44 My Name Is Rob.

It took nearly ten minutes for Rykar to get past his depression after Loki outed him so brutally in front of everyone. By the time he rejoined the conversation, Rob had made a full recovery and was in an intense discussion with Loki and Chance.

Despite being the main focus of the conversation, Loki didn't add much to the talk, instead sitting with a serious expression and soaking in all of the opinions of the other two.

After the revelation of Rob, Chance understood straight away how easy it could be to work around the contract imposed on others, depending on the wording used.

In the case of Rob, he had agreed to being recognized as a brother in exchange for 'not doing things with the intention of causing harm to or divulging the secrets of Loki, Chance or Rykar'. However, when he slapped Rykar, this was a clear contradiction of what Loki had 'thought' the contract entailed.

This played out by working on the 'intent' of Rob.

He didn't hit Rykar with the intention of harming him, but to 'help' the boys understand the loopholes in the contract. If he had attacked Rykar with the intention of simply causing him harm, or without the subject being on gaining understanding into Loki's ability, he would most likely have crossed the boundary and come across a backlash before even getting close.

However, this was only conjecture at this point. Therefore, for the next two hours, test after test was run to figure out just how far the wording could be pushed, leading to a set of loose rules and regulations which Loki could keep in mind.

Any contract which was agreed on by both parties, yet was impossible to be completed by both parties, would result in the runes on the paper scattering. Once again leaving Loki with a clear grey page.

This was the case on many occasions, such as when Rob and Loki agreed that, if Loki gave him a gold coin, Rob would grow wings and fly through the sewers.

There were also many other cases which resulted in the runes shattering and dispersing on the page.

If either side decided they wanted to withdraw from the agreement before the deal was finalized? Shattered.

If either party included other people or objects which were beyond their control or didn't belong to them? Shattered.

If either party fell unconscious before the contract was finalized?

Shattered.

If someone, outside of the negotiations parties, intervenes and speaks up for either side?

Shattered.

Something that baffled all present was the way that it didn't actually require being vocal to express intent for the contract. Using signs, nodding or otherwise expressing agreement with the proposed conditions would seal the deal as long as the motion was done with that intent in mind.

Communicating could be done via the page, without the use of any speech at all!

The dancing runes within the page were illegible to anyone reading them, in normal situations. However, while formulation a contract or if being read by someone that had participated in the formation of the contract, If all parties were able to see the book, the they could change the contents with just a thought, bridging all language barriers.

Towards the end of the tests, the four within the room became too lazy to speak and instead laid the book within the middle of a square formation after dragging chairs over. Runes constantly danced and squirmed across the mages of the book as changes were being made to the contract without anyone opening their mouths at all.

One of the most important things to note, was what happened when additional conditions were made to an initial contract.

Instead of agreeing or disagreeing with the initial conditions which were set, on occasion, Rob began bartering or suggesting counter offers. Rather than shattering like they had been expecting, the runes on the paper instead deformed and increased in number, forming additional clauses.

Although this allowed much more flexibility, it highlighted an important flaw in the system. With each change that was made and the longer the contract was open without finalization, the harder it was for Loki to focus.

On one occasion, the deal went backwards and forwards for over five minutes which, by the end, Loki was barely speaking coherently.

An initial agreement of trading two slaps for one punch with Rykar, ended with Loki being on the receiving end of six punches and three slaps in exchange for Rykar calling him boss and spinning in a circle.

Closing the deal, Loki fell to the ground and collected his thoughts for nearly an hour before opening the book and tearing up the finalized contract without a second thought.

Reading it through before tearing it, he couldn't even believe he had made such a stupid and pointless deal in the first place, much less put himself on the receiving end!

The trial and error gave a basic outline on the uses and best ways to form a contract.

As fast as possible.

As specific as possible

With as few alterations to the initial contract as possible.

These rules would not only make sure that there were less loopholes to exploit, but also guarantee that Loki was in his best condition mentally when the contract was drawn up, reducing the risk of him being exploited.

After the initial wonder and giddiness of finding a new toy finally wore off, Rob became much more doubtful on whether the contracts that had been drawn up actually had to be respected. After all, all is good on paper, but anyone can write down fancy words and promises.

Thinking up something simple, he decided to violate his contract just to see what the repercussions would be, if any.

"No matter what I whisper in your ear, you cannot repeat a single word to anyone again. Deal?" Loki offered with a raised eyebrow. After seeing Sir's reaction to the breach of contract before leaving the fragment, it was difficult to say he didn't want to see how Rob would handle it.

Nodding his head, Rob leaned in closer as Loki cupped his ear and whispered as the runes solidified on the paper with a profile of Rob alongside them.

"My name is Rob."

His choice of words made Rob laugh for a moment as he thought of the implications of the contract if he was made to go through life without being able to utter any of those words again.

"What's your name, aye?" Loki laughed to himself while asking. Face still hidden under his mask, his smile couldn't be seen but could easily inferred.

Taking a deep breath, Rob exhaled heavily as anticipation bubbled up in him. He had no idea what to expect but he couldn't feel anything different than usual.

"mmmMMMMM…"

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Was the last sound he made before collapsing to the ground with the whites of his eyes showing and his mouth agape in a silent scream.

Everyone in the room felt their hearts lurch as they rushed to their feet, dashing towards him at the fastest speed possible before dragging him over to his bed and leaving Chance to look over his condition.

No matter what he did, Chance was unable to find a single issue with Rob's body despite his pained look. Luckily, it wasn't long before his iris's rolled back around and his breathing stabilized as he entered a state of slumber.

It hadn't even been twenty minutes of the trio sitting in silence before Rob finally came to. He sat up from the bed quickly and without issue. There was no grogginess or anything to hint at the episode that he had been through not even half an hour prior.

"All the contracts we've been practicing with so far, get rid of them." His first words after waking up were anything but playful.

After making Loki void any contracts that they had made during the day, besides the initial contract pertaining to their loyalty to each other and the minor revisions made to it, he went on to explain, as best he could, what happened after he breached the contract.

Hundreds of fragmented and broken sentences were used to get the point across but it all came to one conclusion. There were literally no words he knew of that could begin to describe the level of pain he felt in that moment.

It went beyond anything he could feel with his body, as though something within him was being shredded up then smashed together again before the process repeated itself. Infinitely.

The pain had distorted his sense of time so severely that by the time he hit the ground, he honestly believed that several hours had passed.

All experiments with the contracts stopped after that, with Rob adamant that they could continue messing around, but it would be without him.

He no longer even gave suggestions and opinions, closing himself off and sitting on his bed in silence. The change in attitude made the rest of the room much more sullen, destroying the jokey atmosphere as the three continued the conversation.