*Akki laughed from deep within his chest, tentacles shaking with his mirth.*

"Mutual ground? My dear, sweet, deluded, little rabbit...what possible mutual ground could lie between us?"

*The invisible strings lifted her higher, breaking her contact with his gaze, bringing her breasts up to his face. He slid the claw down from her nipple, tracing a sinuous pattern down her chest and belly, until it reached her groin, sliding between her legs to slowly run the smooth back of his claw across her lips. His serpentine tongue slipped out of his mouth, the surface black and pebbly, wrapping around her engorged nipple and tugging at it lightly.*

Body trembling against the serpentine trail of his claw. She's about to respond when his hand finds its way between her lips - She gasps as he trails her labia with a sharp claw, fingers dipping into her honey pot. She breathes carefully, paces herself out, body tensing with each ministration.

"I mean, there's plenty of girls with bodies sexy as mine. Sexier! But you've gotta have needs other than that, right?" She doubts it, but she's pleading, mining for little nuggets of information.

*He continued to stroke her labia gently with the back of the claw, enjoying her gasps and shivers. He grinned at the difficulty she was having with forcing out her words.*

"Trying to make a deal, are we? Offer me something else that I want, in exchange for not ravaging you as I intend?"

*The demon chuckled again, tongue twisting her nipple gently and pulling it outward, drawing her breast taut.*

"And what makes you think you could satisfy any of my other needs, little rabbit? You humans are nothing more than cattle to me. A source of those things which I crave most. Fear, pain, and most of all, pleasure. But fine, if you can tell me what I need aside from the use of your body to satiate myself, perhaps I will spare you."

Trying to make a deal? That's exactly what she's doing, her mind desperately searching for that leverage she so desperately needs, only to be constantly tossed astray by the distraction of his claws, sex tender and moist. "A-All I'm saying is... there's weaker, juicier prey out there, plenty of it, but there's not many smart.... attention broke as he twists her nipple, breast stretched pliant, soft. She takes a couple breath to gather her words back together. "b-but.... I mean, it's hard to even assume what uses a demon might have for a girl like me but... I'd imagine there's some things you'd like to see changed? y-y-your body...?"

*Akki stopped for a moment, tongue retracting from her nipple, claw ceasing its motions against her sex.*

"Are you a sorceress then? Capable of reshaping a binding laid into cloth and flesh? Do you have any idea what it is like to have all of the skin torn from your body and bound into the shell of a toy? Would you like to? I can do much the same to you, if you would prefer it to my gentler methods. Tho you will not survive long in the state it leaves you in."

*He let her hang there for a moment, giving her time to picture exactly what it would be like.*

"Regardless, I will not, cannot, do such a thing. Would be a sad waste of a perfectly delectable little treat. Try another tack, little rabbit. If nothing else, this change of pace is entertaining me for the moment."

Lashes flutter down, then up, batting against her cheeks. "It's hard to know. You monsters know everything about us poor girls, but we don't know anything about you. It's kind of hard to work a cold sale when you don't give me anything to work with." Controlled, easy breaths. Sound confident. Control.

*Akki considered for a long moment, and when he spoke next, his voice was different, softer slightly.*

"And what would you like to know? Is there anything about us that would make it easier to accept what we do to you? Any pearl of wisdom we could cast to make up for our repeated assaults against you? Knowledge is not a blessing, little rabbit. It is a curse. Have you not heard the addage, Ignorance is bliss?"

*His hand was still, leaving her floating in front of him, his expression now pensive. The claw between her legs withdrew, his tongue flickering out to lick her taste from it slowly.*

"Ask me your questions, and I will answer as I see fit. But, do not believe for a moment, that the answers will help you, or save you. They may even make things worse."

She can finally release a sigh of relief, brief as it may be, as he withdraws from her, retreating like a cat that's already got its prey wounded and can play with it at his leisure. She dangles in the air, no warm counterpoint to the frost from outside now, nipples hard, body rigid, skin tight, a perfectly molded nude in suspension.

"And those that are hunted know this as their life, Their reward: to walk Under such trees in full knowledge Of what is in glory above them, And to feel no fear, But acceptance, compliance. Fulfilling themselves without pain. They fall, they are torn, They rise, they walk again..." There's a cruel twist to her lips, a barb to her tongue. Self-deprecating. Her mind is a steel trap. "That's not my heaven.... I'm not a rabbit to be chased, quivering, in sport. I'm not a sheep to be herded day in and out.... sheared.... day in and out. I want answers." but the question is, which does she want answers to? She knows the real answers she needs won't come as a direct response to any question she might ask. Her head hangs for a moment, and then her eyes light, settling to keen beams as she forms her words. "What happens to us when we graduate? Do you dump us in the ocean?"

*A skinless eyebrow arched, in mild approval.*

"James Dickey. Well spoken. If you are not a rabbit, then what shall I call you? Your nerve alone warrants a measure of respect, even from one such as I."

*The demon sounded honestly impressed, his tone turning more neutral, less condescending.*

"In answer to your question, I haven't the slightest idea. I know the girls who graduate are not killed, if that is what you fear. I have seen them leave by the same contrivance by which you arrive. The metal bird that flies on screams."

Ah, yes. The metal bird that flies on screams. The one way out of this horrible personal hell. But the name.... She refuses to help him pen a new nickname for her. She flicks her head back, sprinkling bangs back out of her face.

"I'm not afraid of death... She's afraid of purgatory. "So, you fraternize with these other .... creatures.... then.....?"

*Akki chuckled coldly, shaking his head.*

"Only in the capacity as fellow hunters of the same stock of prey. Tales of conquests traded, plots formed. I worked with a small group of others on a grand little design to create an orgy of terror such as the island had never seen. Sadly, it never came to fruition."

*The demon frowned for a moment, then brought his free hand up to her neck, fingers slowly closing around her throat gently, applying just enough pressure to start interfering with her breath.*

"You do not fear death? Such a pity in one so young. I have walked the gray planes that await you, seen the sights, heard the screams of the tormented. You would do well to fear oblivion, little girl. There are few things I could do to you that surpass it."

"If it's oblivion, there wouldn't be screams to hear, or sights to see. By definition." A smirk, haughty, triumphant. Her words have been struggled against his hand, but not it tightens on her windpipe and she has to pause to regather her breath, panicked, but pushing it down to the bottom of her heart. Her voice comes out just above a whisper. "But you can tell your friends that's where I'll be sending them." Gasping for breath now, each word a choke against the taut squeeze of his fingers.

*Strangely, the demon seemed amused by her catching his slip, not angered.*

"True enough, I suppose. My wording was no match for your mastery of semantics it seems."

*The hand on her throat relaxed, tracing up the side of her neck to pat her on the cheek approvingly, like a parent to a child.*

"Send us to our demise? That would be quite an accomplishment. In my case, I might even encourage you to try. I do not even know if I can truly die. It would be...exhilirating to test my mortality. I thought myself undone once already, only to be molded into a new form, the one you see before you. Perhaps another death will grant me some other purpose, a new shell?"

"I doubt karma would be kind to you." It's all she offers. steel.

*Akki offered her a cold stare, devoid of any heat or emotion.*

"It hasn't been so far, so I expect nothing less. However, your inability to maintain a civil tongue has removed what little novelty there was in this conversation."

*The demon darted forward, pressing his face to hers, claiming her lips in a deep, possessive kiss. His slimy black tongue forced its way into her mouth, curling around hers and kneading it slowly, his foul tasting saliva filling her mouth and making her head swim. The hand on her face dropped to the as of yet untouched breast, pinching her nipple between two claws with cruel strength, drawing it out taut and twisting it roughly.*