If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm quite the fan of Shadow Hearts: Covenant. Amon, Astaroth...and now Veles. There you go, disclaimer.
One Wing in the Fire (6)
The day that Castiel met Veles, it was raining.
Well, the hell equivalent of raining which was drops of liquid fire pouring from the sky. When Castel had awaken and seen the fire spraying past his window, he was sure that no one would be going outside. But the demons were like children and a lot of them burst through the doors to run through the raining fireballs. Even Amon and Astaroth were looking more pleased than usual.
"Come," Astaroth took Castiel's upper arm and steered him towards the door where Amon was waiting, "There was a new litter of hell hounds born, we're going to inspect them."
"Hell hounds breed?" Castiel was baffled. He was under the assumption that the beasts simply sprang into existence.
"Of course," Astaroth gave him a bemused look; the demon could convey an incredible amount of emotion simply with his eyes, "Where did you think they came from? A stork?"
But when they reached the door, Castile balked. To get to the hell hound pens, one had to cross the courtyard and it was currently raining streaks of fire that splashed across the cobblestones. Castiel did not want to go out in that. Amon, on the other had, was already out in it. His wings were spread wide, his head tilted back, the flames lashing across his face and wings and chest and rolling off as if it really were rainwater and not fire. Castiel didn't think that the flames would be so agreeable with him.
Astaroth seemed to understand this fear because he tightened his grip on the angel's arm in a comforting sort of way. There was a soft rush of air and Castiel found himself under the cover of a wing. He looked up at it, followed the arching violet fingers, and found it springing from Astaroth's back, the exact colors of the Demon Lord's cape. He had never seen Astaroth manifest his wings before and there were every bit as intimidating as Amon's.
"Will this be shelter enough?" The Demon Lord of Fear and Chaos asked in a warm tone and Castiel nodded mutely. Together, they set off into the rain-fire. Castiel pulled his black wings close against his back, even though Astaroth's large wing spread over his head sent the fire tumbling harmlessly to the ground. It was hard not to be a little worried; he had seen angels with their wings aflame. It was not a pleasant thing.
It was only after they had ducked into the safety of the hell hound pens and Astaroth's wings had returned to the Demon Lord's back as a cloak that Castiel relaxed. Amon was at the other end of the pens, talking animatedly with Barry. The hell hound keeper was a burly demon with a stubby tail and iron ram's horns curling out the sides of his head. His bare forearms and tail were covered in scratches and there was a particularly nasty scar across his face. He not only kept the hounds but he also trained them and hell hounds were not the easiest thing to tame.
"…good bunch of pups." Castiel heard Barry saying as they approached, "Big strong ones, like war machines, they are. Except…"
"Except what?" Amon peered at Barry, squinting his eyes between the belts on his face.
"There is one problem." There was a tentative edge to Barry's voice. He leaned over the edge of the pen he was standing in front of, yelled over the yipping snarls that came from the other side, and then withdrew, "This is the problem."
Held between two of his large fingers, dangling by the scruff of its neck, was a hell hound pup. It was a tiny thing, barely bigger than pencil case, with a smoky, grayish body instead of the usual pitch black and large, molten red eyes that actually didn't look all the threatening. It simply hung in Barry's grasp, staring at around at them, it's unusually long tail curled up between its hind legs. Castiel thought it actually looked kind of cute.
"It's tiny!" Amon scoffed, leaning closer and prodding the pup with a claw. The hell hound sniffed his finger, yipped, and then snapped at it, "At least it's got some bite to it…"
"Not even half as much as its brothers." Barry grumbled, shaking the pup so that it swayed between his fingers, "It's a pathetic runt." He looked to his master, "What should we do with it?"
Amon looked to Astaroth who shrugged. Castiel was a little surprised, he thought for sure the demons would have said destroy it. Anyone else would have.
"Maybe we should give it to Crowley." Amon sniggered.
"That would only piss him off." Astaroth sighed and Amon laughed, saying that was the point.
"May I have it?"
The two brothers looked around at Castiel. The angel had never asked for anything in the year he'd been with them, simply taken what was given and quietly accepting what was not.
"You want a hell hound runt?" Amon asked skeptically, "Why?"
Castiel remained silent because he didn't really have a reason. He dropped his gaze from Amon's face to the floor, unable to find an answer. Astaroth chuckled, reached over, plucked the pup from Barry's hand, and held it out to the former angel. Castiel blinked at him and then gently took the tiny creature in his arms. The tiny thing squirmed in his arms, yipping loudly. It was surprisingly heavy, despite its smoky appearance, and the smoke itself felt like warm water across his skin.
"Whoa, hey, Cas is smiling!" Amon cried, pointing dramatically at the angel, and Castiel realized that, yes, he was smiling. A little.
"What are you going to name him?" Astaroth asked and at first, Castiel thought the Demon Lord was joking. But when he looked up and met those pitch black eyes, it was clear that Astaroth was being completely serious.
"I can name him?"
"Yeah," Amon snorted, crossing his arms, "Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, whatever, whatever, whatever. Just not Rudolf."
Castiel's brow furrowed slightly, "Why would I not name him Rudolf?"
"It's a…no, Cas, it's a song." Amon tried to explain, "It's a Christmas song that humans sing."
Castiel blinked and tilted his head slightly, "I don't understand."
"It's fine," Astaroth assured him as Barry muttered something about sappy soap opera moments and ducked into one of the hell hound pens, "Just name him whatever you'd like."
Castiel held the pup out and looked at it, at him. He was perfectly still again, staring at the angel with those absurdly large red eyes. A pink tongue suddenly lolled out of his mouth between teeth of tiny steel and he appeared to be smiling.
"Veles." Castiel said, pulling the pup back to his chest where its tiny steel claws tangled with belts strapped across his front, "His name is Veles."
"A being born from the unclean darkness," Astaroth was smiling again, "A creature that breeds ill will and steals reason. You are very clever in your naming, Castiel."
For some reason, Castiel felt immensely pleased with himself.
He was feeling less pleased after several hours with the hell hound pup.
Veles lived up to his pedigree in all but size. And the fact that he was more apt to be vicious towards the furniture than people. Well, furniture and anything that trailed across the ground like scarves or robes. Or wings. The feathers of Castiel's wings sometimes brushed across the carpets of the castle, especially when he was feeling lazy or upset, and Veles had taken to pouncing on them. At first it had been funny, a game almost. The hell hound would leap at the feathers and Castiel would twitch them out of the pup's reach and Veles would pause, looking around for his target before the whole thing started all over again.
But Castiel got tired before Veles was done. He had turned away, reaching for one of the books on the shelf in his room, when a sharp pain made him spin back around again. Veles had clamped his steel teeth onto a mouthful of Castiel's feathers and was not letting go. No matter how high the former angel lifted his ebony wings or how much he shook them, the stubborn hell hound refused to release the feathers in his mouth. And Castiel loathed to pull the feathers out, they were too big, too important for flight, and would take too long to grow back.
He was trying to coax the hell hound to let go when the door burst open and Amon strolled in, Astaroth at his heels,
"Hey Castiel," The Demon Lord of Wrath bellowed, "We were thinking of going on a hunt! How would you like to—whoa!" Amon ducked as a feathered wing was suddenly thrust in face.
"Please remove him." Castiel said through clenched teeth.
It too the two demon brothers a moment to realize what Castiel was talking about. And then Amon started laughing as he caught sight of Veles dangling from the feathers at the end of the angel's wing.
"It is not funny, Amon, it is very painful." Castiel scowled at the Demon Lord, "Please remove him from my wing."
"I'm sorry, Cas," Even Astaroth was chuckling, one hand pressed over his gasmask as though he was hiding the smile that was showing clearly in his eyes, "But…it is actually kind of funny."
"I do not think so." The former angel muttered, shaking his wing in their faces, "I cannot get him to let go. Please help me to remove him."
"Hahaha, here, I'll show you a trick." Amon's laughter pealed out and he reached for Veles' muzzle, "Barry showed me this once when one of the hounds decided to try and take a chunk out of my leg."
The Demon Lord pressed his first finger and thumb against the corners of Veles' mouth, pinching slowly and gently until he had forced the hell hounds' jaw apart. Veles squirmed in the demon's hand, tongue lolling, yipping sharply at Amon for running his fun.
"Here," Amon held out the squirming hell hound puppy and Castiel scooped Veles up in his hands, pulling him close to his chest. The hell hound twisted and licked the former angel's chin.
"Haha, hey, he's smiling again!" Amon pointed out enthusiastically. Apparently, the showing of emotion pleased the Demon Lord to no end for no conceivable reason.
"We should start a tally." Astaroth said lightly, eyes crinkling at the corners which meant he was smiling, "Or have a feast since this is the first time I think we've seen him actually smile."
"Feast!" Amon roared, raising a hand to the ceiling and turning to stalk out the door, his pointed tail sweeping back and forth. His voice echoed down the hall as he shouted, "Feast! We're having a feast! All of the steaks and potatoes! And pie! Lots of pie!"
Astaroth chuckled and motioned for Castiel to follow. The former angel obediently trotted after the taller Demon Lord, still holding the squirming Veles in his hands. All in all, this was probably the best day he had had in Hell. And that was saying something.