I'm writing the scene where my MC is making a deal, think contracts with a demon, with an old god he accidentally released from imprisonment. The MC agrees to make a deal with the god with the idea that he's just going to get help for his magic and it's the first time someone has wanted to make a deal with him (deals with demons happen on the daily.) The god on the other hand just likes him and agrees to it. So what I'm struggling with is how to make the deal/contract more like signing a marriage contract without being obvious about it. Initially the MC doesn't realize he's basically signing into marriage, and the god doesn't know what marriage is, I also don't want the readers to know unless they're really paying attention. Hopefully, I've explained it well enough. I appreciate any help I can get!
I must be missing something. How can there even be such a contract? Who is proposing it? The MC? He does not know what he is proposing? Or the god, who is proposing the contract, but doesn't comprehend the contents of the contract indicate marriage--something the god is unfamiliar with?
MC: "Umm, will this lubricant help me with my magic?" Old God: "No, I invite you to revisit term 6 of our marriage contract that you signed, please see here under the line 'sex every Friday'."
I suppose you could write your character being illiterate and getting a contract made up for him from a scribe? Then have the scribe throw some terms and conditions in there that your character did not ask for. Then the character and the god/devil sign it and as the story progresses the results of signing the contract become more obvious? That would be one way to do it. I'm sure there are others.
I'm a little confused by the wording and description provided. So MC is a demon? Human? Other? And in your original thoughts you had the MC not know he was signing into basically marrying this god, while the god himself has no idea what he is doing either(impossible if he's actually a god)/knows nothing about marriage (highly unlikely unless he's ignorant). . . or it's a physical relationship to the god while it seems like marriage to the MC? What is the deal he's making? Do you mean god or goddess? Both male? If I was writing something like this I'd go with: MC accidentally unleashes the god. Process of this somehow binds them together magically. God feels strange after being locked up for so long, and wants to test out his powers/give his savior a "reward" by allowing to make a deal. Without knowing all the above, especially what the exact deal is, I would suggest having that "deal" accidentally solidify the bond that was formed making their powers connect together/share in each others. Thus making them bound by magic, unable to separate. The dependence on one another can form a marriage-like relationship. Especially if they have to stay close together or do something like kiss to help the bond/keep from losing their magic or becoming weaker. SIDE NOTE: When you do contracts, especially demon contracts, there's always a catch. The bond could be part of the catch, but the god needs to have something up his sleeve. Nothing comes for free, and even if he is "rewarding" the MC, he's a god. Setting him free is not enough. He'll have put something else in his deal. Like eternal servitude or whatnot. The MC sounds like he'd make a great ignorant type character, so this catch would go unnoticed easily. Sorry for the long reply and the nitpicking. I write fantasy style as well, with demons and other creatures. So since it's relate able I'm better able to think several steps ahead and at different angles.
