"Okay, great."

She just needs to pretend very intently to be the sort of person who enjoys sex with strangers and then that mental model can enjoy it and everything's copacetic.

"One minute please." Marianne closes her eyes.

What kind of person enjoys casual sex? What do they notice about the world? What is most apparent to their senses?

The woman's sexual characteristics obviously. Her hands and their creases and lines; her neatly-filed nails of onyx. Her horns; the ringlike patterns etched in them. Her tail; emotion apparent in it like a wire tense with electricity.

The novelty of it. The smoke and stone in her scent. The thrill of being in the proximity of a world-class expert and watching them do their life's work. And getting to experience their competence and ingenuity performed on you. Marianne would enjoy following around a first-rate baker at the grocery store or watching an Olympic swimmer exercise and this is just as cool as that.

What thoughts do they think? What emotional loops are there?

She's so pretty. She's so cool. I want her to touch me. I want her really fucking bad. I'm lonely. An upswelling of desire — I want to think about only her, write about and talk about her.

An entourage of pink fluttering butterflies and scarlet skittering desperation.

There we go.

Eyes open. Marianne steps closer and scuffs out some circumference of circle with her foot. She doesn't consider this particularly dangerous: she can feel the weight of the demon's presence. It's here being cupped in her hands and it would be gone if she let go for even a moment.

"You, bedroom. Lillian, please put my noise-cancellers on, they're around here somewhere."

... Lily smiles despite herself. 

"Alright."

She has her Maid Hand provide her with Marianne's headphones, and goes back to applying to witch jobs.

The demon steps out of the circle and makes her way off towards the bedroom.

She shuts the door and lets herself lean against the wall.

"Armor stays on," she says over a half-smile.

... Some time later, Lily looks up when the door to the bedroom opens again.

Marianne walks out first.

"We're good! More or less."

The demon walks out behind Marianne and sits on the floor where the circle was. She winks at Lily. 

"Your girlfriend's got refined tastes," she says. "Anyway. Questions. Ask away."

Lily just rolls her eyes.

She — doesn't sit next to Lillian. She feels faintly dirty, like there is inextricable grime under her fingernails. She doesn't want to pollute Lily with that somehow.

Instead she sits against a wall and eyes the demon.

"How can I easily find out who gave me this necklace and why they gave it to me?"

"Ask me. That's one."

"Which demon gave me this necklace and why specifically did they do that?"

"Liath of the Seventh. As an investment, and a push. She thinks you're the type who's attracted to power and likely to use it in ways Hell approves of. That's a fancy toy she's given you. And bound to your soul. People are going to want that... or the use of that, if they can't take it from you. That's three."

"How the fuck do you know all of that?"

"She's my boss. Why do you think you got me out of all the demons you could possibly have summoned? It's because Liath is my direct superior. And she does this all the time. You're a little unique, having an artifact like that given to you, but the general plan is the same every time. Four."

"What do I have to do for my mana and magic to function correctly?"

The demon looks at her appraisingly. "Make a deal with Liath. It's her power to give or to take away. That's five."

Yeah, that's about what she imagined. The demon shows her everything she wants — then holds it at arm's length while it wrings out as many concessions and promises as she can possibly give. This is so fucking no there's a flaw in that logic.

"I have a strong intuition that she cannot actually take away the invaluable relics she has seen fit to graft to my soul, nor recoup any other power spent on my witchhood. If I didn't make the deal you suggest, you're suggesting that she would be out her entire investment. This seems like an implausible way for a wealthy and clever investor to behave."

"That's not a question."

"What's your name?"

"Cytherea. You can summon me by it if you want. Six."

"What is your least favorite thing about Hell?"

"I don't get to fuck anyone who still has their soul intact. You might think succubi just lie around all day having sex. If that's the case why the fuck do we take it as payment. Seriously. Hell's not that great even for demons."

"Do you want to stay summoned indefinitely?"