James, The West Wing.
James was lounging in his room, sitting comfortably in his grey wing-backed chair, lost in the book he was reading.
The knock came quietly first and then there was silence. "James?" A familiar voice came from the other side; it sounded apprehensive but nevertheless, restless. "May I come in?"
James marked the page he was on and then put back the book on top of a few others in the rounded-table beside him. Thereafter, he took off his glasses, which he only used to read, leaning back very shortly after. "Of course, brother."
The door opened slowly; it's creaking sound quite disturbing. Erik peeked through.
"You know Erik, you don't have to be all 'ceremonial' about this. You're the King after all." James stated.
"Yeah, yeah. I know" Erik roughly scratched his neck. "It wouldn't seem right anyway." He said while he closed the door leisurely.
James frowned suspiciously; something was significantly wrong with his brother, James could tell, however, he couldn't pin out what exactly was troubling him. Well, he could try and make Erik open up to him, that way he would know. As growing up, he had found it impossible to talk to his brother about anything of the sort. They took quite different paths from each other. All of them took. The Demon Lord, their father, has focused his energies on teaching James. He taught him to war and strategy as well as showed him the way to obtain and to satisfy the heart's egoistic wants through rage and violence, while purposely ignoring the rest of his sons. In accordance, the rest of the boy's educations were taken by their respective mothers. Education was a chance to better yourself, to learn, and to grow both intellectually and physically; in the Demon Realm, it was more of some kind of guidance throughout the ways of a demon than education itself. But getting to the point, all of this to explain that, part of the reason that Erik's not such a talkative person due to his mother's education, making it difficult to approach him. He was taught mainly, above the 'at your service' and 'sweet words' facade, to be the most submissive as possible and to hide his feelings from others' pry eyes wherein, Erik constantly appeased to. It was possible to see that, with time, it all became a horrid, bad habit, and that persona stuck to him. Every darn day of his life, he had to put on a blunt mask and, so he did it not because he was overly complimentary and obnoxious with his flirtatious act but, did it in order to gain trust and respect. So, James knew that it would be hard for that to happen and, even harder, for Erik to confide in him.
"I-I came here to..." Erik started.
"Yes?"
"W-Well... how should I put this?" James could see he was having trouble speaking out his mind.
"Sit." James' voice echoed through the room.
Erik's eyes widened in surprise. "S-Sure."
James was sitting, legs crossed and fingers intertwined over one knee. He leaned forward and watched his brother sit in a similar chair right in front of him.
Erik sat down heavily in the broad chair, seemed almost to dive into it.
"I can tell something is up. Did you have a fight with Sarah?" James asked.
Erik waved his hand dismissively. "No, no! It's nothing like that"
"You know you can talk with, right? We're brothers."
"Yeah, I know, it's just that..." Erik rubbed his hands in an attempt to send the trembling away since it was becoming out of control; it was his troubled private life getting the best of him.
"Just what? If you don't tell me, I can't help you Uzaeris." James called out his demon name in order to reach him on a deeper level.
Erik gazed down, observing thoughtfully the palm of his hands; they curled up into a firm, close fist after a few seconds. With a mournful sigh, he dropped the bomb. "Something extremely wrong is happening to me."
Jame suddenly tensed up. His smile was a taunt and there's a slight tremor in his cheek."Wrong? How so?" And he hoped; he hoped that he wouldn't regret later asking that very question.
Erik stared at his brother; his gaze didn't flinch even for a single second. "I've started to feel this..." He grabbed onto his chest. "... sick, twisted desire inside."
"When did all of that started?"
"When that human girl came along." Erik promptly answered. "You know who I'm talking about, right?"
"Hm-hm." James crossed his arms over his chest. "Go on."
"She claims to be the 'real Sarah' and that I've been fooled around by a 'fake' one, under some kind of spell--!" Erik explained.
"And you believe her?" James plainly asked.
"Of course I don't! I mean--! Indeed Sarah's been acting strange lately but, that doesn't necessarily mean that she's been naughty with me or fraud of any kind."
"And, what about those 'feelings' you've told me... are they for..."
Erik dropped his gaze; a shadow of guilt darkened his amethyst eyes.
"Common. You can tell me. We're in a free judgmental environment." James pressed the issue.
"They are for this new girl. She awakes certain emotions inside that I would never expect for another person beyond Sarah to." He confessed, "Just earlier, I did something I shouldn't have..."
James raised an inquiring eyebrow at his brother, "What did you just do, Uzaeris?"
He sighed in exasperation. "I fingered her?"
James rubbed his temples, not believing his brother's words. Nevertheless, he wasn't there to judge but to listen to his brother's troubles. Besides, who was he to judge? He too did some things in the sex-field throughout his life that he was not entirely proud of."Let me asked you this, does Sarah continue to awake those same emotions 'til this very day?"
Erik relaxed his shoulders in acknowledgment of the situation. "To be honest with you, not anymore. I'm scared, Raestrao. Don't I love her anymore? Or, even worse... did I never loved her?"
James was silent for the first time in decades. He didn't know what to say to ease his brother's mind and heart. Who was him to say that those doubts weren't legit? At some point in time James, as for the rest of the family, also developed romantic feelings for Sarah. Seeing her falling for another guy, his own brother, right under his nose, hurt him a lot. But, he had to let her go, he couldn't hold on to something that eventually would slip through his fingers. So, to protect himself, he distanced himself. Don't get him wrong, he still holds deep care for her but, nothing more than that anyway. He respected her very much, and he didn't hold a grudge for either of them. In the end, those 'strong feelings' quickly disappeared, leaving him only with a sentiment of friendship. He thought that he was in love, which was a totally different concept! She had done so much for him and his brothers, sheltering them, letting them live in the mansion with her when they didn't have anywhere else to go. What happened was that he was in love with the idea of having her to himself, and that was not Love, far from that. So, what assured him that, what he went through a few months ago, was not the same thing that was going on with Erik? That, what Erik felt about Sarah, was nothing more than passion? No. It couldn't be. Every day spent on the Human World, he was able to see the deep Love Erik nourished for that girl; it flourished quite intensely. He would even put himself in front of the fire-line just to assure she would live happily on. If that was not love, he didn't know what it was. Then, it had to be something else behind it.
Erik leaned forward and fully covered his face with his large hands. "Father. Diana. They were both right when they said that, all we demons know is lust. Love is something we will never truly understand or experience."
Triggered by Erik's sentence, James got up and walked up to him; in response, Erik raised up his face. The slap was as loud and clear as a clap. Just below his visible eye, Jame's hands left a huge red mark behind. "Are you listening to what you're saying?"
Erik clutched to his cheek, eyes widened in pure shock.
"We are the masters of emotion. We aren't barred away from feeling Love. In fact, we can experience it ten times more powerfully than humans!" James snapped. "So, never doubt your feelings! It must be something else." He stepped back and tapped his fingers on his crossed arms, giving it a moment to pull his thoughts together.
"What is it, Raestrao?" Erik stood as well, still a bit shaken with the slap-thingy.
"If it is like that girl said, that would explain a few things that have been wandering in my mind for quite some time." He said.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning... I found it very strange when Sarah suggested for your wedding to take place in the Demon Realm, by its rules, and that we haven't returned to the Human Realm yet." James clarified his opinion.
"I was the one who told her about the bonding ritual," Erik stated. "As for the rest, I don't know what to say to you."
James tip-toed, deep in thought. "Knowing our story, she wouldn't ask you, or any of us, to do this. Besides, she would never put away the human costumes. Those costumes are very significant to humans since the wedding day is a really important mark on their lives."
"See?! This is so confusing! Who's telling the truth?!" Erik yelled frustrated as he roughly grabbed his hair.
"Don't worry Uzaeris. I'll get to the bottom of this." James rested him assured, "I'll seek the truth." and tapped his brother's shoulder. The truth could be a strange notion, for it always relied on perspective and that gave enough food for the thought. Did it worked like imprisonment, or did it strive like freedom, like a key to a lock? The one thing that was known for sure was: the truth could hurt.
"Then, what do you suggest I do?"
"Lay low for now. Don't let either of them know that you are onto something, we don't know which one is lying." James instructed. "Go on with your life normally."
Erik gulped down feeling the awkwardness sinking in once more, "That will be a bit... difficult. But I'll try." But, nevertheless nodded in agreement. Soon, he exited the room, leaving James to the silent comfort of his room.
James sat once again on his grey wing-backed chair. He put on his glasses and opened the book from before, resuming his reading.