[hider=Human] [list][*][u]Name[/u]: Sato Suzume [*][u]Age[/u]: 2X [*][u]Appearance[/u]: [url=https://i.imgur.com/kAtRtYG.jpg]On the tall side for a Japanese woman, 175cm.[/url] [*][u]Personality[/u]: Suzume maintains a professional demeanour to almost everyone, in all situations. To let her control slip would be to show weakness and in turn invite danger and, as a result, threaten the relatively cozy life that she's built up. The [i]only[/i] exception to this barrier is Lily and that's still mostly in private. Her cynical attitude isn't entirely logical--it's definitely Suzume's own biases that lead her to consider humans worse than youkai and lean towards explanations for Grudges that rely on humanity being fundamentally bad--but it's certainly logical for one in her former line of work. Underneath it all, she's never really gotten over her childhood temper and aggressiveness and gets very prone to acting without thinking where her few scruples are threatened. Or Lily. [*][u]Skills[/u]: Although her knowledge of how to fight could charitably be described as third-hand martial arts, Suzume has plenty of [i]practice[/i] using them, and no hesitation in taking action when the time comes. Although, when it comes down to it, the former criminal's much more comfortable with [i]any[/i] sort of weapon, legal or not, than brawling. She's also very used to sizing up a situation for anything out of the ordinary or immediate threats--particularly if anyone looks like they're concealing anything dangerous. Oh, and she's a pretty good driver. [*][u]Equipment[/u]: Well, Suzume has a car. A much larger, more spacious vehicle than most city-dwellers in Japan really needs... almost like she's used to moving a bunch of people crammed in at once, or a lot of [i]things[/i]. Although she doesn't own any (that would be the worst idea of all when trying to stay on the right side of the law), Suzume does have a bunch of contacts if she'd need access to, say, guns. Or if a permit could be acquired... [*][u]History[/u]: Someone whose performance in compulsory education could be described as 'managing to show up' and in the minority who never continued to high school proper, Suzume's transition into a life of crime was all the more likely with her family's poor background, and her own aggressive personality and boyish looks at the time. It wasn't something that she really minded doing, and she proved surprisingly good at doing odd jobs. Lily was an unexpected discovery when reminding someone exactly what the pecking order was in the area, and for some reason the demon kept showing up to bother her even when the matter was resolved. It wasn't like Suzume had... well, almost any friends, to be honest, let alone close female ones. [i]Annoyingly attractive[/i] close female ones were an even smaller pool. So maybe, in hindsight, she hadn't put as much work into pushing Lily away as she should have. It was only after they'd been in a relationship for a few years that the topic of a Contract came up. It wasn't like they could be properly married for a whole [i]host[/i] of reasons--not least of which being the very slow wheels of bureaucracy for a youkai to show up in the country who had a habit of dropping off of the radar for decades at a time--and it wasn't like they were planning to separate... so why not seal it properly? Only afterwards did Suzume realise how acutely her bosses were now paying attention to Lily, beyond the same interests that lead to the demon needing assistance in the first places. After all, her abilities were [i]plenty[/i] helpful in their line of work, and when working [i]with[/i] Suzume the amount of potential firepower went vastly up. If she ever wanted to consider a life outside of crime, caught even more in proper hierarchies... well, time was running out to leave whilst she still mostly could. She's sure her old associates will catch up sooner rather than later, especially if she needs to leverage those contacts for any reason, but for now she's offering that same experience and ability to act decisively in a much more morally upstanding capacity... even if one could argue that agencies using the Attuned for protection really are just a different sort of protection racket. [*][u]Other[/u]: Only [i]barely[/i] literate--she was, after all, a terrible student--and her writing very much reflects that. As nice as her actual [i]handwriting[/i] is, the severely curtailed use of kanji is very noticeable.[/list] [/hider] [hider=Youkai][list][*][u]Name[/u]: (Sato) Lily. Neither is legally her name, if such a thing even exists, but she [i]has[/i] been using the latter for at least the past century. [*][u]Race[/u]: Demon (Succubus) [*][u]Age[/u]: 239 [*][u]Appearance[/u]: [url=https://i.imgur.com/WsUtqz0.png]VERY pale, which rather offsets the effortless model-like appearance.[/url] [*][u]Personality[/u]: Outgoing, friendly, and relentlessly flirty, even though she's now married for all intents and purposes, although she's careful to not go too far; Lily has all the warmth and social grace that Suzume lacks. She's also completely shameless and [i]very[/i] open about displaying her affection, something that is fortunately offset by the other woman's much greater restraint. Despite her extroverted demeanour and upbeat attitude, the succubus still has a pretty dim view of human and youkai nature: she'll cheerfully note how venal, greedy, and selfish people are, with a smile on her face. That dislike of possessiveness stretches into her relationships--in the past, when people have started to feel too entitled, she's taken that as her cue to move somewhere else and start a new life. Being rather more permanently attached... well, that's a new experience for her, she rather hopes that Suzume's new social circle won't get lured in like that. Maybe her newfound fidelity will help. [*][u]Abilities[/u]: On the one hand, Lily's abilities are distinctly those of a succubus: charming, enthralling, and ensnaring. Used actively, she can make herself the centre of attention, push a temporary infatuation onto whoever's seeking to threaten her... or simply make an exciting conversational partner. These, of course, are of little use when dealing with Grudges or the like. The other facet to her skills is the distinctly demonic: fire. Lots and lots of fire. Setting things alight, conjuring fireballs, making the flames in the environment obey her will. A particularly modern technique Lily has worked on is imbuing bullets with a little bit of this hellfire, making their impacts [i]literally[/i] explosive. Of course, that requires access to a gun... [*][u]Skills[/u]: Not many that are appropriate to speak of in polite company. She's surprisingly good at office work, even in Japanese, but hardly has the proper training or credentials for something notable like accountancy. [*][u]History[/u]: Most of Lily's history she would consider rather... uninteresting. Oh, she can regale you with tales of historical fashions, and snarky commentary on how social mores have varied so heavily throughout recent history--being a [i]sex demon[/i] in infamously uptight (at least outwardly) Victorian Britain was an interesting challenge. But really, she was just living from day to day, doing her best to stay out of trouble and occasionally disappearing when people got too... [i]clingy[/i] to resurface elsewhere and start the entire cycle all over again. Most recently, this brought her to Japan, and as ever Lily found herself in the less upstanding areas of society. It was a familiar pattern, with her employers-slash-partners really starting to forget what their actual relationship [i]was[/i] and that she was still a demon completely able to protect herself. But before it got to that point, another group of criminals felt the need to get involved. Really, it was her fault for not checking the environment first... but she'd already spent so long learning the language and getting ready, Lily hadn't wanted to spend yet [i]more[/i] time when she could focus on her own desires. From Lily's perspective, Suzume showed far too much worry and concern, even when she tried to assure her that everything was okay--she was a succubus, it was hardly like she was in a coercive relationship. It seemed to put the girl's heart at rest to keep dropping by and assuring her that she was still okay. It seemed like they could both do with having a friend; Lily due to her lack of connections and Suzume due to her harsh facade. From there, it became pretty clear that the Japanese woman was attracted to her. And, adorably, [i]holding back[/i] out of concern for her wellbeing, regardless of all the assurances otherwise. That was probably why Lily let her be more than just another friend (or 'friend'), with so very few of her potential suitors having ever put Lily's wellbeing first or outright avoided sleeping with her, no matter how willing. The Contract was her idea, of course. Aside from being [i]far[/i] more significant than a piece of legal paper could ever be, the odds were they'd have to leave the country entirely--if Lily hadn't been marked as dead in the intervening years she'd been in Japan--just to consider a marriage. Then there was the whole matter of being different species... although she did make sure to get rings. Why pass up the chance to get shiny jewellery? Suzume's desire to go straight actually caught her by surprise, but Lily's not been complaining--it's not like she particularly enjoyed working menial jobs for criminals. [*][u]Other[/u]:[/list] [/hider]