"Us, mainly. There were a few glimpses of you and Dash as children. You were both so adorable. Somehow I skirted around seeing anything bad, but I think that has to do with us doing something so good that it blocked out the bad stuff." Fox was now in control of her powers again as she rolled over to face Benny. Looking into his beautiful eyes she inhaled deeply and smiled. This is my man...

Benny nodded, looking back at Fox with half closed eyes of contentment. "It's... odd," he told her after a moment. "Allowing you in. I can never see anything back, but I don't feel like I'm missing something. I just never thought I'd let my head be open like that. There are a lot of things you never need to see." He tilted his chin up and kissed her forehead before settling back down.

"I can not be in your mind. I've been doing it for years. That or I can just skirt around those types of thoughts." At least she thought she could. Smiling she pushed her forehead against his and looked into his eyes. "So...Did you enjoy yourself?" Giggling softly her eyes twinkled playfully. Fox knew that she had definitely enjoyed herself but she was a bit nervous as to whether she had pleasured Benny. Sure he had an orgasm, but that could happen easily. Her eyes met him, practically pleading that she wanted him to have felt as good as she had.

"Immensely," Benny assured her sincerely and gave her a small kiss on the lips to drive the point home before settling back to just smile at her. His fingers trailed up and down her arm as they light entwined, enjoying the quiet static still between them. "You were amazing Fox. Not that I have anything to compare it to-" He shut his mouth, blushing slightly, his eyes averted. She hadn't needed to know that. Why was he bringing it up. He gave her another smile. "It was perfect because it was you."

"You were a virgin?" Fox knew somewhat of their kind and how they fell in love and such but she didnt know much more than that. "I mean I know you can only ever fall in love with one, but I expected you to be able to have sex with any number of woman." Thinking that over for a short while she looked up at Benny and realized he wouldn't sleep around. But she hadn't expected him to be celibate all these years. If she would have known she probably would have tried harder all these years.

Benny rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling. "It wasn't like I didn't have the option," he explained. "I had quite a few women offered to me actually, by Rafe or by their own accord. I used to try but..." He sighed. "You can't have sex if you aren't interested. Besides, it would have disrespectful to try after I met you. Shouldn't think of someone other than who you are with."

Fox scooted over and rested her chin on his chest so she could still look at him and nodded. She knew he meant, after she had first laid eyes on him she hadn't really wanted to be with anyone else, but she had to be in order for her to be here on this very day. She had done what she had to in order to live. Swallowing, tears brimmed her eyes as she moved away from Benny to get dressed.

Benny frowned, sitting up in bed and letting the blankets pool around his waist. "Where are you going?" Had he upset her? It certainly hadn't been his intention. He reached out for her hand, his eyes sad. "Fox, is something wrong? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"I was a terrible person when I first met you. Rafe had me do things with my body I would never have done other wise. Benny, I had sex with that monster to stay alive! Who in their right mind does that!" Fox began to tremble as the anger inside her tried to consume her. Shaking her head she cleared her throat, refusing to loose control of her powers. She knew that with these words Benny would understand he hadn't been what upset her, but her own mind for thinking.

"Oh Fox..." Benny sighed and pulled her hand, hauling her into the bed whether she liked it or not to hold her close. "You has sex with him Fox, for a very legitimate reason." He touched under her chin, making her look up so he could look into her eyes. He shook his head. "That means nothing to me. What we do Fox... we make love, alright?" He staggered a bit over the words. No matter how true, they were still new to him so it was foreign in his mouth. "That's what we do. And Rafe? He's nothing. That was a lifetime ago. We're better now. We did what we had to to survive, but we're together now. Together... and happy." His last word was uncertain. He honestly hoped she was still happy but her mood was making him worry otherwise.

When Fox looked into Benny's eyes she saw the sincerity in them and nodded her head. Smiling softly, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "Yes, together and happy." Grinning up at him she rose up slightly. "Are you hungry? We haven't really eaten much today." It was the one thing she forgot to do on her days off, eat. She tried enjoying herself that it normally just slipped her mind.

Benny opened his mouth to protest but a loud growl from his stomach quieted him. He chuckled shyly. "I guess I am." He slid out of bed, completely unashamed and simply tugged on a pair of pajama bottoms before heading to the kitchen with her.

Fox went over to the fridge and grabbed what she would need to make a sandwich. Placing the ingredients on the counter she began putting two together. Handing one over to Benny she took a bite of her own and closed her eyes at the flourish of flavor in her mouth. She was so pleased by the simplest of things.

"We'll need to go scavenging soon," Benny said thoughtfully as he looked at his sandwich. He didn't seem disappointed though as he closed it up and took a bite of his own. 'Scavenging' meant shopping, but he knew pickings were often slim. The underground could usually take orders though and 'acquire' what they wanted. He had a feeling they had a sweat shop of nymphs working on private gardens to get some of that stuff though. "I'm sure Dash will have a report for you tomorrow night."

"I know. It's been a while since we've gone out to get anything." Looking down at her sandwich she sighed before taking a bite out of it. She knew she could count on Dash to come through, in all the years she's known him, he always has. He may not be as cheerful or playful as he once was but he was still her little brother. Walking over to Benny she patted his hand and nodded. "Oh, I'm sure he will." A thought came to her mind and she smiled. "I completely forgot what it felt like to have a day off. They never used to be this good." She giggled softly and nudged Benny with her hip.

"Ah I think it's just been too long. You've forgotten what they were like," Benny replied with a sober nod before he grinned and sat his half sandwich down so he could pull her into his arms, holding her back to his chest. "I still think that you should find an assistant manager or something, so you wouldn't have to close the club when you have a day off. And we could have more days off." He kissed her neck to hint at his point.

"Well I did hire that one girl. I could ask the boys how she did today and see about training her for it." Leaning her head back against Benny's shoulder, Fox closed her eyes and smiled. She liked the openness between them now. She wasnt afraid to touch him without causing tension between them. Sighing softly she placed her arms over his, hugging his tighter around her. The warmth and security that washed over her made her gasp aloud. Smiling she turned her head slightly so she could looked up into his eyes. "More days off sounds nice..."

"Very much so," Benny agreed quietly and smiled before giving her a small, gentle kiss. "But it won't be tomorrow," he said when it ended. "We need to sleep now. Tomorrow is the first day of your new life."

---

Dash nodded before stepping further toward the corner of the room. "I'll come get you, if you are still here," he promised, took the last step, and was swallowed by the darkness. He really had demons to find.

Aleia moved over to the corner and say down, hugging her legs to herself. She couldn't get the idea out of her head. The only way to quell this mess was to go and find a mate. She put her head on her knees, resting for as long as she could.

---

Zan nodded and took off his jacket, which vanished. He snapped his fingers and a bright purple apron appeared, which he tied around himself. "What would you like? I can make pretty much anything."

Talia looked thoughtful as she tried to decide what kind of food Dash would prefer. "Hmmm...why don't you surprise me. I'm not really good at picking fancy food...i'm usually a burger and fries type of girl." she said then chuckled.

Zan nodded and vanished for a moment. He reappeared with a live chicken and twisted it's head suddenly, killing it. Setting the bird aside, he vanished again and when he returned, it was with a bunch of potatoes and what looked to be a loaf of bread. He picked up everything as best he could and carried it all into the kitchen. "Mistress Talia, should I find you a dress?" he called as he set about cleaning the chicken.

Talia yelped when Zan broke the chickens neck and turned away slightly until it was put out of sight. She looked back and watched curiously as he brought the other various ingredients then smiled when he said about the dress. "Yes please!" she said excitedly.

Setting the half plucked chicken in the sink, Zanariel brushed the loose feathers from himself. "Ooo. I know just the thing." He disappeared once more, this time taking quite a bit longer than normal. When he returned, he had a deep red knee length dress that flared at mid thigh

"It's beautiful Zan!" Talia exclaimed as she moved to look more closely at it before through her arms round his neck and hugging him tightly. "Thank you." she said then took it from him and turned and hurried to her bedroom to change. She pulled the red dress on and smoothed out the creases before slipping on a pair of black high heels. She moved to her dressing table and concentrated on pinning her curly brown hair up into a loose bun then applied red lipstick and stood up, smiling at her reflection. Moving from her bedroom she moved to the kitchen and twirled to show off the dress to Zan. What do you think?"

While Talia was dressing, Zan set about readying the chicken. He plucked and dressed it, finding a mostly unused stock of pans and spices. Rubbing the chicken with various herbs, he put it into the oven and started on the potatoes when Talia returned. "You look lovely," he said, giving her a nod. Zan tucked the knife into his apron strings, putting the potatoes on the stove.

"Thank you. I'll get the table ready." Talia replied then turned and moved to the small dining table and set to work tidying it. She set two placemats and knives and forks before lifting the vase of roses and setting it in the center of the table. It just needs Dash now. she thought glancing towards the door nervously. He had been gone a couple of hours now and she hoped it wouldn't be long until his return. I hope he likes this... she began pacing back and forth, her nerves apparent.

Zan continued to patiently cook. He sliced the bread, buttering it on both sides and setting it on a pan to put in the oven. Wiping his hands on the apron, he went out to watch Talia. "What is it like?" he asked with innocent curiosity. "Liking someone?"

"Its a whole mixture of emotions you know. Your heart races with excitement everytime you see them but you also feel absolute fear that they don't feel the same way. You want to tell them more than anything but you're scared they'll run away." Talia replied as she stopped in her pacing and looked at Zan. "I'd always wanted to tell Dash that I liked him but he never really showed much interest in a relationship so I didn't push it, afterall I don't want to lose him as a friend. But today something just seemed different. We spent time alone, walking around the lake and we held hands and laughed. It was perfect." She smiled as she remembered it and moved to the couch and sat down. "Then when he saw my natural form earlier he actually liked it and called it beautiful. No one's ever said that about it." She looked up at Zan her smile suddenly nervous. "I had expected him back by now..."

"Why wouldn't you say something?" Zan pondered. "Were you shy? I thought mortals wanted each other to tell the truth." After he said it, Zan immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry, mistress. It is not my place to question you." He bowed quickly, ready to retreat. Freedom of speech was usually the first right to go because Zan ouldn't keep his mouth shut.

"No don't worry about it. I suppose I was just so worried that if I told him how I felt he would tell me he didn't feel the same way. I couldn't take that kind of pain." Talia replied with a weak smile. "Its complicated so don't worry yourself with it. He'll be here soon." she said again then stood and fixed her dress before moving to the table and sitting down.

"The food will be done soon." Zanariel smiled at her, glad she wasn't mad at him for speaking out of turn. "I will bring it to the table and wait in the kitchen." With that he quickly retreated back into the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on the chicken, garlic potatoes, and toast.

"Thank you Zan, you really are wonderful." Talia called to him as her eyes remained on the front door. When he had brought the food she had instructed him to take as much as he wanted for himself for she wouldn't have him starve and promised as a reward she would take him out soon for the drinks with the little umbrellas. Several hours passed before finally Talia leaned in and blew out the candle that had almost melted away to nothing and stood going to the kitchen where Zan still waited. "He's obviously not coming..." she said trying to keep her voice steady as she looked at him. "I'm so sorry you went to all that trouble..don't worry about cleaning it up, i'll do it in the morning. You get some rest. Take the rest of the night off and do what you want. I'm going to bed..." she said and smiled weakly before turning and wondering into her bedroom. She kicked off her heels but didn't bother changing from the dress instead she just crawled into bed where finally she allowed the tears to flow and they would continue to flow until she fell asleep.

Zanariel held a piece if chicken in his hands as he sat in the living room, staring out the window. He tore little strips from it and ate, waiting for Talia to fall asleep. She seemed so sad that he wanted to make her feel better, but didn't want to go against orders. He took another shred of chicken and ate it, his legs swinging in his chair, counting the seconds.

It was very late that night (or was it early the next morning?) when Dash finally opened the door, being as quiet as he could. He didn't want to wake Talia. The door closed with a quiet click and the first thing he noticed was the smell of food. He hadn't realized how hungry he was. He stepped into the kitchen, raising his eyebrows at the nice food and picked idly at it. Taking a last piece of potato with him, he walked into the living room to take off his boots but stopped dead when he noticed the small man on the couch. A cursory look over him told him exactly who- what- it was. His eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?" he asked accusingly. What would a slave demon be doing in Talia's apartment? She would have no need to buy one and most people knew better than to do so anyway. How would she have even come across it. Unless... this one was sent here by his current master. That was what floored him, that very worry.

Zan had been mostly asleep until the sound of someone in the kitchen startled him awake. He sat up and watched over the back of the couch. This must be Dash. As soon as he saw the man, Zan's eyes narrowed slightly. "What are you doing here?" He stood and came up to his full, but diminutive height. "If you are here to make my mistress sadder, I will personally take you elsewhere." He went over, one step at a time, to stand in front of Talia's door. There was a nervous look in his eyes as he peered up at Dash.

"Sadder??" Dash was both surprised and offended by the accusation. "I assure you I do not know your mistress much less ever made her sad-" He cut himself off, scowling and pointing at Talia's door. "And what is your mistress doing in there with Talia??" He looked away from the little creature at the door instead. "Talia?? Talia!" he called. "Are you alright?!" By gods, he hated bratty slave demons. What was it doing here???

"You leave mistress Talia alone and let her sleep!" Zan said, taking a fighting stance in front of the door. "She went through a hard night and was sad that you never showed up. I really do not think you should awaken her now." Zan already didn't like Dash and his attitude about Talia.

"Zan i'm alright." Came Talia's voice from behind him as she slowly opened the door. She stood still wearing the beautiful red dress Zan had given her, though it was a little creased from sleeping in it. She had also chosen to remain in her natural form for she knew it would make Dash uncomfortable. "Thank you." she said to Zan with a gentle squeeze of his shoulder before moving past him and towards the kitchen only glancing at Dash for a second before carrying on. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten where I lived. You said you were only going to be gone for a bit..." she said to him as she lifted a glass and began pouring herself a glass of water.

Dash shot Zan one last glare before looking at Talia. His eyebrows rose slightly. "You look nice," he said absently, like one might say it about a painting, and then looked at her face, showing his confusion. "Fox needed me to run some errands. I didn't know that when I left," he explained absently before motioning with a hand at Zan. "What is that doing here? And why does it think you are it's mistress?"

Following Talia, Zan crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from Dash. He wouldn't let the man see how much being called a thing bothered him. As if he were inconsequential and a nonentity. So many of his former masters had been like that, and now his current mistress was friends with a person like that. Turning fully to face Talia so Dash couldn't see his eyes filling with tears, Zan nodded to her. "I'll be over here if you need me, mistress." He went over to the chair he had placed under the window earlier, climbing on it so he could lean against the window sill away from the room.

"His name is Zan and don't call him IT, its very rude." Talia said frowning at Dash. "I have you to thank for his arrival." she said holding her hand up to show him the ring. "You left your things from your pocket lying on my living room floor, I found this amongst it and tried it on. Now I have a slave demon, thank you Dash." she said sarcastically then took a long drink of water. "He says theres only two ways of getting rid of him, pass him on to someone else, which i'm not prepared to do because anyone who willingly wants a slave can't be very nice and the second way, I have to die. So it looks like he's going to be sticking around, so be nice to him alright?" she said narrowing her eyes at Dash before sighing and turning away from him. "What errands did Fox have you doing?" she asked trying to keep her voice casual. She didn't want him to know how upset she had been and scare him away because technically they were still only friends.

"Oh no, you are not changing the subject that easily," Dash told her, still looking a little panicked. What was it doing here?? "Don't go 'thanking' me for i- him. That ring is not mine. I don't have a clue what it was doing in my po- Wait a minute! What are you doing snooping through my things anyway?!" Not everything in Dash's pockets were exactly 'safe', let alone legal. He pointed to her hand. "Don't you dare blame me for this. YOU are the one who put it on. I could have told you that's what it was if I knew it was in there." He looked back at Zan with narrowed eyes. "And how dare you guilt trip her like that! Look at you. So eager to please." He pushed his disgust away to look back at Talia. "Ever think of ordering him to think for himself? To not just do whatever you say? No." He looked around at her dress and the food and it hit him. He made a face again, taking a step back from her. "And you used him. How could you do that??"

"Excuse me?" Talia replied as she whirled round to face him again, her hands clenched into fists. "For one thing, I wasn't snooping through your things, I was tidying up the junk you left on my floor!" she snapped taking a step towards him. "And all of these things I used him for...was for YOU!" She yelled angrily.

"Oh yeah and while cleaning the ring just fell onto your-" Dash stopped dead in his tirade, his angry face shifting into confusion. "For me? Why would you do anything for me?" He looked at Zan, trying to figure it out. It wasn't coming to him. He looked back at Talia. "That's... that's no excuse. Talia, you can't keep slave demons..." He still wasn't picking up on the point of the evening. He couldn't get over the fact that somehow, it seemed, a slave demon's ring had wound up in his pocket and Talia had put it on. He was offended Talia broke his trust like that by trying to use his things, even if it was such a small thing and if only for a moment, but more he wanted to find the person who put it in his pocket in the first place and punch them in the face so hard they wouldn't get their teeth back until their next bowl movement.

Talia gave a frustrated cry when Dash didn't grasp the reason for why she had had Zan make them a nice dinner and she had put on a beautiful dress. "Its very common Dash..." she said through gritted teeth. "..that when a girl sees a beautiful piece of jewellery she often will try it on just to admire it." She sighed then slowly allowed herself to shift into her human appearance, no longer wanting him to see her in her natural form. "Why can't he stay here? He's not doing any harm and i'm not going to use him for anything bad."

Zan continued to remain silent. Of course Dash knew the only ways to be rid of him included his death or the torture of being away from his master or mistress. But the man didn't seem to care. As he also didn't seem to care for Talia. He felt painfully invisible, as if they had forgotten he was even still there.

"You shouldn't use him at all!" Dash half snapped, then sighed, looking skyward before he continued to talk to Talia, something inside him sad that she had changed back. It was like when humans see those super models put on robes he supposed. In a way. "He's his own creature and he has a right to think however he wants. He's not an object, and don't pretend like 'oh I know that' because you just admitted to using him. No one should be a servant to anyone else-" Ah, that was the root of the problem. That's why Zan's presence was pissing him off so much. He held up a hand, more to calm himself than to stop her from talking, closing his eyes for a moment. There was no reason to be mad. She hadn't known, Zan had no choice. It was just going to have to be dealt with. "If you wanted a beautiful piece of jewelry, I would have been happy to bring you such a thing-" He stopped again. Was that leading her on too much? He couldn't just assume they'd be together now that he figured it out. He was supposed to be wooing her right? He thought back on the conversation. Well, he was shit at it so far. Re-try. He opened his eyes and dropped his hand, looking apologetic. "Talia, I'm sorry. If you want something nice, I'll bring it to you. Just... please, from now on, have we learned to stay out of the contents of my pants?" He motioned to Zan.

Talia gaped slightly at Dash in shock at his sudden switch in attitude. "I really don't understand you Dash. One minute you're yelling at me and now you say you'll bring me nice things? Are you trying to make my brain explode or something? Because honestly right now, I don't know what you want from me." she said then shook her head and looked at Zan. "He's right, I should have told you to have free will. So from not on you do what you want." she said then looked back at Dash. "There, happy now?" she said then turned and moved into the living room and slumped down on the sofa, unsure of what emotion she should be feeling.

"Not really. No," Dash replied with a little frown as he watched her sit, coming over to stand by the couch but not sit down. "He still doesn't really have free will," he explained. He sat on the arm of the couch to look at her. Why was she dressed like that? And the table set? He saw something like that in a movie once, hadn't he? He gave up. "Talia, that dress doesn't make very good pajamas," he said flatly.

Talia frowned and closed her eyes. I can't win. I tried to help Zan when he first arrived and told him I'd help free him but he wasn't happy so I did what I thought he wanted but then Dash was angry when he found out about Zan but when I tried to do what he wanted he wasn't happy. What is a girl supposed to do... she thought then opened her eyes when Dash commented on her dress. "I hadn't really intended in sleeping in it." she replied with a shrug. "I just couldn't be bothered changing earlier, thats all..." she lied as she smoothed out the dresses bottom.

Dash's frown only deepened a little. "I'd think it would be easier to get comfortable than to-" What was he saying? He slept in his clothes all the time. He shook his head, more to clear it than to say no. "You're right. Look, I'm sorry. I'm not completely sure why you were so mad at me but... I am sorry that I upset you," he told her honestly. "I really hadn't planned to be gone so long but I hadn't known what Fox wanted, and what she wanted... Well, I still haven't finished but I think I've made a good start. So I'm sorry I'm back so late, but I am back now." He held his hands out, palms up in question. "Does that count for anything?"

Talia listened to him speak then nodded as she smiled lightly. "I'm sorry as well. I don't like fighting like this with you, so lets just forget this all happened. Start fresh and be happy again, like we were earlier, okay?" she asked watching him before smiling more brightly and patting the space beside her on the couch for him to sit. "So are you going to tell me what job Fox has given you? You never know I might be able to help."

"Perhaps you could," Dash replied as he slid into the offered space and leaned back against the couch, resting his arms along the back. "But I want to talk to Fox about it first, see if she wants you involved. If it was me, I promise, I'd tell you, but it's her plan, so I'm sorry." He frowned apologetically at her before he laid his head back, staring at the ceiling. "Suffice it to say, you might not see me much for a few days."

"Really?" Talia said in a sad voice as she moved to sit right beside him, curling her legs up beside herself. "I was really looking forward to your company as well. Oh but if you have things to do I won't stop you and I have Zan to keep me company now as well. Let's just hope Fox lets me help with whatever she's planning because truthfully a shapeshifter is good in any scheme." she said and couldn't help but grin. "It would be nice having something else to do for a change instead of just work because it gets awfully boring just going between the apartment and work all the time." she continued then yawned suddenly. "I think that's my cue to go to bed." she said then moved to stand up. "You can still share my bed if you want." She smiled down at Dash the looked over towards Zan. "I'm going to go back to bed Zan..you make yourself comfortable where ever you want, okay. I'll see you in the morning and thank you for all the wonderful things you did today." she finished then wondered back into her room to ready herself for bed.

"I'll be right in," Dash called to Talia and waited for her to close the door before he stood and walked over to Zan, frowning. "Hey, I'm sorry for the way I treated you... It's been a really stressful day and just- You know, that's no excuse. I'm sorry. If you treat Talia well, then I'm sure I'll like you. Now that you know me though, please don't hesitate to find me if she needs me, ok? I want to be there for her..."

Zan, who had been sitting calmly on the chair with his legs crossed underneath him, looked up at Talia and nodded as she told him to get comfortable. He started taking off the apron he had been wearing this entire time when Dash approached him. He blinked at the apology. It was rare that anyone apologized to a slave demon. "I'm not here to cause trouble, if that is your worry. Mistress Talia is kinder than most would be, and I wouldn't do anything to harm her." His eyes became worried, but that vanished almost as soon as it had appeared.

Dash smiled at him kindly. "I know you wouldn't," he replied honestly. "I'm sure the two of you will be very good friends, but she's right. For now, we- I, at least, need some sleep. I'm not sure about you..." He gave the slave demon an inquisitive look, then an apologetic smile. "I'm not familiar with your kind beyond a few unpleasant encounters. Each man is his own though. If you need anything Zan, just let me know." He gave the little man a nod and one last smile before he turned to go to Talia's room. "Good night, Zan," he said as a final farewell and closed the door behind him.

Once Talia had returned to her room she had quickly changed into her nightdress then allowed herself to change into her natural form. Dash is going to have to get used to me looking like this if he wishes to share my bed. she thought peering into the mirror at her red skinned reflection before moving to her bed and crawling under the blanket, then sat up with her pillows propping her up. She opened the drawer of the small table beside her and pulled out a thick leatherbound journal then opened it and began scrawling in it. When Dash entered the room she quickly shut it and hid it under her pillow, embarassed about him seeing it. It held all her best memories including ones of him. She straightened up and smiled at him. "Everything alright?"