Within seconds of laying down on the comfortable cushions of the cage, Sean drifted off. He didn't know how long he'd been out when he awoke to soft music and low voices chatting cheerfully. Slowly sitting up, he yawned and looked around for any changes. The men were all setting up a table for dinner and Sean's jaw dropped at the sight of them. He hadn't realized just how attractive these guys were. None of them were all that muscular but each one had something flawless about them. The youngest guy had to be at least twenty and was the shyest one out of all of them. While the oldest of the group looked not even a day over forty. When of the other men noticed that he was up, he quickly separated from the group with a tray. Still a little groggy, Sean instinctively moved to the far back of his cage as the man approached the door. Unlocking it, the man slipped in a large bowl of water with a washcloth, a folded set of clothing, and cup of seeming tea. After putting them inside, he casually closed and locked the door, before flashing him a warm smile and saying. "My name is Lucas. You can call me Lu if you want. Everyone else does. Feeling any better?" Sean nodded, reaching out to take the tea.

Lucas opened his mouth to say something when the older blonde man asked from across the room. "Lu, you still bothering the poor kid?" Lucas rolled his eyes, snapping back. "Fuck off, Russ. It's not a crime to be nice." Russ chuckled, then gestured to a younger man as he blurted out. "Well, we need you over here to keep Kenny from folding these napkins. Cause... well look at them!" Kenny tossed the napkin he'd been folding onto the table and shoved Russ. Who in turn quickly wrestled him to the ground in a fit of laughter. Kenny's long bare legs thrashed in the air and Russ easily pinned him to the floor and finished aloud. "The boy can do a lot of things, but napkin folding is asking too much." From the floor, Kenny strained out loudly. "Let me go, ya brute!" The others shared a laugh, before Russ released Kenny. Allowing Kenny to swat him upside the head with a pillow, before storming off. Rolling his eyes, Lucas made his way back to them, grumbling out. "You know what. Just stop. All of you! Hands off! I'll do it myself. Look you put the silverware in the wrong... ugh! How many times do I need to tell you..." The men fled from Lucas with playful chuckles and Sean got the impression that they did this a lot to him.

Ushing the washcloth, Sean did his best to wash the caked blood off his neck and Verine's sticky saliva off his chest. Stripping his clothes, he slipped into a set of silken white P.J.'s and finished off his delicious tea. Setting the empty cup outside the cage, Sean stretched himself out in the cage and tried to think of how Dark would find him. Only to have his thoughts interrupted by the youngest man asking him from a distance. "Do you have a name? Or should we make one up for you?" Blinking, Sean turned his eyes on the young man and answered with a meek shrug. "I'm Sean." The chatter among the men quieted down, when the young man asked him curiously. "Verine mentioned Dark. Are you his?" Sean didn't see the harm in being honest. So, he nodded. Russ let out a low whistle, exhaling out a little impressed. "Darkiplier? The prince of Pride. How did you manage that? He breaks vessels." Tilting his head back against the cage, Sean answered in a distant voice. "I don't know. I reminded him of someone that he cared about. He changed a little and I just decided to give him a chance." The young man smiled to himself. Allowing Lucas to slip in as he stopped organizing the table to glance at one of the windows. "That's all it takes sometimes. I'll never forget the first time Verine was nice to me. It was so out of character for the demon that he appeared to be. Something that makes you feel... special."

A few of the others nodded, leaving Russ to add firmly. "We've all got demons. Though the demons hide their pain much better than us. They are chained by it. So, they use their suffering as a weapon. They are forced to suppress what WE feel naturally. In a way... We are their inner demons. Just as they are ours." Sean smirked at the thought of it. One of the younger men propped himself across some pillows as he excitedly asked. "What did the prince of pride do to win you over? I bet it was magical." Blushing a little, Sean lowered his eyes, but answered blissfully. "Well... It was. It was... Dark's birthday. He dressed down and drove me to the beach. Where we ate dinner on the hood of his car. Danced. Watched the fireworks. It was the first time that he acted so... human." The younger boys sighed dreamily. Russ crossed his arms then, asking him seriously. "Ya. But what do you love about him when he's at his worst?" The other men shot glares at Russ, but Russ held his ground. Locking eyes with Sean, Russ boldly added aloud. "It's easy to love him when he bends to satisfy you. But when you are out with him. In front of HIS people. His work. What about him as a demon did you fall for?" Sean opened his mouth, but ultimately closed his mouth. He didn't know. He had to think about it.

When the younger men kept up their glares, Russ told them with proud confidence. "You too should ask yourselves that. Because the cruel fact of life is that you can't change someone into your perfect lover. They are their own person. They will only bend so far. The rest of them will stay apart of them. So, if you can't handle Verine at his worst. You don't deserve him at his best." Closing his eyes, Russ bowed his head and added in a powerful tone. "I'll tell you mine. I was in love with a man that I couldn't have. I fell for him hard, but he loved my best friend. He planned to marry her. They both broke my heart... Verine found me trying to drown myself in a bottle of scotch. He convinced me that I should fuck him in revenge. Flaunt him in front of them. So, I did." Russ shifted his feet, his voice filling with pain as he finished off. "I was bitter and Verine gave me an excuse to try and hurt them back. Only... in doing so... it dawned on me later that because I never told them how I felt in the first place. They didn't know I was gay. When they did, they didn't want to be my friend anymore. I tortured myself for years trying to hold a friendship together... that wasn't worth keeping. I became jaded... distant. But Verine... he dragged me out of my comfort zone and showed me how to love myself. Because when no one else cares about you. You have to care enough about yourself to find yourself."

Opening his teary eyes, Russ locked his eyes with Sean's, before saying casually. "Verine isn't Cupid. He didn't make me fall in love. He forced me to find a way to fix the broken heart I got left with when love let me down. After years being with Verine... I've learned that demons aren't to be feared and hated. They are a truth you have to face in order to truly be free. I spent years feeling bitter and sad... because I somewhere deep down. I was afraid to face the fact that I knew they'd toss me aside when they saw the real me. Verine showed me that you can move on. The world only seems lonely because you feel alone. The trick is to live with yourself. To love who are. Broken hearted scars, screws loose, and stupid mistakes." Sean let his words sink in, then told Russ truthfully. "You're right. I... I'll give it some thought." Russ lowered his eyes from Sean, casually turning away from him. Lucas stopped fussing with the table to make his way over to Russ. Wrapping a comforting arm around him as he whispered to him. Sean could see the older men with similar distant looks, while the younger men looked a little confused by Russ's words. Biting his lip, Sean asked them curiously to break up the tension a bit. "So... Verine took you guys?"

One of the older pregnant men, answered simply. "Most of us, yes. Verine's realm is full of lustful sinners of all varieties. However, those that he finds too beautiful in some way... he brings here. Us older ones believe Verine took us here because he is collecting emotional traits that hold deep meaning with him. Emotions he relates to but doesn't let himself feel. Allows him to bond with us and not have to hide or prove himself so much." Sean looked around the beautiful room, understanding why they'd think that. This place was very colorful and bright. In a word it was expressive. There we no stripper poles or sexual toys. It was just relaxing to snuggle up in. While Dark tended to keep things literally dark colored with a mysteriousness in its gothic designs and sex toys. It was almost a little funny. Just as Sean was going to bring up the irony of it, the mirror on the wall rippled and began to hum loudly. The men quieted down, their faces becoming excited. After a minute of nothing, Russ and the other men started to get tense. Russ pulled the younger men back, warning seriously. "Something's up... Back up! Stay back!" Just as Russ pulled the last young man back behind him, Verine shot through the portal and fell over the table, smashing it in a flurry of leather wings and a lashing long tail.

The young men started forward, calling out Verine's name, but the older men yanked the young ones back. Verine rolled to his side, spitting a mouthful of blood across the bits of the table. Something tried to enter the portal, before letting out a sharp scream. The portal sealed back up into a mirror, leaving Verine alone on the floor. Russ took a cautious step closer to Verine, who let out a deep aggressive hiss. Getting to his feet in the cage, Sean gripped the bars and tried to figure out what was happening. Verine pushed himself up on all fours, then with a sharp yelp, he fell back across the floor as his leg gave out. The older men backed everyone up, but Russ stood his ground. Verine's wings slowly rose off the floor and stretched out menacingly behind him. Russ ignored his wings, focusing only on Verine's face. Verine's solid gold eyes and a frightening thin black cat like iris now. Verine's sharp canine teeth were bare and stained in blood. While Verine's tail flicked wildly behind him like it was searching for someone behind him. Russ slowly sank to his knees and spoke in a low calm whisper. "Hey Buddy. Are you ok?" Verine hissed loudly, causing thick strands of saliva to leak from the sides of his mouth.

Russ didn't make any sudden moves and remained completely calm. Verine tried to rise to all fours again, but again his leg seized up and forced him to cry out. Keeping his bleeding leg off the ground, Verine took wild shaky breaths. His claws cutting into the bits of wood. Sean wanted to tell Russ that he was crazy for getting so close. Verine was clearly not himself. He was wild and feral. Yet, he couldn't help watching Russ's bravery. Speaking to him in a soft loving voice like no one else was in the room, Russ said soothingly. "Verine. You're safe. I can't hurt you. Verine... look at me. Do you know who I am?" Verine locked eyes with him, his body shifting uneasily and wearily. After a long minute of staring at him, Verine's black feline irises faded to a solid golden again. Verine's muscles relaxed from their tense state, upon gasping out. "Russell? I'm..." Verine didn't finish before collapsing from exhaustion across the ground. Russ waited until Verine's whole body fell limp, before finally approaching him and ordering the others. "Lu! Fetch the med kit! Tommy! Kenny! Clear a place for him to lay down." The younger men rushed to clear a place and stashed pillows for Verine's comfort. Russ carefully folded Verine's large wings, then eased him up into his arms to carry him over to the spot.

While Russ laid him out, Tommy paced the room, whining out nervously. "What happened? Is he ok? What do we do?!" Russ shushed Tommy and told the younger men calmly. "He's fine. Calm down. He was in a fight and was lost in his primal nature. He was fighting for survival. Whoever it was can't get in here. Just remain calm. The smell of Fear will only trigger him in his state." Tommy took a few deep breaths to calm himself. Lucas rushed back to him with the first aid kit, asking Russ curiously. "His leg? How bad is it?" Russ carefully removed Verine's leather pants, flinching when Verine jerked with a sharp sleepy whine. Gripping the bars tighter, Sean saw the blood pooling around Verine's bare thigh. Placing a cloth on the wound without hesitating, Russ informed Lucas. "It's a deep cut. Went straight to the bone. I can see it. He'll heal on his own... but we should stitch and wrap it to keep him from losing anymore blood. Russ pressed hard on the wound, telling one of the other men clearly. "Greg, put your belt around his leg. High up his thigh and pull tight. Don't worry, he can take it. Tighter." Sean was glad that he couldn't see everything they were doing but wondered if Russ and Lucas had been through this before.

While Lucas stitched, he told Russ seriously. "I recognize this cut..." Russ nodded, locking eyes with Lucas before peeking back at Sean and uttering out coolly. "Anti's tail did this." Sean perked up a little, then winced as he stated out. "Why would Anti attack Verine? Anti doesn't know that he has me." Lucas snorted, half chuckling out. "I guess that means that he doesn't know." Sean raised an eyebrow, prompting one of the pregnant men to pipe in swiftly. "Anti has always bullied Verine. Verine teases Anti about his sex life... Anti attacks him in a fit of rage. It is just something... siblings do." Kenny paced a little, mumbling out. "If Verine didn't tease Anti, then he'd be fine." Russ shot a glare at Kenny, snapping back. "If Khaos loved more than just three of her nine kids, this wouldn't be a problem for any of them." Lucas swatted Russ's arm, pointing to bites and cuts along Verin's legs and sides. The sight of each wound made Russ gasp out. "Wait... These are... from everyone. What the fuck... Did they all just get into a fight?" Sean stepped back to sit down, blurting out nervously. "Khaos must have called another meeting... and all hell broke loose." Lucas glanced back at Sean, uttering aloud. "Dark and Anti must be really pissed that you are gone. The Dominion hasn't fought like this in... years."

Sean glanced at the mirror, his blood feelingcold. Was Dark hurt? Was Anti? Or Natemare? If he had yelledwhen the portal was open could they have heard him? Swallowing, Sean lowered his eyes to thebracelet on his wrist that Dark gave him. Cupping the bracelet, Sean discreetly called out to Dark. Dark told that it would call to him, but he'dnever tried to use before. He could onlyhope that it at least told Dark that he was alright. To Be Continued...