Fandom: The PowerPuff Girls (original version – 2002 designs)

Rating: Adult

Genre: Romance

Pairing(s): HIMxSnake, AcexSnake

Warnings: Slash, MxM, explicit sex, violence, rape, domestic abuse, language, Original Characters, mention of PPGZ characters (Znake, Ivy)

Summary: After getting tired of Ace's Not-Quite-Friends-With-Benefits and other abuses, Snake agrees to go on a date with his older sister's friend. The trouble is, her friend is none other than His Infernal Majesty – otherwise known as HIM. Is Snake jumping from bad to worse, and just how is Ace going to react when he finds out?

Disclaimer: The characters within this story are the creative property of Craig McCracken, with the exceptions of Belinda Ingleberry and Dr Hitomi Ingleberry, who remain my own characters, and Znake and Ivy, who are male/female versions of the same character, and are the property of the PPGZ creators. The idea to separate them as twin siblings is my personal headcanon.

Chapter 7 – HIM – Possession

Chapter-Specific Warnings: Sex references, M/M

Many people believe that demons cannot love. Given the revulsion with which they respond to human love, it is far from an unreasonable assumption.

It is, however, completely wrong.

Demons are very capable of both feeling and accepting love, but their way of doing so is different to humans.

HIM was no different; he had many people that he loved. Not many people would believe it to see them interact, of course, but those people hardly mattered.

He loved his parents, obviously, though he couldn't always say that he liked them. Being gods, his father was neutrally aligned and his mother was good. Neither of them tried to stop his alignment to evil, but there were only so many times that he could listen to their lectures and insist that it wasn't a phase.

Phases didn't last for millenia, after all...

He loved his sister, Angelique, dearly. He was fiercely overprotective of her, for she was tiny and prone to moments of naivete – she looked up to her eldest brother, for a start! They also shared a similar style in spite of looking so different and had compatible senses of humour, so spending time with her was always enjoyable. She was also very useful for keeping up communications with their parents, for her position as youngest child and only daughter meant she could do no wrong in their eyes.

As for his brother, he loved him too – though he would never admit it. That was where the differences in how demons loved began to show...

They had never shared embraces or other obvious signs of affection, but that was not to say that they did not care for one another. There was a definite possessiveness to their relationship, a fury if the other was hurt by someone other than themselves. HIM had personally levelled cites, both personally or by bringing about natural disaster, in response to his brother being injured by the enemy of the time. His brother was much weaker than him, as well as ridiculous, badly dressed, and irrationally afraid of the cold. But as his older brother, saying such things were not only his right, but expected. Woe betide the fools who tried to do the same...

He would insist that these acts of vengeance were simply a matter of maintaining his own honour: an insult against any of his family would indirectly reflect on HIM. But deep down, there was another thing that would continue to fuel his ire, something that was coated in the affection he denied was there...

Nobody was allowed to hurt his brother except HIM! Anyone who even thought of hurting his family – those who were his – would have to pay with suffering at the very least. If he'd had the chance, he would have proven that very thing to Ace, even if his actions hadn't been entirely his fault...

He was surprised at how quickly he had grown so fond of Snake. Before he had met his lover's sister, Belinda, he had never seen the boy as more than an idiotic teenaged brat – one who had seen no danger in prank calling the PowerPuff girls. Then Snake's sister, the infectious Belinda, had stumbled her way into the diner with her satchel stuffed with books. He knew she looked familiar, but quickly got distracted by her complete lack of fear in his presence. Curious, he found himself getting befriended by her, fascinated by her cheerful and friendly demeanour. When she got into medical school, he invited her to the Boogie man's private club to celebrate. Without a moment's hesitation, she had cheerfully accepted, though she had seemed worried when she first stepped through the 'door.' Soon enough, she realised that she wasn't in any danger from the monsters and was quickly surrounded by freakish admirers – until the Boogie man himself caught sight of her.

HIM had certainly never considered the idea of his childhood friend being attracted to this bubbly teenager, but attracted he was...very attracted indeed! Belinda surprised him too, visibly impressed by the grey-skinned monster and flirting back with equal keenness. She was clever too – not giving him anything beyond smiles and fluttered eyelashes while still making it clear that more was attainable. HIM could be nothing but amazed – the girl was impressive!

After a few weeks, just before she was due to head off to start her studies, she had seemed distracted. Gentle probing had eventually revealed that she was worried about her little brother Sanford, who was better known by the name Snake.

Apparently, Belinda was concerned that her brother wouldn't cope well with her leaving – given their closeness growing up. He had befriended a group of teenagers who had green skin like he had and called themselves the Ganggreen Gang – HIM had made noises that the name was familiar but missed out the fact he had beaten them up not too long ago – and was spending a lot of time with them. While she liked three of them, it was the gang's leader, Ace, that she was concerned about. She knew that her brother liked him – a lot – even though Snake was well out of his league, but Ace just saw him as something to use. Snake had introduced them to her a few months before, upon which Ace had almost immediately prepositioned her in front of her brother and the other three. Disgusted, she had rejected him outright and made it very clear that he had overstepped the mark with her. He had taken her rejection badly, clearly not used to being told no. He practically spat at her whenever he had to speak to her and had made it clear he didn't want her around. She was worried that Ace would take out his anger on her brother – he had already been coming home with so many bruises - who seemed even more infatuated with the horrible teen. She had asked HIM what she should do to make sure Snake was safe. HIM had suggested that she tell her brother about her concerns. He would value her opinion and no doubt his infatuation would quickly lessen if Ace behaved like this with other girls. She wasn't happy, but agreed.

He had only heard from her occasionally when she started her course, though he found out from Boogie that she had gotten a tattoo and gone on a few dates with him. There had been no mention of her brother until she returned after her exams.

Then he'd had a phone call. Whispering because Snake was in the bath – a sight he had since enjoyed more than once – she asked him what else she could do. Ace and Snake had started having sex some time ago and Snake had gotten a black eye as a result of their last liaison. She was planning to bring him to the diner, in the hope they could talk some sense into her love-blinded brother together. HIM had thought that his presence would only terrify Snake into agreeing to anything just to get away, but Belinda gave him little choice in the matter when she hung up abruptly.

A couple of hours later, she dragged – literally – her terrified brother into the diner. Snake watched him greet his sister like a deer caught in headlights, obviously stunned and confused by what he was seeing, before being pulled to sit down. HIM had spotted the blackened eye as soon as they had walked in, but he waited until he had put Snake's pancakes – his favourite – down in front of him.

It was when he had a hold of Snake's chin that he noticed the teenager's scales. He knew that Belinda had scales growing sporadically on her face and body, which she kept covered up with her clothes and make-up. She had told him that her siblings all had more scales than she had, with Ivy and Sanford being completely covered like their mother, but he had not realised just how exquisite they were until he was in close proximity to them. Like tiny dragon scales, they caught the light with flashes of green and blue, turning red when he blushed as though each one were filling with blood. The bruise under his eye was a literal offense, daring to ruin Snake's developing beauty.

It was only then that he had realised just how similar Snake and Belinda looked, yet Snake was that little bit more pleasing to his eyes.

The flirting came naturally, encouraged by Snake's positive reactions and flirting back. Eventually, HIM had decided to send a message to the Boogie Man alerting him to Belinda's presence in the diner, doing his friend a favour while simultaneously distracting Belinda enough for him to focus more on Snake.

Snake responded even more positively than he had hoped when he asked him out – barely containing his giddiness as he agreed to their date, worrying only about what he should wear. He had to leave shortly afterwards, regrettably, but HIM found himself looking forward to the date – so much, in fact, that he endured Boogie's teasing without reproach for almost a minute!

On the night of their date, Snake had looked positively edible in the tight jeans and wide-collared jumper! He had decided that they would go to one of his favourite restaurants for their date, which had impressed Snake from the moment they arrived. It had never occurred to HIM that the location – on the banks of the styx – would be impressive, but Snake's wide-eyed expression was certainly not faked. He had chosen the restaurant as it was somewhere he felt comfortable, yet he found himself almost entranced by the wonder with which his date looked around them.

He was also pleased by the way that Snake was willing to try things when offered them, sipping thoughtfully at the nectar he had ordered for them and leaning curiously over their shared starter. Their conversation, though mundane in subject manner, was sparkling in its enthusiasm. Snake didn't hang on his every word like a mindless sycophant – which HIM was now truly embarrassed to think that he had expected – but listened as he spoke. He absorbed HIM's words with genuine interest, punctuating the attentiveness with questions that proved he had. His laughter was genuine and his pleasure natural. HIM felt his interest in the teenager growing stronger.

He'd wanted to kiss Snake not long after they had sat down, had seen the hopeful glances cast his way as they had leaned over their starter. He had resisted until Snake had taken a mouthful of venison. It was clearly an involuntary act, but as Snake swallowed the morsel he had licked his lips...

Except, he hadn't. Instead of running over his lips and retreating back between them, the forked tongue had danced over them, tempting – almost daring him to chase it as it retreated. It had been all he could do to stop himself from dragging the boy over the table to ravage his mouth, but managed to catch his chin and pull him into their first kiss.

Snake had responded positively to that kiss, as well as the ones that followed while they waited for dessert. His lips were soft and smooth every time they pressed against his own, keeping him hungry for more.

He got a proper kiss when their date ended, after Snake agreed to see him again two nights later and was far from disappointed. His hunger for the teen intensified from a smouldering desire to an inferno. He longed to seize the boy, to spirit him away and take him until both were reduced to a sweating, breathless messes. He yearned to hear the sounds his attentions would pull from Snake's throat: the moans, the pleas for mercy...or for more.

But he held back from doing these things, deciding instead to wait until Snake made the move himself. He could see a similar desire burning brighter each time he looked into the other's red eyes, could see the question hovering on his lips. It would not be long...

So he had 'amused' himself by identifying potential threats to Snake's affection for him.

The most obvious threat would be Belinda – she was guaranteed to have Snake's ear whenever she needed it. He would keep an eye on her, certainly, but he didn't think she was any danger to him right now. She liked HIM, after all, as he had become her friend first and there was nothing about him that had put her off so far, nor had he given her reason to. Not to mention, he had an insurance policy in the form of Boogie, who was now definitely dating the girl for real. If Belinda's opinions of him began to sour, HIM would have plenty of warning.

The only other threat – if you could call them that – were the other members of the Ganggreen Gang. At first he had disregarded Big Billy, Grubber and Lil Arturo as beneath his concerns, until Snake had started talking about them. It was clear that his little lover held them in high enough esteem that their opinions would hold some weight too. Yet, he was certain that he could intimidate all three of them into silence if they ever did muster the courage to speak out against him without causing physical harm.

That only left Ace...

Snake had only mentioned Ace occasionally during their times together, but it had been enough to demonstrate that some romantic affection still lingered there. HIM did not like the prospect of a clearly lesser male standing as a rival for Snake's affections, so Ace had to be removed.

Killing him would be out of the question, as such a dramatic removal would likely cause Snake to run away. This problem would take a little more cunning to resolve.

He allowed himself a smile as he remembered the discovery of Ace's jealousy. The teenager's fragile ego and superficial self-worth would not allow for anyone to appear better than him. The prospect of Snake – who he regarded as his own personal sex-toy – entering into a proper relationship was far too much for him to bear. Ace had entered into a self-pitying depression upon learning Snake had a boyfriend, going into tearful rages when he was alone and constantly entering into vicious and sulky inner monologues about Snake's 'ingratitude.' He was such a little brat that HIM almost pitied him for it. As it were, he had plenty to work with to make sure Snake's lingering affections were well and truly destroyed.

It had been so simple to stoke the fires of Ace's jealousy whenever Snake talked about the dates they had been on, with the additional bonus of hearing for himself just how happy his little pet was. There was so much raw material to work with that he didn't have to try.

Soon enough, Ace started being outwardly hostile to Snake, to the extent that the others began to speak up in protest. Ace's jealousy was so obvious and Snake's dwindling affections equally so.

There was no way he could have predicted that Ace would try and rape his problems away though! He'd expected that Ace would verbally abuse Snake to breaking point, perhaps even strike him again, but to try forcing Snake into sex...

He hadn't realised until much later, of course, fortunately for the little brat. What he had noticed however, was a sense that his lover needed him and was inadvertently calling him through their fledgeling bond. Following the boy's energy, he was dismayed – and a little guilty – to find Snake in floods of tears in the middle of the dump. Naturally, he had gathered Snake into his arms to comfort him and had noticed the wound on his lover's tear-spattered cheeks. He hadn't needed to, but asked who had hurt him anyway. When Snake had choked out Ace's name, he had seen red and stormed off in the direction of the hideout.

He got in one violent strike, allowing himself a moment to savour Ace's fear and pain even as he raged, before Snake stepped between them. To his own surprise, the sound of Snake's tearful pleas were enough to distract him from his deserving victim. He allowed Snake to persuade him to show ill-deserved mercy and took his boyfriend home to tend his wound.

Once they were there, the little minx changed tactic: going from weepy to seductive as soon as his cheek was healed! No longer annoyed at being denied his fury, HIM sat back and let Snake lure him into a kiss. He was a little surprised when Snake slid into his lap, though delighted at the clear intentions behind the move. Quickly seeking consent – and a second affirmation later on – HIM and Snake finally devoured one another in an intense, sweaty coupling.

He knew Snake was far from virginal – it was one of the things that the boy had over his confident sister – so his lover's lack of nerves was enjoyable. What he hadn't expected was the tightness, especially as Snake had admitted to several lovers in the past as well as regularly being used by Ace before he started dating HIM. Not that he was complaining, even less at the sound of Snake's loud praise of his size and skill.

Their first coupling had been intense and enjoyable, but was over far too quickly. No sooner had HIM's initial desires been sated, they began to burn anew. Fortunately, Snake welcomed him with equal fire for a second, furious coupling. A quick call to a startled Belinda to say he was spending the night, and Snake was back in HIM's arms for what quickly turned into a third coupling, this time ending with Snake riding his cock hard!

Exhaustion had taken them both after that, leaving their sweaty limbs entwined where they slept soundly amid tangled sheets. They had awakened some time later, when Snake found that he was sore – too sore to move! HIM had been obliged to heal his aching body before they took a lovely, hot bath together – with a little heavy petting mixed in. Snake was pleased by the crisp, clean bedding that HIM had switched with the sweat-soaked ones as they had bathed.

They had spent much of the day in that bed, spending the time between couplings and foreplay in snacking or simply curled up together. Even HIM had no idea that the whole day had been spent in this sanctuary until a phone call from Belinda broke the spell. This time, Snake talked to his sister about the previous day – HIM heard how distressed she was and was impressed that her brother could calm her so quickly. Once satisfied that he was okay and safe with HIM, Belinda announced that Boogie had invited her to his club for the evening. By unspoken agreement, Snake stayed another night with his lover.

It was how HIM found himself in bed, comfortable and watching Snake as he slept soundly in his arms.

He had only agreed to speak to Snake...was it really only a week ago...as a favour to the boy's strangely trusting sister. There had been no real romantic intentions and only the vaguest sexual intentions when he had begun, but now...

The more time he spent with Snake, the more he wanted. Even now, watching the boy sleep with his head pillowed against his chest, HIM fought against the urge to wake him. Instead, he admired his little pet's features: his scales which shimmered in the right light; the long, almost feathery lashes that framed his vermilion eyes; his supermodel-delicate features. Even his lips, a rich dark green without their cover of black lipstick, fascinated him – particularly since he had discovered the pleasures they and his wonderful tongue were capable of granting. Snake's long, black hair fanned out over his and HIM's shoulder, until HIM gently ran a claw over it. Making a tiny humming noise, Snake moved closer and snuggled against HIM, his lips curving into a faint smile as he slept and his hair dropped to reveal the smooth scales of his back. Carefully, HIM lifted the covers a little closer around them, wrapping his arms around the boy and kissing the top of his head.

There was no denying that this was a little more than a passing interest, more for both of them. Snake was intoxicating, in a way that HIM could never have imagined from a mortal teenager. Nobody had captivated him so utterly before. Mere weeks before, he had viewed Snake as another pitiful teenager – if at all – who wanted to play at villainy. But now...

He could feel the possessiveness stirring within his breast as he watched Snake sleep. That was something he had to keep in check for a little longer. He had taken pains despite his outrage to make sure that the words he had screamed at Ace sounded slightly different to Snake's ears. Humans were so fussy about being perceived as belonging to a lover, though among demons it was standard behaviour. Given enough time, Snake would see things his way, of that he was certain.

"Oh my sweet little pet!" He sighed softly at his sleeping lover. "I fear that I will never be able to let you go..."