Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hmm, there is said to be a thief at this tower. Not taking anything valuable, just food. Occasionally a cloak, nesting materials,” Toll announced as a tower came into view on the horizon.

“That sounds bad, like someone needs help. I shall find them. We will be staying here until I do,” Newral decided, guiding his two guards and this entourage to the tower in question.

Stealing was not that uncommon, but only food and nesting material? That spoke of desperation. Unicron provided with their worlds and they had plenty enough so that no demon should have to go hungry. So what had gone so very wrong for this one?

Urail ignored his pinging tank, watching the tower guardedly. He had probably stayed here too long already… but he had a safe cave here, well hidden and dry. He didn't want to go, even with the risks. Maybe if he could just hold out till spring? Just a groon or so more…

Right now though he had to risk getting some fuel. That meant slinking in close, trying to avoid the big spiky guard cyberhounds. Most of them liked him, but he couldn't afford playing with them now.

Newral sighed as he sipped a cube and casually strolled around the inner perimeter of the tower, he had several cubes with him to offer the ‘thief’, three were already placed in likely places to leave a cube. None were full, as though a demon had been drinking, set it down and forgot it. All were being watched so they could begin the hunt and possibly catch the demon at the scene.

Newral set down the next cube on a low wall turning to talk with one of his companions.

A cube… half full and just sitting there. But inside a walled garden. Though a low wall, Urail bit his derma, biting back a whimper. Real energon was a rare treat. Usually he got raw fruits, vegetables and edible crystals, and ate them raw. Energon though…

He risked it, of course! Slinking to the low wall, optics darting everywhere and fear knotting his tank.

Newral saw one of his companions stiffen a little, optics widening. Not good, if the thief saw that he would flee. So in a casual move, Newral stretched out his wings fluttering them a little to remove the stiffness of the long flight. It would give the thief time to take the cube, then they could hunt him.

Snatching the cube was the smallest of his tasks. He had to run with the open cube without spilling it too, as he had no idea how to seal it, though he had seen it done. And running meant getting back over the wall and safely into the true wilds… he bolted as fast as he could, hands clutching the precious fuel.

Newral felt the air currents stir as the cube was taken and he folded his wings back down, turning around he beat his wings to glide up and over the wall, catching scent of his prey. There he was. Newral circled, pretending that he had not spotted the demonling. And landed. He would follow on ped. The little one could move quietly through the crystals, but the crystals spoke to him. A gift Newral rarely used. He was the governor of the worlds Unicron had given them, so the land would respond to his will.

He only ran as far as to be past the cyberhounds, then he hunkered down and started sipping at the cube. He wanted to bolt it down, fill his empty tank, but Urail knew better. Making himself sick would only make the hunger worse.

Newral crooned to the cyberhounds keeping them from announcing his presence, crouching with them to wait until his prey had finished the cube. The poor thing was so thin. He would pounce once he was finished with the cube. Then came the hard part of taming and healing this poor demonling. He could even scent… What?! Seals? What had happened to this demonling?

Newral fought the urge to shift. Being impatient at this point would only cause harm.

The fuel was potent enough that even sipping it slowly made Urail feel light processored and he knew he would not be able to drink all of it without purging most again. Keening quietly with regret he hid the cube under a crystal growth, he wouldn’t be able to return for it, something would have gotten into it by then, and if he took it with him odds were it would turn bad before he could drink the rest. That would make him sick for certain! It still felt wasteful to have taken it and then not be able to finish it, he always felt worse for stealing when he lost or couldn’t finish what he took.

Stealing was wrong, he knew it, but he also couldn’t just lie down and die…

When the demonling left the cube, unsealed under the crystal, Newral frowned, that he could not finish half a cube of normal energon told of a long time of starvation. He was just reaching maturity? Where was his creators, what had happened to him, to them?

Picking up and sealing the cube, Newral stalked the demonling further into the wilds.

Urail moved very carefully, well aware that he was just a tad charged from his unexpected lucky meal. He would need to find a safe spot to recharge the worst of it off, he didn’t think he would make it all the way to his cave though that would be best. He certainly did not dare trying to fly, he wasn’t very good at it at the best of times and now he would probably hit something.

Poor thing, Newral crooned sadly, the demonling was so malnourished that even in recharge he twitched, and his plating looked brittle. At least he knew to recharge off the ground and to hide himself fairly well.

Casting a spell to keep the other safely in recharge, Newral lifted the young demon into his arms, frowning again at how light he was. Calling on his magic again he took them both out of the wilds and to his quarters where a healer was waiting.

“I have never seen starvation this bad. And in a demonling, just on the cusp of maturity?” Newral knew he was shaken. Badly.

“No, he is fully mature, if young and small,” the healer too frowned at the demon he was looking over, dermas pressed together with no small amount of anger. Whatever else might be said, this demon had starved long before he matured and recovering from it would take vorn!

He probed with magic and careful claws, glad that the demon was under a sleep spell, winching at scars and whenever too thin, brittle plating gave under his gentle touch. The edges were near to crumbling in some places…

His frown only deepened when he carefully unfurled a wing and found it nearly unmarked save for a few small scars. No etchings, no inlays…

No clan marks, no family marks. Nothing to tell them anything of the young one.

“Who in the name of Unicron is he?” he carefully folded the thin, but impressively large all things considered, wing down and turned the mech to reach the other wing. An ugly curse followed when his horrified optics were met with a circular scar in the middle of the largest carry plate. At one point something had completely pierced the wing, and the demon couldn’t have been more than a bitlet when it had happened. It looked like a claw… What kind of Creators let their bitlet starve and be hurt like this?

“I can lend my strength to heal most of this. Just tell me what I can do, how much at a time and when I can do it,” Newral forced himself to continue watching, swearing that the demonling would remain under his care and protection until he found his mate.

“Mostly it will take good fuel,” Rell huffed softly, “no healer can work with nothing, Ruler, and there is nothing at all to work with here. I have not ever seen a case of starvation this bad…”

“He took not quite a quarter of a cube. He doesn’t even know how to seal a cube,” Newral murmured sadly, carefully stroking a hand over a small horn. It felt powdery and brittle.

“So what diet would you recommend for him?”

“Rich, low energy energon, and any meat and components you can get into him. As much fruit and vegetables as at all possible. Jams and preserves,” the healer shrugged helplessly, “I am tempted to say anything he will eat! Just… small portions, or he will purge.”

“How often? Once every couple joor?” Newral asked, nodding to Tint, who dashed off to the kitchens to find what the blenders had for their guest.

He carefully lifted the recharge spell, knowing that it could be bad for systems as stressed as his guest’s were. The Demonling stirred but remained in recharge for now.

“Preferably a little every joor for a few orn, then more substantial meals every two or three joor. His tank needs to get used to having something in it,” Rell shook his head, dermas pressed together.

“I cannot tell you what he has lived through, but he has been starving since he was a bitty. Many of those scars are from that time too, including the wing one,” he barely kept a growl back, wings shifting restlessly, “given his overall condition… Ruler, I don’t think he can fly. He certainly cannot do any magic, he has every seal any bitty emerges with!”

“We need to open him to his magical feeding then, but I am unsure how to do so without overwhelming him. We need to keep him in a controlled place so we can give him what he needs without overdoing it.” Newral rumbled curling up in the nest beside the small demon. He also needed a bath but that could wait until his plating could take the cleaning.

“I would not recommend simply taking those seals, or any other seal on him, just yet, Ruler,” Rell shifted, battling the urges of his own coding.

“He isn’t strong enough to take lovemaking, and you have no idea how mentally stable he is either. His magic can wait a bit, until his chassis has regained some health and you know more of him. I can’t tell you what type of demon he is, he is too starved…” it distressed him! The demon was fully mature but he barely had any horns! His claws were short and brittle like a younglings and he looked… soft. He looked on the verge of death really. He wasn’t, a demon could starve for a very long time, but it did not change how he looked.

“I meant opening him to it without taking his other seals. If that could help at all,” Newral clarified.

“How would soaking creature components in energon go? He does need the energy to process the fuels.”

“I would not recommend that either, Ruler, not till you know if he can handle it mentally. And magic use takes a toll physically too. With a healthy demon it is near unnoticeable, but with this one? No, it is not a good idea,” another head shake, “if you can get broth or a thick energon based soup in him to start with, that would be good. Also cold berry soups or vegetable soups. But he needs some solids too, they will help fill his tank so it gets used to larger meals.”

“I forget sometimes the normal limitations,” Newral sighed. “I will keep to the recommended foods and the feeding schedule you will draw up for him. When I heard of this I knew it would be bad but I never imagined it would be quite this severe.”

“This is not normal in any way,” the words were quiet but forceful and Rell swallowed back the urge to purge. He was a healer and he had seen bad things a plenty. But never in his life had he ever seen what had been done to this demon while he was but a bitlet. And he wished he could unsee it.

“I will have those for you and your attendants as soon as possible. But for the sake of the mech… remember that his plating can’t stand up to much! Even tripping up and falling might crack it. I am surprised he doesn't have more cracks in it actually… don’t grip him too hard, don’t scare him so he falls out of the nest or trips up. If at all possible. It will only mean more demons have to handle him and given that we don’t know what level of abuse he has been subjected to the less hands on him, the better!”

Rell turned away to pack up his kit and get ready to leave.

“Thank you healer, so how often can I expect you to visit to check on his progress?” Newral nodded accepting Rell’s words. He would be as careful as he could with his young charge.

“Every three orn, Ruler, and I will be on call for the full orn inbetween. If anything happens, even what looks to be a minor injury you will call me!” he gathered up the last of his things and bowed to the Ruler and his attendants before leaving. In that he was not afraid to give even a Ruler orders!

“Well you heard the orders, he is our responsibility now, we have to ensure he is comfortable and fed,” Newral glanced around at his companions, his attendants and guards. “We can’t let him escape back into the wilds either. But we should attempt to find if he had a nest out there and if there is anything that can tell us anything about him, or which would have some value to him there.”

Chapter Text

Urail stirred, turning over to borrow into the unaccustomed softness of his nest. He didn’t remember it being that soft… He remembered drinking sweet, thick energon that made his lines buzz and his processor feel light. Finding some place to recharge? Or had he managed to get home?

Optics slowly onlining he stared at the golden hue of the cloth before his olfactory sensor. That was not something he knew… or rather, he knew it wasn’t something he had stolen! Groggy and still tired he sat up, frowning with utter confusion at the room that met his optics. His tank was empty again, as always, and that too took a part of his concentration. Enough so that it was near to a third of a breem before he realized there were demons in the room. He recoiled from the first he spotted and collided with one that was in the nest with him! He screamed and threw himself forward, scrambling to get over the edge and away with single minded intent.

Demons meant pain, that was all he knew…

“No don’t do that, little one,” Newral rumbled catching the frightened demon with his magic, rather than physically grabbing him. Careful manipulation had the demon safely back in the nest, though Newral still held him gently with his magic.

“We don’t mean you any harm. We want to help you.”

Trembling and wide opticked Urail stared at the stranger, terror radiating from a field gone wild. He had never learned control past what was needed for hunting, and while he had tried being helpless often enough in the wilderness, helpless before the weather, or a big predator stealing what he had killed, it was not like being helpless before a demon.

One of the few things he had as memories of his Creators was them warning him to keep away from other demons. When they had gone and he in desperation had tried anyway… he had only learned the truth of their words.

“Merin, is that broth warm? I think we should offer that first,” Newral turned to one of his attendants, flicking his wings to dismiss the rest. This level of fear complicated things, it meant they had to have only one or two demons in with their guest at a time until he learnt to trust them.

It was also as a way to draw the focus off the little one so he could hopefully calm a little.

Rustling sounds told Urail that more demons were there and he keened thinly, trying to curl up and finding he couldn't. Even the scent of fuel hardly pierced his awareness.

Newral carefully loosened his magical hold, but refused to let his guest escape the nest. Merin handed him a bowl with some rich broth full of tender crystals and components. With that he bowed and also left.

“Hush, now it is just us. This is for you.” Newral carefully offered a spoon to eat the broth with while he held the bowl steady.

At first Uriel backed up to the very edge of the nest, staring at the bigger demon. Then he stared from demon to fuel… the he launched himself at the bowl, uncaring that half the fuel slouched over his hands. He pulled away, already slurping the warm fuel, optics locked on the stranger over the bowl rim. He licked it inside and out, and his hands too when that was done. His tank roiled with upset at the fast consumption, but he was not in any danger of purging.

Well getting him to fuel was not going to be hard. But now they had to keep watch to make sure he did not purge.

“I am Newral. Do you have a name?” Newral tried asking. Not bothering to say anything about the fear or how fast the half bowl of broth had disappeared, nor how messily it had been consumed. At least it had been eaten. They would have more brought in in a joor.

Urail stared some more, derma moving even as he frowned. He understood most of it, but he'd not spoken in ages… he had barely started to speak when his Creators had disappeared.

“Uhh… U… r-rahil…” his voice was more of a croak, than a voice.

“Urail? I will be looking after you now. Give you food and give you a safe place to recharge,” Newral made sure to speak slowly to help Urail to understand him.

“..?” Urail flicked his optics, frowning as he tried to puzzle out what the stranger said. Something with fuel?

Oh… Newral felt his spark sink, their guest barely seemed to understand him, this was going to be harder than he had initially thought.

Carefully he curled closer to the young demon, crooning like how a creator would to their bitty. First of all he had to earn some trust.

Urail stiffened when the other moved close again, but dared not try to flee. Not yet… eventually someone would have to leave the nest again, and then maybe he could run. It had to be possible!

With his power it was no trouble for Newral to hold up the confining spell keyed to Urail, and with the condition the other was in he had no qualms about recharging in the nest with him. So Newral settled in for a nap, ensuring he would wake in about a joor’s time to feed Urail again.

And… the other recharged? Urail stared, hesitated and then tried to get out of the nest. A few breem later he sat hissing low and staring at the stranger once more. He understood nothing, how was he being kept in the nest? Why had he been fed? What was happening?

Newral woke, carefully checking where his guest was before stretching out his wings. After that he climbed out of the nest to find the chilled fruit soup that was waiting in a stasis field to keep it fresh. Ladling out a half bowl full he turned back to the nest.

As soon as the other left Urail tried to leave again, hissing low in frustration when he still couldn’t get out. He clawed at the air, trying to determine what was keeping him inside, but there wasn’t anything there! He had seen demons, when he could safely watch them, do strange things that he couldn’t but this was the strangest yet.

He flopped to the bottom of the nest, sulking as he glared at the air that suddenly wouldn’t behave as it always had.

Newral shook his helm and crooned at the young demon, “Little one, my magic is creating a barrier to keep you in the nest, keep you safe and where we can help you.”

Carefully Newral stepped back into the nest, this time placing the bowl down on a nice stable flat bit of nest. Hopefully it would not spill.

“..?” Urail carefully edged back when the stranger returned to the nest, watching the bowl in his hands with avid interest. It didn’t have scent like the first bowl but… his tank growled and pinched. It was always empty so it wasn’t a new thing. He stretched, trying to look into the bowl, seeing a strangely colored liquid. Not energon, nor meat.

Seeing the curiosity yet hesitation, Newral took out the unused spoon from earlier, dipped it into the thick liquid and brought it to his own mouth, showing that it was food. He then nudged the bowl towards Urail.

Newral was not hungry himself at this time, but he did need Urail to eat.

“It is food, cold berry soup.”

Optics followed the fuel from bowl to dermas and he licked his own dermas as his tank growled again. Was it worth the risk of getting close? For fuel, yes… yes it was. Creeping forward he reached for the bowl, barely grazing it with his claws and making a plenative noise as he had to get closer still before being able to snatch it close. Retreating to the nest edge again he, far more sensible this time, sipped it slowly. Though he kept his optics firmly on the possible threat in the nest with him.

“That’s it, take all you need,” Newral crooned in approval. He curled up again, but this time only to rest not fully nap. Urail was not comfortable being close to him. But the more exposure the safer the young demon would feel.

“N-neeee?” Urail put down the empty bowl, after licking it clean, and mimicked the last word curiously. The other kept talking at him, he got the short bits and the occasional word of a longer sentence. At best though one word in three or four. There were some words he had learned to listen for, food, fuel, stop, take him… dangerous words. Words that meant he had been spotted trying for fuel or nest material.

Newral lifted his helm interested in this interaction.

“Need,” Newral repeated the word carefully, “Urail, need fuel. Newral give fuel.”

His name, need and fuel. Need? He did want and need fuel, give? He wasn’t sure what precisely that meant, but the other new word was… a name? Like his name?

“N-nn…” he stopped, opening and closing his mouth a few times, “Newww...al…”

Newral carefully sat up, and nodded. Placing his hand over his chest he spoke his name slowly and clearly, drawing it out to its two parts, “New-ral.”

This was progress, teaching Urail how to speak would help a lot on the fear. But it was also sad that it was necessary.

“Rrrral?” It was more a questioning growl than word, but Urail tried, “Neww-wrrrrl?”

“Newral,” Newral nodded with approval, allowing his fields to be saturated with how pleased he was. He was not sure how to go about this part. But he supposed that simply talking to Urail and helping him say words that he attempted to say would be a good place to start.

Urail abruptly lost focus, optics going to a fluttering piece of fabric that covered one of the big wall openings. The breeze that made it flutter scented of demons, lots and lots of demons. He hunkered down in the nest and whimpered.

The change in attitude made Newral look around for the cause. Seeing the curtain fluttering in the gentle wind coming in made Newral scent the air. He only detected the normal scents of a tower and its inhabitants. But Urail did not live in the tower… and he seemed afraid of demons.

Going with his hunch, Newral got up and went over to close the window. Hoping that would allow Urail to calm down. That done he climbed back into the nest to continue resting for the rest of the joor.

Urail hesitated, but finally decided that curling up was best. It didn't take long for him to enter a light recharge.

When Newral was sure Urail was in recharge, he carefully summoned one of his attendants in to bring more fuel for them both and so they could figure out a shift rotation and Newral could explain what he had learnt.

Chapter Text

As much as he would like to, he could not stay with Urail all the time, he had his clan to look after as well as his other duties as Supreme Ruler. But he would spend what time he could with his ward.

Urail woke to a new demon, patient sitting on the other side of the nest, a bowl between them. It took him a breem or so to work up the courage to snatch and eat it.

No one pounced on him though...

It was early the next morning when Newral could get away from his work and fussy attendants and guards to visit his ward again. He could feel the minor draw on his power for the barrier keeping Urail in the nest so he knew that he was safe at least.

Newral cooed and crooned as he walked in hoping that Urail would not freak at his presence.

They, different demons, kept giving him fuel. He slept a lot, there wasn't much else to do.

Urail was in recharge when Newral spotted him, curled up in the nest away from Riddle who had been taking his turn to watch and fuel Urail.

“So how has he been?” Newral asked quietly.

“The same… watchful, afraid and hungry. We are up on two thirds of a bowl and he hasn't purged anything. Unless you scare him he will sip it very carefully,” Riddle shrugged, “that's about it for table manners though. And he stares at you as if he expects to have it snatched from his hands.”

“Is there any fuels he is refusing?” Newral asked as he climbed into the nest on the opposite side to where Urial was curled up.

“Nothing, he would probably eat the bowl if he thought it possible,” the joke was as weak as the smile on Riddle's derma, “he even crunches struts… most would spit those out. I've never met someone so…”

He made a helpless gesture, at a loss for words. It was horrible to see, to think about!

“Hmm we will have to make sure we don’t give him any struts that are too big, and keep a watch on his denta to make sure he doesn’t crack them on anything,” Newral nodded, “Is there anything else?”

“At this point I think his denta are the only strong thing on him,” Riddle curled up a little, huffing.

“He accepted both Merin and I being in the nest earlier, if it is okay with you I think I should stay a bit?”

“As long as he won’t freak out with us both being here,” Newral reached for Riddle, cuddling him in lue of cuddling his ward. Perhaps he should look into why he was getting so… what was it? Affectionate, protective? Over Urail. At least him cuddling a companion was not an uncommon occurrence.

“Mmm, don't think he will,” Riddle yawned, “he seems calmer. 'sept with food.”

“Rest,” Newral purred, stroking Riddle’s silky smooth wings. That was how a healthy demon should feel. Plating smooth with a natural gloss and shine. Newral looked over at Urail who looked no different yet from how he was when he had brought him in. His plating had no shine and looked almost powdery, from here he could see the splits and cracks. It was depressing, but Newral knew they would bring Urail back to full health.

“Mm,” Riddle was more than willing to be cuddled and quickly succumbed to recharge against the warm bulk of his Ruler.

Not half a joor later Urail stirred, blarily turning his head to figure out where the ever present danger of company was at. He could scent two demons, but at first he only spotted the one who called himself Newral. It wasn’t till he sat up to see out of the nest that he realized the second demon was lying against the bigger one. He vented sharply, shocked and confused at the sight.

Newral onlined his optics at the sharp intake, crooning at Urail, Newral slowly untangled himself and climbed out of the nest to get fuel.

That one, Newral, often made sounds at him. Words and… other sounds, nearly forgotten sounds. Right then though Urail was more interested in the demon that had sunk to the nest surface with a shuddering sigh, but not stirred.

Keeping an optic on Newral he slunk closer, closer… stretching he prodded and jumped back with a small yelp when the demon flopped over, a wing extending towards him in a cupping motion.

“Riddle likes to be cuddled,” Newral chuckled softly as he climbed back into the nest. He placed the tray with plates and bowls of crystal fruits, seasoned veg and marinated components in the middle of the nest snagging a few bits to snack on himself. There was far more than Urail would eat in one sitting here but it was for them all.

Munching his snack Newral nudged at Riddle getting him to curl up so he could cuddle him again.

“C-cuddle?” Urail watched the other touch, not hurt!, though he was hard pressed to ignore the fuel. He hadn't really starved since being caught… the touching sorta looked nice?

“Yes, cuddle. I like cuddling too,” Newral purred in approval, lifting a wing a little to create a space so that Urail could join them if he wanted but he did nothing to push for contact yet.

Urail opticked the raised wing, trembling a little. Touch meant pain… didn't it? But this thing, this cuddle thing, it didn't look painful. And something in him yearned for it. Like an open wound that was bare scrapped over needed healing. He crept closer, fuel actually forgotten in favor of this new, or old?, need.

Newral held still and gently held Riddle still so that he would not startle or even accidently hurt Urail when he woke. He was amazed at this behaviour, doubly amazed that Urail even ignored the food in favour of this.

A fearful keen, low and raw, tightened in Urail's vocalizer, but he still crept closer. Slowly, optics on the watch for any move, audios any sound that might tell of pain coming.

Nothing happened, and suddenly he was against softly silken plating, a wing curving above.

Flash memories surfaced and drove a sob from him, making him curl up. Just an image, a scent, the light of the sun on a green wing, crystal flowers in full bloom.

Newral cuddled Urail gently and above all undemandingly, letting him have a way out if he felt he needed it. All the while he crooned soothingly. After a little while he used his magic to pull the fuel into reach so that none of them would have to give up their cuddling to eat. It was such an amazing moment.

Urail sobbed soundlessly and actually ended up halfway in recharge before hunger pangs started up. When he uncurled a little bit he found fuel just there, in easy reach. Of course he stuffed himself… he could now, without purging or even feeling nauseous. He stayed under the wing though, feeling an unfamiliar and only barely recognized sense of safety.

Newral remained awake through it all carefully watching over Urail, feeling pleased when he was not startled at finding the fuel that much closer to them. He was very pleased that Urail did not attempt to leave him either. Something in him had to feel safe. It was a huge step forwards.

It took several more orn before Urail accepted ‘cuddles’ from any of his other caretakers. And even then he much preferred to curl up watchfully under Newral's wings. He did accept more demons in the space around the nest, but tried to hide if more than three entered into the nest at a time. And he wouldn't cuddle if there were more than two.

Newral spent as much time with Urail as he could, speaking and cuddling. Saying mudain things, such as what he was doing or talking about things in the room. He even took as much work in with him as he could get away with.

Newral also made sure he was available when the healer was due to return.

Chapter Text

Rell had visited many times over the next several groon, changing the diet as needed and making sure that Urail, as Newral informed him, was making progress. It wasn't readily visible, but careful scans showed the subtle bettering of armor and tank. They also showed that Urail's own repair systems were hopelessly overwhelmed.

They worked here, then there, not really mending anything fully before something else registered as worse to them. It was an honest mess. As long as the young demon couldn't properly gorge himself there was little to do magically however… and that would take a few groon more yet, at least.

“Ruler,” Rell spoke softly, not wanting to risk startling his patient, who still regarded most demon with fear in his optics.

“Healer Rell,” Newral greeted just as softly, carefully he lifted a wing just enough so that Rell could see under it, and Urail could peek out and see who the demon was this time.

“He still accepts you,” it was not as such a question, Rell leaned on the nest edge to look at the curled up demon. He still, despite knowing better, wanted to say demonling…

“How is he fueling wise?”

“He is still stuffing himself with everything we offer. But the edge of desperation is no longer there and he is able to take two bowls of broth and a full serve of softened crystals. He will even take a small serve of berry porridge with all of that, but he will take his time eating it at that point,” Newral replied. Turning to croon reassuringly at Urial.

Newral knew that at this point stuffing his ward with as much as he would and could eat was the whole idea.

“Good, it might be wise to start him on one meal a orn of a more solid variety. Grilled protoflesh… and see if he will take candy. I'm sure your blenders can make high mineral candies,” he quirked a smile.

“They have been having a grand time, stuffing as much minerals and such into everything for Urail. I think they have been doing so for everyone involved too. I have noticed Riddle’s wings are more velvety and my own armour has a higher natural shine,” Newral chuckled, not minding at all. With all the traveling he did it was good to top up on all his minerals.

“Mmm, not a bad notion. At some point he will begin to notice that you eat different things. He's bound to want to try, it is better if it isn't anything empty of nourishment he needs.”

Newral nodded, “We do sometimes fuel with him, bring in far more than he can eat and share some of it. Never once has that been a problem.”

“It shouldn't be, we are a social species and he seems well adapted to that despite the rocky beginning,” Rell kept a frown off his derma so as not to frighten Urail.

“He can't have been alone all the time… has anyone discovered anything of his origins? It would help in treating him if I knew what Aspect he is. I can guess at what he may look like healthy, but as he is now I can't even guess horn type!”

“Sadly no, we did find the cave he was staying in. But there was next to nothing there, and he has obviously been alone for a long time. His speech and actions are of a bitty just learning to talk. He shows no comprehension of what Magic is but he does know it exists. My guess is that he might be a fear or nightmare type, but I could be utterly wrong there,” Newral sighed then took several moments to croon and click at Urail in a way that he had found kept him calm when emotions started getting high.

“I am thoroughly appalled at the idea of someone bringing a bitty into the wild. But I suppose they may have had their reasons,” Rell shrugged and slowly eased himself over the nest edge.

“He might have even been born in the wilds. Or been too young to separate from his carrier. But I do think that they, his creators were exiled, thrown out of their clan. His fear of demons seems to be partly learned and partly taught,” Newral sighed, it was an ugly theory but this whole situation was ugly.

“All of that is likely…” Rell wondered at the clan that could exile someone with a demonling too young to be given over in another's care. Or at the demon refusing to give up his bitty when exiled. It seemed… careless.

“Hello, Urail, do you remember me? Rell, healer?”

Urail was reluctant to stir, though he had not been recharging. It felt safe and warm under Newral's wings, and even if he did know Rell he didn't feel like that!

“R-ell,” he said dutifully though.

Newral purred approvingly at Urail, it was still a battle to get him to talk, but they were slowly teaching him new words and getting him to remember everyone's names.

“I know it is bad no matter what option. But we can ask about demons who were exiled around an eon ago,” There were rarely many demons exiled as the crimes for such were often very severe. But it also depended on the Prince or even ruler, and they had had some… bad rulers in relatively recent times. Apathy was a prime example there, but the successor Froth was one of the best Apathy have had in a very very long time.

“He sounds better,” Rell nodded at the suggestion, agreeing that it was probably the best chance of finding out who Urail was. Or had been.

“Will you come here, Urail? I am just going to look at you,” he smiled gently, holding out his empty hands.

Urail hissed uncertainly, not really wanting to move. But he knew he was going to be ushered out eventually… he always was when Rell came by.

“Go ahead, Urail. You can cuddle more after,” Newral crooned encouragingly as he lifted his wing and partly folded it, it still covered Urail, but not nearly as securely as it had been.

Resignation made Urail's wings droop a little, but he slinked up to Rell obediently enough. Watchful as always.

“Good, everything is fine,” Rell crooned, careful with his touching. He was pretty uncomfortable touching someone who so clearly did not want touch, but if he didn't someone else would have to.

“It will be sometime yet before you can see or feel any actual bettering in his armor. But he is clearly not getting worse.”

Newral trilled and crooned encouragements to Urail the entire time. Once Rell was finished he pulled out some marinated and dried protoflesh and some fresh crystals, something he had found Urail enjoyed as a treat. Newral was not above bribing his ward, but he did prefer rewarding for good behaviour.

“That was good, Urail.” Newral placed the treats under his wing which was stretched out again and lifted for Urail to curl up under.

Urail hurried back to safety, stuffing fuel in his mouth as soon as he got his hands on it. He kept his optics watchfully on Rell.

“I can only hope he will eventually give me the same trust,” Rell huffed, though not put out. Trust could be so very hard to earn!

“He at least lets you touch him even though he does not like it.” Newral reminded Rell that it could be a lot harder for him. It could have easily been that Urail needed to be in recharge every time for his check ups.

“I realize,” Rell smiled, “but I would like to be able talk to him. To know better what he's been eating.”

“Well, when you have spare time, you are welcome to join us in watching Urail, see if he will cuddle with you,” Newral suggested, it was currently the only option they had to socialize Urail.

“I think you should let him out of the nest a bit each orn now,” Rell nodded to the suggestion, grinning a little.

“He isn't as frail as he looks anymore and he needs a bit of exercise.”

Newral nodded and concentrated on his spell expanding the range to encompass the entirety of the room, “There he can wander anywhere in this room and the cleaning facility next to it. Would it be safe to let him have a bath?”

“Yes, it would be safe,” Rell shivered at the sense of magic, “but be sure not to scrub him!”

“We will simply let him play in the bath, no cleansers or anything, not to start with at least.” Newral nodded, and peeked under his own wing.

“How does that sound? Urail. A bath, and this room to explore.”

Urail croaked, his sound for not understanding, his optics blank save for a bit of suspicion. He'd just crawled back to safety, he wasn't going to leave again!

Room he understood, the nest was in the room, he couldn't leave the nest. Bath though? That he had no clue about!

“Bath is water for cleaning in,” Newral attempted to explain though he would be showing Urail later. He just hoped that he would not have too much trouble getting Urail back into the nest after he discovered he could now leave it.

“Water,” Urail obediently got the one word out he understood, but his tone said he was resigned not to be allowed rest and his optics gave off a somewhat resentful look. Water was just fine, but he had just been touched by Rell, who was rather much of an unknown, and he’d only just been allowed back into safety. He had fuel, he didn’t need to try and hunt for fishoids, and he didn’t want to stand in spring cold water if he could choose not to!

Newral chuckled at the look he was given.

“This water is warm,” Newral explained but made no move to ussher Urail out. “Rest, bath later.”

“I believe that is my que to go,” Rell said with amusement, “however try a solid meal come dark cycle, he will recharge better if he doesn't get hungry in the middle of his cycle. And I will return in three orn.”

Urail hissed uncertainty, since no one was poking at him to move. Warm? Water was only warm in summer and not really warm…

“I will remember that, and please come by other times too to get to know Urail better,” Newral smiled at Rell.

He turned back to grin at Urail.

Chapter Text

Once Rell was gone, Newral folded his wings back in and stood up, climbing out of the nest. Turning back to Urail he held out a hand, “Come.”

Urail made a sad noise when Newral left him. Then he looked confused at the offered hand, he couldn't leave the nest?

“...?” He meeped.

Newral grinned, leaning over closer to Urail, hand now inside the nest. “Come, the barrier is moved.”

“...?” But Urail crept over to take the offered hand. He resisted a little when he was pulled, gently, to the edge of the nest.

Newral remained patient even when Urail resisted. He put no pressure on the still brittle, flakey plating, simply coaxing Urail closer, coaxing him to try the barrier again.

He finally slipped out, uncertainty in every line of his chassis. How come he could suddenly leave the nest? It didn't make much sense at all!

At least Newral stayed there, gently holding his hand while he tried to figure things out. And everyone else had withdrawn to the edges of the room…

“The barrier is moved,” Newral explained, gently coaxing Urail to an open window to show him where the barrier was now. Hopefully that would ease some of the uncertainty. He gestured the others out with a flick of his wings, they did not need everyone in here.

Slowly relaxing, mostly because the other demons left, Urail poked at the air in the odd, smooth openings in the, just as oddly smooth, walls. Air flowed, carrying the scent of demons, far away most of them, and he felt safe enough.

“Barrier? W-what?” he wasn't sure he was asking the right question, but Newral kept trying to get him to use words.

“Barrier is made with magic, this barrier was around the nest, it is now in windows and door to outside. Come I will show you the bath,” Newral coaxed Urail again into another room through a doorless opening where a sunken bath sat, water steaming lightly from the heat.

“... Kay,” Urail let himself be led through a hole that didn't end in air. It held a round pond, with water that had fog on it.

“Bath?” He pointed, resignation in his voice. Cold water was not his favorite.

“Bath. The water is warm,” Newral let go of Urail’s hand to kneel down and scoop up some of the water to show Urail. A small spell, a variant on the barrier spell, keep the water in his hands and not dripping on the floor as he stood again to let Urail touch it and feel for himself.

Warm? Urail touched the offered water, then the hands, curious as to how the water, and it was warm!, stayed in them without dripping all over. As with the ‘barrier’ thing he couldn’t feel a reason for it to be so and eventually he lost interest in favor of crouching by the pond to prod at that instead. Like everything here it was made of oddly smooth stone, honey in color and shaped in some manner.

The pond was warm, the fog above it was warm too, and moist. Not at all like fog actually. He stuck his whole arm in it to make sure it wasn’t just the surface. It was so warm it almost felt hot, like noon sun on his plating on a hot summer day.

“See it is warm,” Newral smiled as he stepped around Urail and into the bath. He purred as the heat soaked into his struts.

“Warm,” Urail repeated, though his entrance to the water was more of a chaotic flop than a step or glide. He laughed gaily, flipping water from his wings.

Newral laughed happily letting Urail play as he wished. This was the most free and playful he had seen his young ward by a long stretch. This was worth… so much.

Playfully Newral lightly flicked a spray of water towards Urail with his own wings, he was hoping to encourage more play.

Urail stopped what he was doing to stare at Newral with naked surprise. After a moment he tentatively splashed water in the other's general direction, shyly lifting his wings to half hide himself.

“That’s it, we can play,” Newral grinned, flicking a little more water towards Urail. He could not help himself cooing at the shy behaviour. This was the most he had seen in way of true personality in Urail since they had found him.

“Play?” Urail asked, curiously peeking at the other.

“Play, enjoy, have fun,” Newral smiled, ducking under the water to swim, gliding around Urail, under the water but not touching. He resurfaced in the same spot he started.

Urail croaked his uncertainty sound when Newral disappeared under water. When he came back up he chitter scolded, splashing water at him.

Newral only laughed again at the scolding he received and disappeared under water again, this time coming up in a different spot shortly after.

Urail chittered louder, splashing the unruly Newral with vigor this time. How dare he!

Newral laughed again, uncontrollably this time, he let himself flop backwards spreading his wings enough to float on top of the water.

“I’m having fun. This is play,” Newral grinned once the laughter had died down enough to let him talk.

Calming down when Newral stopped diving, Urail waded over to poke and prod with some concern. It seemed the larger demon was fine though, just… laughing.

He chittered again, but this time with curiosity.

Newral allowed the poking and prodding, purring a little at Urail.

“I am fine, see, no hurts,” Newral carefully stood again, showing Urail that he was not hurt, that he was completely fine.

“No do!” Urail made a face, pushing the larger demon lightly.

“'fraid.”

Newral crooned reassuringly at Urail, his amusement dropping in favour of soothing his ward. Carefully he reached out drawing them closer together until he could lean down and gently press his forehelm to Urail’s, affection strong in his fields.

“No need to be afraid.”

“Newral bad!” though Urail leaned into the affection given like one starving. He was, he recognized the feelings, but he couldn't remember where he had ever felt them before. They were good though, wanted, needed…

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” Newral crooned. Feather light he stroked thin wings, they still felt brittle, but Newral fancied that he could feel a hint more flex in them, a tiny bit of good softness.

Urail grumbled softly, not having any words for what he wanted to say.

Chapter Text

The nest had been cleaned by the time Newral managed to coax Urail back out of the bath. Some of the old blankets were back and some from Urail’s little hord. Those covered the layer of soft new nest material underneath.

“...!” Urail backed away from the nest, letting go of the edge and looking around a bit frantically. It wasn't their nest! The materials in it were no longer golden hued. Everything else looked the same!

“It’s alright, the nest is being cleaned,” Newral cooed to Urail as he gathered their dinner from Toll and brought it into the nest. They had grilled Fishioids, crisp crystals and some that were roasted. There was a selection of roasted protoflesh and components too. Little bowls of sauces and fresh fruits.

It took a few breem, even with fuel and Newral's crooning to entice, before Urail even touched the nest again. And when he finally did crawl into it, he was chittering angrily, stole some fuel and retreated to sulk and mutter wordless annoyance in a free spot well away from anyone else.

Newral purred approvingly when Urail climbed into the nest but did nothing to approach him, letting him have his space to figure things out for himself.

Once he had eaten his fill, Newral curled up as usual, leaving one wing slightly raised in invitation if Urail wanted to join him once he was ready.

It took a good joor before Urail calmed down enough to return to Newral, and even then he scolded him. Though for what was anyone's guess. He did end up curling under the large wing anyway, still mutter scolding sleepily as he slipped further and further into recharge.

Newral took the scolding with a good nature, not letting it faze him. He crooned and cooed at Urail softly until he felt the other slip off into recharge.

“I think we should include him in helping change the nest material next time. He might be calmer about that,” Newral spoke softly so as to not disturb Urail.

“Well… maybe, that reaction was adorable though,” someone murmured, snickering quietly, “I don't think I have ever seen someone so insulted over a clean nest before.”

“It was adorable, but stress is not good for him, or do you want Rell after your wings? Midril?” Newral leveled his guard a look that said he would not protect him if Rell decided to come after him for stressing his patient.

“Not in particular, no, though I'm sure he might be fun,” Midril grinned cheekily for a moment, then turned serious, “I don't want to stress him, but no one thought cleaning the nest would cause a problem. His own was filthy… but it's hard to remember that he's, well, that way all the time?”

A vague gesture indicated the innocently curled up demon under Newral's wing.

“I won’t help if he decides to bite,” Newral snorted, referring to Rell. “But no, none of us had any idea. He is such a sweet spark though. I was playing, trying to get him to play in the water and he was scolding me for diving under. He was worried for me, that I might hurt myself under water.”

“If he only knows the wild that isn't so strange,” Midril huffed softly, “especially not considering how young he must have been, losing his… caretakers.”

He couldn't make himself say Creators no matter that they had likely done their best, their best had condemned their Creation to a life of loneliness and fear.

“True, at least we know he knows to respect creatures that may be in the water. But the bath is clear. I could see and he could see me,” Newral huffed, Urail had to learn what his growing strength allowed, and when it was good to fear and when he did not have to.

“He may not know how to close his vents,” Midril said, “we don't know… well, anything?”

“That is true. I had not considered that. It is possible that his vents can’t even properly seal as they are,” Newral sighed, another question for Rell when he returned, that was if his scanners could pick that up. But they would not test until they could be certain and Urail was comfortable with the idea that he could dive underwater without harm.

“Rell probably did not consider the ability to dive top priority,” Midril pointed out. There were more important issues.

“Likely, but it will be a concern now, especially if he slips and submerges completely when the in bath,” Newral agreed, he knew Urail had enjoyed the warm water and he would make sure he got a chance to visit at least once an orn. It would help build strength if they could get Urail to swim.

“True, should I call him?” Midril asked seriously.

“He will be upset if we don’t. Especially if this is a big concern,” Newral agreed, he would also update on Urail’s personality development and his reactions, which Rell was keeping a diary of.

“As you will it,” Midril agreed with a bow, leaving with a caress to his mate's wing. He could have contacted the medic from the room of course, but by unspoken agreement no one but Newral used magic in front of the feral guest. Urail had a hard enough time trusting any of them, they did not need to throw magic at him too.

Newral nodded his helm. While he waited Newral asked about how the rest of the clan was doing, catching up with his duties as Ruler, but otherwise enjoying his time with his guard and attendants, it was good to be in good company like this and relax.

Midril returned, relaxed and smiling.

“Rell says that his vents work just fine, but that he probably doesn't know how to work them consciously. It is something that needs to be taught.”

“Makes sense and thank you, Midril,” Newral nodded to his friend and guard before turning back to matters going on in other Chaos towers.

Chapter Text

Groon turned into Vorn. Neural had decided to stay in this tower for the time being, mostly for Urail’s sake.

Urail was enthusiastic enough about frequent baths, but not about diving. And he was watchful whenever they returned to the nest and it's room. Changes, even small ones were viewed with great suspicion and sceptical, reluctant acceptance.

Newral tried to teach Urail about how his vents worked, but the language barrier was a big problem, so he simply redoubled his efforts to teach Urail how to speak. He did try showing Urail how he closed his vents. But when his ward still did not seem to get it Newral decided to give up diving while Urail was around.

“Why?!,” Urail pointed to a set of chairs, and the table that was new to the room. His wings were raised the slightest bit in upset.

“So you can learn what they are and how they are used,” Newral explained as he pulled out one of the seats and sat in it.

“What are?” Urail frowned, he had seen plenty of mechs sitting, but wasn't sure about the purpose of it.

“What… is?”

“This what I am sitting on is a chair, that is a table. The table is used for putting things on,” Newral explained simply. He gestured to Toll who brought out their meal and set it neatly on the table.

“Chair… table, food!” Urial was always enthusiastic about fuel. It made changes bearable… though he wasn't too sure about sitting on a chair.

The hesitation was adorable enough so that Newral took pity on Urail and pulled his own seat back a little and pat his lap.

“Here you can sit with me,” Newral offered.

That was much better! Urail crawled up to settle in chittering happily, then belatedly remembered to chirp, “yes! Thank you!”

Curling around Urail a little, and purring, Newral started pointing out the different foods, saying what they were. Even as Riddle came up and filled two plates, one with a bit of everything the other with all of Newral’s favourites.

“More,” Urail shyly pointed to a dish of protoflesh and sauce, “s-s-stew?”

No one ever seemed to mind his hesitant, stuttering. He was still shy about it.

Newral nodded to Riddle even as he accepted his own plate, tucking into his meal with relish. This was good, and it was good interaction.

“Very good, Urail,” He praised when his mouth was empty.

“Good!” Urail chirped happily, taking his own meal with a shy but brilliant smile. They still haven't managed to get him to use utensils, but he ate neatly.

Newral purred at Urail as they both enjoyed their meal. As they ate, Riddle then others came up and took their own share. Some a little more of this and ignoring that and others a little of everything.

“More?” Urail pointed to the table, twisting to look hopefully up at Newral. His plate was all but polished clean. Being able to eat his fill was still a very novel thing.

“What would you like more of?” Newral asked, they were slowly teaching Urail manners, so he said nothing about saying please, not yet. There was still plenty of food left despite how many demons it was intended to feed.

“St… steeke?” Urail frowned, that was the wrong word. Or… something was wrong with it.

“Steak?” Newral asked gesturing Riddle back over and pointing to a pile of protoflesh steaks.

“Ste-ak! Yes… pleasee?” Urail held out his plate with another hopeful look, this time shyly given Riddle.

“Of course. Anything else you want more of?” Newral asked as he nodded to Riddle. This felt right, in a way more than simply caring for and teaching Urail. Newral made a note of that feeling but decided to do nothing with it yet. Urail was not ready for more yet anyway.

“No,” Urail frowned, and added, “U welll-come?”

“Nearly,” Newral chuckled, “You are supposed to say, ‘thank you’ to Riddle. And he tells you that you are welcome.” He nuzzled Urail as he grinned at Riddle, Urail was getting so much better about having the others around. Strangers were a different story but that was fine for now.

“Oh… 'ank you?” Urail gave Riddle a sideways look, “'iddle.”

“You are welcome, Urail,” Riddle smiled gently at Urail, the twitch of his wing was for his ruler.

“Very good, Urail,” Newral purred his praise setting his own empty plate aside, he had had enough for now.

Urail took his plate, chittering happily to himself and cuddling into Newral to eat his steak.

When he was done he slipped off the bigger demons lap and padded off to the pond room. Bathing room.

Newral stretched as he watched Urail go to clean himself. He trusted Urail in the water, so felt no need to follow him yet. Besides he wanted to talk with his guards and attendants about his realisation of his feelings.

“... So basically I am wondering what with how attached he is to me if Urail is perhaps feeling a connection to me too,” Newral shrugged a little helplessly. He would not dream of touching Urail in any way he did not like, and he was far from ready to have his seals taken yet.

“Maybe,” Midril shrugged, “he likes you more than us. And he seeks you out…”

“I had been thinking that he could sense Unicron’s touch on me, and was feeling more safe with me because of that. But now I am not entirely sure.” Newral looked towards the bath where Urail was enjoying himself.

“Well, Unicron's touch… doesn't only feel safe and comforting,” Midril said wearily, giving his ruler a rather deadpan look, “not even on you! Come to that, you don't always feel terribly safe or comforting either. Though you have been gentle with him and he is more or less deaf and blind to magic. I don't think however that Unicron's touch has much to do with Urail being halfway in love with you… no.”

“True. Love… perhaps it is. Perhaps not. Either way we need time before even mentioning this to Urail. He has such a long recovery ahead of him,” Newral sighed.

“Perhaps mostly puppy love at this point, but he does love you,” Riddle's derma quirked as he started to clean away fuel so that Merin and Nadder could put in plates of treats.

Midril chuckled, “perhaps… but he is an adult. We should not forget that fact.”

“If we find a Love demon they will be able to tell what type,” Newral grinned. “It is to our benefit right now though. He is starved for affection as much as anything else.”

Everyone agreed with that statement, with both actually, and nothing more was said then. It was far too early to speculate, though several had hopes. Mated rulers were happy rulers, and that went for the supreme ruler too!

However, the exchange did cause everyone to handle Urail with a different kind of care. Or perhaps a different manner of observation, was the right way to put it. No one wanted to put anticipation or hopes onto too frail shoulders, or indeed cause any stress to the mending demon. So they watched him, and each other… and their Ruler.

What they mostly got to see was a demon discovering language, boundaries and magic. And that last bit was rather hilarious, aside from the somewhat spectacular hissy fits it caused.

Chapter Text

“Why not?” Urail had his hands on his hips, looking up at Midril with determination. It was hard for Midril not to grin, the demon would never be large by any stretch of the imagination, but at least his horns were beginning to grow and his armor at least looked healthy if not felt it quite yet.

“Newral has things to do and you are not privy to them yet,” he said and was met with a frown of confusion.

“Why?” Unicron! It was like dealing with a demonling sometimes, but one who was well able to melt even a warrior’s spark. Urail was gorgeous… and he only became more so as he filled out. It wasn’t really fair for anyone.

“Because he is a ruler and you are not, and as I recall you were supposed to study with Riddle right now, weren’t you?” Midril lifted an optical ridge.

“But I don’t like magical theory, I can’t do any magic!” annnd that pout should be made illegal!

“All demons need to know their theory,” Midril said, drawing patience from Unicron only knew where, reminding himself that no one had told, or should tell!, Urial that he would be able to do magic. Eventually.

“Where is Riddle?” and que the guilty look....

“Getting snacks,” a clawed ped dragged on the floor, making Midril winch a little. Urail’s claws were still so brittle they were always rounded and not sharp. That particular habit didn’t help a great deal on that!

“And you were going to run off in the meantime?”

“Um…”

“You know what Newral said about treating others proper, don’t you?” Midril knew he did and he trampled the urge to feel guilty when the large wings started drooping and the pout got more pronounced, “go back and study, Urail, I promise you that Newral will be back soon and he will be much more inclined to do something fun if you have held up your part of the deal.”

“When is soon?” Midril prayed for patience.

“Urail, book, now!” this time the smaller demon did go, but it wasn’t without a teasing glance and flick of his wings and thin tail. Their charge may be young and ‘new’ to a lot of things, but he had ‘annoy your elders’ down pat!

Now… if only they could figure out what demon kin he was. Rell still didn’t dare guess, though he had said that the horns looked to become spirals of some sort. That wasn’t always a good indicator of kin though, and as long as Urail’s seals were all intact there was little help to find in his magic.

Newral was frowning in concentration at his own thoughts as he walked back to his room and Urail. He had been receiving reports and this last one spoke to announce Ruler Galar’s bonding. They had been coming in a lot in the last few vorn. Argo, Froth, Thorn, Varal, were now mated and Brell had already been mated. His information also said that Mora would be starting his mate hunt soon. Unicron was up to something, but was not letting on any hints in his recharge. Not yet at least. But Unircon did appear pleased with his looking after Urail… Perhaps his attendants were right.

“Ruler,” Midril's voice held some amusement, “just to advise you, you nearly had company this orn.”

Not to tattle, but they needed to make sure that Urail ended up with a sense of duty and right and wrong.

“Well all he would have learnt is that Galar has announced his bonding. Of course that would lead into lessons on mating and bonding,” Newral grinned, it had already been decided that Rell, as a healer would be giving those lessons.

“He was trying to skip out on magic theory again?” Newral asked more seriously.

“Mhmm, though in his defense he did turn bashful when I asked about Riddle's whereabouts,” Midril nodded, adding on, “he is getting right cheeky though… and clearly prefers your company.”

“Hmm he is likely not a depression type aspect then. We have to watch this behaviour, make sure he remains respectful and does not become bratty. And where was poor Riddle?” Newral asked feeling that he might already know the answer.

“Getting snacks of course, you know Riddle can't handle his pouting!” Midril laughed, “pit, at times I find it hard to resist him.”

“Of course. Even I have trouble at times, but then he does not misbehave for me as he tries to do with the rest of you,” Newral laughed. “Then again the two things he seems to want in life is fuel and my company.”

“I think it might be good to start letting him work with the blenders. I could use a refresher on blending myself,” Newral mused a little mischievously. Let Urail learn where his fuel came from and what was done to it.

“Hmm, just make sure it's things he can eat while making. His tank is bottomless by now, and thank Unicron for that!” Midril added the last fervently, all too glad that they no longer had to drip feed a perpetually hungry demon who looked like he was about to keel over between mouthfuls.

“Naturally. We might even be able to satisfy his hunger for a while with that, so he is not nibbling on anything and everything when he wakes,” The last was a little bit of a tease, but still Newral had taken to having snacks in his subspace for when recharging with Urail to feed his ward before breakfast could be served.

“Good luck,” Midril laughed, “at least Rell will be pleased, I have yet to hear him say not to stuff Urail at any given time!”

“Well Urail is still very thin. He has no mineral reserves at all. It all has been going into repair, his plating is still at minimum thickness, and nowhere near full density. So of course we should stuff him as much as possible. And we need him to have some reserves for when we attempt to remove those scars,” Newral thinned his lips at that, he still felt angry when he saw that pierce wound scar in Urail’s wing. That would go the first chance he got. Newral swore to Unicron that he would heal Urail.

“I realize,” Midril said, gentler and without the humor, “learning to make fuel will be good for him! May I ask… have anyone claimed his Creators?”

Everyone was speculating, but no one really dared guess.

“Hmm, Enrith says that he lost contact with several of his who were associated with a certain nightmare princes tower. The tower was demolished just under an eon ago so all records are lost, but the timing fits. It also feels right that Urail is associated with desire and pleasure. With his frame… Some of the Incubi were fairly high power too. And a good number of the nightmares in that tower were known to have large wings. And curling horns. I don’t want to speculate. But they might have fled because someone hurt Urail,” Newral felt almost sick thinking about it. That tower had been a nest of corruption.

“Wait, that… the energon tower?” Midril's optics widened comically, even as his voice dropped to a half growl. Every clan and aspect had things they were not proud of, but that tower, now nameless in shame, was something that no Chaos or Nightmare demon liked to think of.

Then… “you mean someone might have done that to his wing on purpose?” rage flared, and Midril had to force himself not to mantle at his ruler.

“Yes. And as I said I don’t like to speculate, especially on something so unpleasant. But I will contact the ‘Ithrich’ and have them draw out their punishment for another eon, if their sparks can even take that,” Newral looked away, his own rage simmering low, banked for now. But he was due to visit the prisons soon again, he would take out his anger there on those deserving of his wrath.

“I will hope so, and ask Unicron to show no mercy when it is his time to punish,” Midril said, willing calm.

“Unicron promised that when we found them. There will be no mercy or quarter given. They are nameless, clanless, Even Unicron has disavowed them. They are nothing.” It was so for all demons unfortunate enough to be given to the Ithrich, but not all were disavowed by Unicron. Those who were had their magic stripped from them.

Very few given to the Ithrich had ever been pardoned, and none who had been disavowed. But on the exceptionally rare occasion a spark had repented and Unicron informed his Supreme Ruler in the way of dreams. In fact it had only ever happened twice. And both times were so the demon could find their mate amongst the remorse demons. But their crimes had not been as serious.

“And even that seems a light punishment now,” Midril hissed, thinking of the neatly circular scar on Urail's wing plating. It was terrifying to think how young he must have been to have it heal over, especially considering he had been starving most of his life!

“But you are right, my ruler, we should not speculate… it is fruitless anger. Just maybe keep this from healer Rell entirely, or we may have company next time we visit the Ithrich,” not Midril's favorite visits, but one he might just enjoy immensely come the next time!

“I would not permit him to come. Besides he will have to help look after Urail in my absence. There is a reason only yourself and Toll are allowed with me there. And that punishment is far from light. Their magic is stripped from them with nothing to replace it, without their magic their wings slowly wither and fall off as do their horns. And they are kept alive for the entire process, no attempt to end themselves is permitted, but also no escape. They are kept within a sealed circle until Unicron deems it is time to exact the rest of his punishment on them.” Newral remembered partitioning for Unicron to give them that particular punishment. The touch of his master had been heavy as his spark had been searched for why this was asked. He also remembered the burst of fury when Unicron had found his answers and granted his request.

It had been the second time he had ever felt Unicron’s touch while fully awake, the first being when he had ascended.

Midril shuddered and shook his head, even so he felt that they got off lightly. Poor Urail had only been a bitty…

“Perhaps a stroll? Urail will be upset if you return upset, my ruler, and he doesn't need any more upset.”

Chapter Text

“Perhaps. I think I might need something else. If you and Toll are amiable?” Newral glanced sideways at Midril. There were times when he needed release. He needed to be physically tied down and forced to let go. Pleasure only, no pain. It was the only time he let his guards at his valve, something he did not give his attendants. But something he would be willing to give his mate.

Toll and Midril were the only ones he trusted to do that. His guards, sworn to protect and serve him. An oath sworn to Unicron. They were bound to him as surely as he was bound to Unicron.

“Uh… oh, well of course we are amiable,” Midril nearly did a double take, the request unexpected but not unwelcome. It wasn't an invitation that was often given out.

“Now?”

“If you both can, yes,” Newral nodded. He was too tense, too worked up with various emotions, and this helped strengthen the bonds he had with his guards. They were a bonded pair, but they were also his and they needed a strong bond. He was not nervous about his request though he did think it would be hard for him to let go this time. To give into the pleasure and let himself be looked after.

“Of course,” Midril nodded, not mentioning that a certain young mech would be thoroughly put out. Newral never asked unless he needed. Toll and he would always be at their Ruler's call!

Newral nodded again. Urail could wait. He could not go to his ward while this unstable. Urail needed stability, even more than he needed himself. Settling himself he turned to head to a nesting room that was set slightly away from the others, it was also soundproofed. This was something he requested in every tower he visited. This need was rare but the nest did see other uses. And it was a fairly simple request.

Midril would collect Toll and the ropes and chains they needed for this. He needed to prepare himself so that he would not fight being bound.

It was a good thing that Midril didn’t need to physically go to get Toll, dodging Urail was not something he wanted to be doing right before this. Call him a coward, but the small demon and his large optics and lethal pout was a weakness he wouldn’t lie about having. He was probably the only demon he’d ever met who might make him break down and ‘betray’ his ruler. Luckily for him Toll was not much better!

Toll met him only a bit of a breem or two later, carrying a soft, but heavy bag over one spiked shoulder. There was no questions, or hesitation, this was not simply duty for the bonded pair. One did not take this role, or any other, with the Supreme Ruler if one didn’t love him in some manner.

Newral was kneeling in the nest facing the entrance when the pair came in. His wings twitched at the sight of the bag. He wanted what was coming but he also had a hard time allowing it to be done. To be vulnerable to others, even those he trusted the most was not easy. But Toll and Midril knew this as they also knew that he would not strike to hurt even if he did try clawing them when they put the ropes and chains on him.

They didn't speak, just smiled and began. Newral was no beginner, and certainly no submissive. He required handling, not gentling or reassuring.

So Midril and Toll let him hiss and struggle, but didn't relent till he was bound to the nest.

Newral growled and tested the bounds. But his guards, lovers and friends knew how to bind him and there was no give. He glared still growling and hissing, giving silent promises that would never see fulfillment. Despite his manner he was not afraid nor truly upset and in his very core a knernal of arousal built fed by the affection and appreciation he held for both his guards.

“Newral,” Toll murmured, stroking a bound wing.

“Do we need that, pretty one? You need to let go,” Midril purred, his stroking traveling down from chest plating to abdominal, “you need all that anger gone…”

Newral rumble deep in his chest, not willing or able to let go that easily. He watched his guards carefully but still did not reach for his magic. There was no need for that here after all. All he had to do was say a word and they would release him.

That was not what he wanted though. He wanted and needed to be forced to let go.

Midril reached his goal, settling between spread legs to pay attention to the closed interface panel. Toll kept playing gently with bound wings, occasionally pressing gentle kisses to Newral's faceplates or, daringly, to the corners of his mouth.

Newral bared his fangs at Toll, even as he continued to growl. Deep within him the seed of arousal grew. Midril’s attentions doing a lot to push it along. Not that the attention to his wings was ineffective either. But he ignored it, not letting go, not giving in, not yet.

To many it might have been off-putting, to have someone like this. Growling, snarling, bound. Teeking a field that didn't belong in chains, speaking too loudly of power and dominance…

It was why the guards were always a mated pair, why they were bound to the supreme ruler the way they were. They knew what was real and what was show, what was needed. In this Newral could not hide and so Toll only chuckled deeply at the bared fangs and nipped the lower derma in retaliation for not being given a proper kiss.

Midril purred, nuzzling the closed panel and turned his head to kiss at upper thigh plating. Claws playing with aft and hips.

Newral gave an almost soundless whimper as knowing claws passed over sensitive spots, optics paling, before he growled again and tried to snap at Toll. He was losing himself to the moment, to his instincts that screamed against being controlled by anyone other than his master and the spark deep trust he had for his guards.

Toll just rumbled and turned his attention back to the wings. He could wait till Newral was ready for affection.

And his mate would see to that soon enough.

Newral held out for another breem, in that time his optics flashed over from showing distress to arousal, his growls had quieted to a rumbling that could mean almost anything.

A brush against his panel had it unlock, not open yet but there was nothing stopping it now.

“Mmm,” Midril hummed with delight at the click, not nervous about the fact that it was still closed. Not even touching it yet in fact. Small victories were to be savored, this one most of all as they so rarely got to taste it…

A deeper chuckle added to the sound, gentle and soft. Toll had heard that too…

Newral rumbled at the humm and chuckle, but no longer working up any growls. The touches felt good though, and they slowly robbed him of his will to resist and his ability to hold onto any negative feelings. That was the point of this, the release of negative feelings.

He did snarl a little when his panel slid open, not wanting to give up but knowing that he had no choice. That he needed to let Toll and Midril look after him.

No one claimed it was easy, but then easy wasn't always as giving as some claimed. And this… the after the fact bit, was what Midril and Toll truly cherished.

Divesting their ruler of rope and chain, fetching cloth and cleaning solution. Turning his frame back to his own, no scratches, no paint, just him. For a little bit just a demon like any other sated and lax between them.

It never lasted quite long enough, but they made sure that they all enjoyed it…

Newral stretched luxuriously feeling the familiar but not felt often enough ache of having been thoroughly fragged. It was a good feeling, as was the contentedness around him.

“Come here Toll,” Newral purred, grabbing a polishing cloth. He had one last need in this, and that was to tend to his guards. He needed them to know how much he appreciated them, and indeed loved them.

Toll hummed his thanks, enjoying the demon to demon attention that somehow existed outside of rank while being completely dependant on rank. For those outside this bond it was near incomprehensible, the emotions and the actions. They were just happy it was.

Newral finished his attention on Toll with a searing kiss before turning to Midril, beckoning him over. He felt good, centered and most of all calm.

Toll stayed as close as he could, watching his mate be pampered in turn and purring his rumbling deep purr all the while. Midril's purr was higher in pitch, but no less audible and satisfied.

Newral kissed Midril like he had Toll once he was satisfied, but instead of letting go he asked Toll to get Urail bring him and their dinner here. He wanted to cuddle with his guards and his ward and he did not want to move.

Let him have this one dark cycle to indulge himself.

Urail came along willingly enough, though Toll was amused at being used as a shield on the way. The young demon held little affection for those he didn't know still…

Riddle carried their fuel there but left it outside the room so as not to disturb.

Newral purred, calling Urail to him when Toll returned.

“Have you been a good demon?” Newral crooned as he carefully tucked Urail against him. The last unnoticed piece of tension dissipating at having his ward with him.

“Yes! Where you? Wasn't soon,” Urail pouted at Midril who quickly got up to help Toll with dinner, least he start laughing at the young demon.

“I was away doing my work, then I came here. I asked Toll to get you when we were done with what I needed here. What I did here was not originally planned. So I am sorry for making you wait longer than I promised,” Newral cooed at Urail, cuddling his ward.

Newral was always very touch orientated and cuddly after one of these sessions and this time was no different as he focused on Urail. Just the four of them this evening. That would be perfect.

“'kay,” but Urail still pouted while nuzzling in. Patience was not his strongest trait just yet!

Newral looked up at the soft announcement that dinner was ready, stretching out his wings Newral pulled both his guards in close as he sat up with Urail still in his lap. The dinner was on special trays to help it balance in the nest and Newral positioned them so it was in the middle and everyone could reach.

Food helped with everything, including forgiveness. Urail was chatting soon enough, stuffing his face with fuel. Most of his chatting was garbled, a lot of the words still difficult for him and his table manners somewhat lacking.

It was nice though…

Newral felt more at peace here then he had in a very long time. Once their dinner was finished and cleaned up, he curled up close with Urial and his guards. A prayer to Unicron spoken in his spark.

During recharge Newral felt Unicron, felt his approval and his cautioning that things needed to change, were changing.

Chapter Text

“Why,” Urail's expression was one of deep suspicion, though Riddle wasn't doing anything but holding out the cuffs for him to see.

They were pretty, and everyone did wear jewelry, but Urail wasn't convinced of anything on that background.

“It's a gift. Lord Dranic saw you walk with Newral and thinks you are… pretty,” Riddle struggled to keep his own emotions in. He wasn't too thrilled by the gift, but he saw little harm in it.

“I don't know Lord Dranic,” Urail turned away and dismissively flicked a wing, “I have jewelry, I don't need that!”

Newral looked up from the scrolls he was reading.

“You do, Urail? May I see it.” Newral set down his work to join Riddle and Urail. He gestured for Riddle to show him the cuffs.

“I don't know him!” Urail growled, though it was a more defiant sound than angry, “I don't want gifts from him.”

More accurate than the 'not knowing’ and also more truthful.

“He is allowed to give you things,” Riddle said patiently, holding out the cuffs to Newral with a small huff. Urail had his own ideas about appropriate and not appropriate, for good and bad.

“It is alright. As it is a gift we shall keep these for you. But we shall let Lord Dranic know to refrain from further gifts as he has not earned your favour,” Newral stated decisively as he looked said gift over.

They were nice quality pieces but other than pretty ultimately nothing special.

“I shall soon have a set commissioned just for you. If you would accept that, Urail?” Newral hummed questioningly though he was going to have the jewellery made either way.

“I have jewelry!” Urail said rebelliously, flaring his wings a bit. Though the idea of gifts from Newral was far more palatable than the cuffs.

“What does refrain mean?” he added begrudgingly.

“Refrain means to stop or hold back from,” Newral explained patiently. Handing the cuffs back to Riddle he stroked Urail’s wings soothing them back down.

“May I see your jewellery?” Newral tried again.

Urail scrunched his face plates up, aware that he was being cuddled and distracted. But it wasn't like he minded… he just didn't much like the high-handed lord and it felt creepy to accept gifts from someone he didn't know and didn't like.

“Yes?” he carefully brought the broken bit of jewelry out of subspace, though he wasn't sure he wanted to give it over, not even to Newral. He had tried to repair it so he could still wear it, but had given up long ago when he had almost dropped it in a lake.

“Oh,” The piece of jewelry did not look like much, as broken and dirty as it was, but the stones and metal of it had absorbed the emotional energy over all the vorn Urail had had it, Newral could almost literally see its aura. And as such the sheer importance it held for Urail.

“We will teach you basic smithing, Urail. Perhaps see if Pharcress will host us and agree to teach you. And once he is happy with your skill, then you can repair that properly yourself.”

Newral had lent close, but did not even attempt to touch. This was the only thing Urail had in connection to his creators. It was as such priceless. He could also feel that Urail would not want any smith to touch it, fearing it could be lost forever.

“But you will be having more jewelry, Urail, so other demons can see your status, see what you mean to us,” Newral stated firmly but kindly. Urail was learning but there was still so much to teach him.

“But I don't want more jewelry,” Urail protested with a frown, “I don't wanna meet other demons!”

Actually he had nothing against jewelry, but 'other demons’ were an entirely different kettle of fishoid! Also, why did they need to know what anyone thought of him?

“You are very pretty, beautiful, others might try to touch you, or at least get close if they don’t know who your clan is, your guardians and protectors. You are fortunate that I have so much influence that you merely showing my runes will offer a substantial amount of protection. As for meeting others… well do you want to stay in these quarters or quarters like these for the rest of your existence? Or do you want to learn things, learn to fly?” Newral crooned though he was very serious. What did Urail want for himself?

That thought had Urail shudder with something very close to terror. No! He did not want strangers to touch him, or think they could get away with it.

As for the rest.

“Fly?” he had seen plenty of flying demons out of the windows, seen Newral and the others take wing from them. But at no point had he considered that he might learn to do it himself.

“I could learn to fly?” that was an exciting prospect, even if it meant being seen, and seeing, others.

“When Rell says you are ready, yes,” Newral grinned, “And that is why we put runes on our wings so others can see who we are from a distance. They can know if we are friend or foe, or even a stranger.”

“We can try painting your wings so you can get use to the feeling,” Newral offered wondering how Urail would react to paints and if he would like to play with them.

“Rell decides?” Urail immediately felt both elated and apprihencive. Rell was well known, in the cuddle zone, but he was also the demon ‘Things Depended On’ most of the time. His word was veto or blessing to try new things. Like fuel… and apparently flying.

Painting though, that seemed fun! He had seen Newral be painted and bedecked in jewels often enough. As well as guards and attendants, though to a lesser degree.

“Painting is fun?”

Newral made a gesture with his wings and Merin soon appeared at his side with a set of basic paints and a roll of hide.

“Rell decides when. But you will learn sooner or later,” Newral grinned, taking the hide he laid it out on the ground, nodding in thanks as Toll brought several pillows for them to sit on, “Well why don’t you give it a try and see if you like painting?”

Chapter Text

“This is not wings?” Urail frowned as he realized he wasn't getting out what he wanted to say. He was getting better, but he still often met with frustration when trying for something and getting… well, a mess.

“It… um… I…” he faltered and hissed.

“You can paint things other than wings. This is for practice and play. Though with these paints I can let you paint my wings. It will wash off easily,” Newral grinned, he was getting quite good at interpreting what Urail meant, and it was cute how Urail thought paint was only for wings. So much for his ward to discover.

“Oh… why?” he understood that it was done, but not why. Newral had explained wings, he could explain this too, Urail was sure.

Picking up a color he sniffed it and sneezed, nearly dipping his olfactory sensor in the royal blue paint.

“Decorations, some demons like to paint for a living, selling their paintings for others to decorate their homes with. There are portraits too. Some demon families have portraits of their ancestors going back many generations. Some paint just for fun, a way to relax,” Newral shrugged, the paint would not hurt if eaten but it would taste quite bad. So he was not worried about the paint Urail was holding.

Newral accepted a brush from Merin and dipped it into a deep crimson red, with that he painted his runes in one corner of the hide. He added embellishments creating the full sigil that he rarely used. It was the seal of his contract with Unicron. His name with Unicron’s runes. Each Supreme Ruler had had a different seal and once they died or abdicated the seals, no matter where in their worlds, would break.

“What is,” Urail pointed to the brush, and then immediately to the symbol that glistened wetly on the hide. Then he promptly put his fingers into the blue paint and looked at his hand. They too glistened and he wiggled them curiously as the blue paint slowly ran down them.

“This, you should be able to feel what this means, Urail. Even if you don’t understand it yet.” Newral pointed to his seal, even with his seals all intact Urail should be able to feel Unicron’s essence in the lines of the runes.

“And this is called a brush, it is used for creating different strokes, thick or thin with more control than one can achieve with fingers. And some paint you don’t want to get on your fingers as it will be very hard to remove. This will simply wash off though.” Newral watched Merin hand Urail a fresh brush.

Urail looked at Newral with some surprise, then tried to wipe off his hand on the hide. He chirruped with some dismay when he didn't succeed and instinctively attempted to lick it. Then he made a face of disgust and looked at his hand with a betrayed expression.

Fren appeared at Newral’s shoulder with a bowl of water and mild cleanser and several cloths.

“Here, wipe it off with this,” Newral offered, dipping on of the cloths into the water wringing it out and handing the damp cloth to Urail. He hid his amusement remembering his own first encounter with paint. It had gone somewhat similar to this.

Urail cleaned off somewhat fastidiously, then accepted the brush when it was offered again and finally reached out to touch the red symbol. He stopped short though, frowning then finally put a blunt claw down…

“It is warm?” Urail didn't mean the paint.

“That means that Unicron likes you, he approves. This is my seal, symbol of my rank, given to me by Unicron our creator,” Newral smiled, not everyone had such a good response when they first encountered a Unicron touched item or symbol. But what Urail was feeling was Unicron’s essence.

“Who is Unicron?” Urail frowned, “no… what is Unicron?”

He had wanted to ask for a while, but it hadn't seemed right. It didn't now either but he felt so strongly that he needed to know. That he was missing something vital…

“Who… Unicron is the creator of all demon kin. He gave us this world, both our worlds,” Newral spluttered a little, caught completely off guard, but he felt he should not have been, Urail knew so very little, they had had to teach him everything else.

Reaching for a clean brush, Newral took the purple paint and started delicately painting a highly complex and large rune and its accompanying sealing runes.

“We call him a god. But what he actually is is beyond anyone's comprehension…

Long, long ago, many thousands of eons ago Unicron split a fraction of his spark and split that into countless number of pieces, the strongest of which he placed on a young world, Charr. This world. He gave the other weaker sparks to his first creations to nurture and thus the first demon kin were born. They were chaos, born directly of the god of chaos, death and renewal. They were wild, feral creatures, and Unicron left them be. Over time they separated into distinct groups, the aspects, each aspect holds their own power, condensed and purified. There are many different ones. But the major ones are, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Envy and Pride. However chaos remains, demons with that aspect have a piece of all aspects, I am a chaos demon.

Unicron started paying attention to his creations again when we started exploring away from Charr. We first found Pyrovar, which Unicron claimed for us. Then we found the mortal realm. But that is a lesson for another time.”

Newral had finished Unicron’s sigil as he spoke, with the last stroke it flashed and he felt a brief searching brush of his spark. Unicron wondering why his sigil was being written.

“Oh,” Urail frowned down at the sigil, then reached out and touched it. It was warm too, almost, but not quite, too hot to be comfortable. The paint on that was already dry while the blue he had wiped off still glistened wetly.

“Why do I not know him?” he looked up at Newral, claws still resting on the purple sigil.

“You feel like you should? All demons can feel Unicron to a greater or lesser extent, but to actually know him. Very few do. I do as much as any demon can. To know of him… he is simply our creator, and the one we return to when our spark leaves this world,” To explain in words was difficult at best, but Newral tried for the sake of his ward. His ward who was still touching Unicron’s sigil with no sign of discomfort. That was interesting.

“Yes,” Urail frowned back down at the sigil and hissed uncertainly. He felt he should know, should feel… more. Should know more.

“I should… know, uh, unders-stand?” he didn't know how to say it.

“You will feel more when you are opened to your magic, I think it is about time for that. I will discuss it with Rell when he comes next orn,” Newral said softly but he was decided it was time, Urial was no longer benefiting from being cut off from his magic. His lessons kept on hitting dead ends like this and his healing was going well, so Newral saw no reason to not. But Rell was Urail’s healer and had the final say in anything relating to his health.

“But for now we can try painting each others wings.” Newral stretched out one of his wings currently devoid of the painted runes he often wore.

“Opened?” Urail looked up, leaning forward and placing his weight on his hand, now flat against the sigil, claws and plating both. The heat felt… comforting, even though it was on the edge of too hot. He had always liked heat.

“But Riddle says I’m bad at learning theory?” not quite like that, or at least… he bit his derma and grimassed, “no, he says I have no patience for it. What is patience?”

It was one of his major flaws, though Urail had no clue about that. But he tended to save up questions on words and things for Newral, forgetting about them until something got him started on questions. It most often resulted in a deluge of unrelated questions, statements and messy explanations that turned into more questions and statements. Like now, where they were discussing perhaps the most important aspects of Demons, their god and magic, and he got diverted by asking what one simple word meant and if it meant that he really was ‘bad’ at learning theory, as he had so far surmised.

Perhaps amusing, but also rather frustrating for everyone involved.

“Patience is the ability to wait without getting worked up or to bare with a task without complaint.” Newral shook his helm amused. He glanced at Urail’s hand and the sigil, that glowed strongly to his senses, partly obscured underneath. Unicron must really approve of Urail. Or else Urail was a masochist but Newral highly doubted that.

“Oh,” in that case Riddle was right, Urail sat back, looked his brush over, finally, and then the paints while he mulled that over. There were none of the colors that usually covered Newral's wings so he got the closest he could and put the brush in. Of course he ended up dribbling all over, but he got some on the wing so…

“So I'm not… bad?”

“No, but your lessons are important so you should pay more attention in them,” Newral smiled, holding his wing still for Urail. It would hurt nothing to have paint on it, it could all be washed off so he was not worried about his wings being used as a canvas.

“But it's boring!” Urail whined, “I don't see why I need to know all that stuff yet, I can't do any of it!”

Magic in itself was interesting, he loved history… but magical theory was just nonsensical rules bunched together into a mess!

“Are there parts you are having trouble understanding?” Newral asked gently, the theory could be hard to understand until one started to understand the whys and hows of things rather than taking for granted that it simply was.

“Riddle has to use…” Urail paused, “small words? It's not easy for him either, but that doesn't make it any more interesting. We both like snack time much better,” he glanced at the red sigil and tried to copy it. Not really successfully… oddly enough he didn't even consider trying the bigger sigil.

Newral watched with growing amusement as Urail attempted to write his own seal on his wing. Though he had never had it written there, it was actually amusingly appropriate.

“Hmm if I can find the time perhaps I should take over those lessons. Or find someone better suited to teaching the theory.” He might have to request a loan of one of Froth’s scholars, Apathy demons were good magic teachers.

“No! Riddle will be sad,” and for once that was the actual motivation, not fear of an unknown demon. He didn't want to make Riddle sad!

“Alright, but you need to be good and pay attention, even if you don’t want to,” Newral was surprised at the response he had gotten. But it was sparkwarming that Urail felt strongly enough about other demons than himself.

Urail huffed unhappily but dutifully promised to be good. And he would keep it too, he might defy and tease others, but never Newral. It had nothing to do with fear, and certainly not with understanding of rank. It just didn't occur to him to want to be rebelliously with Newral, the mech always knew best!

“Good,” Newral purred, pleased at the promise. He took another cloth, wet it and carefully dabbed at the paint on his wing until only the lines Urail had gotten right remained.

Chapter Text

“Did you want to try again?”

“Okay,” he immediately perked, though it didn't get any less messy this time around. There was much too much paint on his brush after all.

“Try with less paint. It will be easier to control where the paint goes then,” Newral grinned, dabbing at the paint again, though he let more remain this time.

“Less paint?” Urail obediently tried to clean the brush, only to end up with yellow paint halfway up his arms. He sneezed at the smell and whined with annoyance. It couldn't be that hard!

“Here, like this,” Newral took his red brush that was soaking in water dried it off and dipped it in the red, he then showed Urail how to use the sides of the container to scrape most of the paint off the brush back into the container he held it up to show how it did not drip. He did this a few more times then put it back into the water.

Merin clucked lightly at Urail and grabbed a cloth to start cleaning Urail up a little since his ruler could not move much with his wing out like that. He was amused rather than upset and let that show.

Submitting to the help Urail chittered low as he watched Newral's doings. When Merin allowed it he attempted to copy and was… mostly successful. It made it easier to paint, but his fingers were yellow again.

Newral shivered as this time the sigil seal took. He knew that he would be visited by Unicron when he recharged for explanations of why they were writing these sigils. But it would be worth it, for he had seen how Unicron approved of Urail.

“That’s it,” Newral smiled as he dabbed at the excess paint, leaving the intact seal on his wing. He would wash it off soon though.

“Newral,” Urail poked at the wing, “writing? I'll learn proper?”

“Yes, this is writing. And you are learning very well.” Newral did not mention that this was one of the harder sigils to write properly and that normal writing was easier.

“I'll learn proper?” Urail asked again, looking up from his work, to meet Newral's optics. He did like reading, it would be nice to learn writing too.

“Yes, Urail, you will learn how to write properly,” Newral met Urail’s optics as he made that promise. They were already planning to add it to his lessons as it was.

Reassured Urail returned to the sigil, then to his brush. It was very yellow, but at least he now had some idea of how to clean it, and not get covered himself.

Sort of. Merin was luckily a very patient mech.

Picking up another brush, Newral dipped it into the green paint and started writing simple runes leaving space between them so that Urail could copy one rune at a time. This was certainly not what he had expected when he suggested painting, but it was good.

Urail had no clue about planning, but he was having fun. And he loved it when Newral had time to teach him things! He loved Newral, though he had no idea what the feelings really were, or how they differed from those he held for Midril, Toll, Riddle and the rest. Because he loved them too, they had forged themselves into the family he had lost and he still had no words for that.

It was enjoyable, Newral had no qualms about admitting that. Urail loved having a purpose for things rather than simply doing them for the sake of fun. So of course this was no different. But that was good, and Newral found teaching Urial like this to be very fun, and enjoyable on so many levels.

Toll had to remind them of the time and by then they both very much needed a bath, as did poor Merin who had tried his hardest to keep paint off of things it should not be on. He had succeeded for the most part and there were only small splatters to be cleaned up.

Merin was more than happy to engage in a splashing wrestling match, which served just fine to get them clean. Urail wasn't quite daring enough to be physical with the larger demons like that. Merin was almost his size… sort of.

He still mostly chittered when having fun that way, words not coming entirely natural to him yet. And again Merin didn't seem to care about that.

“Snack time?” he enquired hopefully when he finally submitted to having the last paint rubbed off.

“Time for food, yes,” Newral agreed from the other side of the bath where he had been scrubbing his wings clean, they had both ended up as canvases for Urail to paint on, not that he minded one bit. He was now simply resting, enjoying the water and watching Urail play with Merin.

“Big snack time?” It was said even more hopefully, playing made him hungry! Merin half smothered a giggle, but Urail didn't mind. He just playfully bumped the other with his now clean wing.

“Yes it is dinner time,” Newral grinned at the words Urail still used. Checking himself over one last time for any missed paint Newral got out of the bath and started drying himself. He knew that things would be cleaned up and their meal ready by the time they came back out.

“Are we done, Merin? Do you need help?” Urail twisted, smiling brightly at the idea of lots of food. Merin got them both out and dried despite the enthusiastic 'help’.

Newral grinned, thinking back to when Urail was first brought here. He had been so thin and scared of everything. He could barely talk and understood maybe half of what was being said. Now he would chatter away, occasionally asking about the meaning of certain words, he was reading and playing with everyone in the entourage. He loved the kitchens too, helping the blenders make their meals. Though he was still slow to trust new demons.

“Enough playing around, our dinner is waiting,” Newral called out as he exited the bathing chamber.

Urail squeaked happily and escaped Merin. He was mostly dry anyway!

And food...

Newral deemed Urial dry enough, just, as he impatiently pushed at him to get seated so they could all eat. Newral for his own part did hurry a little as he was hungry. And he still had his work to finish. But taking care of Urail was important too. And this lesson had been a big one.

Urail was perfectly content stuffing his tank and ending the orn under Newral's wings with a book. It was a bitty book on Unicron and it had pretty illustrations to look at!

Chapter Text

“Physically… yes, he can handle it,” Rell hesitated, “mentally, I don't think anyone will be able to tell. He's come a long way and he's got the basic knowledge. There is also the fact that it may be cruel to keep him forcibly a youngling like this… Small he will always be, but he is mature and eventually his chassis will demand if we don't give.”

When depended on what he was…

“I painted Unicron’s sigil for him to see, he held his hand on it, not just a touch but held his hand there. He also said he felt he should feel more, understand more. And he can only get that when his seals are gone. I believe he is ready,” Newral replied seriously, though he was pleased that Rell said that Urail was physically ready to handle it.

“...” Rell considered that, but couldn't even guess what it might mean. Nor did he dare try.

“I see, that is far more your realm than mine!”

“Everyone feels something when they touch Unicron’s sigil. But never before had I seen someone willing to hold their hand on it. For most even a brief touch is somewhat painful, scorching hot, or so they say. But for a few who Unicron is pleased with it is warm, perhaps on the edge of too hot, but not over that edge,” Newral explained. “That is independent of magical feeding. But how much subilties he could feel is dependant on it.”

“I do not think it is something I wish to try though I hope our Maker is happy with me,” Rell was a healer, he had a healthy respect for their God who granted both healing and destruction in what measure he deemed necessary.

“On the subject of seal breaking… have you any plans for how to handle it?”

“He does know what interfacing is, as he has seen Toll and Midril playing, though I have not told him much about it. I do think it best to take them all in one session as I believe him to be a desire type demon… I am not really sure, other than to be as gentle as possible. I do know that I do want him. Those feelings have not abated,” Newral rumbled consideringly. It was clear that Urail loved him, but what type of love?

“I am not qualified to advise you on the emotional aspects of this, but physically… I wouldn't agree if whomever do it isn't gentle. He is by no means recovered!” Rell leveled a serious look at his ruler.

“However… consider carefully if that demon should be you. He's already dependent on you in all else.”

Newral nodded his understanding, “Perhaps we should teach him first and let him choose who he wants? You should be there for that to explain the ‘medical’ side of it. I am sure Toll and Midril will be willing to give a demonstration.”

“Mm, that may be wisest,” Rell agreed, inclining his head, a crooked smile on his derma.

“Yes, the speech, at least he is an adult and not an incredulous youngling!”

“He does act like a youngling most of the time though, but then that is all he knows really. It will be interesting to see what he chooses.” or more like who he chose, Newral had his suspicions though, especially considering Unicron’s reaction to Urial and Urail’s to Unicron. But it would be Urial’s choice.

“That it will,” Rell agreed softly. He was almost certain that it didn't matter what they did, said or offered, but it would be cruel not to try. Of course he didn't know Newral's thoughts and suspicion.

“We can’t do it quite yet though. I need to visit the Ithrich. I will make it as short a visit as I can but you know this means I will be away for a few orn. I will need you to help look after Urail in this time and we can see what he chooses when I return. I will be leaving at dawn next orn,” Newral knew he had been putting this off but he no longer could.

Rell's wings dropped hard, and cold seemed to run though his lines. The very idea of the Ithrich was terrifying to most demons and he, as a healer, was almost repulsed by the idea of what they were.

“Of course, Ruler,” he said numbly.

“I will only be gone a few orn. You know their task is vital, and they only answer to me and Unicron,” Newral rumbled softly. He was used to the Ithrich now, but he still recalled the first few times and not with any fondness.

“I do,” but he could not shake the ingrained fear, few demons could. Such was their reputation that few even contemplated breaking the ancient laws, and those that did were thought of with horrified pity for their stupidity.

“If it makes you feel better you can give me a full check over when I return,” Newral smiled, he knew not to piss off his healer.

“I shall not pretend that it doesn't,” Rell's smile was pale but genuine.

“It is a deal then. And I will not complain and endeavor to come in for it on time, unless there is an actual emergency,” Newral promised very serious. He always took his promises seriously no matter who it was to.

Rell nodded and carefully steered the conversation back to Urail's health progress. He still didn't have the reserves needed for a healing, but some mineral reserves had begun to collect so his diet had to be adjusted again. There was such a thing as too much after all!

Newral dutifully listened and gave his own observations where needed. It was sparkwarming that Urail’s healing was going so smoothly. Of course that was because they had an excellent healer and everyone in his entourage knew that when it came to health matters Rell’s word was law.

Chapter Text

Urail had been a lot less accepting of Newral going away. A full on tantrum and sulk in fact, repeated twice over when he was told that Midrill and Toll would be gone too…

Completed with sobbing himself to sleep as a curled up miserably ball of a demon.

But it turned out not to be all that bad of course. Though he fiercely missed all three, most of all Newral, he had plenty to distract him. Rell gently started to teach him about healing, preparing him for the conversation to come. Riddle about buried him in his favorite fuel and snacks, trying to compensate for… well, not even Riddle actually knew what.

Only the nights were bad. He recharged badly and often found himself waking, even sobbing, though he'd not had a nightmare.

The Ithrich really were not as bad as everyone thought they were, Newral walked in with a smile, greeting several by name and asking after old members and being introduced to new ones. There was a newly appointed supervisor, Sterin, who Newral had known before. He commented on how the new role suited him and congratulated him.

Then it was time to check on the prisoners. Newral was painted specially for this, Unicron’s markings all over him, displaying who he was as well as giving Unicron an easy way to inform him of anything he wanted.

The only reaction was with one the the energon prince's former advisors, and Newral watched impassively as the demon was brought to his knees before him. He was one forsaken by Unicron and his wings were only skeletal struts looking like bits would fall off at a touch, his horns were barely nubs and scars crossed the starved frame.

“You will tell me your sins,” Newral spoke softly, he knew he did not need any more than that. He already suspected that this was one that had dared touch immature demons. He held back the shudder at the idea that he had touched Urail or any other bitty. He could ignore the words though, it was Unicron who wanted to hear the confessions through him.

Newral let Toll and Midril care for him after visiting the prisoners. Though he had tried to remain impassive and not actively listen to the halting confessions pierced by screams when the demon tried to resist and not answer. It had been too horrifying to not hear.

It was well into the orn after that Newral was in a fit state to travel again having seen and done what he had needed. It had taken a full orn to get to the prisons and would take another to get back. Four orn, Newral wondered how Urail would react when he returned.

No one had told Urail when they expected the Ruler back. Partly no one knew for certain till a message arrived, and partly they didn’t want to upset him further if something happened to change the arrival time. After three miserable recharge cycles he was drooping and, for once in his stay at the tower, not eating much. Mostly it seemed because he was too tired to even chew things. Soups went down better, but Rell wasn’t happy with the little he got in of that either. A few orn would not set him back but… Yes, but.

So when Newral and his guards arrived Rell was the one waiting for them. Riddle was reading Urail a story, hoping that he would either nap a little, or maybe eat some of the candy they had brought for him.

“Ruler, Midril, Toll,” Rell bowed, too nervous to not be formal, “I have to ask if you have things you need to get done? If so, please, get them done before going to Urail… He hasn’t been taking your absences all too well.”

It just sort of all spilled out, but not one of them had really slept very well considering they’d been woken by Urail’s whimpering or sobs several times a cycle.

“There is nothing that can’t wait until next orn,” Newral didn't even need to think about it, they had after all discussed just this. Besides Mirum was a good prince and got much work done for him in his absence. He also knew that his Prince would shoo him off to Urail before letting him even see what work needed to be done.

“Please hurry then, Riddle is trying to get him to nap but…” Rell yawned and flushed. He didn't think Riddle would have any more luck than any of the rest of them. He was right too…

As soon as they got into the nest room a small form hurtle through it, to end up clinging to Newral, sobbing and speaking completely incoherently. No one could understand one word of it, but no one needed to.

“Shhh,” Newral crooned, lifting Urail to cuddle him against his chest, close to his spark.

“I promised I would return, and here I am.” “Don’t cry sweetling, it’s alright.”

Carrying Urail, Newral stepped into the nest and sat down with Toll and Midril curling up around them. He stroked the trembling form, crooning reasurances all the while. It was some time later that Newral noticed that Urail had fallen into exhausted recharge still clinging to him.

“Newral,” Urail was leaning over the bigger mech, staring intently at him. It was still dark, but there was enough light for him to see.

“Newral!” this time it bordered on a snap.

Newral snapped awake, looking around in some alarm before focusing on Urail.

“Is everything alright?” He rumbled drowsily, one hand reaching automatically to smooth over a wing that no longer felt brittle and on the verge of crumbling.

“You were gone forever, I didn't like it! I'm mad at you!” Urail's voice rose, making Midril turn over and hide against Toll though neither woke. Urail didn't notice, wings mantled above him, though shaking with both mixed feelings and heavy fatigue. He was by no means rested yet!

“I had to and it was only four orn. It was something I had to do as part of my responsibilities of my rank. But it will be a long time before I have to go anywhere where you can’t come with again,” Newral easily promised. Even to a gathering of rulers he would take Urail. Besides all the Rulers bowed to him, Urial would be safe there.

“I don't care, you can't leave too!” this time the edge of hysterical fear came through all else. Urail had no way of explaining it, no real memories that could be shared, but leaving… leaving meant never coming back.

Too… Oh.

“It is not like that type of leaving. This is simply me going somewhere like the next room but this is much further away. I have no plans to do the other type of leaving for a very very long time,” Newral reasured once he realised that Urail was talking about his creators leaving. That must have been traumatic… Perhaps he should contact Mora and see if any of his love demons could help heal these scars.

“You left!” Urail started to sob again, everything he had held in while the orn tickled by. Everyone had seemed to ignore that Newral, Midril and Toll was gone. When he asked they'd just said they would be back, or tried to distract him.

“I came back. I am here now,” Newral sighed, sitting up and rocking the young demon in his arms. This was sparkbreaking to see.

“I promise that you will never have to be alone again.” Though Newral knew the only way Urail would truly never be alone was bonding. But that would happen for the young demon, Newral was sure of that.

Urail ended up sobbing himself back to exhausted recharge, but at least this time he stayed in recharge.

He didn't react well at all if Newral left even for a few breem though. If he couldn't look up and see him he fretted or burst into sobs.

It was frustrating with how clingy Urail had become and Newral had basically two options. The first was not really likely to fix things, the other he might not even get an answer.

The first was that they needed to take Urail’s seals. He needed to be able to feel and taste the truth of what they told him rather than simply making him have to trust their words alone.

The second was to try and communicate with Unicron to find who would be Urail’s mate. Though Deep down Newral had his suspicions. And if he was right it certainly was not something he would mind at all.

Chapter Text

“We can’t put it off any longer,” Newral told Rell.

“I realize,” Rell said quietly, “he slept bad while you were away, but none of us realized why. None of us are processor healers.”

He still felt he had failed somehow, it had seemed like Urail was okay with it. They had all figured that the nightmares were a comfort issue, since he clearly preferred Newral for comfort. None of them had considered that it might be old trauma manifesting itself.

“How do you wish to start with it?”

“Well I don’t think that we have a choice for whom anymore. I think tie it in with his learning of healing. Do you think he is ready to learn remedial and relaxing massage? I am willing to be the practice subject. Once he has an idea for that perhaps have Toll and Midril show errotic massage, so he understands there are differences there? That way we can see if he is ready to learn about pleasure,” Newral suggested, this was no normal case and the tells of a demonling being ready were absent or could even be misleading here. He glanced over at Urail, spotting him peeking up at him while trying to read a book.

“He is, and he is much better at concentrating on hands on things,” Urail was energetic, usually at least. Rell was still hesitant about letting him fly, but that was because of the scar. The wings were maybe strong enough, but scarred wing plating was always an iffy issue, so Rell had vetoed that till Urail could be healed. Even if the scar couldn't be removed entirely, they would make sure it wasn't weaker than the rest of the plating.

“I believe you will find he is ready though…” the last was added thoughtfully.

“I just don't want to jump this on him. Give him a chance to decide what he wants,” Newral nodded, “Perhaps we could get started now? Or latest tonight.”

“The sooner the better,” Rell's voice got dry as he looked at the young demon and spotted the suspicious look that was leveled over the top of his book, “as soon as you are more than ten feet from him he thinks you will disappear on him.”

“Now then.” Newral nodded and called for Merin to get the massage oils, they were in the bathing room and he did not want to start the lesson with Urail upset.

“Urail, come here please, we have a lesson for you. One I am sure you will like,” Newral called as he settled in the nest.

Urail fairly jumped, book haphazardly tossed on the edge of a table. He hurried to plaster himself to Newral, though his optics were watchful and weary.

Newral chuckled and pet Urail’s wings.

“You are going to learn massage this orn,” Newral informed his ward, though he let him cling for now.

“Massage?” Urail perked a little, optics going to Rell with curiosity. The healer had told him they would soon begin to learn more hands on things.

“Where?” His wings pulled tight when he remembered that it might mean he would have to go somewhere else.

“Here, we can start the lesson here and now, when Merin returns with what we need,” Newral reassured Urail.

“Oh,” Urail slowly unwound again, though he didn't move far from Newral even when he let go.

“Rell, is massage hard?”

“Thank you Merin,” Newral smiled at his attendant as he accepted the supplies, laying them out for Urail to see.

“It depends on what you try to do with it,” Rell answered promptly, “there are several different types of it. From purely recreational, over healing and into… pleasure.”

“Pleasure?” Urail frowned, “but touching is pleasure, do you really need special touches for it too?”

“Yes, you do. You know how Toll, or Midril get the other to moan. They are using special touches, and knowledge of each other’s frames to give pleasure,” Newral added, glancing over at the couple in question. They had not tried to hide their activities around Urail, as it was never hidden from any youngling.

“Oh,” Urail frowned, his main thinking expression, and thought that over for a bit.

“But… if touching is pleasure, and there is special touches for more? Um…” he stopped, not sure where he was going.

“The special touching has a name, Urail,” Rell said gently, “it is called interfacing and it is only done between those that like each other. Doing it to someone who doesn't want it is considered very bad! No one will ever touch you like that unless you say yes to it.”

Only someone already had in a way. But Rell couldn't do anything about the past, only the future.

“Let us start with basic massage first though since that is what you need for any other type,” Newral interjected before they could get too far off tack for the lesson. Yes Urail needed to have his seals taken, yes he needed to learn about pleasure. But let him learn how to touch others and know what he was touching first. How to touch to not cause pain.

“Oh,” Urail considered it, nodding at Newral though he was mulling over the idea of bad touching. He knew bad touching… but not in this context and it was odd to contemplated it in it.

“I'm just going to be touching like normal, right? Like,” he reached out to awkwardly pat Rell on the arm, suddenly feeling self-conscious at the idea that it could be unwelcome.

Rell smiled, the young demon fairly wore his thoughts on his faceplates.

“Sort of like normal,” he caught the petting hand, “but also some special touches that induces relaxation and a nice feeling of what is called platonic pleasure.”

Newral shifted to lay down on his front wing furled but held loose.

“Wings and the joints are sensitive to any type of touch. But they can also be a place a demon might not want you touching. Don’t worry though I know you don’t mean harm so I will let you touch my wings,” Newral explained letting Rell guide Urail in the actual touches.

“What's platonic?” Urail let Rell guide him to sit by Newral, the healer settling similarly on the other side.

“Platonic means 'without intention’. In this case it means you want the receiving demon to feel good, but you don't want to rouse him. Ah, make him want to touch you back,” Rell amended, seeing Urail gear up to ask.

“Okay, would that be bad?” Urail laid a hand on Newral's lower back, opticking his wings with some trepidation.

“No, but it might not be what you plan on, for many reasons. Hm, say that Newral had a meeting, he wants to be relaxed for it… if you roused him he would be the opposite of relaxed and his meeting might go bad,” Rell explained.

“But I don't want him to go to meetings! I'm not allowed to go with him,” Urail frowned, wings rising with upset.

“Mm or like right now. I want to pet and stroke your wings to sooth you, to help you calm down,” Newral gave as an alternative example. He had done so many times, and Urail would be able to imagine the touch.

“Urail,” Rell huffed softly, “relax please. Eventually you will be able to go with him, at least some of the time. But you need to relax now, listen and learn.”

“But…” Urail slowly subsided, “I don't like it…”

“We know,” Rell hummed, at a loss. He was not a processor healer!

Newral huffed and gave into his desires, turning over, he caught Urail and dragged him down to cuddle, petting his wings soothingly as he did so. He alternated that with rubbing gentle circles into the joints. He could feel the tension and worked on that.

“You are far too tense, precious one,” Newral murmured.

“You keep leaving me!” it wasn't precisely an accusation, but not far off either. He didn't care if it was for an orn or a joor, Urail could not help but fret.

Rell huffed softly, wondering what it would take to get the young demon to calm about this. It had been fine until those four orn… Like he had broken somehow, and none of them had a clue how to patch up this sort of wound.

“I am working towards a solution. But I need you to pay attention to your lessons, this lesson is a step towards my solution. But it will only work if you fully understand what I will be asking of you.

Chapter Text

So do you want to learn massage this orn?” Newral asked gently. Still gently massaging Urial’s wings.

Urail squirmed unhappily, but eventually huffed deeply and pulled away.

“I want to learn,” was said with a small pout.

Rell, like Midril, secretly wished that said pout was a little less attractive. However all the more reason to get those seals dealt with. Then Urail would be able to tell why demons approached him. And rebuff or accept them accordingly.

“Well then let’s get on with this lesson,” Newral nodded and rolled back over onto his front so Rell could continue where they had left off.

“Here,” Rell took Urail's hands and began showing him areas to touch and avoid, pressure to use.

Newral for his part murmured comments, letting them know how it felt from his end and what would be better.

“See? It is nice and relaxing, both for the recipients and the one working, medicinal massage requires more force and can be unpleasant in comparison,” Rell said back and watched as Urail slowly worked down the spinal array.

“Why do this?” Urail agreed that it was relaxing, but was that a goal in itself?

“Helping one you care for to relax can be a great way to strengthen the relationship. It requires trust, so reinforces that the other can be trusted. I trust everyone here and would let any of them do this for me,” Newral rumbled a relaxed croon. Urail was gentle.

“This is like dinner then?” Urail asked, rather confused. He understood communal bathing and eating anyway. It seemed maybe a little impractical but…

“Ah, you could liken it to that, but this is more… intimate,” Rell did his best not to crack up, Riddle nearly snorted a mouthful of energon in Midril's faceplates.

Urail stopped what he was doing to look confusedly at Riddle.

“Those other things are done in groups or can be, this is for pairs, to strengthen individual ties. You can have dinner with demons you only just met. Can bathe together with friends and acquaintances but only good friends, lovers or even mate should you allow access to your frame like this,” Newral explained. Well hopefully Urail would get it now.

“Is that what int-intmate means?” Urail chewed on his lower derma.

“Intimate, and yes, it means that, but can refer to any situation where demons are with highly trusted individuals. When Newral is with Midril and Toll alone… or you,” Rell said slowly.

“Me?” Urail's head turned and he stared at Rell without much comprehension.

“I care for you a lot, Urail. And if I did not trust you I would not let you touch me like this, and another would be the subject for your lesson,” Newral rumbled softly.

“Oh…” Urail clearly didn't know what to do with that, looking down at his hands blankly.

“Maybe a break is in order,” Rell said, “Riddle, would you be so kind as to get some snacks?”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Newral agreed, sitting back up. “I do love and trust Midril and Toll. But they are mated to each other. Every demon seeks to find their mate.” The last was murmured softly. Newral accepting what Unicron so obviously wished.

Riddle returned with fuel while Urail was still studying his hands. Rell frowning and giving Newral an uncertain glance now and again. He wasn’t sure why Urail was taking things this way, but it only made him more certain that the young demon needed to get his seals removed.

The question was if they were moving too slow. He was beginning to think so, yet had very little idea of how to communicate that to the Supreme Ruler. Frankly he could barely formulate any reasons in his own processor, it was just a feeling. Like the feeling he would occasionally get when a healing was more urgent than it looked at first glance.

And Urail… why was the young demon so floored at the idea of being trusted, loved?

“Urail, I think it is time we let you feel what we mean. This will be overwhelming at first,” Newral crooned, deciding to just go ahead and open Urail to his magical feeding. The young demon needed to be able to feel what was going on around him so he could make informed decisions.

Carefully he moved to Urail, cupping his cheek, bringing his helm up he brought his own down to rest their forehelms together as he concentrated and removed the magical seal. It was easy and painless task. And he held Urail in the aftermath.

Rell pulled back, not wanting to intrude or overwhelm.

Urail made an uncertain, questioning noise and then choked. His vents flared wide and his fans stuttered as things, feelings, began to flood his senses. He curled into Newral, a soundless whimper caught in his vocalizer.

Newral curled protectively around Urail, giving him time to adjust. And he held his own fields steady as he could feel everyone else in the room doing, he could also feel some of them slip out, not needed nor wanting to overwhelm.

Everything seemed to beat at his senses, a merciless deluge of too great a magnitude. After a while it seemed to lessen, though Urail wasn't sure that was what actually happened. It was more like… more like he somehow managed to sort it. As a pure defensive measure.

He made a weak sound, uncurling enough to just flop weakly in Newral's hold.

Newral purred petting and soothing Urail, it was a little worrisome at how strong of a reaction Urail had. But it was more proof that it had needed doing. Urial was instinctively seeking what would feed him magically.

“W-what?” Urail tried to focus on Newral, but his sight swam with colors and flashes. Or was that his processor? Nothing was quite right though, not… he didn’t know. It was all just pouring in and it wasn’t wrong, but it was wrong. Missing something.

He whimpered softly.

“Toll, Midril, he’s a desire type,” Newral called even as he tried to call on his own desires, they needed to let Urail feed, glut himself magically.

Rell kept still, monitoring as best he could. It was abruptly done… He flared his wings at the news and bit back a curse. Desire, they had much less time than he had hoped then.

Toll made a grab for his mate, and Midril willingly melted into embrace and kiss. Neither had any qualms about providing for this!

To Urail it was a relief, though only partially. Still he slowly relaxed, ventings returning to normal speed and world slowly regaining a more normal state all in all.

“I am sorry we should have prepared for this possibility,” Newral murmured to Urail. He tipped his helm back and kissed him. Desire at least would forgive. And Newral did desire Urail, this would not just be done for need.

Chapter Text

And there went normal, Urail made a noise of confusion, though no protest came. He had no clue how to respond to the kiss as he had only ever seen others do it, and only in the relatively short span of time he'd been here.

Yet… it felt good, it made that oddness, awkwardness, diminish further and distracted him enough so as not to fight the so newly awakened coding.

Rell had to swallow and look away. It wasn't envy, not precisely… no. Not that looking at Toll and Midril helped with it…

Doing his best not to completely overwhelm Urail with the kiss, Newral carefully set to exploring the tempting frame. No longer having to seek his desire it was coming to the forefront full force now.

He clung weakly to Newral, senses full of things he didn't know what to do with. He couldn't help being receptive, he wanted the other's touch and… but…

Another swallow and Rell had to offline his optics. The air seemed heavy, the scents of readiness and the sounds not helping. Healer as he was, he was only a mech and everyone here was stronger than he… even Urail it turned out. He felt like he was drowning despite keeping as separate as was possible.

Newral broke the kiss to gently guide Urail to lay down. Once Urail was laying in the nest Newral nuzzled him and licked at his neck, hands resuming their explorations.

Whimpering, rather eagerly, Urail turned his head to give Newral better access to his neck. The small sounds turned into weak purring, derma pulling away from his small fangs as his chassis reacted to wanted, unknown stimuli.

That was certainly a positive response. Newral purred as he continued to lave attention on Urail’s neck. His own wants, needs and desires taking over with his instincts. Urail was his, and he would make this the best desealing that he could given the circumstances. One hand reached down to brush the edge of the never opened panel.

That had him squirming, and Urail hissed at the strong surge of.. of… want? He wanted Newral to do this, to do more?

“N-newral,” it came out choked.

That was not an attempt to get away, and the choked utterance of his name held only want and desire. And confusion but explanations had to wait.

Newral lightly stroked over the middle of the panel, encouraging Urail to open it himself. His claws absently moved to score the panel seal, lightly scraping layers off of it.

A sharp snap and a sound he didn't know, as well as a distinctly strange sensation had Urail lift his upper chassis to look down himself. Newral blocked his line of sight and then touched… something and Urail promptly collapsed back with an incoherent yelping noise.

The panel opened unexpectedly abrupt, leaving Newral’s claws to dance over the newly exposed interface unintentionally teasing the onlining components.

The yelp had him draw back, gently massaging at Urail’s thighs as he moved to suckle on his neck since that gave positive responses.

“I,” Urail didn't know how to ask for more, but he could reach up to latch onto Newral with still blunt, but stronger, claws. He could move against the larger demon and gasp incoherent sounds when the suddenly sensitive apec of his legs touched hot plating.

Using the information gleaned from erratic lust filled fields and Urail’s physical reactions, Newral carefully returned to the open interface, focusing first on the spike seal, starting by rubbing circles around it but not yet touching. He would try to be slow and gentle as much as Urail could handle that at least.

For his part Urail responded by bucking eagerly into the touch. It just felt so right and he suddenly felt so hungry.

Newral relaxed fully as he felt the hunger surge, that meant he was doing right. He pinned Urail’s hips with one hand as he delicately rubbed over the spike seal, softening it and doing what he could to stimulate the tip of the spike through the seal.

This time Urail's gasp was followed by an uncertain whimper. That had hurt? But, not… not badly. Just enough to confuse him, well parts of him…

Newral backed off a little at the spike of not quite pain he had felt in Urail’s fields. He was apparently very, very sensitive and being so new to the sensations he had no way to deal with them yet. Newral returned to exploring the outside of the array and the edges of the spike seal for now.

A larger hurt arrived just a bit later, but before he could protest it, his spike fully pressurized and made him gasp with pleasure. Not that Urail had any idea that was what had happened, he just felt and didn’t want to stop feeling. He tossed his head back and fought to get his fans to work better but they seemed utterly useless in the face of the heat that filled him.

Newral took the new spike in hand, careful to be very gentle as he stroked it, it was time to give Urail his first overload. It was also to counteract any lingering pain. Pain in seal breaking was unavoidable but it did not have to take over or even be much of a factor if one knew how to treat the young demon right. That was why seal breaking was such a big deal as it was a demons first experience with true pleasure.

That action was greeted by a half choked scream that had nothing whatsoever to do with pain. All of this was so completely out of Urail’s frame of reference that he couldn’t even have protested if he wanted to. But oh… he didn’t want to! He seemed to, for once, have Newral’s attention completely to himself and the demon was touching him, and looking at him, as if he was something uniquely special to him.

Urail had no idea when he’d started to want that either, but he still wanted it. And right now he couldn’t deny that want or hide it…

“That’s it, relax and enjoy,” Newral purred, a deep sound almost closer to a growl from his own arousal. One seal to go, and with that Newral wanted to show Urail what full interfacing was like. He could feel the mixed desires almost literally pouring from Urail. One was a possessive desire, attached to himself. That was interesting and good to know. Urail wanted him.

The stimulation made short work of Urail. Unprepared for any of it but trusting Newral he reacted fully on instinct and sensation. The surge of pleasure completely whitened out his senses for a bit…

Newral stroked Urail thought his first overload, easing off to soothing petting as the overload tapered off. It was beautiful, but now they needed to deal with the last seal. And he still could not ask, as Urail had no idea what the seals even were.

As Urail came back around Newral let his fingers drift down to the very well lubricated valve.

“Newral,” Urail whimpered again, not sure if he could handle any more of this… It all felt so good, but oh! It was almost too good. Too much.

“Shhh, just a little more. One more overload,” Newral crooned, deciding to go easy on Urail and not give him a full interface yet. He needed to understand more of what was happening and get used to everything. He felt so overwhelmed but was still holding up admirably.

One more what? Urail didn't manage to ask, only made a vaguely questioning noise. One that probably got lost in everything else, and which he forgot about the moment it was out.

Newral carefully pressed one claw just inside the valve, a tiny bit of pressure, not enough to feel any resistance yet. There would be time to explain everything later, he could not stop now.

At this point Urail's newly opened magical seals left him near glutted with emotional energy. With four strong demons feeding him it was no surprise, but it was just overwhelming as the physical sensations.

“N-n,” he tried, but his chassis wanted more and didn't care about overwhelmed processor or magic.

Newral crooned wordlessly as he slowly worked his finger into the valve, stopping when he felt the seal, at that point he drew back and started again with two fingers. Aiming for pleasure but not for a third round.

He felt the second finger, but it certainly was not unpleasant! Urail groaned softly, shivering at the unfamiliar pressure and renewed build up. He couldn't manage to string words together any more.

Newral continued like that, closely watching Urail for any sign of discomfort or stress. Other than being completely overwhelmed, Urail was fine.

When he felt it was time, Newral took Urail’s spike into his mouth and pushed through the softened seal with his claws, twisting them to get rid of it completely.

Optics blazed pure white for a moment, then Urail slumped into unconsciousness. His chassis still trembled in overload, but his processor simply had not been able to handle any more.

Not that it mattered by now, he was glutted with power and unlikely to feel starved that way. Ever. Not around Newral and his entourage.

Rell shook himself free of the protective meditation, semi effective as he found it had been. His panel open and his inner thighs wet even if his spike wasn't erect. Still his focus was on Urail and he held himself carefully submissive as he approached the unconscious young demon. This was not the time to piss off his Ruler…

Newral pulled away from Urail, hovering for a long moment before surrendering him to Rell’s care. He turned to Toll and Midril with a pleading sound and lust blazing in his fields. He needed his own overload and right now did not care how he got it.

Toll pulled their ruler to him, while Midril watched Rell work. It did not take the medic long and the slighter demon had barely covered Urail with a thin blanket before he was pulled away.

Midril did not just take, but Rell only had a second from accepting the attention till he was stuffed full of spike. It was on the verge of painful but he actually did not mind that, especially not right now.

Newral moaned and surrendered to the wanted and needed attention, letting Toll guide him into taking him.

After Newral lay purring, petting whoevers wings he could reach from the comfortable pile they had ended up in. Tilting his helm a little he could see Urail recharging peacefully, he teeked healthy. Minor starvation still but otherwise healthy. His magic was strong and healthy too. Absolutely glutted.

“‘on't worry,” Rell managed a weak slurred bit, “‘e’s jus’ fine.”

Midril chuckled, shushing both of them with a rumbled backing from Toll.

Chapter Text

Urail woke much later, or very early, groggy and mildly sore. It wasn't a bad feeling per say, and he was in a pile with… Newral, Midril, Toll and Rell. Riddle, Merin and a few others were in the nest too. He didn't quite know how he knew that, but he did.

Soft sounds of recharge was all that he heard, and a dim glow came from the east facing window openings. He didn't feel like moving…

Newral woke slowly, feeling pleasantly sated, his chassis lax and he was warm. But his first concern was Urail. How was he? He felt awake, but in a similar state to himself, enjoying just being for now. But soon enough they would need fuel and they needed to finish the interrupted lesson from yesterorn to let Urail know exactly what had happened and why it was so important.

“...” Someone was awake, Urail shifted a bit and purred in greeting. The light was getting stronger, his tank started to feel empty though there was no pinch. He hadn't felt that since Newral found him.

Newral purred in return, reaching with a little bit of power Newral gently poked Merin who was at the edge of the nest, so fuel could be arranged for them all. He could feel that Urail was getting hungry. The normal hungry, but still Rell was utterly against Urail feeling any hunger until long after he was healed… Unless it was for ‘facing.

Merin grunted, but got up without a protest past that. It was time anyway, usually he'd have gotten up on his own.

Ural lifted his head and chirred softly, but didn't comment. He did squirm a bit till he managed to sit upright.

Newral thought about copying Urail… but found he was a fair bit more buried, being basically at the bottom of the pile. Well he could wait until everyone started waking and getting up for the orn.

He did respond to the chirr with a crooning rumble.

Urail heard the sound, but he was diverted by that strange other sense again. Riddle was shivering in his recharge, a ghost of something tasty in his field. Something being relieved, attractive and… familiar? Midril had his arms around Toll, with Rell’s much smaller form tucked tight between them, a wing casually atop part of Newral and covering both healer and mate. They too had that flavor about them, but not active. Not like Riddle with his shivering and occasional small, throaty sounds.

Tilting his head at the attendant Urail chirped curiously. He couldn’t explain the taste, it wasn’t something on his glossa like fuel. He didn’t need whatever it was right then, but the offer of it being there was tantalizing. Seductive.

“All will be explained after breakfast,” Newral grinned, Urail was taking this well, not panicking at suddenly knowing things when he had no idea how he knew them now.

“...?” Urail nodded obediently despite the questioning lilt to his chirr. When Newral promised explanations he knew they would come. Right now… he carefully climbed over limbs and chassis, hesitated briefly by Riddle, and out the nest. Bath! He felt subtle itchy and the warmth would help on the nebulous achiness.

Newral stretched as much as he could and attempted again to wriggle out. That however just caused Mirit to snuggle against his legs further and warp one arm around them. Huffing a little he resigned himself to waiting. Like Urail he also wanted a bath.

Urail found some oddly flaky splashes and streaks on his plating. And some gummy residue on his pelvic and inner thighs. He however paid more heed to the odd feelings that happened when he touched his pelvic plating and inner thighs, feeling so unsettled by it that he only did the most necessary cleaning.

Drying off hurriedly he returned to flop on the nest edge and chitter at the recharging demons. And at Newral of course. Then Merin returned and he helped him set up for breakfast, mostly without snacking.

Newral was slightly annoyed that everyone was still in recharge when Merin returned, so he sent out waves of increasingly stronger sensation, first it would feel like a tickle but as it got stronger it would feel more like an itch but only to those still recharging. But just to be sure Newral had it only in the vicinity of the nest, and settled to wait. He knew he would not be waiting long.

Toll woke first, struggling up and glaring at Newral.

“Do you mind!?” He rumbled with a good deal of annoyance before crawling out of the nest, to get to the bath.

He was a good deal more dirty than Urail. Midril followed with a dirty glare at their antagonist, carrying a very groggy, mutter complaining Rell.

Riddle sat up with a confused noise.

Urail wandered back over to look on curiously.

“I do mind being trapped on the bottom of the pile when everyone else is recharging past time to get up,” Newral told Toll completely unrepentant when enough of the entourage had gotten up or at least shifted so he could get up himself. That also meant that those left were spared any further annoyance.

Toll just growled over his shoulder, not that he couldn't sympathise. He just didn't like to do so in the morning when he was itchy and hungry.

A trill of giggling laughter left Urail, and he returned to Merin's side to start making up plates. And eat, because everyone was slow and he was hungry.

Newral chuckled and approached to help Toll scrub while letting his own itchy stick patches soak a little.

Riddle and Mirit were the last to stagger out of the nest and clean up. They were the fastest though, for they hadn't gone to recharge with fluids all over them.

By the time the bath was empty again Urail had curled up with his heaped plate on a soft backless couch. He was looking at everything and eating, for him, very slowly.

Newral took his own plate and settled near Urail to eat. One look at the young demon told him that they had a lot of explaining to do. Much like when Urail first got a proper grasp on talking.

As everyone got some fuel in them the mood lightened. Urail began eating a bit faster, relaxing as the sense of the room itself relaxed. He didn't know that that was what happened though.

Chapter Text

“Alright, time for explanations. So you remember yesterorn’s lesson and how that ended?” Newral turned to Urail once most had finished eating. It was time to keep his promise.

Urail almost jumped, having been so absorbed in his new senses that he'd forgotten everything else.

“Um?” he nodded very slowly, watching Newral wide opticked.

“We didn’t really get far in the explanation side of things, did we? This, what you are feeling now, is what we all feel, taste, all the time,” Newral paused, considering how to continue and giving Urail a chance to take it in.

Uncurling slowly, Urail sat upright placing his mostly empty plate on his thighs.

“The colors?” he still didn't 'see’ them, but they were there. Around everyone, floating from place to place without an end or a beginning. Colors, tastes, intense and prevalent.

He liked the reds best, they were tingly and powerful. They held…

“They are Auras, every living being has one, they are similar to the fields that you already know of but don’t require you to be near to read it. The tastes, feelings are emotions. You should know about this from magical theory,” Newral smiled feeling somewhat amused at that, he knew Urail would be paying a lot more attention in those lessons now.

“No…” Urail bit his derma, struggling to figure out how to explain, “n-not demon colors, the, uh, floating colors?”

He understood auras, for a given value of understanding, but no one had told him that auras were floatable! Those belonged to things and beings, the floating ones didn't. He was sure of that.

“Ah do they form lines? Like a path someone has taken? That is most likely aural afterimages. Strong emotions can leave a trace for some time after. And sometimes if… like your bit of jewelry, I could see an aura around it even though it is not alive. It has absorbed the emotional energy from you every time you wore it. Those lines in the air will fade. But it is interesting, since not everyone can see aural afterimages or only see them faintly,” Newral tilted his helm as he looked at Urail, he could feel that he was strong. Possibly would have been able to challenge to be a prince if his life had gone differently.

“After… after images?” Urail stumbled over the unfamiliar wording, frowning his thinking expression as he tracked one of the tasty red lines as it floated through the room.

“Are they… real?”

“You know how when you look at something bright then look away you can still see the bright spot? It is something like that. And the brighter the spot the longer the afterimage lasts. The stronger the emotion the longer the aural afterimage lasts,” Newral tried explaining. He wondered had they covered magical feeding yet? If not that would be the next subject.

“As for real… it is, like the lingering taste in the bowl after a bowl of soup. Or… Hmm like a scent, it is strongest at its source but you can still track where it has been and even know which direction by reading which end is more faded or stronger.”

Urail nodded, that made sense in a way.

“Why can I see…” his gesture took in everything, since he didn't get the difference in strength between demons. He barely grasped rank!

“Hmm, I believe that you must have an affinity for it. Stronger demons are more likely to see it, and you are strong. But that itself is no guarantee,” Newral himself could see them, but not as strongly as Urail was implying that he could. Of course with Unicron’s gifts he could boost his own senses and see things far more clearly than he already could.

“Why you can see it now… That has to do with seals.”

Urail made an impatient noise, “Riddle says that to see and use Magic a demonling must be freed of his magical seal. That makes him able to eat… feed on emotional ener~” he broke off and stared at Newral.

“The particular type of energy you feed on is desire, Urail. Hence why things happened as they did last orn. My type is Chaos, that means I can feed on all types of emotional energy,” Newral explained patiently, letting Urail come to terms with this revelation.

“...” Urail's mouth worked but no sounds came, and he kept staring as he went over the things Riddle had tried to drum into his bored processor.

“I'm an i-incubus?” that was the first thing that managed to get traction.

“Mmm, no, Incubi feed on the physical aspect of interfacing. You are desire, which is the emotional aspect,” Newral gently corrected but added no more new information. He had no wish to overwhelm Urail more than he was already.

“Oh,” Urail's wings dropped from sheer relief and he gave a tentative smile. Incubi had to go to the mortal world and he really didn't want to do that!

“That's okay,” he turned to Mirit, who looked rather incredulous, and asked planitativly, “is there any candy?”

He just needed a break, and he was quiet content being 'desire’.

Newral offered Mirit a shrug, he had no idea either. Though he did suspect that Urail had not paid enough attention to the needs and abilities of each aspect. He did nod to the candy though. Urail was active and easily burnt through energy, so keeping him with enough energy for his nanites to continue making micro repairs was a must.

Mirit gave over a bowl of candy and then served a few others more breakfast. Rell tore himself from Midril and Toll, still a bit perplexed at their doting, and settled by the Ruler.

Chapter Text

“He doesn't know what happened yet, not really. And he is very well fed, you don't have to worry,” and if he flushed a bit at that? Well...

“He has figured out now that what he is seeing and feeling is related to magic and that his magical seal is now gone. But yes, he doesn’t fully understand the impact of it. He can see quite clearly aural afterimages,” Newral replied, accepting extra fuel, he was hungry this morning.

“I can't offer advice on that…” Rell shook his head, “but he is magically a lot stronger than I thought he might be. That will require watching, because it could impact his physical health if he overreaches himself.”

Weaker would have been easier… but Unicron tended not to care about that.

“We will keep an optic on that. But he is amongst demons of his own power level. He is amongst some of the best to teach him,” Newral soothed Rell. Though he was contemplating asking Galar for help at some point with the finer points that a young desire demon would need to know.

“And that is about the only reason why I am still sane,” Rell muttered dryly.

“It’s not that bad. And I promise not to teach him how to create barriers for a long time yet,” Newral teased. Those barriers had been very useful but if used inappropriately could be anything from annoying to hazardous. He himself had practically mastered the art though.

“It is that bad, I am just an average healer,” Rell countered, though his relief at the promise was thick in his field.

“In power maybe, but you are one of the best healers I know,” Newral smiled at Rell, he meant it though. Rell was an excellent and dedicated healer.

Rell flushed hot, but shook his head lightly. He just knew how to use what he had, and he never went without power among the entourage of the Supreme Ruler. A nice bonus, and something he would probably miss when he was no longer needed by him.

“I do what I can. Now that Urail is not sealed any longer… Transfluid will help with his healing, if he can be persuaded to have a plug in that is,” he turned serious and any hint of the flush melted away, “it would take vorn off his recovery.”

“I shall see what we can do to that end. However if he shows trouble with things interface related I have been considering contacting Ruler Galar. Since Urail is of his aspect he could have ways to help us,” Newral nodded, he relished the idea of anything that would help Urail, and interfacing should be no hardship at all for either side.

“Perhaps it may be wise in any case, though keeping him fed will not be an issue,” Rell was a bit troubled though…

“I just… don't know what to do with his processor and emotions. He is so locked on to you that I can't tell if it is healthy or not.”

“I myself am wondering how much Urail’s survival has been influenced by Unicron,” Newral tilted his helm, watching Urial. “I was the first to interact with him yes, but we quickly socialised him with the others. If it had been just myself for a groon or more then I would wonder if that was why. But as it is I doubt it.”

“I can't advise on that,” Rell made a helpless gesture, “This vorn has brought me closer to our Master than I ever aspired to come. And I think the only bad lesson has been that I am lonely, and that's more me realizing it than anything else.”

“I am sure you will find your mate. However if it is Unicron leading you to your mate be prepared for a challenge. But also remember it will be worth every moment,” Newral truly believed that despite his own unmated status.

“Mm,” Rell shook his head, though it was not to signal disagreement. He had not specifically meant a mate, though that would be nice, but rather the sense of belonging that held between everyone belonging to Newral. As a healer he could potentially have that anywhere, to some degree… but this was the first time he understood that he wanted it.

Midril and Toll had certainly made him long for it with last night cycle, and… well.

“Until then, or even after you are welcome with us. Even after Urail is healed,” Newral offered feeling that Rell needed to feel wanted and part of what they had.

“Thank you,” Rell smiled shyly, huffing softly. However… well.

“That does not solve the riddle of Urail. You… by my best guess he should see either a processor healer or one of your elusive love demons. Before he gets so dependant on you that he can't love another. Unless…” he trailed off and awkwardly glanced at the ruler.

“Unless you know something I don't?”

“I don’t, not for certain. But I do have my suspicions. I am thinking of asking Unicron but I know I am likely to not receive an answer,” Newral shrugged. “I do have a feeling that we are drawing closer to a gathering of rulers though. But who will make the call is unknown at this point.”

Rell huffed and smiled, “I have no clue what that means. Oh, incoming!”

He moved, just in time for Urail to squeeze between him and the seat edge.

“Stop being sad, I can hug you?” Urail had noted the muted colors about Rell as soon as he started talking to Newral. They hadn't gotten better and he'd had enough!

“Thank y~” Rell ended on a wheezing exvent instead of a full word.

“You are right that is basically what muted colours mean,” Newral nodded, smiling at Urail cuddling Rell, he was taking this very well, despite having only half an explanation.

“You shouldn't make him sad,” Urail said seriously, but not angrily, “sad is bad.”

Rell wheezed a noise that might have been laughter.

“Making Rell sad was not my goal. We simply had a serious conversation, not really a happy one but it was not sad either. Just serious,” Newral chuckled reaching over to draw both smaller demon to him.

“Well I still don't like it!” Urail hissed with distaste, but snuggled in readily enough, not letting go of Rell.

“I don’t like anyone being sad either,” Newral hummed softly petting both demons. Sad was somewhat of an oversimplification of it, but it worked for the moment. Any sort of depressive mood would mute ones aura. But it was interesting just how sensitive Urail was to auras.

Rell settled in to be stuffed toy, but had to admit that the ready reaction did lift his mood.

And Urail grumbled a bit more, before nodding off, still clinging to Rell like some sort of limpet.

“Seems he is very sensitive to auras,” Newral said softly once he was sure Urail was recharging.

“That argues that he isn't pure desire decent,” Rell mumbled carefully, not wanting to disturb what was very likely needed rest.

“As we suspected then,” Newral nodded, gently stroking Urail’s wings, smiling gently as that caused Urail to snuggle in closer.

“Mm,” Rell responded, wondering if he could escape or not. It wasn't precisely unpleasant, but it did feel a tad awkward to be pinned like this to… well, Newral.

“You know Urail is not going to be happy if he wakes and finds your aura in such a state. Are you well, Rell?” Newral asked with genuine concern. Rell was not showing distress as such but his aura was definitely not relaxed.

“I’m… well, yes,” Rell huffed softly, “just not used to this.”

It was an understatement. He had no idea what he was feeling in relation to the Ruler…. Supreme Ruler, other than awe and sometimes fear. Newral the demon was a kind and patient mech, but he was also quite terrifying in terms of power. And he was very dominant, he didn’t even have to try for it.

“Is it rank and power that has you worked up?” Newral asked softly, this was not the first time this had been noticed in Rell. But it was starting to get to a point where it could be a problem and Newral really did not want that. He had no permanent healer amongst his entourage and they all liked Rell.

“That… yes,” Rell dragged a little, then huffed with frustration, though he kept his field calm.

“Though it's just as much that I am not a very dominant mech and most of your entourage is. Even Mirit and Riddle…” not perhaps in all things, but Rell was only ever 'dominant’ in his work. That was a necessity, not a preference.

“I can say that everyone here adores you and that you are not dominant outside of your work truly does not matter. But if you can’t find a place amongst us, once Urail is fully healed we will help you find your place, even if it is simply returning to this tower,” Newral assured Rell. They would be sad but that was how it happened and Rell would not be the first nor the last.

“It is not…” Rell made a noise of resignation, he had no clue how to get across what he was saying.

“I’m envious,” he finally mumbled, “and frustrated. And at the same time I know that what I am looking for is not entirely here. Some is, most is, but not that one thing.”

Not his mate. And it frustrated him that he didn’t know how to fit in to their group because his instinct said to bend to them in all things not his area. It was too easy for them to, figuratively speaking, walk all over him. And how would he find a mate if he looked to be… be…

Another noise, this time of frustration. They didn’t! But they could, and how would he ever look available if everyone saw that?

“Ah, you are feeling the call. We can help you find what you need and if you wish experiment along the way to find and practice what you like,” Newral grinned, lightly petting Rell’s wings. That would be fun, helping Rell find his mate.

“?” Rell frowned, “I’m what?”

The call? He’d never heard that turn of phrase before.

“Some demons feel a call to search for their mate. No one really knows why some feel it and others don’t and it really isn’t a very well known thing. But from the reports I have been getting, the Rulers have been feeling the call. And it does happen more often when Unicron is watching us most closely as is happening now. It makes me wonder if Urail is feeling the call,” Newral hummed, allowing his senses to expand out. If he wanted to he could go into deep meditation like this, exploring their worlds and Unicron’s touch. And Some Supreme Rulers had done that. One spending an entire eon in deep meditation. But Newral had too much holding him to the active physical world to do that.

“Oh…” Rell digested that for a bit, glad that Newral gave him the time for it, though his eventual response was a question that was probably unnecessary, “but I am no Ruler?”

Nor was he particularly strong for a healer, though of course that also had to do with the amount of power available to him. And that was not a problem here! If he had been younger and less well trained he’d be power drunk most of the time. And… wait?

“Experiment? Urail?” the two questions had nothing to do with each other, he was just lagging a bit behind, this was a lot to take in!

“Anyone can feel it. But it is more likely for Unicron to be more insistent with his rulers than other demons. The call simply means that Unicron has chosen a mate for you, you just have to follow it and find them,” Newral explained gently, “It is often seen as a sign that Unicron is pleased and as such willing to help a demon find their mate.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Rell supposed, though he wasn't so sure about having Unicron's attention. That was not a reassuring idea to him!

“I can't say Urail seems to be restless like I feel.”

“He has only just been opened to his magical feeding and to pleasure. But there is that he is unusually attached to me. And I somewhat feel the same. I just trust and know that he is safe here, whereas Urail doesn’t know what could be happening when I am out of sight,” Newral sighed and shook his helm. Denying it was useless.

“...” Rell mulled it over, “you believe he is yours?”

It was not a far fetched thought, not really. Midril had ventured an observation close to it, wistfully, much earlier in their association. Rell had wondered if it was a joke, but now he understood a bit more and… well, Urail was very attached to Newral, it just didn't seem unhealthy? Not to Rell, but he had been doubting himself on that judgment since he was no processor healer. The only abnormal reaction had come during the four orn of Newral leaving.

“I am certainly not dismissing the possibility. Especially with how Urail reacted to Unicron’s sigil, how active Unicron has been lately and both his and my reactions to each other,” Newral rumbled, sighing softly again as he resumed petting Urail’s wings.

“How will you know,” Rell yawned, surprising himself, “no… I just, if you don’t do something soon he might hurt more than ever. I don’t know, I’m tired and confused and no expert on love.”

“As we have been planning, let Urail choose. I have noticed that his decisions are far more spark based than of the processor. Now you should get some rest. I will wake you if you are needed for anything,” Newral rumbled soothingly, but he was ready with a light recharge spell. One designed to encourage a tired mech to recharge rather than force them.

Rell muttered something indistinct at the near order, but he folded easily enough. He wasn’t getting out of the embraces without waking Urail and he did not want to do so. Did he agree on Newral’s approach? He actually wasn’t sure. Forcing something could be the worst thing, but waiting seemed very passive and none of the mechs in this group were passive in nature.

Of course, neither was Urail.

Chapter Text

Newral managed to get some work done while Urail napped. All the while he thought over Urail’s aspect and… their reactions to each other. Putting aside another completed document, Newral picked up the scrap of hide that still held Unicron’s and his own marks. He would show this to Urail again when he woke and see what his reaction would be now.

The nap lasted only a couple of joor and Urail at least was perky after. Rell was still subdued, he had a lot to think about, but had to admit that the nap had helped.

It seemed that his mood had improved enough to satisfy Urail though, for he was released to go about his business.

“Snacks?” Urail appealed to Riddle, who produced snacks with a tolerant smile.

Finishing up what he was doing Newral took the hide as well as some paper, another hide and removable ink and brought it to Urail’s ‘desk’ it was his learning space when they did not want to spread everything on the ground. There Newral set up and waited, knowing he would not have to wait long.

“Lessons?” Urail didn’t speak with his mouth full, but it was a near thing and both his hands were still full. He never did quite get why it was impolite to talk through food, however he was all for having Newral to himself for a bit, even if it meant lessons.

“Yes, Urail, lessons. I will be showing you more writing,” Newral grinned knowing that theology might end up in there too.

“Sigils?” Riddle had patiently showed him that there was more than one type of writing, from primitive to elaborate. Urail had not been terribly impressed that he had to learn so many things. But it was fun, in a way, especially when he got to reading things that were not only for sparklings or meant for learning.

“We can work on those, yes,” Newral nodded, “But first of all I want you to take a look at these sigils again, see if you can feel anything extra this time.”

“That is yours,” Urail smoothed his hand over the smaller, slightly less complicated sigil, purring warmly at the tingle that seemed to start up all over his chassis. When he reached for the other he chirruped with delighted surprise and leaned closer to the skin it was painted on.

“Unicron…” pleasure, but not like… warmth, burning even, but not pain. Scents and tastes, sensations and…

“He is very happy, isn’t he?” Urail was too new to the idea of the deity to be particularly respectful in his word choice.

Newral could not help but chuckle at that, “Unicron can be like that, yes. He can also be very angry, like when a demon breaks the rules. But he does appear to be very happy with you. I can commune with him even without the Sigils. But it is not easy and nothing like how we are talking. It is easier when I am in recharge. That link with our creator is what makes me the supreme ruler.”

“Okay?” Urail was not sure he got what Newral was trying to say, “why is he happy with me?”

“Hmm, that is not an easy question to answer. But basically you are where you are needed to be and not fighting Unicron’s gifts and desires for you.” Newral reached out, caressing the sigil himself, he felt an almost expectant air, almost as if Unicron was say ‘it will be fine, just say it.’

“It helps confirm my theory that Unicron wants you to be part of this group, that your place is here with us. With me.”

“That’s good, I don’t want to leave,” if it was that easy to make this unfathomable ‘Unicron’ happy then Urail had no complaints to make. He was perfectly happy with Newral, Midril, Toll, Rell and everyone else around him. He would have been seriously unhappy if someone, anyone really, had wanted him to leave.

“That makes me very happy to hear, Hmm.” Newral paused looking at the sigil, his claws still resting lightly on it. He had felt what amounted to a nudge. That was more than enough evidence for him. He would work on that when evening came.

Taking his claws from the sigil Newral wrote several sigils to begin the lesson in earnest.

Sigils were harder to learn than the regular script that Riddle was teaching him, but they were much prettier to look at. And Newral was the one teaching him! Urail would endure a lot to have Newral all to himself for a bit, and out of all those scrolls that sometimes made him pensive, sad or angry.

So he made sure to apply himself very diligently whenever there was time for such lessons.

After a time Newral ran out of time for the lesson, he parted from his perhaps intended, caressing his wings and letting Urail know just how pleased he was. He was already planning the lesson for that night that involved pleasure. Now that Urail no longer had his seals he would have to learn about interfacing, in the only proper way, hands on.

Urail wasn’t happy when Newral had to leave, but he was not as distraught as he had been previously. And he did manage to pay attention to Riddle’s lessons, and that was a definite improvement!

“Newral!” his enthusiastic greeting was however not dampened one bit when the ruler returned.

Newral grinned, passing his stack of papers and scrolls off to Mirit so he could sweep Urail into a hug.

After a long moment he asked, “Have you been good for Riddle this orn, Urail?” He drew back just a little so he could see Urail’s face.

“I was…” Urail dragged it a little, “I tried?” he added, abashed, because he knew he’d been near impossible lately. But he really had tried!

“He did fine, better than… well, he did fine,” Riddle murmured, figuring that nothing much needed to be said of Newral having been away. It had been a strain on all of them and the less it was spoken of the better.

“I am glad to hear,” Newral smiled at Riddle before turning his full attention back on Urail, stroking his wings and crooning at him.

“I have another lesson for you after last meal. But only if you want. It is for pleasure,” Newral purred at Urail.

“There is more?” Urail sparkled at the idea, though he frowned a moment later, “is this a thing I need to study for? I’ve been good all orn…” there was more than a bit pleading in his voice, if not actually some whining. He wasn’t tired as such, but his processor was heavy and sort of achy.

“No, you don’t need to study for this. All you would need to do is relax, enjoy and help others, this time myself, enjoy too,” Newral grinned nuzzling Urail affectionately. “But first we need to fuel up as this uses energy.

“Okay!” that sounded wonderful, especially the bit about fuel! Urail purred, though he was hardly starving given that Riddle had kept him well fed. The rest, well, he only had a very tenuous grip on what pleasure was at this point.

Newral smiled and turned to Merin who was sharing their meal out onto plates for everyone. Newral separated from Urail long enough to get both of their plates and bring them back.

And as usual Urail all but inhaled most of the meal, going for seconds that were eaten far more slowly. Merin teased him with there being no dessert, and they squabbled amiable until the mech produced a jelly like pudding with fresh berries.

Newral grinned, watching the play. He also stroked Urail’s wings every time he was near enough. He waited until everyone was finished, giving them both time for their meal to settle properly. It would not be good for either of them to feel sick at any point.

Chapter Text

“What now?” Urail was curled up close to Newral, lazily licking his claws free of jelly and berries that he had taken his time to enjoy.

“Now we should clean up and move this to the nest,” Newral purred, pulling Urail close he lifted him to carry to the bath. They would be getting sticky again, but it was better to start off clean, and he did not want Urail distracted by a random taste of food.

“Is bathing pleasure?” Urail had no issues with being carried and bathing in the always hot water was one of his favorite things to do. He knew that Toll and Midril sometimes did things in there alone… or with some of the others. He wasn't blind or deaf!

“Hmm, it can be pleasant. But it is not the type of pleasure we are talking about. Being pleasant simply means that something feels good or is enjoyable. Interfacing comes under that, but the sensations can be so intense that it and anything that creates arousal has its own words, or variations on words. That being said interfacing can happen in the bath, but the pleasure that leads to overload is not due, at least not solely or even mostly due to the bath itself,” Newral huffed at his own messy explanation but that soon turned into a rumble of pleasure as he stepped into the bath and lowered them both into it.

“But you like this… it is, it is edged with,” Urail struggled to find the right words and huffed when none came, “it has red. Like Riddle recharging? It tastes right.”

“Hmm, how to explain this? It is basically the same, what you are tasting is desire. I enjoy the warmth of the bath so I desire more of it. However I won't reach overload from this type of pleasure. As for Riddle I believe he was experiencing an erotic flux. Basically he was dreaming of interfacing. Interfacing is the type of pleasure you can overload from. You have felt an overload, when I took your seals,” Newral tried, hoping that Urail would get it from that.

“Desire?” Urail hummed, nuzzling his helm in under Newral's chin. He understood want, wanting more, as opposed to need. Need could easily be bad… or hurt.

“Desire is the mental/emotional side. You desire things that are pleasant, that make you feel good. Your aspect is desire, you feed magically on the emotional want. Incubi feed on the energy of the physical act. The stronger the pleasure felt the more they feed, the stronger the desire felt the more you feed,” Newral was patient, knowing that when Urail had questions it was best to try and answer them all to the best of his ability.

“But pleasure is nice, last night was nice,” Urail said, “I liked feeling that way. I liked… I liked you touching me?”

That wasn't desire, or need. Was it?

“I am glad that you liked it. I will be doing so again. That is what this lesson is going to be,” Newral purred, very much pleased that Urail directly said that he liked it.

“What are the lessons for?” Urail asked curiously.

“Reading, writing, magic, I mostly understand… but what is pleasure for?”

“Well for you like any desire demon, pleasure is a good way to make others feel strong desire. But more basic than that, interfacing and pleasure is an important part in the bonds between demons. It shows trust and helps strengthen bonds. Interfacing is also how demonlings are made, but only between bonded pairs. Bonding is forever and is between the sparks. Midril and Toll are bonded,” Newral answered to the best of his ability. It was always like that with Urail. But it was good it made him actually think about things that were often taken for granted.

“So the lessons are for bonding?” Urail curiously questioned, moving away enough to look up at Newral.

“Does everyone learn like this? Um, like…” he struggled to explain again, “with many?”

“Hmm. No… So there are different types of bonds. One is a literal spark bond and can only be formed once between two demons and can’t be broken. The other is a metaphorical bond, one of trust and affection. Interfacing, it can be a bonding experience of the metaphorical type. And typically a demon will interface with many before and sometimes even after they find their mate who they form a spark bond with. The lessons are to teach you the physical aspect so you know what feels good for you and how to find what feels good for others,” Newral corrected, feeling a bit silly for his poor word choice.

“There are many ways? So I have to study this?” Urail wasn't sure what he felt about that. It felt good, and he did want more. But it seemed wrong to treat it like writing or learning how to blend…

“No you don’t have to study it. Just know that you must only spark bond one you truly love and who loves you in return. As for Interfacing that is experiment based. You have to try things to know if you like it or not,” Newral rumbled soothingly.

“Isn’t that studying?” Urail giggled, though he was relieved that Newral wasn’t insisting on yet another topic of teaching.

“I don’t understand bonding, so I won’t do it. Is interfacing what you did yesterorn? That felt good, I would enjoy more I think. Is there a lot more?”

“You will have to know what bonding is at some point. I believe Toll and Midril will be teaching that as they have practical experience, but that won’t be in depth study like other subjects. As for pleasure that is easier to show than try to explain with words,” Newral chuckled wondering just how quickly Urail would catch on to what bonding actually meant.

“Is that a yes to much more?” Urail tried to keep to the subject he had asked about. Obviously bonding wouldn't just happen, so he wasn't going to worry about it too much!

“While there is a lot of different ways to create pleasure, you don’t have to learn it all. I would not pretend to even know half of it. So while there is a lot more you can learn, you don't have to learn it all. Some of it you wont like, while other types you will prefer,” Newral shrugged. There were Incubi older than himself who had spent their entire lives studying the different types of pleasure and they still did not know it all.

“Special likes?” Urail was all for delaying leaving Newral's lap for scrubbing. However he was genuinely interested too. And the other was so evasive! It was almost like he was being teased, only he was completely sure he wasn't…

“Exactly, some common ones are, dominance and submission, bondage, edging, that is taking teasing to the next level. There is also role playing, size kink. Claiming and marking. Gentle and sweet. There are so many different ways and different levels to them too. I prefer to be dominant. But in special cases I like being bound and having the control taken, to being forced to accept being in need of being looked after. I don’t tend to bind my partner but if they enjoy it I am willing. I am not so much into the role playing games but I do enjoy petting and looking after my partner. By petting I mean giving tactile pleasure,” Newral smiled and gently moved Urail from his lap so they could both scrub.

Urail pouted at being evicted, but tried to make sense of the long list of things that Newral had just given him all the same. It was not… self evident for him!

“I don't know, it sounds very complicated…” he found a sponge and started on his hands.

“That is why doing is so much easier than explaining,” Newral chuckled at the pout and grabbed his own sponge. “What I just said was a very broad cross section of most basic interface play types. But the main thing is that it is enjoyable for all involved.”

“So… happy, and feeling desire?” Urail questioned. That was easy…

Maybe too easy?

“Basically, yes,” Newral laughed, this was still strange to him, how few things actually had a clear intellectual answer because everyone saw and understood it from a young age. But not Urail.

“Mm, okay,” Urail took it at face value and continued with cleaning for a bit.

“What does it mean that you like to dominate?” something specifically for Newral was worth poking at.

“I like to be in control. To choose what happens and how. It can also make me a little aggressive, mostly just playful nips, biting to hold not harm, or even to mark. Again it is easier to show,” Newral shrugged, he would show some dominance this time, and see how Urail reacted to it.

“Hmmmm,” Urail opticked the bigger demon thoughtfully, wondering about biting and well, being told what to do. He was pretty used to the last, but biting? It sounded strange.

“You should try talking with the others about what sorts of things they like,” Newral suggested knowing that there was a range of different tastes amongst his entregue.

“Oh,” he thought that over for a moment, “Toll likes to bite too. Midril doesn't care if he does it, and he likes smaller mechs to play with them. I think they like Rell but he isn't going to be good for them for long. Riddle likes to be stroked and Merit likes to feed others,” he squinted.

“Is that the things you mean?” he wasn't stupid, nor unobservant, though making the connection was rather much of an epiphany.

“Exactly, that is the sorts of things I am talking about,” Newral nodded, pleased as he finished scrubbing himself.

“But if everyone shows it to others…” Urail stopped speaking, not even sure what he had wanted to ask.

“Then there is less misunderstandings,” Newral smiled, Urail was showing that he was ready for this, beyond any doubt.

“Ah, that's smart I guess,” he nodded and went back to cleaning. It made sense to him anyways!

“It can also let others how if their desires are compatible, and that, for most is what helps a demon find their mate. Not just compatibility for pleasure but in all aspects of their lives,” Newral added. He did wonder when Urail would start wondering about mating. But let him learn this first.

“Mating… is that the same as bonding or can demons be mates without that?” both terms were used, but Urail really wasn’t sure. In some texts that Riddle had given him ‘mates’ seemed to be a sort of friends only, but when the word was talked about it held a certain… weight? That suggested other things, much deeper things.

“Mating, Bonding, bonded, bond-mate, finding ones mate… it is all talking about the same thing. But that being said both words can mean other lesser things. Bonding… it is the one thing that all demons want. Usually matings are rare but recently Unicron has decided to help bring mates together,” Newral nodded, it could be confusing if one did not have the right contextual understanding. He was also amused since Urail had professed to be somewhat mentally overwhelmed earlier.

“Unicron?” Urail looked up, licking his dermas without thinking about it as his thoughts went back to touching the sigils. He liked doing that, he liked feeling the warmth and the… he couldn’t really truly articulate what he felt.

“So he decides?”

“To a greater or lesser degree, yes. For Rulers Unicron always chooses who their mate will be. That is because a Rulers mate will always be more than the mate to the demon who also happens to be Ruler. A Rulers mate becomes consort for the entire aspect. For me it goes a bit further than that. I am Ruler of the Chaos clans. But I am also Supreme Ruler above all other Rulers. My bond mate will also have to accept a close relationship with Unicron, and accept my connection to our creator,” Newral nodded quite serious in his reply. That was why very few Supreme Rulers had ever mated.

“Ah…” Urail thought that over, trying not to react too much to the idea of someone taking Newral from him. Unicron wouldn’t be that evil, would he? He liked him, he knew he did! He felt it when he touched the sigil… But if Newral wanted a mate would it not be evil of him to wish he didn’t get him? That was a conundrum set to give him a processor ache!

“I don’t think I like thinking about bonding,” he whined instead, “it’s confusing!”

If Newral had not been watching Urail, if he was not as powerful as he was he would have missed the confused jealous feelings flashing through Urail’s fields.

“Not even to consider what or who you might want as your own bond mate?” Newral asked, his voice a low teasing rumble as he finished up and stepped from the bath, teasingly flicking his wings to rid them of clinging moisture.

“Nooo…” Urail drew the word out uncertainty, because well, but on the other hand he’d never really thought about being mated as he hadn’t known what it was!

He crawled out of the bath and started drying off.

“Hm that does not sound very convincing,” Newral smirked as he sauntered over to Urail, using just the tip of one claw he carefully traced from his audio to under his chin, where his turned his finger to gently lift Urail’s helm up as he brought his own helm down.

“Do you have anyone in mind?”

Vague wants stirred, a purely physical desire that was new to Urail and had him licking his derma once more. It was the touch as much as Newral’s tone and manners.

“I haven’t thought about it,” he actually squeaked, voice breaking under the sudden confusing set of sensations.

Chapter Text

“Hmm how do my actions make you feel?” Newral purred, leaning in the last bit to brush his lips over Urail’s. He could teek the spike in desire and along with it confusion. This was the lesson they should be focusing on right now.

“Want you,” Urail croaked, that was not a hard thing to admit! He always wanted Newral, just not necessary like this.

With that Newral kissed him soundly and pulled Urail to him properly, hoisting him up so he could wrap his legs around his waist. Once secure he brought them both out to the nest.

Giggling, because of the unexpected new actions, Urail clung on happily. He had very little concept of self-consciousness and purred happily at the way everyone else reacted. Mostly laughter, a few suggestions he didn't quite understand and, naturally, desires of their own.

“Playing?” it was like playing, but with an undertone that he could not quite grasp.

“Yes this is a type of playing. Play that only mature demons do,” Newral grinned mostly ignoring everyone else, though he did twitch his wings at some of the comments. It was a ‘maybe’.

Newral sat down in the nest so that Urail ended up sitting in his lap.

“What does mature mean?” Urail asked, though he really wanted to have Newral do the kissing thing again. Do more of those things that made his chassis heat and made him want to purr. He thought mature meant being big, like the rest, and he wasn’t very big at all. Even Riddle and Merit, the smallest of the demons regularly around him, but maybe that was not it? Or not only it at least.

“Can we play more,” he half whined a moment after his question, nuzzling in under Newral chin, licking hopefully at his shoulder. Something told him not to touch the lines and cables of the neck, only the armor.

“It means, fully grown. But more importantly mature means spark maturity. And yes, you are fully mature,” Newral rumbled, a sound from deep in his chest.

Instead of verbally answering the second part Newral lifted Urail’s helm to kiss him again. Hands moving to work the still slightly damp wing joints. He felt secure in the knowledge that Urail wanted this.

That answered that, though Urail wasn't sure why the spark needed special mention once again. And besides he was much more interested in the kissing!

Newral purred into the kiss, he wanted to take his time, as much as Urail would let him.

Urail didn’t get impatient, he didn’t know yet what was to come. His chassis though had a processor of it’s own it seemed, and he soon moved restlessly under Newral’s touches. And movement felt good, and odd, touching felt good. Every place he could press against Newral, rub against him… it just felt good!

Newral freed a hand to rub between them at Urail’s panel.

“Open for me?” Newral purred into the kiss. His own panel opened just at the thought.

For a moment Urail was both too distracted and too confused to open anything, then his chassis helped him again. A low mewl greeted the sensation of cool air, armor and hand against sensitive components.

Newral broke the kiss so he could talk and so Urail had a chance of understanding at least part of it.

“This is your spike,” Newral crooned as he stroked the stiffening spike in the little space they had between them.

“Spike,” Urail repeated dazedly, trying to see and push closer at the same time. Not possible, but his needs were rather conflicting. Good though, he was fine with conflicted when it felt like this!

Newral chuckled and stroked the spike one last time before moving his hand lower, gently he rubbed his fingers around the valve rim feeling how much lubricant was there. Like any good Desire aspect demon Urail was already lubricating nicely.

“This is your valve,” Newral smiled and giving Urail just a moment to take in what he had said before sliding a finger in. Not fully lubricated yet but certainly enough for a finger.

This time he didn't manage to repeat, gasping and shaking with reaction to the new stimuli.

“Hmm seems you like attention to your valve,” Newral purred as he wriggled the finger around, stretching and stimulating the valve for proper use.

Urail whimpered, nuzzling blindly against Newral's armor. Yes, yes he liked this a lot, a whole lot! He wanted the other to keep doing it, to do more and just…

A helpless sound left him as he tried to press into the unfamiliar invasion.

“Shh, I need to stretch you first, or there is risk of tearing,” Newral crooned, stroking Urail to distract him as he carefully slid another finger in. He needed to give Urail a full interface this time.

“But,” was all Urail managed before he nearly choked on his own glossa as the second claw slid inside to join the first. It was not painful! No, oh oh that felt so good, so right he just wanted more… there had to be more or he might just offline from disappointment!

Newral made sure to be thorough as he stretched Urail’s valve. He was bigger than the young demon and did not want to hurt him.

“Newral,” Urail whined softly, hips rolling haltingly into the motion and the larger demon’s lap. He desperately wanted to move more, but he couldn’t, seated as he was. And then there was the warm length that pressed to his plating…

Spike, Newral’s spike. It, he wanted to see and touch it, but he wasn’t strong enough to push away and demand it. Not with the three claws working inside him, making him want to explode from pleasure.

The pleading and want in the tone and fields had Newral pause and he carefully repositioned them so Urail lay on his back. This way Urail could touch back easier. It would not be too much longer though before he dared try his spike in Urail’s valve, the young demon stretched quite readily.

He reached and grasped the hot length, shakily getting up enough to look. It was a fair bit bigger than the spike curving up against his own abdomen. It fit Newral and it made him want to drool, beg… Urail didn’t have the words, he wasn’t even sure what it was he wanted the other to do with the spike! But he wanted it, and he wanted it now.

The second whine was edged with desperation, and he tightened his grip just a little as his optics paled further with charge.

Newral groaned at the tight hold on his spike, it did not hurt, but it made him acutely aware of his need to be inside Urail. But he continued to stretch the younger demon’s valve until he was satisfied. Only then did he pull his fingers out, remove Urail’s hand from his spike and line them up.

Newral tried his best to be gentle as he pushed in. The valve was still tight though it was dripping wet.

Urail shook, muted by the intensely strange sensation of being invaded in a far more profound manner than claws. The spike… it was so big, it spread, forced, itself inside expanded his… his valve so that he felt everything. And it reached so deep that he felt the invasion would never stop. He just lay there, panting, claws curled in a desperate clutch that buried them deep in the bedding, optics all but white and certainly unseeing.

Newral set a gentle pace, letting Urail get used to the sensations, he was keeping close watch on his fields just to be sure of his reactions.

The sensations filled everything and Urail let it. He had nothing to fight in giving himself over, no teaching to get in the way of the basic hedonistic nature of his kin. Eventually his claws migrated from bedding to Newral’s plating, where they were less rough.

Newral purred his pleasure, nuzzling, nipping and licking Urail as his instincts suggested, never hard and all in play. This had been worth waiting for.

While he might have all the instincts, and very much the nature, Urail didn't have the stamina of a trained desire demon. He overloaded with a sharp cry that bordered a scream.

Newral groaned as the tight valve became vise like, ripples from Urail’s overload milking his spike managing to pull his own overload from him. Panting roughly Newral forced himself to remain still. The valve was too tight to risk any movement.

Dazed, and maybe a little sore, Urail whimpered thickly at Newral. He felt full to bursting and the spike felt… too big to get out, or in.

Newral crooned soothingly. He felt a dull sort of pain, that he hid, as he forced his spike to soften and retract. With time and work, Urail would be able to take him without worry, but that time was not now and this was the safest way to do this. It would be better for Urail to train with someone a bit smaller until he could handle interfacing better.

Urail gasped at the sensation of emptying just like that, of liquid oozing slowly from between his legs to puddle under his aft and thighs. It was distinctly weird, even a little gross as the liquid rapidly cooled once it was outside his overheated chassis.

“Uh?” he squinted a little, unsure if he should move or not, or speak for that matter. Not even sure if he had the energy for doing either. He felt like he barely had energy for moving to a not sticky wet spot of bedding.

“Rest,” Newral purred at Urail, smiling at Mirit as he handed over some cloths and cleanser. He deftly cleaned them both up and moved Urail to a clean patch of nest so the soiled blankets could be removed and cleaned.

“Ow,” Urail squirmed under the cleaning and moving, not much enamoured with that bit. He curled up and watched the rest, considering the good and bad bits of the experience solemnly. And came to the conclusion that he liked it well enough, but would prefer it to not be quiet as overwhelming and ouchy.

“I didn't like all of it,” he spoke up, looking at Newral.

“Hmm which bits didn’t you like? And what parts did you enjoy?” Newral asked gently, finished cleaning himself he curled up around Urail, carefully, he could feel how tender the younger demon was from his fields.

“The sticky cold bit, and the ow,” Urail promptly informed the other, “but I like your spike. It's big and feels good and hot. I like the… overload? It feels like touching Unicron's sigil only faster and um…” he struggled to find the words to express how it was like the feelings he got from the sigil, huffing with exparated annoyance when they slipped through his fingers.

“Its like it! But not,” he pouted.

“Cold? Hmm that is when the fluids come back out and start cooling? As for any hurt it shouldn’t hurt if you are stretched enough. It will be quicker and easier to stretch your valve the more we do this. And yes it is called an overload. Though not many would liken touching Unicron’s sigil with an overload,” Newral was deeply amused and intrigued by that. Unicron must really approve of Urail.

“I guess, it's gross,” Urail shrugged, and pouted, “you spend so much time doing that! I was going mad, can't it be done easier?”

He mulled the rest over, then shrugged again, “you said it was different for everyone, it feels like that to me. It is a good feeling.”

“Hmm, there are ways to keep the fluids from coming back out, and the stretching will take less time the more you use your valve. But it can also be done with a toy called a stretcher. It is a very good thing that the seal feels like that for you,” Newral made sure to add that reassurance, it was always good when Unicron was happy.

“That would be nice,” Urail nodded, meaning both options, and smiled at the reassurance.

“Yours feels a little like it too,” he muttred tiredly, “but… longer, slower?”

“My sigil is tied to Unicron too, just not as directly, that is likely what you are feeling,” Newral rumbled setting in for recharge.

“No, it's you,” Urail was sure about that, “your field always feels like that too,” but he didn't remain online to continue the conversation.

That statement kept Newral online as he tried to figure out the meaning for that. He knew part of it was his constant connection to Unicron, but would that alone be enough for Urial to feel?

Knowing that he would not likely get an answer by staying awake Newral settled down for recharge, but the question still burned in his spark.

His dreams turned out rather odd, mostly errotic in nature. But there was also a gathering of power, with a cluster of less powerful but still very bright sparks. Upon waking Newral committed as much as he could to memory. Communication with Unicron was not always direct and these dreams could easily have been stirred by Unicron.

Chapter Text

Urail was a tad bit sore still after recharge, and grumbled about having to get up. Possible also because he wasn't entirely awake yet… Despite the scent of morning meal in the air.

Newral also wasn’t thrilled at having to get up and face the orn. But he had work to do, as always and he had things to discuss with Rell and his dreams to mull over. What he really wanted to do was grab breakfast and curl up with Urail, and keep teaching him of pleasure.

It was Merit that got Urail going, and Riddle that kept him occupied. If they hadn't he might well have clung to Newral and thrown a fit over not getting to stay in the nest.

Newral did his best to ignore the part that screamed for him to go back and just hold onto Urail, to keep him close and not let go. He calmed it by rationalising that Urail was completely safe where he was. But he did manage to distract himself as he spoke with his prince, the prince of this tower, about the meaning of his dream of the gathering of power.

Eventually everyone ran out of effective distractions, ending up with Urail in the nest hissing at everyone. Riddle figured that he at least wasn't throwing a fit, so that was an improvement. Merit asked him if he was going to bet on that lasting, and Rell growled at them both.

Newral was contemplative as he returned. All evidence pointed to a mass mating of Rulers, the less powerful bright points being the sparks of the mates. There had been enough powerful sparks to represent all current Rulers including himself and there had been one bright spark for every Ruler spark. But there was likely more to the dream than that. But this portion of it was supported by the happenings in reality. It only added support to the theory that Urail was his intended. Along with every other scrap of evidence pointing to that.

“Enough of that Urail. Have I not asked you to behave before?” Newral commanded gently as he spotted the demon in question sulking and hissing in the middle of the nest.

“You left again,” Urail grumbled, but subsided… mostly. He always felt better when Newral was close.

“I was just around the tower. Within extended magical teeking distance. I know that has been part of your lessons with Riddle,” Newral chided, it really was time Urail stopped being so jumpy about him leaving visual range. Normal demons could only be sensed for a smallish distance, but Newral knew that to magical sight he was like a beacon and Urail was strong enough that those things combined no matter where he was in the tower Urail should be able to sense him if he tried.

Newral did slip into the nest and pull Urail to him though.

“But not here,” that was a whine, “I want you to be here!”

He cuddled close, taking in the feel of plating and field with something like greed. Urail had no idea why he felt better when Newral was this close, but that was just how his world was.

“I do have a way to fix that and allow me to get my work done. Well to a degree. But I need you to understand your lessons on the spark and what spark merging and bonding is. This is not something I will do without you understanding,” Newral could not stress that enough. He wanted Urail and could feel it was mutual, it felt like Unicron was in agreeance too. But he needed informed consent.

“But I don't want more lessons, can't I just come with you,” Urail borrowed into the offered plating.

“That means you will meet many new different demons, some I can basically guarantee you will not like. Some of those ones won't hesitate to try and use you to get to me. I can protect you, but then there are places that I don’t want to take you. Like where I had to go when I left the tower. Besides this is a fundamental thing that all demons must know and something I want to share with you. And I have the suspicion that Unicron strongly agrees,” Newral pet Urail, wondering what it might take to get Urail to understand the importance of bonding and what it could do.

“...” that was greeted by a heavy, unhappy huff. No, Urail had no wish to meet lots of new demons. He didn't want to be a weakness for Newral. But bonding seemed so… foreign and exotic! And why would Unicron want him to know of it? Newral talked of him differently from Riddle, but Riddle had also shown him that he couldn't touch the gods sigil like the ruler, and Urail, could.

It was so…

“What has Unicron to do with it?”

“For some of us particularly the Rulers, Unicron chooses a special spark to be their life partner. Everything seems to be pointing to you being mine. But I don’t want you just saying ok to that without understanding what it actually means. I am giving you the choice by giving you the tools with which to choose,” Newral sighed, he knew it would be easier to show by doing, but that was a grave breach of everything he stood for. Urail needed to have the choice, or at least the ability to choose for himself. If he then chose the path Unicron set out that would still be his choice.

Huh? Urail stilled, frowning as he sorted through it all. Both Newral, Riddle and Toll had explained about the special mate thing before. And he hadn't liked the idea of someone coming in and taking Newral from him. Considering the idea of the special mate being him though…

“Why?”

“To take the choice from you. For anyone to do that, it is the worst thing any demon can do as mating is so rare. Unicron ensures that only bondings from love can create a new spark. And a forced bond is not created from love, not on both sides. That is why I need to know that you understand what this is and agree because you love me, not out of any other reason. By that same token I have to be sure that what I feel is truly love. Which at this point I am,” Newral sighed, nuzzling Urail. He did love him and could not imagine his future without Urail. But that was moot if Urail did not love him in return.

“No,” Urail twisted free, turning to straddle Newral's legs, frowning at him from close proximity.

“Why haven't you done it? Why do you think I don't like you like that? Why do you think I need to understand all that spark thing? Why don't you trust that I need you?” he was upset, but not sure how to get it across. He'd said he didn't want bonding, but that hadn't been specified to Newral. He knew he never, ever wanted to leave Newral! How hard was that to understand?

Newral was kind of taken aback at the strength of Urail’s reaction.

“I don’t want you to regret this later as it is permanent,” Newral paused there, but he knew there was only one way to go from here.

“If you mean this then go to the other nest room and wait for me there. I have a few things I will need to sort out first but I will join you shortly,” Newral lifted Urail and stood setting the younger demon on his peds. He felt excited, ready to do this. But he had to let everyone know so things could be arranged around this.

Urail was about to launch another upset, and probably less coherent, protest to that silly statement when Newral continued. He stood for a moment where he had been put, assimilating the promise, then bolted for the smaller, usually empty, nest chamber.

Excitement reigned supreme in him, he had no teaching, no social expectations, to cloud the prospect of bonding. It meant belonging, it meant to never be left, to be like Toll and Midril, to have a claim on Newral.

A real claim.

There was nothing that could make him happier than that!

Newral chuckled for a moment, the excitement radiating from Urail was almost tangible.

“Whether it is right or wrong no longer matters. I am claiming Urail as my bonded,” Newral announced to everyone present. He waited for any comments before following Urail.

“Thank Unicron,” was Midril's, and by default Toll’s, only comment. Merit and Riddle exchanged glances and silently went to do something about meetings and work.

Rell… trampled his aimless envy and nodded solemnly.

“Try not to be too aggressive,” it was the only advice he could give, and he knew that even with it Urail would be one sore young bonded come next orn.

“I will do my best,” Newral promised, nodding to each in turn. “If someone would put together a tray as well for later. I doubt either of us would want to be disturbed.”

With that Newral followed Urail out and to the other nest.

No one said the obvious, that the Ruler would have anything needed, and probably not notice the delivery.

Chapter Text

Meanwhile Urail had slunk into the nest, feeling elated and agitated. He wanted this now!

Settling his wings around his shoulders Newral slipped into the smaller nest room. He rumbled pleased at the sight of Urail sitting in the nest. Stepping into the nest he crouched down and reached for Urail, drawing him in for a kiss.

Newral opened himself utterly to his instincts and to the bond already in place to his master and creator. He already knew that Urail loved Unicron even if the younger demon did not understand it. And Unicron loved Urail. But this would still be hard on Urail as touching Unicron was always hard. But perhaps with no pretenses to strip away, no preconceptions, Urail would be able to handle the raw truth of Unicron and of himself much easier than any other.

Urail didn’t even pretend to be coy, it wasn’t like he even knew what it was. All he wanted was the promise of Newral never leaving him made real, to him there was no price to pay no matter what anyone had attempted to explain to him. Or perhaps it was better to say that they had not understood him, his past and his fears for a future he had barely begun to understand he had. He didn’t know to label it love, the feelings he held for the demon that had saved him. And perhaps some would argue that it wasn’t conventional love… But Newral was hardly someone who needed conventional love, and Urail needed so much more than convention could bring.

A soft growl was called out when Newral pulled back again, but it wasn’t a demand as such. Urail onlined his optics and followed up with an inviting mewl, cuddling in close and nuzzling up under Newral’s chin. There was something different in the other’s field… something heady that made his entire chassis buzz and feel like it was burning. It felt right, like it was everything he wanted and he knew, vaguely, that they hadn’t even begun this bonding thing yet.

Newral did not ask if Urail was sure, did not let any hesitance in, as his hands moved possessively over Urail’s body. A hand stroked over Urail’s chest plates while the other stroked his wings.

Chest, spark. Rell had seen it a few times, though Urail hadn’t been keen on showing it off, though he couldn’t have told anyone why. Riddle had told him it was instinct, no demon showing his spark to all and sundry lived long apparently. Urail wasn’t certain he believed that though... At this time there was no hesitation, not with Newral. No matter what warnings anyone had ever given him he’d have never hesitated opening his chest for the other, and right now he couldn’t have stopped himself even if he was sure he would be killed.

He hissed at the sensation of moving air against and inside his chest and spark chamber, at the boldly stark feeling of an em field pressing into it. Rell always held back, only looked and ‘scanned’, this was… invasive, this was good.

The absolute trust was pleasing, and Newral purred his pleasure as he opened his own chest plates in response. His own spark pulsing excitedly and he could feel Unicron’s interest. He did not give them time to stare or reach out, he simply pulled them together into a merge.

His response was whimpering, not because it hurt, but because it overwhelmed. Newral was far older, and with him was something that was older than comprehension. Urail had been warned, but he had had no basis for even a limited sort of understanding… and perhaps that was what made it ‘easy’ to surrender to it. To both. He didn’t fight, didn’t try to keep a hold of some part of himself in the malstrom, he just trusted that he would be returned to himself as much as was possible, once this thing was over.

Of course, it felt like pleasure too. If it had hurt him he most likely would have tried fighting. But losing himself was nothing new, doing so without hunger to plague him, or pain from an injury, or simply the aches of his depleted chassis? Urail didn’t care about boundaries in that manner, if it meant staying with Newral he was perfectly willing to lose part of himself, or even most of himself to the other, and the strange, powerful presence that was there with him.

Newral trustingly surrendered to Unicron and Urail, opening himself, all he was utterly. He could faintly feel the bond forming and could almost ‘see’ Unicron carefully manipulating that, winding its own threads into the bond making the whole stronger, a tighter bond than a first merge, even a full merge should give.

The only reason Newral could notice this was his close relationship with Unicron, stronger than many previous supreme rulers. This merge was only strengthening that bond in a way that only one other demon had ever known. The first to give himself utterly to Unicron. Most were afraid and that fear created a barrier through which Unicron had trouble touching the spark. Unicron had no use being feared, what it needed was surrender.

By the time Urail reached being virtually insensate his chassis gave in, or perhaps it was gave out, and overload took what was left of consciousness with it. It was too much to handle otherwise, too strong, too immediate, too powerful, too… everything. It wouldn’t have mattered if he was older, or ancient. Normal demons just did not escape from being touched by their Creator without being nearly drained, some even died though Urail wasn’t in danger of that! He had surrendered everything he was with trust, and that had its own reward. A reward that he was not the only one to benefit from.

Newral managed to stay online only because of his already strong connection to Unicron. He did feel weak and tired though. Carefully Newral separated Urail from him and closed his chest plates. He only managed to get them comfortable positioned before falling into recharge himself.

Hunger woke Urail, and he almost didn't know what to make of the feeling, it had been such a long time since he had last felt it. Of course it wasn't that painful, spinal strut gnawing feeling he'd lived with for the better part of his life. And it was echoed by another sort of hunger, a very new kind.

Wiggling a little he mewled when arms tightened to keep him still.

Newral slowly stirred at the wriggling. Hunger spurred him on towards waking, his own and… and Urail’s. Sleepily he reached out with the remaining dregs of his magic to find the tray, it was in easy reach so Newral abandoned reaching with his magic and reached physically instead. It turned out to be soft crystals and treats.

Immediately calming down Urail began eating, blindly offering bits over his shoulder in between. Newral was hungry… and hungry? Depleted? The food helped, but the other sense of hunger had to do with his newly gained magic and the sense of it confused him.

Newral gladly accepted the bites of fuel, the various emotions Urail was feeling was beginning to feed him magically. He also took bits of fuel for himself and fed Urail bites too.

Once the worst of the hunger was sated Urail began to wake up more. He onlined his optics fully and hummed softly in thought.

“What happened?” he had a vague idea, Newral had… their sparks had touched? He'd been consumed? But he was still here, still him and more. Somehow more?

“We spark bonded,” Newral purred gently reaching through the bond to brush Urail’s spark. Letting him feel his affection.

“No… yes,” Urail huffed, then giggled and ruffled his wings against Newral’s plating, “not that. I know that.”

He knew it, because he couldn’t not know it even if he didn’t understand all of it. He suspected he would if he reached for the knowledge of it from his… mate. It made him happy, he didn’t really need to know more right then. No, that wasn’t what he had meant.

“Something else, there was something else w-with you, us? And I got tired,” that was an understatement, he’d offlined!

“That other is Unicron. And touching Unicron does leave a demon drained. If they give of themselves willingly Unicron will protect. But if they try to fight, the experience can take all they have,” Newral explained, adding, “I got very tired too. I simply have greater experience with Unicron and you are still recovering.”

“Oh… it didn’t feel bad,” Urail said thoughtfully, completely untouched at the fact that a God had been involved in his bonding. And that was the truth, he didn’t care. While he was happy being close to Newral, forever!, he still did not quite grasp what bonding was, nor what Unicron was. Newral wasn’t upset about what had happened, so there was no reason for him to be upset either, that was how his reasoning worked. In other words any worries he could have had, had easily been placated before they could even become a problem.

“Do you think we can get more food?” he didn’t try to wiggle out of Newral’s hold to look for some, but his tone did turn wistful, even a little pleading.

“I think it might be a good idea to go back to the main nest, I had not counted on being so magically drained,” Newral carefully stood and picked Urail up, cuddling him close. At least in the main nest they could both feed magically.

“?” Urail didn't protest, cuddling in close with a questioning chirr. He was perfectly willing to go wherever Newral wanted them to be, especially if it had food!

Newral ignored the questioning looks as he walked back into the main nest room. He smiled at Mirit who was preparing a platter, likely meant for them. He was relieved to start properly feeding on the abundant emotions present including lust and desire from Toll and Midril, who it appeared were playing with Rell.

Urail was diverted by the lust too, though he had not recognized that as hunger in himself. He relaxed a bit more when it eased the lingering tiredness.

“Oh,” he muttered and squirmed a bit. Well, they hadn't done any of that!

Newral settled them in a clean patch of the nest, nuzzling Urail and purring. He wanted them both to feed more before using more energy though. Bonding had taken far more out of them both than he had expected. But that was Unicron’s influence and not actually harmful in the long term.

“Food?” Urail craned his neck to look longingly at what Mirit was doing, the other thing didn't need his attention. And he was hungry.

“Mmm, yes I am hungry too,” Newral agreed also watching Mirit.

“It will be ready shortly,” Mirit smiled, pleased that Newral was no longer sequestering them alone, this way they could take care of their needs so much easier.

With that reassurance Urail curled back into Newral and purred contentedly. As long as it was on its way, he was perfectly okay with just resting against his mate for a bit. Hm, mate. Was this the way Toll and Midril felt all the time? This closeness inside, like a warmth that would never go away? Was this what Rell wanted and why he was sad so often?

If anyone had thought he didn’t understand before his seals were taken they were mistaken. He might not have had the words, or the ability to see emotions, that he had now, but Urail had always been sensitive. It had kept him alive, though it had also kept him away from kin. Rell had a sadness about him that had had Urail view him with misgivings for a long time, Toll and Midril an ease that had him surrender easily to their care. And Newral…

Well. Newral had always been a constant source of comfort and calmness. Now he was more, he was everything. Urail was content and wanted everyone else to be the same.

Newral purred petting his mate. Once they had satisfied their hunger then he would tend to another hunger. He could feel how everyone was happy with them and for them.

~~~~

Post note: We apologize for the lateness of the last posts. We have not forgotten or abandoned our fics and there is still more to come from us.