If Starolf weren't so used to the bizarre and the twisted, he would have found Akabu's absent-minded chitchatter very strange indeed, considering that Akabu was a seven-foot demon, wings and claws included, with the deep and booming voice to match. In fact, Starolf rather liked the discrepancy; he had a fondness for the weird and the wonderful. Not really knowing what to say for the most of it, he listened (trying to look as respectful as he could) and remained silent.
Then: "Did I hear that right?" Starolf ventured. "You can't be serious... your drugs are free? Free, you said? Why -- why that would mean that Rys and I could -- are you sure you don't want any of our profits? Are you sure that -- " His voice trailed off as the enormity of the offer hit him. Free! Free! Free! His muscles tensed up in anticipation of the coming hit, and it was with great effort that Starolf kept his fingers from twitching and grabbing. No, he told himself firmly. First, bath. Then fun. Although the sensation of water spilling over his skin would certainly be amplified if he only had a little first... Mmm. Just a little, then.
"Oh, I don't think we'll be fucking each other at all, Rys is a little touchy, y'see, not that I wouldn't mind o' course, she's a right beauty in my eyes, but I'm sure you know how it is, don't worry, you can rely on us, we're excellent salesmen, err, salespeople, salesperson and salescat..." Starolf rambled, waving his hand in Rys's direction, but he was still caught up on the idea that he could be high for the rest of his life and never pay a thing. The knowledge was mind-boggling.
At Akabu's declaration of his identity, Starolf suddenly snapped up straight again, his eyes keen and triumphant. "So there actually is a Lord of Temptation? I knew it! I told my buddies way back in the day that someone had to be producing all that stuff -- it had to come from somewhere and -- hey, you know what?" Starolf asked, and then answered his own question with frank admiration: "I've always been very fond o' your products. You are excellent at what you do. You probably hear that all the time, but it's as easy to get addicted to flattery as to wine, eh?" He grinned, as a friend to a friend. Starolf was a real connoisseur of the addictive and the illegal, and he was probably one of Akabu's best customers. "Thanks from all your addicts, Akabu. And feel free to experiment on me any time you like." Another toothy grin.
He gaped at all the many drugs piled into the bags: even if he had wanted to use them all, he'd never have the time. Why, they could start handing these things out to children in schoolyards if they wanted -- not Potent Pleasure, of course, Starolf was uneasy with the idea of introducing pre-pubescent children to the highest ecstasies of the senses (it's just plain unnatural, he thought), but anyone else? He and Rys would have to come up with appropriate code-names, of course, and appropriate passowrds -- no real drug ring is complete without code-names and passwords, Starolf knew -- but from there on in it would be easy sailing...
Starolf looked over at Rys with the wild grin of success, and would have whirled her around in a dance if he hadn't known she would disapprove so thoroughly. Instead, he murmured, "Alright, lady, looks as if we're set. Get me that bath and I'll get you rich." A new personal goal rose unbidden in his mind: She should, of course, know what she's selling... Starolf liked to share, and now he wanted to share his extensive knowledge of substance abuse with the world -- and, if at all possible, with Rys.