"Snickers, please."

He hands her a Snickers. He doesn't bother with the wrapper.

"You're awesome."

"Why thank you."

"And I do mean for the malaria and so on, not just the deliciousness. My priorities aren't that far out of whack."

"I haven't done the malaria yet. I will need to travel to where malaria is found."

"Yes, but you have expressed the intention and the ability, and this is awesome."

"I am fortified by your appreciation."

"What interesting names all your friends have."

"Oh! Right, his real name's Cecil. He's part of the unofficial club I mentioned earlier. We all have nicknames. I'm Little Bird."

"You don't look particularly avian to me."

"My full name is Daphne Major. This is also the name of an island in the Galapagos where some important research is being done on finches."

"Aha. My full name's Campbell Mark Swan, if you're curious."

"That seems like a very human name. I take it your advice on what happens when someone who summons daeva dies was at least partly from personal experience, then."

"There's a few reasons I don't usually tell summoners that, but yeah, I used to be a human."

"I'm sorry if I intruded on something private."

"Well, one reason is they usually summon me bound and gagged and I am literally unable to communicate with them."

"Why would they do that?"

"Aforementioned rumor about demons taking people's souls. No one wishes to be cajoled out of theirs. The binding is a legitimate safety precaution when you don't know who you're getting - the gagging is ultimately quite pointless."

"Okay, the binding part makes sense, but if they don't want to be talked out of their souls why don't they just resolve to say no?"

"Because some demons think it's really fun to convince summoners to offer up their souls and have gotten very good at it. This is really the safest equilibrium, because the souls are being traded for something, the something is real and the soul is not - or at least the claim on it isn't - and if it were common knowledge that there was nothing on one end of this bargain you'd still have an asshole demon and a desperate summoner and that gets less pleasant fast."

"That part makes sense. I've just never understood how you can be so afraid of someone persuading you to something that you don't let them talk--if you expect them to have arguments you'll find swaying, that should sway you. I don't understand what irrational appeals could be made that wouldn't fit into that category--verbally, anyway. I do understand how the application of...stimuli can impair one's judgment."

"Stimuli. Threats. Insinuations that there are loopholes in the binding. Outright bribery - you summoned me for this thing, but imagine if I also did that thing, which is not in the scope of what you asked and would require additional payment?"