Erik sighed in irritated misery as he walked back to his room.  He was getting more and more ready to just slaughter his entire cabinet himself.  They wanted to use the library space for an in castle brothel and burn the books for heat, then go out into one of the other realms on slave hunts to populate the brothel. Then there was the notion to choose royalty through combat to the death, and use a similar method to weed out the 'weaker' demons and make them into slaves as well.

He had almost killed one of the advisors who had made a derogatory comment about palace pets.

As he passed the guard to his room, he paused, realizing it to be a different one then the one Nikita had enspelled. He scowled. "Has there been any activity?" he asked.

The guard looked at him as if he was an idiot.

Feeling extra-specially ornery, he slammed a small ball of energy into the demon's stomach area before entering his room, muttering to himself darkly.

"Master!" Nikita called happily, running to throw his arms around Erik.  He rubbed his cheek against Erik's shoulder, eyes closed, smiling blissfully.

Erik blinked a moment, then gave a small smile.  It was nice... having Nikita to come 'home' to...  He put his arms around the boy as well, returning the hug, enjoying the contact with the one person who didn't annoy him.

Nikita looked up, eyes twinkling almost with mischief.  "I have a present for you, Master.  One that will please you."

There was a knock on the door and the boy ran to answer it, speaking softly to the person on the other side.  When he turned back to Erik, he held a box in his hands.  He set it on a table and opened it, pulling a small package out and handing it to Erik.  The smile on his face practically glowed.

Erik blinked, looking at the rolled up circle of unfamiliar material. "What... is it?" he asked, confused.

"It's a condom," Nikita said.  "It's mostly for the girls, so they don't become pregnant, but it's used for other things too.  It keeps the semen from entering the other person."  He looked at Erik, eager for a response.

Erik blinked once more. "It...." he trailed off. "It makes it not be messy?" He looked up, the day's stress nearly melting off his face as he smiled. "Nikita, that's wonderful!" He gave the boy a tight hug. "Thank you...."

Nikita returned the hug energetically.  "I knew it would make Master happy," he murmured.  After a moment he pulled back, looking up at Erik.  "Master is tense.  I can help...."

Erik gave a small smile. "Thank you...."  He flopped down to sit at the edge of the bed and closed his eyes a moment, reverting to his natural form.  More and more he was feeling the need to do so, just to help release his frustration and tension. He adjusted so his hair was its shorter length and vowed for the umpteenth time to find a way to get it to stay that way when he shifted.  Maybe if he just cut it when he was in demon form... but then it would still be white. And sometimes it just felt... right, it being long.  And it always managed to grow back in a few days anyway...

Nikita climbed onto the bed behind Erik, slowly kneading the tension out of the man's shoulders with capable fingers.  "Master should take better care of himself," he said easily.  "Maybe if Master stayed in his true form more he wouldn't be so tense.  Staying in the other must be a drain."

Erik sighed, shoulders slumping slightly. "If I stayed in my true form, I'd have even more problems with the idiots here. Luckily, most of them don't know or have forgotten about this form...." He ran a hand through his bangs, pushing them from his face. "Else I'd probably be in those idiot slave pits everyone's so fond of putting anything different in." He sighed bitterly. "Why am I here?" he asked, mostly to himself.

Nikita paused, thinking that his Master would be in the harem not the slave pits.  "There are other places Master can go," he suggested softly.

Erik sighed. "Like where?"

"I don't know, Master," Nikita said, hands continuing their dexterous movement over the muscles of Erik's shoulders and back.  "Nikita has been in and around the court his whole life."

Erik sighed again, muscles slowly relaxing. "The triple damned court can blast itself to the seventh level of hell for all I care," he muttered. "Maybe one of the other realms... but even there, I'd have to be in my human form most likely." He gave another sigh, a slightly more blissful one as Nikita continued working. "You are utterly amazing," he smiled, eyes almost tired. "I don't know how I managed before hand without you...."

The boy beamed.  "Nikita does all he can to make his Master happy."  Leaving off his work, he snuggled to Erik's side.  "Master talks about the human realm a lot.  He can go there."

Erik was quiet a moment, thinking. "Maybe," he finally replied, putting an arm around the boy.  "But... it just feels like I would be running away, showing that I couldn't handle it, and would ruin everything I've worked so hard for...." he said with a sigh.

"Master has nothing to prove to anyone, and his happiness is more important than anything else."  Nikita looked up.  "Master isn't happy here."

Erik was quiet a long moment, thinking.
 
 

Erik gave a noise of release as he came, his wings unfolding completely to their full length with a rush of breeze.   He exhaled slowly, wings going limp again.  The rush of guilt started up, but was quickly cut off as Erik slowly pulled out.  He gave a large smile, relaxing again.  It had worked.  The mess was contained.  He hadn't soiled Nikita this time.

Nikita turned in Erik's arms, smiling softly at his Master.  He had never seen the man so relaxed.  Nuzzling lightly against Erik's collarbone, the boy reached down to help him remove the condom.  It wouldn't do to have it spill and create a mess now.

Erik smiled, feeling slightly sleepy. Carefully disposing of the mess-containing bit, he lay back down, eyes closing. He vaguely had the thought that he should wash up, body heat between two excited forms created a lot of sweat, and then there was himself to clean, but...

He gave a small, relaxed sigh, snuggling up against Nikita and the bed-coverings. He could clean himself in the morning. The euphoria of the moment was just too enjoyable to resist.

Delightedly, Nikita snuggled closer.  He purred, not wanting to speak in case it broke Master's mood.

Erik gave a lazy smile, putting his arm around the boy. 'Thank you...' he said silently before dropping into a bliss-induced sleep.

Nikita stared at Erik, startled.  Master had never fallen asleep first.  He looked at the man and his smile deepened.  Master was beautiful asleep.  Snuggling closer, he closed his eyes, falling quickly asleep in the safety of his Master's arms.