[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/fD4F1Jn.png[/img][/center][hr]A green eyelid cracked open at the sound of the door shutting. Within a few moments Garfield could plainly hear the rustling of fabric, the shifting of a curtain, and running water. Stretching out his paws and upper body, he took a few strides out of the corner and left his cat form. He was clean for the first time in weeks, having swapped to a cheap Fortnite shirt and cargo pants Rachel got from a Walmart. A few wrappers of their late night mockery of a meal still hung around so Garfield rounded them up and threw them away before taking a seat against the wall as he waited. He’d managed a shower last night, his old clothes left in a pile on the floor, but when he’d come out, Rachel had already passed out on the lone bed. She hadn’t been willing to pay for two rooms or two beds so Garfield had joked about just sleeping in the corner, expecting to be finding a place outside, but she had been too tired to argue.

Eventually, the water went off and the door cracked open. Garfield awaited her in the form of a Labrador, dutifully sitting at attention, tail wagging lightly. [color=7976ac]“You’re still here?”[/color]

Dressed down to a fresh black T-shirt and shorts with a towel over her shoulders, she took a seat on the bed while Garfield turned human and crossed his legs. [color=abd876]“Uh, yeah? You were going to do the familiar ritual thing.”[/color]

[color=7976ac]“...You can’t be serious. Did you not hear me? I want to-”[/color]

[color=abd876]“Yeah, destroy the world for your dad, I remember.”[/color] Gar saw her eye twitch as she stared. He thought she was trying to probe him for a reaction so he kept as neutral an expression as possible, but as she leaned over slightly, her still wet hair falling from her shoulder, his eyes scanned her up and down as he felt his heart start to race. He’d thought he kept it pretty cool, but her face broke into a smirk. A chill ran down his spine.

[color=7976ac]“Pathetic. I suppose I should have expected as much from a literal animal who can’t keep his paws off of me.”[/color]

Images flashed through Gar’s head of last night of himself lifting her up off the ground and keeping her from falling when the inter-dimensional corpse came through. [color=abd876]“Wait, nononono, that’s not why I want to help you!”[/color]

Rachel stood. [color=7976ac]“Then why? What possible thought in your tiny little brain could justify the destruction of everything you’ve ever known? Don’t you have a single worthwhile attachment?”[/color]

[color=abd876]“Don’t you?”[/color]

[color=7976ac]“Don’t change the subject.”[/color]

Garfield stewed to himself for a few moments. [color=abd876]“Of course I do.”[/color]

[color=7976ac]“So you [i]are[/i] lying to me to get into my pants.”[/color]

[color=abd876]“When did I lie?”[/color] Rachel glared. [color=abd876]“I said I want to help you and that’s that. Does the reason really matter?”[/color]

Rachel was still for a moment. She ran her towel across her head and tossed it aside before sitting down. [color=7976ac]“No, no it doesn’t. Once you’re my familiar you’ll have to heed my commands anyway. If I want you to fetch an artifact, steal something, or turn into a wolf and rip out a 5 year old’s throat: you won’t have the agency to deny me.”[/color]

Garfield leaned back, hands propped on the carpet. [color=abd876]“Oh, okay then. How does the ritual work?”[/color]

Rachel’s eye flashed and she gritted her teeth. [color=7976ac]“You’re taking me lightly, aren’t you?”[/color]

Garfield shrugged. [color=abd876]“What? I don’t think you’re as bad a person as you think you are. You helped those mages yesterday didn’t you?”[/color]

Rachel’s mouth shot open only to flop awkwardly. She struggled through her thoughts before finally belting out, [color=7976ac]“You made me do that!”[/color]

[color=abd876]“Oh, does that make you my familiar then?”[/color] Rachel raised her hands, clutching at the air. Garfield felt a pressure around his neck, like he was in a headlock. He gagged, and after a moment it dissipated. He noticed a bit of Rachel’s dark magic fading away. Letting out a cough, he gasped, [color=abd876]“Did you just Force Choke me?!”[/color]

[color=7976ac]“...I’m normally much better at controlling my emotions.”[/color] Garfield didn’t believe that for a second. [color=7976ac]“Besides, it doesn’t matter anyway. All the good I do, all the evil I do: Trigon will find his way into this dimension one way or another, and it will all be gone. That goes for you, me, everyone: everything. All those little chemicals in your brain are telling you, all the science and math you’ve learned, all the philosophy you’ve been force fed, the religion, even our souls and the metaphysical cycle: it’s just one universe. I don’t care if some God did make it all, Trigon’s conquered countless dimensions and he’ll conquer countless more. Everything turns to dust: what good is deciding what kind of dust you want to be when it’s all over?”[/color]

Garfield felt his spirit being weighed down. [color=abd876]“What, so nothing matters?”[/color]

[color=7976ac]“No, not nothing, just everything humans have ever come up with or accomplished. It’s all the same for the entirety of this vast cosmos. All that matters is Trigon. The soul is far from immortal, but he is. When I herald in his reign, I’ll be the one thing in this universe he’ll find worthy of remembering. The only lament is that I won’t get to see it.”[/color]

Rubbing a palm in circles on his forehead, Garfield was exasperated. [color=abd876]“And where did you hear all this?”[/color]

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest. [color=7976ac]“Trigon. My father. Keep up, I hate explaining the same thing twice.”[/color]

[color=abd876]“...So your father [i]told you[/i] he’s the most badass powerful God-killing inter-dimensional conqueror that ever existed?”[/color]

[color=7976ac]“...It...it felt...never mind.”[/color] She stood, grabbing her blue cloak off the end of the bed. Sniffing it, she cringed at the trace scents of garbage and sulfur still lingering. [color=7976ac]“I don’t have to justify myself to you. Once you’re my familiar I won’t have to hear a word out of your mouth ever again. I’m going to get the ritual book from my mother’s library. This is your last chance to run away.”[/color]

Garfield stood to his feet. As he took a step, he could feel Rachel tensing up. Raising his arm, he reached past her, swiping the remote from the nightstand. Plopping down, leaning against the bed, he flipped on the TV. [color=abd876]“Sounds like a plan.”[/color] Rachel shot him one last nasty look before throwing her cloak on. The window shot open and she floated out into the LA morning. Garfield sat there for a few moments, pretending to watch TV, before he flopped his head back. He let out a long groan, [color=abd876]“Oh maaaaaAAAAAAN!”[/color]