Hello my little kittens! I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted, but real life has a way of getting in the way of fantasy. First it was writer's block, then my mom came up from Florida to visit for my brother's wedding and ended up staying over a month since she also wanted to go to my youngest great-nephew's first birthday party, then I went back to school for my final semester and they like to pile on the writing assignments and I'm having trouble getting back into a school frame of mind. Anyway, here's a nice long chapter. Not a whole lot about Donghae and Eunhyuk/Hyukjae since they're still, busy. Instead, some back story on Leeteuk and Ryeowook, a peek into Heechul's mind, and some setup for stuff later on. Hopefully it'll do for now until I get the next main chapter sorted out and decide exactly what's going to happen with Master. KE

                Leeteuk lay on his side, one of his heavy white wings draped over himself and the beautiful man asleep in his arms as though it were a blanket, even as he was torn between his thoughts. He and Jungsoo had wanted to spend time with Heechul outside of the club, so they could at least pretend they were more than a buddy but as usual they just found another bed. This one at least was in the house their lover (though they knew the human didn’t think of them as even friends with benefits, let alone boyfriends or lovers but Leeteuk/Jungsoo could at least pretend in their own mind since it hurt a little less) had rented for himself and his stepbrother, rather than a dingy “no tell motel” room. Not that Donghae had ever stayed there, only seeing it once as they pulled into the driveway before heading into town for food. He hadn’t set foot out of the car then, even to take his pets inside as he didn’t want them bumped by the moving men. Then he found Eunhyuk and Hyukjae nearly dead on the road, Heechul brought them to the club not knowing anywhere else to go, and suddenly the owners and onsite staff of Feed Your Demons was home to a writer, three frogs, two fish, a cranky, mistrustful former street kid and rent boy with anger issues, and his severely injured, lost baby incubus bondling.

                If Leeteuk and Jungsoo were honest with themselves, they actually envied Donghae and Eunhyuk/Hyukjae in some ways. Much kinder and more accepting than his older brother though a bit innocent and clueless about his true feelings, the writer was no doubt about a stone’s throw from being completely head over heels in love with his charges. There was no doubt about Eunhyuk’s feelings for his rescuer, though the older incubus wasn’t entirely sure the youngling completely understood. However, the little incubus had surprised his elder several times before so he might just be biding his time til he knew what the others felt for sure. For good reason, Hyukjae didn’t seem to have quite the same feelings as the other two but it was probably just a matter of time before Feed Your Demons would be hosting a combination wedding and bonding ceremony. Siwon knew a priest who didn’t mind same- couples and Wookie had been bonded twice before coming to the human world so knew what to do, unlike Leeteuk. As a future elder incubus, he’d had multiple mates and fathered offspring after he’d taken his turn caring for the younglings in the demon realms, but he’d never bonded with any of them. His youngest granddaughter had actually been Ryeowook’s second mate after his first, who had been a “high” or “royal” demon who he’d bonded with out of true love on his part, only to have her runaway when she saw him feed, died and left their child, who he’d never known existed since his first mate neglected to tell him she was pregnant, let alone taken care of. Eunsook had been way too young to join a batch so Wookie agreed to an arranged mating with someone who could help care for Sookie properly. Soon Kyu had inherited many cat demon traits from her mother and grandmother and had just been going into her first heat. Wookie had feline qualities of his own due to the bit of werecat inside him. They’d had an explosively ual first meeting and came out of it two days later, extremely sore, incredibly hungry, sporting viciously red mating marks on their throats, Soon Kyu already expecting a litter of younglings due to being mostly cat demon, and a wide-eyed Sookie sitting with her nanny asking who the strangers were making weird noises.

                Leeteuk smiled to himself at the thought of Eunsook. Once the little girl demon learned her father hadn’t abandoned her the way her mother said and actually wanted her very much once he knew about her, and had mated so there would be two people to care for her, Sookie had fallen over her own feet in her excitement to hug her daddy and gently touch his mating mark before solemnly asking if it was okay if she called Soon Kyu Mother since she’d called hers Mama. Leeteuk had met the newly formed family soon after, and had nearly melted when Sookie asked if she could call him Great-Grandfather, or if she had to call him Future Elder Leeteuk the way everyone else did. He’d quite enjoyed being a great-grandfather, spending as much time as he could with the family that actually seemed like a family, until he had to perform as an elder and couldn’t see them often anymore. Wookie and Soon Kyu raised Eunsook, who aged at nearly a human rate, until she showed signs of her “high” demon heritage being dominant and she joined a small batch of younglings who would be taught to be future leaders in the demon realms. They also raised several litters together. Most inherited animal demon traits and were sent with appropriate batches when the time came, though a couple were blood demons and sent early to learn self-control. Leeteuk never got the chance to meet his youngest great-grandchild, the only single Soon Kyu birthed, and well after her bearing days should have been behind her. He never even got to hear the boy’s name, just that of all their offspring he was the only one who was an incubus. Soon Kyu died shortly after the child was sent with his batch, and without his children or bond mate to keep his blood demon in check, Wookie disappeared to the human world and went insane until the “high” demons could no longer ignore him, but none of them wanted to take care of the problem.

                Once Leeteuk heard his grandson-in-law was targeted, he broke protocol and asked if he would be allowed to deal with Ryeowook himself. He knew very well his place was among the leadership of the incubi whose rules differed in certain ways from the other demons and that it was unheard of what he was requesting, but Wookie was part of his family. He didn’t want the little demon destroyed if it could be helped. Multi-natures were rare since usually one demon nature would override all others no matter how mixed the heritage, and the incubus had been sure that that coupled with the loss of Soon Kyu and having no one to care for was what was going on with Wookie. He’d found his grandson-in-law on the sidewalk in the middle of winter, blood from the human he’d just eaten around his mouth and down his front, Kyuhyun’s arm in his claws and about to take his first bite until he saw the pain in Leeteuk’s eyes as he appeared in front of him. That seemed to bring some sense back to him and he let Kyuhyun go, only to have the human hug the little demon and thank him for saving him from the man who had been blackmailing him for money and despite having a rich, pregnant wife at home.

                It had taken a while, but with Kyuhyun and his turtle-obsessed incubus/human lover Yesung/Jongwoon’s patience, care, and eventual love, and a new food supply in condemned prisoners, plus steady employment at Feed Your Demons, Ryeowook became a whole new demon. He wasn’t quite the same as he had been with his bond mate and younglings, but he was functional and no longer a danger. He still had to stay in Leeteuk’s care, but for the most part the incubus didn’t mind. He enjoyed the human world and hadn’t cared much for being an elder and it was unlikely he could go back to being a carer after being a ruler, and since Wookie’s family had been the only ones to accept him out of all his descendants and they were grown or scattered with their batches, he had little reason to go back. Now if only Heechul would accept him and Jungsoo as more of a rough , he couldn’t think of another thing he could want.

***

                Heechul lay in Leeteuk/Jungsoo’s arms and surrounded by the incubus’ incredibly soft wings and pretended to sleep, grateful his rough couldn’t read minds the way Ryeowook could. He had a lot of thinking to do and wasn’t sure where to start if he was honest with himself.

                Actually, Heechul decided to work on his most worrisome yet the least knotted of his problems first in hopes of loosening the others enough that it would be easier to pick through them and smooth them into something he could handle or accept. As usual, his biggest concern was Donghae. He’d thought his best friend and brother was getting too deep into the whole Eunhyuk/Hyukjae thing, but even he could admit he’d never seen the younger man happier or less childish since he became responsible for the pair. He’d worried the one person he still truly loved would abandon him the way Zhoumi had through his death and Hangeng had through running away to marry some barely legal girl his parents picked out. He really had loved Mimi and would have done anything if he could have, while he’d just hoped he could learn to care for Hannie. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe the Chinese man had known when Mimi died he’d killed the part of Heechul that let him love anyone but Fishy.

                Now he found himself with not just the Fishy who cared for him, but two or three people depending whether Jungsoo and Leeteuk counted as one or two, and he was scared to death. He wished he could be more like Donghae, who accepted everyone and everything and had faith that everything would work out perfectly. Even when his rat bastard of a fiancé left him for an arranged marriage to a girl much the same way Hannie had Heechul, Fishy hadn’t gotten as upset as most people would’ve. He hadn’t even thrown anything or set the ’s belongings on fire. He’d just quietly boxed everything the wad had left at the brothers’ apartment up and mailed them, then wrote sincere notes to send with the early wedding presents he’d received, explaining that their wedding was called off but the gift givers could still send them to the new couple. Years of looking after Donghae and protecting his innocent childlike view of the world as much as he could couple with his first love’s unexpected death had taken its toll on the older man and he was afraid he was just too cynical to change, even for two beings who were born caregivers and fantastic in bed.

***

                Jungsoo/Leeteuk’s phone rang, startling both them and Heechul out of their respective thoughts. The incubus answered, only to practically faint at what Wookie told him and barely managed to reply that he had no idea what might happen and it took him a minute to hit the end call button once the multi-natured demon hung up.

                “What’s going on?” Heechul asked in a groggy-sounding voice, pretending he’d just woken up because of the noise. “Is everything okay?”

                “I certainly hope so. Things are happening more quickly with the youngling than anyone expected though. I’m just not sure what exactly.”

                “Donghae isn’t going to get hurt, is he?” Heechul carefully crawled out from between Leeteuk’s wings and sat up, eyes narrowed. “If that monkey harms one hair on Fishy’s head he’ll be a dead monkey, baby or not.”

                Leeteuk sat up himself and fluttered his wings to smooth the feathers. “Donghae will be fine, and hopefully so will the youngling and Hyukjae. Eunhyuk is just going through an incubus right of passage earlier than we expected him to is all. And no, I’m not going to try to explain what I’m talking about. At least, I’m not going to say anything until I see for myself what the results are.”

                Heechul jumped out of bed and started yanking his clothes that were scattered all over the floor back on. He tossed Leeteuk their own pants and shirt and told him to get dressed. He wanted to go back and make sure Donghae wasn’t being harmed.

                Leeteuk sighed but let Jungsoo take back over since the incubus’ wings didn’t really fit in the car. The human put their clothes on slowly and ran his fingers through his hair before following Heechul down the stairs and out the door, thankful the full human had wanted before they ran their errands so he could delay their return, hopefully long enough for whatever to happen to happen. Neither Jungsoo nor Leeteuk would put it past their lover to try to interfere with Eunhyuk’s first true feeding, no matter what harm might come to either him or Donghae. Nobody had any idea of what exactly was going to happen but it was best for these things to proceed naturally, especially since because of their prior situations Eunhyuk and Hyukjae had been so bass-ackwards or topsy-turvy with everything so far. The older incubus had thought more than once someone needed to write a book about the pair and their devoted caregiver/rescuer/no doubt soon to be mate and husband Donghae, and Jungsoo had agreed. Wookie was intelligent enough to call if something out of the ordinary happened so Jungsoo drove to the first store on their list over Heechul’s loud protests.

                “Calm your Kim Heechul” the human half of the bondling pair said, unbuckling the full human and practically dragging him out of the car. “Wookie is there and isn’t stupid. He’ll call if it becomes necessary, and Kyu and Jongwoon/Yesung should be home soon if they aren’t already. We on the other hand are going to take care of this list before we head back unless there is an emergency. Hopefully by the time we’re done you’ll have taken a chill pill. Getting yourself all tied up in knots is not going to help either Donghae or Eunhyuk and Hyukjae.”

                Heechul grumbled and swore under his breath the entire time, but Jungsoo just ignored him as they completed everything they needed to. Only then did the human half of the bondling pair agree to go back to Feed Your Demons to see what was going on and still refused to let Heechul charge upstairs until he’d helped unload and put the things away for the club before Jungsoo/Leeteuk took the full human’s hand and they headed for the living quarters only to have Heechul barrel past pulling the human/incubus along with him and practically gallop into the apartment and down the hall and yank open the guest room, only to be greeted with the sight of a skinny back and and Donghae’s bent legs as he up into the person riding him.

                Jungsoo sighed and quietly shut the door and dragged the now stunned Heechul into the living room and pushed him into one of the chairs before asking Yesung who was in charge of his and Jongwoon’s body as he and Kyu attended to a very limp Wookie who was lying on the couch with a giant ice pack over his face what happened.

                “We’re not sure. Kyu and us came home and found Wook collapsed in the hallway with a goose egg on his head like a third horn and rhythmic thumping and coming from Donghae and Eunhyuk/Hyukjae’s room. We didn’t peek since it would be rude and it didn’t sound like anyone was in trouble. We just got him onto the couch and we’re trying to get him coherent.”

                “The little one is even older and far more ing powerful than we thought he’d be” Ryeowook’s voice was muffled by his ice pack but everyone understood him well enough. “Someone needs to go back to the demon realms and track down his lineage and find out why the his carers and batchmates or his parents never went looking for him. The surge knocked my clean off my chair and my head hit the floor so hard it bounced back up. I can’t wait to see what he looks like as an adult.”

                Yesung looked far more thoughtful than usual. “I’ll have to be the one to go. Wookie can’t go back, Kyu and Heechul are human so can’t, and Leeteuk has to stay to make sure Wook doesn’t lose his mind again. It’s not like we could send Eunhyuk by himself even if he knew the way. There’s no way he and Hyukjae would ever leave Donghae, especially if they’ve bonded or will soon. When should I leave?”

                Ryeowook took the bag of ice off his face and slowly sat up. “If you all want to help, I’ll make dinner then you might as well go Yesungie so you can get it over with since who knows how long it’s going to take. Tonight should be pretty slow since it’s a weekday. No show to deal with. Kyu can handle the bar, Teukie can be his charming self as host with Heechul’s help if he wants, the trio have security and bouncer duties, I’ll stay in the back with my ice and take care of things back there, and the non-airhead human waitresses are scheduled to work.”

                “Are you sure Wook? What about…” Yesung was cut off by Ryeowook’s lips against his own. “I’m sure. If you’re worried about that, we’ll have a quickie before everyone else goes downstairs” the multi-natured demon mumbled against his incubus lover’s lips before giving him another peck and standing up on his only slightly wobbly hoofs. He set his bag of ice on top of his head and slowly headed for the kitchen, Yesung and Jungsoo following while Kyuhyun went and flopped in a chair opposite Heechul who looked equal parts angry, confused, and upset.

                “What the is going on?” the pretty man looked anything but as he demanded answers from the younger, who examined his nails as though he couldn’t give less of a if he tried.

                “I’ll tell you what I know or suspect, if you calm your down first” Kyuhyun replied, still checking his cuticles.

                Heechul took several slow deep breaths until he could feel himself relax a bit. After all, he’d seen Donghae was just fine. Sure, he was ing a stranger and the older man had no idea where the monkey was currently, but Fishy knew better than to have a one-night stand without using rubbers.

                “Okay, I think I’m okay now. So, what the is going on and where’s the monkey? I’m surprised Fishy picked up some stranger when he’s still got his shadow. Come to think of it, where would he have even met anyone? The club isn’t open yet. Unless, they met earlier and he made a booty call?”

                Kyuhyun shook his head and smirked a little before replying. “Breathe once in a while while you rant. Donghae didn’t pick up some random person nor did he make a booty call. From what Yesungie and I managed to get out of Wookie, Eunhyuk needed to feed, the way a full-grown incubus would. If you saw your brother having , it was with him or possibly Hyukjae. If Eunhyuk had already fed and he and Hyuk are anything like Yesungie and Woonie or Teukie and Jungsoo, the human half gets a little jealous when the lover’s attention is all on the incubus during feeding. They can’t really seem to help it. It just means the lover gets laid at least twice.

                Now, since Eunhyuk was still in his juvenile form when he fed because of the malnourishment and years of abuse, his little body wouldn’t have been able to handle that much at once but nobody knew exactly what would happen. Everyone was hoping he was still young enough and that he’d be able to grow some more before his adult incubus instincts took over, but it was so difficult for Teukie to estimate his age because of that tard who starved and abused him and Hyuk retarding Eunhyuk’s growth so badly, and Woonie was never a carer so had absolutely no idea. From what Wookie experienced though, there was a giant surge of power or something that slammed him off his chair he’d been sitting in opposite the door in case he was needed, and smacked him into the floor. Your guess is as good as anyone else as to what Eunhyuk looks like now, or how it will affect Hyuk since they’re bonded, or if they’ll stay imprinted on Donghae.”

                “All I saw was a skinny back and flat . Could’ve been either of the monkeys since I never saw a head.”  Heechul settled back in his chair and uncharacteristically chewed on his lip as he thought. He never even noticed Kyuhyun getting up to help the others in the kitchen and had no idea how much later it was when he was smacked in the head with what turned out to be a rolled-up newspaper.

                “Earth to Heechul. Come eat. You’ve been drafted to help Teuk charm everyone tonight instead of brooding” Kyuhyun smirked again as the older man lunged out of his chair and tried to grab the other as he ran to the dining area.

                “What about Fishy and the monkeys? Donghae is always starving after ” Heechul asked as Jungsoo forced him into a chair and handed him a plate before he could strangle Kyuhyun for hitting him.

                “The biggest slow cooker is full of meat and veggies and on warm and same thing with the big rice cooker since we have no idea when they’ll be done or how much either of them will eat. There is a giant note they can’t miss telling them where the food is including Eunhyuk’s strawberry cake and Donghae’s chocolate cookies and what to do with any leftovers and where everyone will be. Now quit fussing and eat before you go make yourself drop dead y” Jungsoo leaned over and pecked Heechul on the temple before picking up his chopsticks and shoving kimchi and rice into their lover’s mouth so he’d get the hint and shut up.

                Finally, everyone was full and the dishwasher loaded and kitchen cleaned up. Deciding he’d rather not have on a full stomach when he already had to travel as though he were toothpaste being squeezed out of the tube, Yesung kissed his lovers goodbye, waved, and headed down to the sub-basement where the entrance to the demon realms Leeteuk created when they all first moved in was. He took a deep breath, made sure Jongwoon was fully unconscious so he wouldn’t be damaged by being a human where he didn’t belong, reviewed everything they managed to uncover about Eunhyuk and Hyukjae so he could estimate the time frame he went missing to hopefully narrow down his search for parents or carers and batchmates and forced himself through the tiny hole.

                “Everyone all set?” Leeteuk was back in charge of the body, fluttering his wings to make sure he had no loose feathers. The only things he wore besides his bracelets were a pair of tight white short shorts that made their bulge stand out and their look fantastic, and their thigh high heeled leather boots.

                Kyuhyun whistled. “Damn Boss. You trying to give everyone a heart attack?” He was in his usual black leather vest, pants, and boots, and adjusted his bracelets so they wouldn’t get in the way of making drinks, while Ryeowook fussed over him and made sure there were no spots or anything. The multi-natured demon had changed to a red velvet loincloth, which should have looked ridiculous but didn’t, and had his own bracelets.

                Heechul was the last to enter, and Leeteuk suddenly regretted his own wardrobe choice and had to exercise every ounce of self-control he had not to drag their lover into the bedroom and him into next week. The full human had pulled his long hair back and styled it into loose curls that looked soft as a cloud, and went well with his makeup, light pink lips and cheeks, and mascara and a soft dusting of sparkling eye shadow that made his already big eyes stand out even more. He wore a ruffled silk top that laced partway up the front and showed off his midriff, with matching leggings that were so tight there was no way he was even wearing a thong, as well as silk slippers that laced up his legs like ballet toe shoes.

                “I take it back Boss. Heechul is the one who’s going to kill all the customers” Kyuhyun said, shaking his head as though to clear it.

                “Well, you all didn’t want me brooding over Fishy so might as well drown in attention instead” Heechul commented, checking the catch on his bracelets.

                Leeteuk took the beautiful man’s arm and whispered in his ear as they headed toward the stairs. “Don’t wear yourself out too much tonight. After the club closes I’m planning on doing my best to you so hard we end up through the mattress.” What he and Jungsoo really wanted was to spoil Heechul with small presents and romantic dates, but they had to settle for what he allowed.

                “I look forward to it” the beautiful man said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Before I forget, for you non-American English speakers/readers who know rubbers as something else or maybe haven't heard of them, over here at least in the US rubbers is one of our many many slang terms for condoms. Don't know if the Canadians use the term or not since I don't discuss condoms with Canadians.