Demon's Web, teaser.

Wandering down by the lighthouse, Marcus feels a cold chill run the full length of his spine and shudders deeply. The distinct sensation of being watched creeping along and seemingly burrowing into the top of his head. Instinctively he looks up and on the landing that runs around the top of the lighthouse, he sees someone looking down at him. Quite taken aback by this and wondering who on Earth that is and how they got here. The older man looks over towards the empty jetty in the cove, then back up at the landing. The man has gone and convinced that he must have stepped back inside, Marcus quickly makes his way to the lighthouse door. If there's someone here, then perhaps he missed the Widower? It must have arrived earlier that morning and he was asleep? Does that mean that Spyder hadn't wanted him to leave after all? He won't know the answer to that until he talks to whoever that is up there. So taking the stairs two by two, Marcus makes his way quickly up. Coming out into the large circular room, he sees the tall figure standing with his back to him by the door smoking a cigarette and approaches almost cautiously.

"Hi there," he grunts, lifting a hand in greeting.

"Hello there," the man replies, not even bothering to turn and look back at him. Now much closer, Marcus can see that the guy is much taller than Spyder, and his long black hair that reaches down to a spot between his shoulder blades, is pulled back into a loose pony tail, revealing a nicely tanned neck. The casual way the guy is resting his weight on one hip, with one arm folded over his chest with the elbow of the other resting against it. Tells Marcus that whoever he is, he's pretty nicely relaxed. Almost as though he belongs here? It's just at that moment that the older man catches sight of the guys fingernails, and instantly that shudder up his spine returns. They're not so much fingernails as they are claws. Lucifer's description of Ray suddenly wheels around in his head, and he takes a very cautious step back.

"Such a lovely view, isn't it?" the guy says softly, taking one last drag then with a red flash of energy, disintegrating the butt of his cigarette between his fingers. This convinces Marcus that he is looking at Ray and is suddenly conflicted. A huge part of him is screaming a warning that is attached to Lou's comment about Ray being a megalomaniac. But the rest of him is urging him forwards, telling him that this guy probably knows Spyder better than anyone else, because he's one of them. Who better to ask advice from, on how to deal with the one he already has?

"Yeah.... Yer Ray aren't you?" Marcus replies a little hesitantly. This makes the guy turn his head slightly, and the moment he does the older man catches the glint in those blood red eyes of his.

"Ahh, someone's been telling tales I see," the Arc demon grins. Bodily turning to face the taller man, Ray invites him to sit as he takes a seat in one of the papasan chairs himself. With just a moments longer hesitation, Marcus finally shoves the cautionary feelings aside and accepts the offer, placing himself in one of the chairs opposite the guy. The brief view under the sheets hadn't really done the man much justice. Because what he's looking at now is giving him other ideas. He can't get Kurt and searching the other universes for others to play with just makes him feel worse, rather than better. So what if he took this guy instead and have a bit of fun with him? He might not have blue skin and a gravity defying pompadour. But he's got the same physique and height that gives him goose flesh. And what he's sporting between his legs certainly brings a rumbling purr to his throat that could vibrate the paint from the walls.

"Um... Yeah, something like that?" Marcus grunts in reply. Lifting a booted foot and placing it on the edge of the coffee table, Ray zaps up two beers with a faint wisp of red smoke, then without even asking, tosses one to Marcus. The older man is shocked, but manages to catch it before it hits him. Not as confident as Kurt. Ray thinks, puffing on his cigarette. That could be a downer. But then he reasons that the first five minutes of meeting him isn't going to tell him everything he needs to know about him.

"Don't give me a reason to read yer mind, because I won't hesitate you know," Ray sighs, cracking open his bottle. With just a tiny glance up at the guy, Marcus looks down at his own bottle before he opens it himself.

The Spyder situation has been grinding on him for over a week. And now this guy has turned up, the older man just can't help but feel as though everything is spiralling out of control. If he doesn't pull himself up out of this slump then he'll never feel right in himself. And the fact of the matter is that he's just not used to not being in control of his surroundings, so that's really what's at the heart of the matter. There's no escaping the controlling atmosphere that Spyder has here. Back at the estate at least he could come and go as he pleased. Which meant that he controlled when the young man would see him. He looks up at Ray and watches the way the light bounces around inside the deep red irises in his eyes. They almost seem to glisten like rubies and the deep black centre of his pupils almost feels like they're drawing him in. He huffs and looks away again, half expecting that he'll feel that foggy sensation that will tell him the guy is indeed reading his mind. Who are you and what do you want? He almost feels like asking. But something in his manner suggests that he needs to play it cool and just let things flow for a while. It'll come to him and maybe that's the best way after all.

"Yeah, I hear yah. Lucifer told me about you," he replies, then takes a large gulp of the golden liquid, swallowing almost too hard and hurting the back of his throat. That tight feeling in his muscles that has been building, with all the stress of the last few days. Beginning to show in his body, as much as his manner. Not good in front of someone like this. The guy looks like he doesn't have to read his mind to know that he feels uncomfortable with his situation. The way Ray drops his chin to his chest and laughs at that, makes him wonder if it's him that he's amused with. So he drops the bottle and tries to study him for a clue. Maybe he did read his mind before and he didn't actually notice. Which could mean that the guy probably knows everything about him. And that certainly isn't what he needed today. On top of everything else.

"Lou hey?" Ray giggles with a cool look up again. Eyeing him questioningly, Marcus thinks very hard about what he just said, but can't really put his finger on what it is that he's hinting at. It's almost like someone has come in and has been scooping out handfuls of his brain. He was never this bad at reading people before. Taking his time as he slowly figured out through their body language and mannerisms, what it is that they are thinking. Long before they have even formed the beginning of that thought in the first place.

"What's the giggle for?" he drawls softly. Ray takes another swig then relaxes down in the chair, removing his foot from the table and instead crossing his long legs. The ease at which the guy moves is starting almost to annoy him. And if it wasn't for the fact that Lucifer mentioned that he could squash him like an insect, with nothing more than a mere thought. He'd walk over there and punch that smart arsed grin that he's giving him. Right down the back of his throat.

"It's not for you Markie. So relax," Ray growls in reply. The sound of the nickname that his mum had given him when he was a boy. Normally would have brought a smile to his lips and lifted the mood all those years ago. But hearing it coming from this creatures mouth, is like crushed glass in his ears. And as far as he's concerned this is the second to last straw that he'll take from it. Even if he does squash him. Just getting that one punch in will be worth it, if only to see the look on his face. Plastering a fake smile he grits his teeth hard.

"Good then," he drawls almost menacingly. "And don't call me that yah prick. Only my mum called me that and you ain't her," Marcus snaps back angrily, then sucks back his aggression. Because the last thing he needs is to push it too hard and loose the edge of the surprise attack he's planning. Just launching himself out of the chair would put the guy on the floor right now. He thinks, suppressing the urge to grin and give the game away.

"Fair enough," Ray nods politely in compliance. "Just what I said, Ronald," he adds with a sly grin. Blanching and sucking a quick breath, Marcus leans forwards in his chair, slitting his eyes at the red eyed young man in front of him. That puts the kibosh on his plans. The guy has obviously been reading his mind this whole time. Because he called him that just to get as far up his nose as possible.

"I thought you weren't gunna read my damn mind, yah bastard?" he snarls viciously. Ray waves him off lazily and slugs back the last of his beer. Then burps loudly and vanishes the bottle with a flamboyant flourish of his hand.

"Not anymore, no. I'd already read most of what I know at the moment about you. While you were out there poncing around down on the beach just before. So I don't really think we need for me to go any deeper now... Do we?" he rumbles back threateningly. Sitting back sharply and blinking silently at him while he thinks this through carefully, Marcus shakes his head. "Oh good, we're in agreement then. Now about the pointy prick in Spyder. I wouldn't go putting a whole lot of stock in much of what he says. He tends to play a lot of games, okay?" Ray growls, leaning back in the chair and gripping the armrests tightly in his fingers. The frayed tension he can feel all around the guy has started to affect him to, which makes him think that Lou could be feeding on his energy. The guy is so wrapped up in knots, that he's surprised that he's still able to walk, let alone find the energy to get angry with him right now. That also tells him that perhaps he's escaped Hell again for a bit of fun and maybe he needs it to stay out. Which could mean that he's not holding power well and could be quite easily dispatched if necessary. Just telling Marcus that he read him, will send the fucker into a tailspin. Because if he isn't listening through the guy right now then he's either seriously distracted by his problems, or being dumb. Which is unlikely but not impossible.

"Oh, well the... No I won't go there." Waving that off, the older man tries again. "What does he want then?" Marcus asks, tipping his head to his shoulder in irritation. He'd seen the Exorcist films and had waved off the idea of anyone actually being possessed as being nothing more than a bunch of guilt ridden people with over active imaginations. Now that idea seems to have been tossed into the wind and he has no way of working out what is true and what isn't. After all, Spyder is possessed by Satan right now. Added to that is the fact that there's another demon sitting here in front of him, zapping up cigarettes and bottles of booze. He inwardly huffs and closes his eyes, hoping that when he opens them again that he'll find himself back in bed and this is all just a weird dream.

"Buggery knows? Won't know that until he tells us," Ray huffs, relaxing again, but just as irritated as Marcus by it. "And before you ask, no. I haven't a clue what he's playing at? But I can tell you that he's possibly the reason why you've been feeling so out of sorts since you met the guy." Opening his eyes again and accepting that he isn't dreaming. The older man decides that there has to be some way of turning this back around to something that is in his control. Initially he'd chose to be with Spyder. But the kid didn't seem interested in anything but a fling. Usually he'd accept that, because he wasn't interested in having any kind of relationship with him. All he wanted was money. That's why he crashed into him with his car. He'd set him up to extort money. So why did he turn around and start chasing him? Because the kid gave great head? Maybe it's because of what the guy just told him about feeling out of sorts? His mind is fogged and he's not thinking straight? Is that right?

"I have been feeling kind of weird since I met the kid. But I thought...?" The young Arc shakes his head and cuts him off.

"Noooo. Anything that you may have been thinking in relation to why. Is more than likely a planted thought to throw you off the scent. So don't put merit on it." Marcus wrinkles his nose while he takes that in. Planted thoughts? So he is right. The guy has been manipulating him.

"Ah... That sucks then. What's he doing to me and why then?"older man asks, pulling his cigarettes out and offering one to Ray. Willing one from the pack and floating it over to himself. Ray ignites it with a flash of power just before it reaches him.

"Feeding on yer energy. It's like currency to demons. It's swapped, exchanged and stored up for all sorts of reasons. And humans are a precious resource of it, because they make an almost endless supply. Living batteries, you know? He's been reeling you in like a fish to keep you close so that he can leech off yer energy," he replies. "And no, I don't know why he wants it. But I can tell you that it could be why he's put himself in Spyder. He'd be using him as a storage jar. Stealing it from you and keeping it on hold in the kid for use later," he adds softly.

"Bloody Hell?" Marcus asks. That's why he was chasing him. It's got nothing to do with the kid giving good head and being good in bed. He's been manipulated into wanting to stay near the kid. If that's the case, then he certainly doesn't want to stay with him then. Not if that creature is in there.

"At first I didn't think it could be him. Because Lou had been around the block probably a billion times before the block was even invented. So why wouldn't he have known that in order to talk to yer Spy, without irritating his inner psychopath, then he'd have to do it through his dreams?" Ray shrugs then draws on the cigarette while he waits for the guy to answer the question. But the blank look tells him he hasn't a clue. "Gah, Mark. Because he couldn't have been Lou mate. At least that was my initial thought. As far as I knew, Lucifer knew that was what he'd have to do. Because he did it before in the original. But that's not original Spy. So it's possible that because he's had to squash himself in there, he's having a few problems and it's affecting him in various ways. He could be very distracted just trying not to pop the guy?" Nodding slowly and feeling silly for not catching on as quickly as he usually would, Marcus huffs out.

"Oh, okay. I would have worked that out before. It's like my brains being strangled and I can't think straight anymore. Well how do you get the guy out then? Not one of those exorcism thingies I hope?" he grunts, lifting his legs and crossing them on the cushion of the papasan chair, imitating Ray's half reclined posture.

"HA!" Ray shouts, breaking out into a laugh and throwing his head back. "No no, yah silly twat. I'd just tell the little bugger to hop it, or I'll pop in there myself and rip him out with my bare hands. I hear you about the brain strangling to mate. He's doing that to stop you from getting any bright ideas. Yer too tired and too dumbed down to make concise decisions. All you know is that you have to stay close and want to stay," he adds with and amused shake of his head. Looking up and seeing the sparkle in his eyes and the cool grin, gives Ray a confident feeling that this guy could actually be a great distraction from Kurt and keep him amused for a while. Which means that he can't treat him like a knob because the guy could be quite intelligent, but right now he just can't think straight.

"You can actually do that? Pop inside there I mean?" Ray eyes him silently for a moment, then draws on his cigarette.

"Yeah, easy as," he replies quietly. "It's just a matter of breaking down the atomic structure of my physical body into it's separate parts. Then evaporating them and changing them into an energy wave form that will pass through into his body. In essence, I'd be little more than a thought. But because we'd now exist on a different level. We'd appear as solid to each other. So he would know that I could do him some real damage and I honestly don't think that he'd want to stay another second," he adds with a lazy shrug. Raising his eyebrow slightly, the older man nods slowly and scratches his neck. He doesn't really understand what he just said. But the way the words flowed so easily from his mouth tells him that Ray obviously knows what he's talking about.

"Yeah... I'll pretend I understood that, if you don't mind?" he drawls softly with an awkward grin. Ray chuckles into his chest and waves it off. Still highly amused by the guy and becoming more attracted with each passing second.

"S'okay Mark. I don't expect you to really. I still find much of what I can do impossible and amazing. And I can't even describe it to myself and not think that I'm talking a load of bollocks," he replies.

"Could it just be that Lou's playing games maybe?" he suggests in regards to the being. There's something comforting about Ray, but is that because he's a demon to? He said that human energy is like a currency. Could it be that he's trying to make himself seem nicer to get him away from the demon in Spyder and back towards him so that he can steal it instead?

"Honestly haven't a clue. But you can't say that with all of them," Ray grunts back. "Some are just bored out of their tiny little minds and need a little extra stimulation to stave off cabin fever. Some are just total bastards and are only interested in pissing you off as much as possible. Few are genuinely interested in learning something from the experience. But fuck knows what that might be. As I said, you'd have to ask them directly to know for certain. But the chances are they'll mess you around and refuse to give you a straight answer. Until they're ready to go, it doesn't pay them to be honest."

"I know this might be daft, but the whole Exorcist deal? Is it just Hollywood special effects, or are there actual cases of it?" The older man grimaces uncomfortably, half expecting to be snarled at for daring to ask. Ray sighs impatiently, but decides to answer him. It's not every day that a human finds themselves in this kind of position. So he'd want a few answers to some of the weird stuff. Curiosity is a hard task master, and she does like to push. He reasons.

"Mm, that'd be the arsehole ones that just wanna piss you off. Christian humans are the ones that suggested the whole soul deal. And there are demons that like to use that to their advantage and amusement. You do the whole Christ compels you bit. They pretend to writhe and do the whole pea soup bit. Then when they have enough material, they fake being forced to leave. Drop back down into Hell and laugh their tits off with their demon friends, because you lot honestly thought you had a handle on that whole thing. It's just a joke to those ones," Ray chuckles, because he does find it amusing himself. "They're not actually physically doing anything that you can see though. They're instead tapping into the viewers mind. Have you seen Spyder twisting his body into pretzel shapes and words being written into his body? No. Because Spyder's demon isn't interested in playing that game. He's there for the energy, which is exactly the reason why most demons possess humans. Take Lou, he's hiding and he doesn't want you to know. So at no time would any demon actually physically harm the human they're in. They'd feel the pain in themselves, because they have physically joined with their host. What happens to the host, happens to them. What you think you're seeing is just the images that they're putting into your mind. You think they're bending themselves in half and climbing up the wall. But in truth, they're just standing there in front of you, probably drinking a beer and watching you racing around the house following an hallucination that they've planted into your conscious mind. I hate to say it, but you have to expect that there happen to be demons that are cruel enough to play those idiot games with humans. Just to have another reason to laugh at you all," he adds with a sad shake of his head.

"Soul deal?" Marcus grunts in confusion.

"You don't have one, yah...." Clenching his teeth because he doesn't want to lose his temper with the guy. Especially because he knows that his mind is fogged because of Spyder's demon. He calms himself. "Fluffy ain't in there telling you how to run yer life. Because it's not how well he can run it and how good you are at taking orders that interests him," Ray says, pointing from his head to the older man's.

"Oh... Well I did think that it was just the human conscious that was telling me what to do. But then I don't know the mind of God, so I didn't want to just wave the soul off as a possibility either?" Marcus replies. This impresses Ray and makes him even more interested in the guy. He's fighting Lou. He thinks with a warm smile.

"And you were right in thinking that. The soul is yer own conscious. You can ask Fluffy how to work out this and that as much as you like. But he's not gunna bother answering because he's got far better shit to do with his time. In the end he knows that yer own conscious is gunna answer the question for you anyway. So why tell you what you in yer own mind already knows is the answer to yer little conundrums? Fact is that humanity ain't half as daft as some of yer lot want to believe it is. Fluffy knows that as much as Lucifer does." Marcus wrinkles his nose at that and buts out his cigarette.

"Yeah... I did know that?" Marcus mumbles softly, shaking his head slowly.

"You know a lot more than you realise. Most of the time you only think yer only half listening. But in truth, yer brain is absorbing information all the time. Half of it is stored so far back in the periphery, that it takes a little prompting to bring it forward. And all the old stuff that isn't attached to strong emotions are often lost, because it's been classified as unnecessary information, because you don't use it anymore. You would have heard it from somewhere. You just fergot where. That's all," Ray smiles.

"Makes sense. So am I really going the wrong way with Spyd. Or is that an illusion set up by the little guy in him?" Marcus asks, changing the subject slightly.

"I'll tell you what I know as fact." Marcus nods and accepts that. "All Spyder's are the same in their desires. They all find the older and much taller man deliciously attractive. Fer one reason only," he continues.

"Kurt?" Marcus asks. Ray um's and ah's wavering a hand as though balancing that thought out.

"Kind'a not really. But he does play a small role in his own right." he reasons a little. "More that they have the emotional daddy need and the sexual desire to drop the guy to his knees. So that they can pat him on the top of the head while looking down at him," he shrugs. Thinking about that for a moment, Marcus finishes his beer and when he lowers the empty bottle, watches in astonishment when it fills up again before his eyes.

"Handy?" he grunts, lifting it to his line of sight and staring at the golden liquid inside. "Incest type daddy?" he adds, grimacing and hoping that he's wrong about that.

"No, no. The emotional bond and protective daddy," Ray replies. Mentally breathing a sigh of relief at that, he keeps pressing for more information.

"Ah... So why push me back then?" Marcus asks still a little confused.

"Conflict with the sexual self. That's where the incest bit screwed him over..." Lifting his head sharply because he didn't actually know that Spyder had been targeted that way by his father, Marcus grits his teeth hard. "...He needs to feel protected, but his sexual nature was developed to see the daddy role as something warped. His concious self is fighting it and trying to show it as being separate. But it's a very tiny voice that he can barely hear at his age. Reynard almost finished it off. But it's still banging away in there, trying really hard to be heard." Ray explains. Marcus nods emphatically, catching on quickly to what he means. He's disgusted by the idea of any parent doing that to their own kid. And suddenly realises that Ray must have been treated the same way. But the way Ray is talking so easily about it, and the thought that he's from another universe starts pulling him away from that thought. Maybe Ray avoided that? Either way, he's started to understand how this works.

"So to get to him, I'd have to help him separate the two first?" he nods, hoping that he has actually gotten the gist of what it is that Ray is saying.

"Yeah, it'd help if you could. But you have a lot of work on yer hands. Kurt is still bouncing around the periphery of Spyder's sexual problems. He's been at it a year and a bit and has just broken down the whole dad and sex is not one thing bit," Ray shrugs. "The other stuff is gunna take YEARS to work out. But at least he has the guy's respect."

"I don't, do I?" Marcus grunts, irritated that it has gone that way. Ray shakes his head because he knows that it's more than likely the demon that he hasn't got the respect of. Until he leaves, Marcus won't know how Spyder truly feels about him. But if he tells him that, he might make it hard for him to get Marcus to follow him instead? So he weighs it up and decides to tell a little white lie, mixed with a touch of truth.

"Not from what you said, no. But then that could be because of the little guy?" Seeing the firm way he's flexing his jaw while Marcus thinks about that and realising that he's actually giving him advice which will help Spyder keep a hold on him. Ray decides to stop and change the pace.

"Mr Pointy is something I can deal with. But you need to get out and recoup yer losses," Ray suggests with a firm clap of his hands to make Marcus focus back on him and away from Spyder.

"Eh?" Marcus grunts, looking around with an incredulous grimace on his face. "Out where? A small rock just off the coast? It's not like I have a lot of options here," he drawls sarcastically. Ray pouts and sucks his teeth in irritation. It's good to see that Marcus has some fire left in him. But it could also be related to the demon that's in Spyder. He won't know exactly what his true personality is, until he gets the demon to leave. It's far too early to judge what or who Marcus is until then.

"Oi, Arc demon. Has special magics. I can take you anywhere you want, yah silly bugger," he growls back, just as sardonically, jabbing a thumb back at himself.

"Oh... You would?" Marcus grunts in surprise. If the guy is willing to take him from the island and away from the weirdness, that will give him back his control over his life. This makes him feel a whole lot better.

"Yeah. I'm not doing anything special right now. Just searching fer people to play with," Ray purrs salaciously. This reminds the older man of what Lou had said about Kurt's smell. If he tells him what Lou had said about it, then perhaps Ray will appreciate the information and that will work in his favour? He might do a bit more than just take him somewhere. He recalls what the demon said about Ray being a highly sexual being and inwardly smiles at that.

"Oh yeah. Lou said that you seek out other versions of Kurt," he rumbles softly. Ray grins and wriggles his hips seductively. Seeing that tells him that at least the dark Lord had told the truth about that. Which could mean that he told the truth about Ray's sexuality as well? "I think you need to stop doing that mate," Marcus adds. Ray stops and the smile drops, replaced with angry annoyance.

"Excuse me," he growls threateningly. Catching on that he might have put that the wrong way and Ray has taken it badly. Marcus waves his hand and backs up a little in the chair.

"No no. I'm not telling you what to do. It was just something that he said about it. He said that God changed Kurt's sweat so that it pumped out a Spyder related pheromone..." Ray listens carefully as the man explains, then sits back gruffly in the chair when he's done, thinking about it all as it clicks into place, point for point. Finally it all begins to make perfect sense and Ray can see that it has to be the truth.

"I see..." he mutters and looks away. "...Uti smell," he adds almost under his breath with an annoyed shake of his head. He now understands that he will quite probably never have his time with Blue. And this hurts just as deeply as if Marcus had just pulled out a gun and shot the guy to death, right in front of him. But he is grateful that he told him, because it's better than finding out the hard way and being disappointed about it. This way will give him time to get used to the idea. And given what he'd decided about replacing Kurt with Marcus. He now has no reason not to take the guy for himself now. Even if it's just for a little while.

"Sounds like a bastard thing to have happen to you?" Marcus grunts just a little sympathetically. Ray sighs and reclines back in the chair. "He didn't explain why though. Said it was to stop him from doing something. Well, the real Lucifer anyway."

"Yeah, long story mate. He was trying to become one with Fluffy against his will. And just dragged us all along fer the ride, the idiot that he is. Fluffy ain't the kind to fight, so instead he used Kurt to mess up his plan fer the Immortal and Spyder. In the end it just worked it's way up and up into a huge fight between the Immortal and Lou and bleh. Just shit really. Blue didn't lose out much in the end. I think he gained a greater respect fer himself, more than anything?" Ray sighs sadly recalling the pain he'd seen in the tall man's eyes at the time.

"Sounds like you lost out more than anyone?" Marcus mumbles to himself. Annoyed that a lot of the detail was left out, but sure that with time he could put it together himself. He lets it go.

"That's not sympathy I hear, I hope?" Ray growls softly in reply.

"Nah, just my arse talking," Marcus replies with a grin. Amused at that and glad that he at least has the kind of humour that he can appreciate, he laughs.

"Heh, funny." Ray chuckles. "Good. So.... Ever been to Las Vegas?" he asks with a deep rumbling growl that makes the hairs on the older man's arms vibrate in a very nice way.

"Noooo, why?" Marcus asks, eyeing him cautiously. Ray stands up and unfurls his huge white wings in front of the man, watching as Marcus dives out of his chair in shock and backs well up.

"I'll take you. We can be back before morning? Or...?" Ray waves his hand and next to Marcus a swirling portal of dark energy appears next to him. The inky deep blue and black depths swirl like a vortex, with electrical tendrils of red energy licking around the edges. The deep rumble almost like a sucking tornado makes the older man back even further away. "...I can cover you in a protective forcefield and slip you into that?" he suggests with a shrug. Marcus looks from it to the Arc demon and back again, pretty certain that he must be joking.

"Um, no. No I don't think I want to do either thanks," he weakly laughs, swallowing hard as his nerves make his voice crack a little. Ray rolls his eyes and takes a step towards him, only to have Marcus instantly step away further. This pulls him up and irritates him immensely. His eyes flash brightly in anger, which Marcus sees and widens his eyes at.

"Are you afraid of me?" Ray gutturally growls.

"Yes. Intensely, absolutely shitting myself right now thanks," Marcus admits with a vigorous nod of his head. Ray raises an eyebrow but actually accepts that. If only because the guy was perfectly honest with him.

"Mark, it's gunna be really hard fer me to want to help you. If you don't at least meet me half way and trust me in the first place, you know," Ray sighs, then holds out his hand as a gesture for Marcus to take it. "It's an energy portal. Kind of like a wormhole between realities. I can use it to bounce from one place on Earth to another over long distances, so long as I have a vague clue where I'll end up. Or with a bit more power, which this one has, I can bounce between universes and even travel through time. Not far of course. Maybe a year or two at best, because Fluffy limited me and I promised not to push it. But I can take us back a couple of days and dump us at Vegas. Then bring you back to just a second after we left." Marcus begins to calm down on hearing this and slowly, with a little hesitation, he lifts his hand and slips it into Ray's.

"It won't hurt, will it?" he asks, pulling away a touch nervously. A soft pink bubble flashes around him for a moment, then seems to vanish.

"You'll feel the urge to suck a breath, but the forcefield will protect you from being torn apart. I threw the Immortal into one a few times, before he became a demi. It never hurt him," Ray coos reassuringly. Taking a deep breath, Marcus pulls himself up to full height and finally lets Ray pull him close to it. The swirling mass seems to be pulling on him softly and when Ray slowly backs inside then gently tugs on his arm, the older man follows. Sure enough, the second that it closes over him he does suck a sharp breath. But a moment later Ray is stepping out again and pulling him with him. Looking around him, Marcus is completely amazed by the flashing neon and bright lights of downtown Las Vegas.

"Oh my.... Wow!" he gasps with a huge smile and lets Ray's hand go. Slowly turning in a small circle as he gazes up and around at the palms and the night time views of the many casinos along the strip. He feels the urge to rub his eyes and check to be sure that he's really seeing all of this. As he does, he also begins to feel the sluggish feeling in his mind lifting as well. All the tiredness in his body is gone and he feels great.

"Cool hey?" Ray grunts with a grin, nudging him in the arm with his elbow. "Sooo, which hotel? Which casino? And how much would you like to win?" he adds, clapping his hands together sharply and rubbing them together, which makes the red energy dance and crackle around his fingers and wrists. Marcus instantly catches on that with an Arc demon at his side, in a place like Vegas, he can't actually lose. Which makes the extortionist in him, very very happy indeed.

"How much?" he grunts, looking around again. Actually, staying with Ray could be a good idea after all. Just for a while.

"How much do you need?"

"A million?" he grunts back with a shrug. Ray shoots him a cold incredulous look which makes the older man feel that Ray isn't about to be that generous. "Okay okay. How about a couple hundred grand then?" Ray smiles again and holds up his hand as though about to give him a high five. With a huge smile, Marcus meets it and instantly is shocked when Ray grips his hand and shoots him with an electrifying jolt of blue energy. "Fuck!" he spits, snatching it back and holding it under his armpit.

"As soon as you reach two hundred thousand, that'll wear off. Now lets find us a luxury penthouse to stay in, hey?" Ray states with a firm nod of his head, then clapping Marcus on the back, he steers him up the street. Luxury penthouses and money? This could turn out to be fantastic. And if the guy really is as sexual as the demon had made him out to be, then there's no way he can lose at all? He flexes his fingers as the numbness spreads through his palm.

"That bloody hurt Ray," Marcus groans, shaking the pins and needles sensation from his hand.

"Pfft. Lucky you changed yer mind about the million then, hey," Ray grunts back, rolling his eyes as they walk along. Marcus pulls himself up much straighter and tries to imagine how painful that might have felt. Then nods in agreement when he works it out.

"Bloody Hell," he grunts in astonishment, then follows Ray when he crosses the road.