Who do you trust the least? Now that's just mean. There's no winning when someone asks you who you're most negative about. It's so much simpler to just go 'oh I like X the most' and leave everyone else in the comfortable unstated medium. But noooo Belial has to go and try to make you get all Real about things, the big... dumb... stupid person, look it's hard to think around Belial at the best of times and this is decidedly not the best of times. You need an answer that sounds good, something safe and constructive and just a touch Wise.
"... myself," you reply, and it comes off a lot less sage and self-aware than you intended it to. You regret it the moment you say it, angrily biting off the very tail end of the soft, almost mournful word. Grimacing as you await Belial's reaction.
It's his turn to grimace. Not a lot, mind, but enough. You wince, he winces as he notices your reaction, it's just a great big feedback loop of terribleness.
"It's- look I'm-" he gestures vaguely, grasping at the air as if hoping to physically catch hold of something to anchor everything. He sighs. "I'm frustrated and I'm sorry about that but I can't help it. Either you're just fishing for points with the 'right' answer - which I don't really believe and sincerely hope you aren't - or you sincerely do already trust everyone more than you which is quite frankly just asinine."
... Ah. In hindsight, I should have seen this coming. While I stand by my reasoning, it's also true that expecting Eldingar to be both sufficiently self-aware and articulate enough to share that reasoning was uh... 'overambitious'.
You grimace and look away. You found yourself thinking about Mother for some reason and the visceral reaction's left you feeling unwell to the pit of your stomach. Belial's experienced in his own field, you won't disparage him in that regard, but he clearly doesn't know much about some relationships. He gets to vanish back to the infernal plane when things run their course, but nobody else does. Sometimes you people up in the material world are just stuck with each other and have to live with it, no matter how it grates like a handful of gravel down your trousers. If it were that easy you wouldn't even be in this situation. There'd be no Jun-ho, no Makram, no Issachar, not even him. Just you alone in your spire again, with some peace and godsdamned quiet.
A reminder that although Belial might be our relationship expert, he's not infallible.
He plants a kiss on the tip of your snout, little more than a peck. You make a startled 'gnhk?' sort of noise and he can't help but snort, his smile only spreading wider.
"I am a fearsome dragon and I will not be disrespected in this manner," you protest with a frown.
"Yeah you aaaaare~" he singsongs in a low, husky tone, tickling you beneath the chin with his talons. You squirm uncomfortably, torn between remaining outwardly grumpy and admitting that that feels really good.
D'awww. I'm a sucker for fluffy intimacy like this.
"Let's try something easy," Belial replies. "Me, for example."
" 'eyyyyy."
" 'eyyyyy." The two of you point at each other.
lookit these adorable dorks
Now, votes, hmm.
[ ] Ask him about his previous partners. How many has he had? Which ones was he really not a fan of and why? Which ones did he really
like and why?
It could work out and earn points for showing an earnest interest in Belial's wants and desires, or it could come across as needy and prying. And we've just had an object reminder that Eldingar isn't the greatest at self-awareness or deftly articulating a point. Risky.
[ ] Ask for more details about the life of an incubus in the infernal plane. Is it hard? Easy? Fun? Work? Do incubi hang out with other incubi after their shift ends? Is there some kind of ultimate goal or 'promotion' to look forward to?
[ ] Ask about incubi themselves. How are they created? How does ageing work if at all? In all your (ahem) research you never found evidence of one that looked older than twentysomething, so Belial's appearance kind of begs some questions.
Both make for interesting curiosities, but I kinda get the sense that's
all they are. Belial doesn't seem really tied into the infernal planes - he came to us largely because he's on the outs with them, apparently, and thus far the infernal planes haven't really been... well,
relevant to the story. If demonic activity had been foreshadowed earlier in the story this might be a juicy pick, but as it is I think we've got better things to do with our time.
[ ] Ask about the previous relationship he pretty clearly dodged the question about. He did say relationships are about trust and communication and stuff, and in the context of 'longer relationships' it's kind of immediately relevant.
The dude dodged the question for a
reason. Don't press him on that - at least, not right away. Some other time, maybe.
[ ] Ask about the implications of succeeding or failing at drawing him into a polyamorous web of relationships. What happens to the contract that sent him here and trapped him in the material plane? Is there a risk of him bamfing away back to hell at some point?
Guessmyname makes a good point here. If this was such a worry for Belial, he'd have mentioned it by now. The guy's always come across as very chill, so he can't be operating under too much stress.
[ ] Ask him more about the extent and limitations of his powers. A bit on the lighter side but you're honestly (and not-so-innocently) just curious. Plus it's still a bit relevant since using them consumes the resource he needs to live.
Ehhh. Again, it'd be neat to know, but does it really
matter right now?
[ ] Ask how things have been going with the others so far. Since interpersonal relationships with demons are understandably going to get complicated, and you're sure Makram and Issachar will have had Opinions if not Jun-ho and Abzu too.
Very tempting. Salty makes a good point here; we've been seeing bits and pieces of the others getting along, but having a more concrete way of keeping up with that would be really useful.
[ ] Ask how you can make him comfortable here. What sort of fabrics you can have his room furnished with so he can be properly comfortable, what sort of decorations he might like for it - he did mention having his own space being pretty new to him.
Gets a bit of incubi lore, but without avoiding interpersonal relations that are the heart of this quest. A solid pick, and also strongly appeals to me since it builds on the lair-building momentum we've started.
It really comes down to these two, for me:
[ ] Ask how things have been going with the others so far. Since interpersonal relationships with demons are understandably going to get complicated, and you're sure Makram and Issachar will have had Opinions if not Jun-ho and Abzu too.
[ ] Ask how you can make him comfortable here. What sort of fabrics you can have his room furnished with so he can be properly comfortable, what sort of decorations he might like for it - he did mention having his own space being pretty new to him.
Hmmm...
@ZerbanDaGreat, I get that write-in votes that try to combine options are to be frowned on, but can you give any idea of if/when we'll have a chance to follow up on any questions we don't ask immediately?
How do you feel about architecture?
