up when Riyo stood from her chair in a hurry, watching the ghoul with wide eyes. What was she going to show him that she couldn't explain. More over, what had her so flustered? Titus was having a slow moment but now that he was actually giving it some thought his ideas on what it could possibly be branched out in a whole new direction.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Titus had taken his precious few words and expressed no objections, so Riyo would take that as a tentative yes. Or, rather, she wouldn't wait around for him to say 'no'. "Be right back." With that, the cat ghoul rushed off across the room and disappeared into the restroom with the slam of a door.

About five or ten minutes passed in the ghoul's absence, but eventually the door creaked back open, followed by the soft jingle of a bell. The sound of high heels against hardwood followed her obviously altered appearance. Oh Jack... She was wearing the maid outfit.

Slowly, she approached the boil, only halting when there were less than a few inches between them. "Happy birthday, master." Riyo spoke in a breathy voice, unable to contain the smirk she had been trying to hide.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

She was gone before he could make an objection, though he really had no idea what he would be objecting against. He watched as the ghoul retreated into the bathroom, his brows furrowed in confusion. Eyes focused on the door he waited but enough time passed that he finally went back to his picture and began to draw again, distracting himself while Riyo did whatever the hell it was she was doing.

"I wonder what she's up to?" He looked down at one of the nearby fat cats like he was expecting an answer, but by then the soft jingle of a bell had him lifting his head.

Hearing the bathroom door creek open he looked back only to face forward quickly again. That outfit was exactly the reason he tried to avoid going out on the floor at work and attempted to stay carefully hidden away in the kitchen as much as possible. He could deal with it though, he had seen it enough between her and the other ghouls that he just had to focus on something else and he would be fine.

Or so he thought that would work until Riyo came up beside him breathing the word master into his ear. Red began to creep its way over his cheeks, touching the tips of his ears. He tried his best to hide it, tilting his head forward over his drawing with wide eyes and an uncanny focus. He didn't say a word.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Riyo watched him carefully for a moment, doing everything she could to hold back the grin she could feel just beneath the surface. His lack of an acknowledgement was enough of an encouragement to continue.

The ghoul's hand delicately touched his shoulder as she moved around behind the boil, draping her arms down his torso. Those horns certainly didn't make anything easy. "Did master get everything he wanted?" Riyo leaned in close, her chest pressed against his back. "Or... Was there something else?" She teased, secretly enjoying the brief closeness.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Those slender fingers traced over his shoulders and Titus could feel his throat tightening just a bit. Despite their experiences together so far this was still somehow difficult to deal with.

He felt her hands start to move and watched them drape over his shoulders and down his front. With her chest pressed against his back he couldn't help but swallow hard against the lump in his throat trying and failing not to picture what she was wearing.

"S-seems to me you have my day planned out for me." His voice didn't carry his normal confidence though his expression was still carefully trained into something casual and fairly neutral as he turned his head to look at Riyo over his shoulder. It might have worked as an excellent poker face if it wasn't for the blush that stained his cheeks. "One way or another."  

[Sexy Cocaine]

The feline looked into his eyes as the boil's head turned just enough to where she could see his face, her expression softening at his words. One of her hands snaked back up to stroke his rosy cheek. "No, not at all." She spoke as if someone might overhear. "I'm your servant, and that means you make the calls." Maids may have secretly pulled the strings, but in a much more subtle way than that. "It's your choice on whether you send me away or not... So... What would my master have me do?"

Riyo wasn't entirely sure how he'd respond, but she had prepared herself for anything. The ghoul imagined he'd ask her to do something stupid like wash his clothes or make him a sandwich even though he didn't eat.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Titus wanted to laugh. He hadn't made a single call about this day so far otherwise he would have been hiding out in a back alley somewhere regretting life. So in all maybe it had turned out better this way.

Still, he was at a loss for what to have Riyo do, especially with her being borderline suggestive with her actions and outfit.

"Maybe...rub my back? A massage sounds nice." It was at least a start.