Private Finished the deal of a lifetime

Mikhainon would scoff but that might give him away. Instead, he ignored everything she said. This monster was chatty. He was here for a deal, not her entire un-life story.

"You assume time and space are things I'm bound to."

Dirt began to mold itself into his shape behind Strings. The dirt turned into another him that walked past their chest board, whispering information to Strings as he passed by. "You're trying to define me in a system that applies to you, when in fact I'm not governed by the same rules, the same time, space, feelings. I am a creature beyond your understanding."

The other him melted into the ground, its consciousness darting off to whatever time and space and offshoot dimension the greater him planned for it. It wasn't any of his business.

Mikhainon leaned back again, grinning. "Which renders anymore follow-up questions to 'humanize' me completely meaningless. You're buying time, Strings. What's the hold up?"

Mikhainon watched as his chestboard was suddenly completely and utterly destroyed by Strings' tendrils, its pieces flying off all over her lair. A pity. That was varnished cherry wood.

"A lunatic, no. You are a smarter creature than you let on. But I like to think you're a gambler."

Mikhainon snapped his fingers. Sheets of paper began materializing from the ceiling. It fluttered and floated before eventually settling on a neat stack. The top paper said "CONTRACT" with his seal stamped at the center.

"You need not know what I am. I am here to provide a service, a service with terms and conditions that are completely accessible to you." He stood up and crossed his arms to show that he wasn't intimidated by Strings' empty threats. "I've shown you the best path you can take. Will you take it?"

He looked at the broken device Strings had been tinkering with since Day One. "Or... Will you choose this purgatory?"

He took a couple steps forward to reach out to touch Strings' cheek. Fuzzy. He didn't have access to her dimension. He smiled like a man that knew he had won. "I am the only unknown variable in this path. If you stay as you are, you will be dealing with more things you don't understand, extending to an unknown time frame with risks you do not understand. I need not be your enemy, Strings."

"Theoretically, nothing should be beyond your capacity, and yet here I am and here you are. Aside from me, you're the biggest problem you came across. How's that working out for you? Figure yourself out yet?" He chuckled. "I've always known, you know. But my lips are sealed."

Mikhainon's grin was in place. He took a few steps back too and crossed his arms.

"You're going to do it because you don't have another choice, Strings," he said plainly, finally addressing the elephant in the room that loomed over the both of them, the metaphorical checkmate in their game. "Should we set up a date?"

Mikhainon grinned like the devil.

"It works perfectly, my dear Strings."

And without further drama, Mikhainon took one, two, three steps back before a pair of wings surrounded his body and shrunk him to a small raven. It flew out of Strings' lair, the flapping of its wings and his laughter echoing through the dark chamber. A gust of wind threw the contract's papers all over, but as the the top paper landed at the center of the room, the once black print of his seal had been turned into a gold with a red note that said "1 WEEK" written over it.