Hotels are best when free

Rin's movements were rigid, even after successfully keeping pace with Ciel's own, she had done so through bare minimum motions. That was to be expected, after all every action she took would only serve as a catalyst for more agony. Due to that reason, she did not turn to face Ciel after his murmur. Instead she merely stared at the disheveled old man and answered softly. 

"D-Do not insult my intelligence, your intent is quite clear." 

Ciel shrugged, adding a bit of extra zing to his movements as he retorted with ridicule. 

"Well you have yet to be trained so of course I would be skeptical of it. Hmph, but maybe to a vampire dominating minds is equivalent to a dog barking at fences no?" 

Rin's searing shoulders twitched slightly, however she managed to calm the impulse to counter his mockery, signaling her defeat within this back and forth. 

"S-Surely you jest…" 

She said simply. 

Ciel found his vampiric companion's reaction to his ridicule acceptable. It was his intention to not cultivate a friendly partnership between the two of them. Just because he had to use her did not mean he would enjoy the company of a beast. Beyond that, he could not become casual with her either. One can tame a beast, but never trust them. 

The relationship they currently held had Ciel as its head, Rin had not protested this because he was currently the stronger out of the two. That fact however would slowly become blurred as she begins to regain more of her old power. 

Should he let his guard down or show too much weakness then it will diminish her wariness. As such she might grow bold and attempt a first strike when he least expects it or is not in a position to defend against it. That possibility was troublesome, yet Ciel felt it to be an inevitability. 

With their exchange finished, Ciel's focus shifted back towards the old man situated behind the counter. 

"Stay here, I will set things up for you, that way we can maximize the effects of your charm." 

Saying such, Ciel walked forward. 

The first floor of the building was in a far worse state than the building's outward appearance. The wood was weathered, its polish long since gone. No windows decorated the level either, in fact literally nothing beyond the lights which hung above its center and counter were found. 

The lighting in itself was poor, barely encasing the floor with a dim orange hue. Light bulbs were items which could be found at a variety of prices. Even the dirt cheap ones came in brighter variations, such as the basic pure white bulbs of the: Call-Glow brand, which was only more expensive by a margin of five credits or less. 

Of course, the reason this hotel did not use such a light source was rather simple. To mask the deterioration of the structure from any potential customers. No one in the outskirts were in a position to demand the industry standards found in the city proper, however hotels, motels, and resorts did not exclusively aim for those who lived inside the outskirts itself like many apartment complexes did. 

Their target customers included those which came into the outskirts from the greater city for either work, cheap whores, partying, or maybe even a few laundering schemes here and there. Oftentimes, while those folks were not what one would consider as 'well off', they did demand just a bit more than the average outskirt residence would. This sparked a tricky balancing act in which outskirt hotels did just enough to appear the better option than their nearest competitors while doing so as cheaply as possible. 

With every step Ciel made, the ground beneath his feet shrieked. He reached the counter after a few more steps then donned a smile and spoke. 

"Good day sir. My name is Ciel Adams and I was interested in a room for hmm… I suppose for the foreseeable future. Do you happen to have any available?" 

The old man, with a burning white still hoisted between his chapped lips and a heavy scowl plastered upon his face, scoffed. His deep brown eyes examined Ciel from top to bottom for a moment then instead of answering he took another heavy puff of his diminishing white and blew the smoke into Ciel's face. 

"Brat, if you wanna get a room at least pretend you got money will ya! Don't come in here wearing nothing but that cheap cloth as pants and a face fulla dirt then expect adults to take ya seriously! Now I have never met ya before so imma be nice when I say this… We don't accept your kind here, and sorry but we don't house rats for free either! Now go back to the damn slums!" 

That is you being kind? 

Ciel's smile did not waver, Instead he merely continued. 

"Oh come on now, I'm sure you don't care about where my money came from right? Tell you the truth, I just stole some and thought I'll treat myself for once. You know I have never even fucked a whore before? Things are different now tho! But well, I can't exactly do that without having a bed and a place to put all the nice new clothes I plan to buy now can I? So yeah, no worries really, I got the money, so just tell me the prices." 

The old man spared Ciel a dubious look, clearly skeptical of his claims. He then ruffled his white disheveled beard for a moment before shrugging. 

"Yeah, I suppose that sounds believable. Ha! But brat, just know, if the police come knocking, I won't be covering for ya!" 

Ciel clapped his hands and widened his smile, turning it even more carefree. 

"Hah, hah! No worries, gramps, I'm sure the police don't care. Hell, even if they do, I won't resent you for doing what you got to do. That's the way of the world after all." 

The old man nodded, then after yet another heavy puff he continued. 

"Well then brat I got two rooms, room five and room twelve. Five is smaller and it costs 40 Credits or 4 Premium Credits. Has a stable light source, a single bed, a holographic tv, and a built-in bathroom. Room twelve has all the same but da tv has access to the network, the bathroom got a heater, and is just bigger. That one will cost ya 60 Credits or 6 Premium Credits." 

After the old man finished stating his offers, Ciel pretended to ponder the options for a while. Of course, the choice was obvious from the start. 

If free, then always go for the better choice. 

"Room twelve then. Let's do a month for now" 

He said with a smile. 

The old man nodded, then casually twisted his neck slightly and spat out his white. The single piece of stub flew through the air, just nearly missing the open garbage bin situated at the counter's edge. 

The old man was indifferent to his aiming failure and began writing down the information he needed upon a book at his side. After a minute passed he turned to face Ciel once more. He stretched out a hand then did a simple back and forth motion with his fingers. 

"That's 1,200 Credits then, 120 Premium if ya feeling fancy." 

Ciel chuckled nervously whilst scratching the back of his head. 

"One moment then, the whore I just hired has my money." 

He turned to face the figure standing at the entrance and gestured for her to come. Soon Rin did just that. The wooden floor shrieked from her passing, however its cries were drowned out by a much louder surprised yell from the old man. 

"W-What in da lord Luminous's name is that?!"

His small eyes had bulged wide, seemingly forgetting the skeptical look he had shown Ciel when he called her forth. Meanwhile, Rin's eyes had already begun emitting their scarlet luster as her lips parted. 

"Pay no heed…" 

She murmured, her sweet voice exposing the world to her dreadful influence yet again. 

That alone made the old man's panic cease instantly, then after a second or two, his skeptical scowl returned and he turned to face Ciel again. 

"Brat, you wa trust a whore to hold your damn money?! I thought you were a smart rat for a moment ya know, guess not!" 

Ciel simply shrugged then said in a boisterous manner. 

"Come on gramps, you have to put yourself in my shoes! Like you, she was skeptical if I had any money so to prove I was worth her 'services' I showed her my stuff and even made her carry it for me! Call it stupid if you like, but to me, that's a small risk to take for the fulfillment of my long time fantasy! You can understand a youths' desperation can't you?" 

The old man stared at Ciel with an incredulous expression, then after a few seconds he burst out into a hefty laughter. He bellowed for a good while after, slapping his sizable gut a few times in the process. Then after he was done, he faced Ciel and nodded, his lips curled. 

"Ha! Good one brat! Ok, ok, I won't judge you. Live life how it should be lived, in whichever way it favors ya most!" 

He took a few more heavy breaths then whipped his eyes slightly. His focus then shifted back to Rin. She still stood where she had arrived just moments prior, motionless like a statue. 

"So the money then…" 

The old man said as he reached out his hand. 

Rin's eyes spared Ciel a glance, their scarlet luster betraying her perplexity. However, she did not question him now and instead her focus returned to the old man, answering him as her eyes shimmered crimson. 

"There, it has been given." 

The old man's empty hand clutched tightly two seconds after her words reverberated in the room. He wore a wide grin as he opened the register hidden underneath the counter. 

"Well, well, you actually had it! Ha, Can't believe you weren't full a shit brat!" 

What a fool… 

Ciel mocked the old man inwardly, however outwardly, his lips stretched from end to end.

"Of course gramps!"

The old man frowned slightly. He then reached out his other hand to Ciel, this time not to collect but instead to give him the key-card of the room. 

"Brat, I ain't no gramps so no call me that will ya! My name is Neil. So call me that if you wa address me!" 

Ciel took hold of the small steel card and spared the number twelve glowing with a dim blue luster upon its center a glance. He then nodded. 

"No problem Mr. Neil! Thank you for the room…"