Vandel
"Can I look now," I asked, one hand covering my eyes.
"Just another minute," Ridley mumbled. There were a few thuds following that statement and a sound which I supposed was most likely Ridley stumbling into the bed. Honestly I would have peaked to see what the hell was going on but Ridley had insisted that I stand with my back turned away from him until he was dressed. From the sounds of it this endeavor was not going well.
"You almost done?" I asked. "We don't have all night."
"I...I think I might be stuck."
"Oh for the love of....Ridley let me just fucking put it on you!"
"No please don't look."
"We're going to be here for hours. I've done this before."
"You've done what now?"
"Just let me help."
"No-" I didn't let him finish before I whirled around.
Ridley had somehow managed to get himself completely tangled up in the leather straps. Despite myself I couldn't help but feel a small shiver of heat shoot through my body at how appealing the sight of the young knight restrained by the leather was. I shook my head, dismissing the thoughts of what I would have loved to do to him if that toned muscular body belonged to literally ANYONE else.
Now was not the time for that.
Ridley had brought his hands back to his face once more, hiding an extremely obvious blush.
"Don't be so modest," I said quickly, moving over to help him. "Your body is nothing to be embarrassed about. Honestly, you're too repressed. It wouldn't hurt for you to show it off." I allowed my fingers to slowly trail across his skin as I moved to adjust the straps. I could feel his skin grow warm beneath my touch and I smirked to myself. Teasing him never seemed to grow old. My gaze suddenly fell to his back. The scars there had multiplied from the last time I had seen them. My smirk faded. My hand moved to the scars, gently brushing my fingers over them.
"Did you whip yourself again?" I asked slowly.
He hesitated a beat before responding. "Yes."
I bit my lip. "Why?"
"I don't owe you an explanation."
"No, no you don't. But do you really think that's going to stop me from asking?"
"Why would you even care," he said softly.
I sucked in my breath. I shouldn't care. If anything I should think the idea of a human punishing itself was funny, so why did the thought of Ridley hurting himself make my stomach twist to knots?
"I don't care," I retorted almost too quickly. "It just makes me curious why humans do such stupid pointless things. It doesn't make sense to me why you whip yourself."
"Because I need to be punished for thinking bad things. No one else can see into my mind so only I can punish myself for my bad thoughts."
I continued to adjusts his straps as he talked. "So," I asked. "These new scars, what were they for?"
"For a lot of things. For lying to everyone about where I've been, for letting my best friend down and...and for wanting something I shouldn't want."
I arched a brow as I brought the collar to his throat. "And what is that?"
"Nothing that should concern you."
I scoffed. "You're such a tease. You give me a little insight into the weird interworking of your goody two shoes mind and then yank it away." The collar snapped into place and I took a step back to admire my handiwork. Ridley looked good, really good. I grinned. "We need a fake name for you, I was thinking Gerard."
Ridley scowled. "There is no way you are making me use the fake name Gerard."
"How about I just refer to you as princess."
"That's even worse."
"I kind of like it. It reminds me of a super fluffy dog."
"No. I refuse."
"You're in my domain. Who says you get any say in the matter."
Ridley glared at me. "How dare you-"
"Oh? How dare I what princess?"
He took a step forward. "How dare you address me in such a way."
I didn't back down, taking yet another step towards him. "I'll address you however I fucking please."
"Stop it."
"Make me."
Our gazes locked and in that moment I realized we were standing much too close and it was far too hot in this room. I also became painfully aware of the fact that my heart was pounding in my chest. We both immediately averted our gazes. I awkwardly glanced to the large grandfather clock that rested across from my dresser. My eyes widened.
"Shit, we're running late! We need to go NOW!"
Ridley looked to the clock as well. "How care you read that thing? There's no numbers, just weird markings-"
"Demon time works differently than human time. I can explain at some other point when we aren't on a time crunch." I grabbed my mask for the party off my bedside table. "You ready to go?"
Ridley's gaze fell to his sword that he had left on my bed. "My sword," he said. "Is there a way I can sneak it in? What if I need it for tonight?"
I looked to the sword now. A slight shiver shot up my spine. I hated that thing. It brought back a lot of bad memories. As much as I despised the weapon however, Ridley was right. This was an extremely dangerous situation and if he had to defend himself he would be completely fucked without it.
I nodded slowly. "Give it to me."
Hesitantly Ridley picked up the sword and slowly handed it over to me. I felt a jolt pass through my body the moment my hand touched it. It felt wrong to hold it, as if the sword itself was rejecting me. It was almost as if my hand and the sword were the same two sides of a magnet pushing back against each other. I quickly ran my hand over a spot in front of me, pushing the sword through. The air rippled as the sword seemingly disappeared into thin air.
Ridley's eyes widened in horror. "What did you do?"
"I'm just holding it for you-"
I had never seen Ridley this panicked before. Normally I would have continued to mess with him and pretend that I legitimately had obliterated that awful weapon but the young knight looked about ready to cry.
"You made it disappear! How can I get it back!?! Vandel please that sword is important to me! It was my father's. It's all I have left-"
"Calm the FUCK down Ridley," I snapped. "I didn't make your fucking sword vanish. It's still here. I just put it into a multidimensional pocket. Remember when I mentioned them the last time I saw you?" Ridley took a deep breath, beginning to calm down. He gave me a small nod. If I had pupils I would have rolled my eyes. "I already told you that you wouldn't even understand them. All you need to know is that if you need to access the sword I'll be able to get if for you, okay? I just slipped it into a holding space one plane over."
Ridley gave me a stiff nod, still looking completely confused. "Okay."
"Good. Alright, we seriously need to go. Every minute we waste here is a minute we could be investigating. We only have about an hour." Before Ridley could even respond I grabbed him by the arm, pulling him out into the hallway. I began to walk quickly, Ridley trailing behind me.
"Wait," he said. "You never explained what exactly this," he gestured to the leather straps, "is. What do I need to do?"
"This is called the Blood Masquerade. It's a party held only for the demon elite. As a symbol of their stature sometimes they like to bring pets."
"Pets?"
"Yes. That's what you're pretending to be. They're prisoners, usually humans. They're only there for about an hour or two."
Ridley's face had paled. "You keep human prisoners as...pets?"
"Yes. I told you that you wouldn't like this. As you know it's the highest form of treason in your kingdom for a human to sleep with a demon. This is why. I'm sure you're aware of the pheromones demons can release while being intimate, it's a tactic used by demons to control humans. The pets are all humans who...how do I put this without sounding crude..."
"You don't have to say it. I...I understand."
"Okay good." Ridley let out a low shaky breath. I looked to him. "I know this is going to be hard," I said slowly. These are your people and you're going to want to help them. You just need to remember that there is too much at stake here. If you blow this for us the consequences could be fatal. We could quite possibly have the fate of both our kingdoms in our hands tonight. Don't forget that."
"I understand." Ridley said slowly. "I'll do my part."
I smiled thinly at him, trying to bite back my own nerves. Something much worse awaited humans that attended the blood masquerade, things far darker than just being paraded around as pets. I hated it. I had loathed the tradition for years but there was nothing I could do about it. Hopefully my plan would work and I would be able to get Ridley out of here before he saw the even darker side of the party.
We were approaching the doors to the ballroom now. They were huge, and made of black marble infused with golden flakes. The door towered above us. I took a deep breath, bringing my mask to my face. It was a glorious thing made of the same glass feathers as my cape. My gaze drifted to Ridley who was staring up at the door as if it were the very gates of hell itself.
"Oh, and one more thing Ridley," I said quickly. "To play the part of a true loyal pet I need you to pretend to be quite completely and totally in love with me."
Ridley's now grey eyes widened. "Are you messing with me?"
"I'm afraid not. Though don't be too worried about it, nearly half the pets are acting to try and make sure they don't get..." I stopped myself before I nearly blabbed too much.
"Don't get what?"
"Nothing, Ridley let's go!"
"No wait? Vandel what are you talking about? So they don't get what?"
"I don't have enough time to explain. Come on, tonight is our one chance to investigate the demons together so let's make the most of it." I dug into my pocket and removed a golden chain. I slowly moved over to Ridley, attaching it to the collar around his throat. He cringed as I snapped it into place, his cheeks burning an all too familiar shade of red.
"Alright then sir Ridley," I said slowly, "Let the party begin." And with that I snapped my fingers and the giant doors swung open.