"Let me think for a moment," Shampoo told Gryn'dlktch.
Compared to her soul, her likeness was a small price to pay - especially as the demon hadn't mentioned taking her likeness, just using it. On the other hand, letting a demon run around doing demonic things while looking like her didn't sound so good - what if she got blamed for what he did? Still, sometimes one had to make sacrifices to get what one wanted; the only question was if she could lessen the sacrifice?
Choosing her words carefully, Shampoo said, "So long as there is no chance of someone mistaking one of us for the other, I don't mind your borrowing my form... But I don't want you claiming to be me, or otherwise fooling anyone into confusing the two of us."
"No prob, dood." Gryn'dlktch assured her. "That it?"
Shampoo nodded.
"Kay. Hold on a sec." Gryn pulled out a sheet of paper and a feather-pen. He then let them go and they floated in the air, the pen writing on the paper in a manner that looked a lot more controlled than the scrawl he had used when writing in his notebook. Ink appeared on the paper where the pen touched it, despite the pen never having any ink on it.
The pen finished near the bottom of the page, and Gryn grabbed it, then scrawled what Shampoo assumed was his signature. He then handed the pen and paper to Shampoo. "Just sign at the bottom."
"It doesn't need to be written in blood or anything like that?"
"Nah, that sort of thing is just for atmosphere. Besides, I don't have any blood."
After the demon's other oddities, Shampoo merely raised an eyebrow at that last revelation. She looked over the paper, and found that it was a contract. The first half of it was written in the same demonic tongue she had used to summon Gryn'dlktch, while the second half was written in Joketsuzoku.
The twisted, scratchy, and inherently alien and obscene writing of the first half was hard to focus on, gave her a headache, and made her mind want to wander in dangerous directions. Plus, she wasn't fluent in it. From what she could tell, however, it said pretty much the same things she and Gryn'dlktch had verbally agreed upon.
The second half was easier on the eyes, but was written in Joketsuzoku legalese, making it even harder to decipher than the first half. It was obviously a translation of the first half, and again it seemed to say what it was supposed to, but she couldn't really be sure.
Gryn'dlktch tapped his foot impatiently. "Well?"
Shampoo was reluctant to sign a contract (especially one like this) without fully understanding it, so she asked, "Could I have a copy of this written in ordinary Joketsuzoku?"
Gryn'dlktch scowled. "What do I look like, a translator? Trust me, it says the exact same things we agreed on."
Shampoo wasn't sure which would be worse - to trust the demon that it was what they had agreed on, or to argue with a demon of such power. After a moment's hesitation, she made her choice. Hoping she wasn't making a big mistake, she signed her name to the contract.
The pen vanished, and the contract floated away to hover between the two of them. It glowed for a moment, and split into two exact copies. The copies separated, and one flew to each of them.
Gryn'dlktch said, "Alright, dood, let's get started." He put the contract away behind his back, then held up his flippers in the air. Sparkles floated up from the ground to swirl around each of them. Gryn'dlktch's toy-penguin form glowed for a moment, then swiftly grew and shifted to become Shampoo's identical twin (who happened to be naked). Gryn-Shampoo winked at Shampoo.
Then Shampoo's body began to glow. She felt a prickly sensation across her skin, a terrible ache in her bones, and a maddening set of itches throughout her body. The sensations became stronger and more painful, and she fell to the floor. Moments later, she blacked out.
Gryn'dlktch watched as the transformation completed. He She smiled and said (even though Shampoo couldn't hear), "Well, that's that. Hope your new body helps you get your guy, dood. See ya!" He She waved goodbye, and faded away.
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(Posted Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:49)
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