I was thinking about Lucanis and words and how words and their meanings seem to be extremely important to him and his understanding of the world and I think it all goes back to contracts.
'Don't promise, but thank you' -> I appreciate the thought, but don't say things you don't mean, and don't agree to a contract you can't deliver on.
And there has been many posts on the romance aspect of this ('promise?' 'I swear'/'just don't leave' 'never') BUT what I find also extremely interesting and what I also really love is the difference between 'contract' and 'deal'.
When he and Spite are trying to survive the Ossuary, Lucanis has to make a 'deal'. To me, 'deal' has much more to do with trust. It's more dependent on the individuals. A 'contract' is set in stone, written on paper, legally binding and is very impersonal. Whoever signs a contract is bound by it. This also matter with his personal characterization system i.e. 'family, enemies, contracts'. Contracts are impersonal and easy.
a written or spoken agreement, especially one concerning employment, sales, or tenancy, that is intended to be enforceable by law.
The connotation of the word 'deal' to me, at least, is much more human. A deal is personal, in my head, a deal is where two people spit on their hands before they shake on it, you know what I mean? And because a deal is more personal (not legally binding, just personally binding) it takes a lot more trust and is a lot less secure than 'contract'
an agreement entered into by two or more parties for their mutual benefit, especially in a business or political context.
Even in the definition, there's no mention of legality. Of course a 'deal' *could* be legally binding, but it's not implicit in the word.
So what I'm trying to get at is that I find it interesting that Lucanis is forced to extend more trust to a demon in the Ossuary than he's had to have for anyone outside of his immediate family, probably in years. This is forcing him to get personal with something outside of family, and outside of people he hates (the 'enemies' part of family, enemies, contracts). There is not legal way to ensure Spite is going to do what he says he will. There is no clean cut way for them to work together, written out neatly in clauses. Lucanis just... has a demon inside him, and they made a deal.
I think this also contributes to him feeling like he doesn't really *have* to live up to his own side of the deal, and also not really understanding what Spite means. He doesn't trust Spite enough to completely let himself or Spite 'live'.
But the kicker for me really is at the end of Inner Demons, when Spite, who presumably has spent enough time roaming around Lucanis' fucked up little compartmentalising head that he understands it a little bit better, in response to Rook suggesting a course of action for the two of them to take together (i think this happens with both, but definitely on the 'save Caterina route') suggests 'contract' for a label, and Lucanis... shoots it down.
'No. Contracts are for enemies. Call this... an alliance.'
Which is soooooo chewy. I feel like 'alliance' is even more personal, depends on even more trust than 'deal'. Ugh he makes me insane. I don't really know where I'm going with this, it's just wild to me how much he trusts Spite by the end of Inner Demons. And I think the fact that he says this so quickly points to how the trust between the two of them has been growing despite how Lucanis is still locking himself up in his mind Ossuary.
It also I think points to how Lucanis opens up over the course of the Veilguard, not just trusting Spite, but Rook and the others as well. Letting himself be vulnerable, telling people about Illario, asking for advice, maybe even falling in love. Idk I think using word choice as a way to subtly show this is such a fun and interesting way to do it, especially with a Crow character who has previously in his life lived and died by the contract.
