Devil may care... **Cain**

Belphegor's smile slowly faded into irritation. Screwing the customers was par for the course at Hades, you were playing with fire just to think about entering the club after all, but the bouncer's reply had grated at Bel's sensibilities. Hell he was a demon, it had out-and-out pissed him the hell off! No-one but no-one in the Club claimed never to have heard of Belphegor. It stung Bel's limitless vanity to even hear the words spoken. Fury boiled just beneath his skin and had his eyes been open the look in them would have taken years from a mortals life in pure heart-wrenching terror. A lesson was called for...

The bouncer would be glad in a moment that Belphegor was not a creature of Wrath, not beyond being what the essence of his nature dictated anyway. Or perhaps, more likely, he would be wishing for something so simple as physical chastisement. Belphegor rose from the couch in a silent fluid motion and glided toward the door and the unfortunate bouncer. The door jerked itself from the bouncer's grip and slammed itself open noisily as Belphegor willed it to do so, allowing Cain a clear view into the lounge. Bel was suddenly stood very close to the both of them.

He turned his pit-black eyes on the bouncer and lazily stroked his cheek, his fingers running down the man's neck and tracing across his chest. He felt the man's nipples hardening at his touch beneath his tight muscle shirt, and knew that a similar condition was manifesting in his pants. “Do you remember...” he murmured softly, and though his eyes were locked with the bouncer's the words were quite clearly directed to Cain, “...that odd little cult in Sumaria that worshipped the pig as the ultimate manifestation of physical beauty?”

His smile became both more beautiful and more cruel, and his next whispered words were for the bouncer, “That beauty shall now be yours the very moment you perform one simple little task for me. Now begone for you have not pleased me sufficiently this night to be of a mind to tell you what that act might be...” The bouncer fled in terror down the stairs, Bel's malign laughter echoing after him, ringing down the stairwell in a dark and beautiful cacophony.

His dark eyes then turned on Cain and he murmured in his rich, seductive voice, “Welcome son of Adam.” and for a second time in human history, he offered Cain his hand.

Bel gave a wicked chuckle as he took Cain's hand. He was rather pleased that the first born man had survived all that had befallen the world of man. He had been quite proud of what he had achieved at their first meeting and it would have been a shame for it to have ended without coming to a more satisfying fruition. In a twisted way, Cain was a remarkably beautiful and monstrous piece of artwork that insulted the young God by his very existence. The very obscenity of it all had Bel deeply aroused and knowing intimately the blasphemous power of Cain's lingering touch it was as good as foreplay. He ran his tongue over his lips at Cain's suggestion and leered. “Ever the feisty one...” he purred.

He squeezed Cain's hand a little tighter and pulled him closer so their bodies brushed together. Bel's tight black jeans and vest did nothing to conceal his excitement at the prospect of claiming Cain's company again. “You and I...” he growled softly, “have I think some catching up to do, as they say, do you not agree?” His hand cupped Cain's face, brushing the side of his cheek and lingering to caress the line of his jaw. Cain had been the first, the archetype for all who came after, and Belphegor found the originality of his beauty a breath of fresh air.

“Come. Sit with me.” Bel smirked as he turned away, Cain could release his hand or be led by it, Bel left him the choice. Already he was pondering how he could use Cain's presence in New Vegas to his advantage, but also far more carnal thoughts were becoming pre-eminent in his mind. Even after the passing of millennia, there was something primevally sinful about Cain and his sins had grown no less with time. There was no need, Bel reflected, to make the others aware of Cain, the son of Adam was most definitely his and not something he felt inclined to share. The door closed again behind Cain with a certain finality.

Bel still remembered their first meeting vividly and he had thoroughly enjoyed himself instructing the unique young man. The prospect of testing what he had learned since with the years that Bel had taught him how to harvest was intriguingly tempting. Cain had it seemed been practising his self control, his lust and gluttony both leashed...for now. His reaction to Bel was however still acceptably gratifying, as his body responded with the same intoxicated desire that Belphegor's ego demanded as tribute. The corrupted years of Bel's essence flowed into Cain through his touch and he pouted a kiss at him as the man's hand reluctantly slipped from his as he took a seat. All games aside Belphegor was curious to know what had brought Cain to his door.

Belphegor was not yet certain why it was so important to the light-bringer that he and his brothers were here in New Vegas, but it was important. Enough so that Levi had not yet vented his wrath on Mammon for the stunt he had pulled over leaving Lilith behind. There could be no other reason that Mammon was still breathing other than Levi had direct instructions to that effect. Both Bel and Lilith knew him well enough that him letting that issue go was not conceivable. However, what Bel knew or did not know about Lucifer's plans was not up for discussion and confessing ignorance to anyone just wasn't going to happen any time in this creation. He slid back into his seat, his arm draping casually and tauntingly just out of Cain's easy reach.

“It is a place not without its own special appeal.” Bel smirked. The club Hades did provide the demons with a good base of operations from which to indulge their particular pleasures and vices and New Vegas was as beautifully sinful in its own unique way as the old Las Vegas had ever been. Being here was infinitely preferable to the tedious battle in heaven, though Bel had taken a particular twisted pleasure in muse hunting there. Cain's presence here was however something that claimed his attention more thoroughly than any such reminiscence. “It is not often that one purports to seek me out by name... it has been a long time my young friend,” Belphegor graced Cain with a sultry smile, briefly flashing his perfect white teeth. “...and so I must wonder what it is exactly that you have come here seeking from me?” Bel was playing coy but Cain most definately had him hooked.

A waitress, stunningly beautiful with a cascade of red-blonde hair and brilliant green eyes, discretely approached Cain to take his drink order. She never spoke a word, merely presenting him with a drink menu and waiting on his instructions which she would acknowledge with a small nod before withdrawing. Her eyes were constantly drawn to Belphegor who did not deign to notice her presence in any way.

Belphegor's smile twitched in amusement as Cain took hold of the waitress' hand, though he made no other move. “An interesting decision would it not be...?” Bel murmured still without actually looking at her, his eyes roaming lustfully over Cain, “...if one were forced to choose between youth and beauty.” and his tongue slid suggestively over his lips as he eyed Cains groin. “The two are far from synonymous...” he mused, “...but humans have developed such a penchant for mutilating their language since Babel. Could a human make the correct choice do you think? I am quite curious to see.” His smile became entirely wicked. “Perhaps a small wager my friend?”

The woman's terrified eyes flickered back and forth between Bel and Cain beseechingly, her fear growing more and more intense as they continued to converse as if she were not there. Her desperate looks became more focused on Cain, perhaps finally it had sunk in to her shallow mind that there could be no mercy from a Demon, however beautiful he was. “Would it be a difficult choice?” Bel continued softly, his voice becoming even more seductive as he raised a questioning brow at the one human to whom age was everything and nothing. “I find it difficult to really envisage it a choice at all...”

The red-gold glow to the woman's hair began to fade and strands of pure silver gradually emerged and became more prevalent, the effect however was almost superior to the original state. Her skin loosened as the elasticity faded, becoming soft as a breath and taking on a perfect pearly translucence. The blush of youth retreated leaving in its wake a maturing elegance. Years ticked away, flowing steadily from her to Cain but still however the terrified woman clung to her beauty, ageing with a gentle dignity that refused to fail or mar her unnatural perfection. “I think we can find some way to remain entertained...” Bel purred.

Bel smirked as the woman hastened away. It was not the abject fear of demon-kind that the humans generated that amused him so much, it did not take a Prince of Hell to inspire such fear in so frail a creature as mortal man. It was their uncertainty that tickled him, the terror that they had somehow made a mistake, a wrong choice, the hanging sword of Damocles that haunted their every waking moment and sapped all pleasure from their short and shallow existence. Why waste your time endlessly torturing a soul when you could have them do it to themselves for you? One could start an avalanche by shaking the mountain or by precisely dropping a single snowflake. Bel's preferred option was always the clever one.

Cain truly was unique amongst men. Bel would possess beauty or ruin it, it was just his way, Vanity and Envy were brothers and Bel was intimately familiar with Levi's sin. Many angels had paid the price for challenging Bel's vanity and their beauty was now forever lost to the world. A small prickle at the back of his mind reminded him that Jophiel was not yet entirely lost, not whilst Michael continued to exist, but all things in their own time. Tonight was for enjoying Cain who was possessed of a beauty that was not Bel's doing, and strangely that he found rather than offensive, both alluring and intensely arousing. But then Cain's clever wickedness was now far more Bel's creation than that of his father's father, and a creature as vain as Bel could not help but adore that which he had a hand in forging.

It pleased him when Cain moved closer, Bel wanted to take pleasure in his company and that meant enjoying his body at least as much as his wit. His hand slid onto Cain's thigh and squeezed hard, a pleasure just short of painful, and his fingertips danced along his inner thigh hinting at a journey they might make very soon. Bel growled deeply at Cain's light caress, his eyes becoming hooded as he breathed in the very human male musk generated by Cain's aroused body. Cain's memory was not at all flawed. The first born man truly was a sinful creature and the scent of wickedness that Bel inhaled from him with each breath was a sweet perfume to his senses.

“Because you have wit and taste...” Bel purred, modesty being a virtue had no place in his repertoire of responses. That said, the demon had nothing whatsoever to be modest about. To say Bel was beautiful was like saying the sea was full of water, without water a sea was just a hole in the ground. Bel wasn't just beautiful he was beauty. His every word, every move, every breath was something to die for... or kill for. The number of mortals who had done exactly that, or acts far more heinous than simple murder, for just a taste of that beauty for themselves was not something easily counted. The atmosphere in Sloth was becoming so charged that several of the other patrons were heading quietly away in the direction of Lust...

The waitress returned to the table with their drinks and almost stumbled in sudden terrified confusion as she tried to figure out which one of them to serve first. Oh, the sweet torture of self-doubt was something Bel would never tire of. Trembling she placed Bel's drink in front of him, her eyes still filled with a fragile light close to worship. Then she moved to Cain and placed his drink before him also, but this time her eyes were locked on to his face, desperate to please. Bel did not even seem to notice she had returned as he shivered lightly, his focus entirely on Cain. Of course anyone fool enough to believe Bel was easily entirely distracted was being hopeful in the extreme. He growled again lustfully and his hand began to wander.