Time passed as Lorraine gradually got herself under control, emotionally drained she simply sat quietly next to Alastor.

With nothing else to do and her friend almost worryingly quiet, she paid closer attention to the room she was in. A tarp covered cart was by the door, a second table had been pushed up against the opposite wall with various portable cooking appliances on it and an icebox shoved beneath it. The dining table in the middle of the room had three mismatched chairs around it and a stack of paper on it. A ceramic mug filled with pens was placed near the paper and a wastepaper bin filled with crumpled up pages was sitting on the floor within reach of one of the chairs.

"What is all this exactly?" Lorraine asked.

"My... Personal cell here at the facility," Alastor replied softly. "I did mention I've been in here before."

"Why though? I get that your a rare type of demon, but..." her brow scrunched up in confusion. "This is wrong on so many levels."

"It's Tartarus, Hell. As much as there are individuals advocating for change, this is the realm of demons and such creatures do not care for the restrictions of the mortal realm," the buck stated. "But Tartarus is by no means lawless, the most powerful demons govern their territory as they see fit and allow weaker demons to reside there. So long as the realm's infrastructure is left intact, the Demon Overlords and Princes may do as they please." he paused and noticing her interest, continued. "Tartarus was created for demons to prevent them from disrupting the mortal realm. The magic woven into every aspect of it adversely affects mortal creatures that enter unprotected, it pulls their deepest desires to the surface and uses those desires as a catalyst for a demonic transformation."

"Then they can't leave because they'd be a threat." the doe summarized.

Alastor nodded. "Very few demons are born from positive emotions or desires, those that do fall into such a category embody a corrupted, twisted form of it that benefits the demon in question."

"Of course, there needs to be a way to ensure the realm itself remains stable," the buck elaborated. "Tartarus sustains itself with the excess magic generated by its inhabitants, the more diverse the populace, the more stable the overall environment... After the mortal kingdoms enforced heavier restrictions on certain schools of magic and their societies shifted to more peaceful states, less and less souls were admitted to Tartarus. Fearing Hell itself could deteriorate and affect other realms in the aftermath, a group of Tartarus' oldest residents reached out to the Conservation Committee in a bid to find a way to ensure magical diversity among demons."

"And they do that by reproduction, ew," Lorraine deadpanned. "A sound idea in theory but they're dealing with people, not animals."

"The people running this place are still demons, demons who are only looking out for their own self interests," Alastor pointed out. "However, we're not alone here. Angel Dust works with an underground rescue organisation to keep the demons in here sane so they can be smuggled out to one of the safer areas of Tartarus. He's already sent word of our, situation. All we have to do is bide our time and wait."

The door opened, the aforementioned spider demon walked in carrying a bucket, a washcloth and a couple of towels. He grinned. "Oh hey toots! finally awake huh, how're ya feelin?"

"Sore."

Angel Dust walked over to the bed, set the bucket on the floor and dragged a chair over. "That'd be yer leylines, yer magic circulatory system, actin' up because having the stuff growin' on ya removed exposed them."

"So painkillers are a no-go?"

"I couldn't get you any even if they would help, but Al says you'll feel a little better once we get you cleaned up. Now, you want help with that or what?"

The doe tried to shift a front hoof into a paw, the pain that lanced up her leg squashed the attempt fairly quickly. Meekly, she spoke up. "I uh, could use some help, please..."

The spider knelt down and dipped the washcloth into the bucket, filled with water and rung it out. "Not a problem dollface, I gotta keep youse two happy if I want to keep being yer inside man. What about you Smiles, you holding up okay?"

"I'm not the one injured." Alastor replied.

"Yer the one in rut though, I've seen how it affects ya an' I need to know where you're at before I start briefing yer friend here." Angel stated as he gently held one of Lorraine's forelegs and wiped the blood off.

"I'm more concerned about Lorraine at the moment."

"So yer head's still on straight, perfect," Angel said and started to explain as he worked. "Ya see Lorraine, bucks have it rough during breeding season, they're the first affected. It's more than bein' horny, their metabolism takes a nosedive, they barely eat, and hardly sleep. All their time and attention is focused on lookin' after their doe, matin' with her, if they have one. If not, if there's no one they recognize as theirs, even subconsciously, it's a bit different. Less stress and more showin' off to the ladies. Those guys are more focused on finding a doe to hook up with, if they want to of course."

"That sounds horrible." Lorraine commented.

"Well they ain't like all the time, it's in bursts, synched to a doe's heat cycle. It's why the migrating bucks return to their families in the winter, bein' with someone eases the affects, makes it less uncomfortable and more pleasurable." Angel added. "Families with calves to look after don't even experience it 'cause as far as their biology is concerned, they got offspring so they don't need another one til the munchkin's old enough ta fend fer themselves."

"Deer are closer to animals, biologically speaking, than other races," Alastor interjected. "Their strong connection to nature and the more mystical forces of creation has left them relatively unchanged from their ancestors."

"As fer you, you'll be goin' into heat soon. You'll be horny as shit, yer magic won't work right and expect ta not really want to do much in general, the phrase weak in the knees is gonna be yer new normal whenever a heat cycle starts." the spider stated as he rung out the washcloth over the bucket and started cleaning the blood off her other foreleg. "S'not really a cycle, more like a phase. After a while yer body goes back ta normal to recover, if you ain't pregnant, it'll start up the affects again. On and off until yer either mated or til spring rolls around."

"I'm not going to be in here for that long, John got captured too, people are looking for us." the doe said.

"Exactly, at most you'll be in here anywhere from a few days to a week, tops," Angel reassured her. "We got folks down here workin' ta get you and yer boyfriend back home, might just take a bit is all. While yer down here, it'll by my job to help ya out, Smiles here might be a bit distant fer a bit. Don't worry 'bout it though, he's a gentleman. Won't do anything without yer say so."

Lorraine looked over at the buck, the deer demon nodded to affirm. "I apologize if I've been quiet, Angel has experience with talking about these sorts of things."

"Experience? I'm a fuckin' professional. I know how to treat this topic and everyone involved with respect. I don't half-ass this shit." the spider huffed. "I don't see you sharing this information with her an' I get it, you're scared. But I'm not gonna sit here watchin' you be a dumbass and leave her in the dark with just a few instructions ta go on."

"Should I apologize-" a gloved hand covered her mouth.

"You toots, don't gotta apologize. They don't exactly put this stuff in textbooks beyond the basics. An' yer a polymorphed adult, it'll be worse fer ya because your body isn't used to it," Angel Dust removed his hand. "Now, if ya can, turn around. I'll get yer back done then finish yer legs."

"How do ya feel, better?" Angel asked as he finished drying her off.

"A bit, still sore," Lorraine admitted. "Now what? We just wait?"

"I'm gonna need you ta answer a few questions, I can feed the higher-ups false intel. The cameras in here don't pick up audio and the video quality's too poor ta lip read, so I'm gonna do my usual song an' dance fer new residents, you give me honest answers and I'll add in a few changes to my report ta make 'em think youse two are gonna eventually fuck."

"Alright. I'll answer as best as I can."

"Ok so, just to be clear, you don't wanna fuck Al? Even if it was safe sex?"

"No I don't want to have sex with him." the doe rolled her eyes.

"Alright, movin' on. What about yer boyfriend? You gotten frisky with him yet?"

"This is inappropriate as shit," the doe commented. "Why do you even need to know that?"

"Cause if I asked ya What's your orientation? you wouldn't give me a straight answer, would ya?"

"I like guys, isn't that enough?"

"Not even close toots. Ok, you ever just see a guy an' picture yourself getting plowed by him? You look at a pic in some magazine and think holy shit he's hot?"

Lorraine blinked dumbly. "No...I never really think about it."

"So looks don't do it fer you?" Angel clarified.

"What do you mean?"

The spider looked at the buck. "And here I thought you were clueless." Angel moved over to the armchair and sat down. "Lorraine, be honest with me, you actually perform any kind of sexual activity with John?"

Lorraine looked annoyed. "I get it, I'm weird. Yes we've done stuff like that in the past."

Angel held up a pair of hands in surrender. "Whoa, back up fer a minute, yer not weird an' anyone who says that deserves getting their ass kicked," he leaned back into his seat once the doe relaxed. "We're not judging ya, just need ta go through the list. So you have a sex drive, bet John likes that."

"...How about I just tell you what I told some friends of mine yesterday?" the doe suggested. "This is awkward enough as it is..."

Angel Dust sat silently, paying close attention as she told him about the conversation her friends in Ponyville had practically pressured her into having and the details she divulged. At the end of it, the spider facepalmed.

"Fuckin' ponies, yer demisexual toots, prolly Demi Asexual too... I swear if I ever go up topside I'm teaching 'dem ignorant fuckwits a new vocabulary..."

"...There's...There's a word for that?" Lorraine looked baffled.

Angel looked at her. "Yeah, ok, look. You're only interested in sex if there's an emotional bond already there right? That's called bein' demisexual, Demi Asexual means yer only willing to get kinky with a partner you've already established a deep, emotional bond with."

The doe looked out of her element. "And that's...Me?"

"Well does it sound right to you?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, I just. Didn't think there was a word for it, just thought I was different... Never thought about it."

"An' how do you feel about that?" the spider carefully asked. "Cause you don't look to good."

"I'm Nervous, why am I nervous? I think I'm panicking a little..." she admitted.

"Are you seriously having an existential crisis over a couple of words? Shit toots, I'm sorry. Down here this sorta thing is well-known. It doesn't change anything other than you being able to explain a part of yourself with a couple of words or even not use the term if you don't wanna, s'not like this comes up in conversations much. Doesn't define ya either." Angel stated.

"You're overwhelmed, information that reflects or impacts one's sense of self can be frightening," Alastor said and leaned against her slightly. "To be comfortable in one's own understanding of the world, only to have it turned on its head... to find you aren't so different after all is terrifying."

"Look I'm just having trouble processing it, alright?" Lorraine said. "I grew up understanding the difference between gay and straight, that sex in a relationship, or starting a relationship based on something as shallow as physical appearance was normal. Anything else was something I didn't bother with because I was fine and just thought I was different. I already looked different bein' born blind in my left eye and a redhead, so it wasn't much of a stretch to think I was... wired differently, so to speak."

"Would it help if I gave ya some articles about it?" Angel offered. "I keep a whole bunch on me fer uh... Situations like this. Tartarus is generally more vocal 'bout this sorta stuff because of how varied demons are an' a lotta mortals movin' down here take a while to, uh, adjust."

"That'd be very helpful, thanks." the doe replied.

An hour later, after reading nearly a dozen articles that repeated what she'd been told, with varying examples, and assurance it was fine, the doe felt comfortable enough to bring up the topic again.

"I'mma just alternate between the two terms, demisexual seems to be the more technical one anyway so I might use that more?" Lorraine looked a bit lost. "If I need to anyway, It explains a hell of a lot though..."

"Well now ya know, I'll save the rest of the questions fer later." Angel stated. "We can skip most of 'em anyway, not like yer gonna be fuckin' anyone any time soon. I can spin a few half-truths and all you two gotta worry about is keeping yer heads on straight over the next few days or so."

"We'll manage, right?" Lorraine asked hopefully. "It's just a biological process, we can do this."

"An optimist, I like that!" the spider grinned. "Hell yeah you got this! I'll be sticking around 'til Smiles here starts getting overprotective of ya, after that, just ignore him. He'll be fine."

Alastor rolled his eyes. "Angel, do shut up. You'll worry her."

By the time the pain faded, a sign the magic suppressants had worn off, other things had made themselves known. Lorraine was both acutely aware and cautious at first, as blood began rushing downwards and a familiar curiosity for more adult reading material blipped into awareness. The phenomena, the warmth that sunk into her bones, how her heart beat loud and steady to the point she could feel her pulse thrumming in her nethers, the warm, slimy slick that was absorbed by the towel she had the foresight to place on the bed beneath her, hit her with rapidly rising intensity. The very air felt heavy and though she was confident her legs could hold her weight, she wasn't keen on finding out with how wobbly they felt even just shifting to sit more comfortably.

Angel Dust had left the room moments earlier, in order to report to the committee and under the guise of letting the two deer adjust ("I'll be back in a few hours, don't do anything I would do, ya hear me Smiles?"), so it was just her and Alastor.

The buck, rather childishly, had hidden himself under the bedsheets, his muzzle the only part of visible. Lorraine was starting to get worried.

"You okay?" She asked. "I can move to the armchair or something if I'm bothering you."

"No." Alastor said and poked his head out to look at her. "I-I'll be fine. I'm just not used to this."

"Alright," she replied. "Would've been nice if they gave us a TV or something. There's nothing to do here."

A slow blink from the buck. "...You're bored." He barked out a laugh. "You are in season and bored, Ha... You never cease to surprise me."

"Well I'm- you know , without wanting to be like this in the first place," she snarked. "Besides, I hate just sitting here and doing nothing. At the very least, I'd like something to read or watch to take my mind off of this."

She kept a straight face, despite the haze of arousal fogging her mind and the way certain muscles twitched and fluttered, demanding attention.

"I'll be fine though, I can sit like this for hours, it'd be nice if I wasn't forced into it..." the doe grumbled. "This is bullshit."

Alastor chuckled. The buck buried himself back under the blankets. "I admit, it is a relief to see your handling it well... I wasn't sure how... intense, it would be for you."

"I'm good at ignoring stuff like this," she said. "You just gonna hide until it's over?"

"I'd like to."

"Fine by me." she said and stared at their only means of escape, the door.

Despite her body screaming at her for to do something, to fan the flames of lust, to scratch an itch, she didn't particularly want to. There was nothing to read to pique her interest in such things, let alone hold said interest and even then, she had no desire to do anything about her current state with Alastor in the room. So, she sat and waited for things to run their course, still very much bored out of her mind.

Time dragged on and whether it was because she wasn't any showing interest in him, or if he'd finally got used to the effects of the season, Alastor emerged from his blanket cave to sit on top of the bed. His fur was messy and he looked like he had no idea what to do with himself.

"Want me to get you anything?" Lorraine asked him and the buck flopped onto his side, head landing on the pillow.

"I should be asking you that..."

"Well I'm bored and you look terrible, I'm worried."

"Don't be, once this wave of rut ends it will be as if it never happened." Alastor explained, voice devoid of usual energy.

"If you're sure. Anything you wanna do or talk about while we wait?"

"This is a new experience for the both of us, I wouldn't want to worry you further or, Nightmare forbid, coerce you into doing something you don't want..."

"Alastor, I may be a dense piece of shit but whatever my feelings are regarding you, I don't want to fuck you," Lorraine clarified. "At most, I want hugs. Also, our consent wasn't given, you have no obligation to do anything down here, okay?"

Lorraine kept talking, reassuring him. "This isn't a porno, we never agreed to this and they removed any options we had to not go into season. So, we have every right to do absolutely nothing."

Alastor rolled back onto his stomach. "It isn't that simple..." the crackle of static grew in volume as he sounded more distressed. He eyed her worriedly. "They could take you away from me."

His fur bristled as he sat up and reached over to pull the startled doe into a hug, nuzzling into the back of her neck. "They could take you away, place you in another cell with some self-centered brute that won't care if you're not interested or already spoken for... I can keep you safe, at least until you are returned to the mortal realm with John."

She could feel him tense with worry and stress. His forelegs wrapped around her shoulders, were trembling.

She was at a loss for what to say, she scrambled to think of something. "Well, not every pair of deer would want to have kids right off the bat, we could just... cuddle, innocent stuff, stuff we'd both be comfortable with?" she suggested catiously.

"We could," he agreed after a moment, chuckling sadly. "I feel as if I'll have to apologize to John when we find him..."

She blinked, looking serious. "Alastor, before the rut hit, were you... Interested in me, uh, sexually?" her face scrunched up as soon as the words left her mouth. "Ugh, that felt wrong to say..."

She was met with a weak chuckle. "Not in the traditional sense dear. I never had an interest in such things as a mortal but, the transformation into a demon always comes with a price," he explained and rested his chin on her head, voice distant. "Self-made demons are cursed upon transformation, as they are ruled by desire, so too will said desire bring them strife and misery. A personal hell of sorts. I became a demon of vengeance, seeking to right the wrongs of a world gone mad."

His next admission was filled with quiet conviction.

"I killed people, people who abused their kin for power, for sport. The kinds of people who did unspeakable things that would have landed them a place in Tartarus regardless... I merely sped up the process." Alastor paused to allow her to process the information.

"Okay..."

"Murder is still a sin, still something that can land you in Tartarus even today so, even though I was justified in my actions, I was eventually cast into Hell itself as punishment," Alastor sounded like he was regaining his composure. "Of course, I was already a servant of Her Radiance, The Nightmare at the time, I even killed with her blessing and with that sort of power on my side, as I fell into The Pitt and saw the scum of the world laid bare before me... I was offered a title and a purpose as I transformed...The Huntsman of The Court of Shadows..."

Red light surrounded the Radio Buck, Lorraine could see it reflecting off the nearest wall. "The Shadows and Shadow Demons in Tartarus were lawless, wild and aimless. I tamed them, they became my servants and I began taking large swaths of territory from older demons," the shadows in the room were growing longer, as if reaching out to the two deer sitting on the bed. "...Imagine my surprise when I discover that those same demons are keeping Shadow Folk as slaves... Shadow Folk are souls blessed by The Nightmare upon death to live in her realm as loyal subjects. I hadn't felt such rage since my mother died."

"So, you killed the demons?" Lorraine guessed.

"Oh my dear, I didn't just kill them, demons have a nasty habit of not staying dead!" he laughed as the red light grew brighter and the shadows started to stretch and warp. "I destroyed their very souls! Ate them actually, it was quite the debut! After that I made a few declarations, established myself as The Overlord of Shadows and began making a few changes to how things worked down here."

"The price I paid for that power was my innate indifference to certain biological processes," Alastor stated. "My first rut as a demon was a bloodbath, I'll spare you the details but I never had anyone to call my doe, This is a curse, an obstacle to overcome... and then I began watching you. So sure of your beliefs, so unquestionably mortal that you shouldn't even have had the amount of power you did when you first appeared."

Lorraine was quiet, listening intently.

"I saw your struggles and it... reminded me of why I kill, of why I sought such drastic measures to write the injustices of the world. That the world is cruel, that being nice and polite won't always save you..."

"But you still have to try." the doe pointed out.

Alastor laughed softly. "That is why I became fascinated by you. You still try until your attempts at common decency are proven to be a waste of time." she could feel the smirk present with his next question. "Tell me dear, have you forgiven Luna for how she treated you?"

"...No, that's no excuse to be an arsehole to her though."

He hummed in acknowledgement. "I believe we got off track, to be perfectly clear, I do not want to have relations with you, our current predicament included. No, I wanted you by my side. I wanted to dote on you, to care for you, to show you the twisted machinations of Tartarus in the hopes you could help change it. I wanted you as my partner in crime, my equal..." Alastor explained. "But, as I got to know you, to truly see you for who you were, I realized I was being, rather inconsiderate, especially after John informed me my behavior was causing you distress..."

"You have no idea... I was genuinely worried my crush on the fictional character I knew was influencing my feelings for you, blowing things out of proportion." Lorraine stated.

"I truly am sorry if I damaged your relationship with John, I know how much means to you..." He said, sincerity plain as day.

"Oh there wasn't any trouble on that front, I was just being a stressed out, nervous noodle dragon back then because I couldn't compartmentalize properly around you. You're similar enough to the character that I kinda just, get my wires crossed," Lorraine shrugged. "So I told John, we talked it out and left the final decision up to him."

"And what, do you think of me now?" Alastor growled, he lifted his chin off her head, his grip on her tightening slightly and she feel his magic buzzing between them.

She looked up at him, his antlers had grown out further, his eyes were round red spheres with pupils resembling the needle of a radio dial. Despite the frightening visage and the sound of radio chatter in the air, the doe only looked unimpressed. "Don't you dare try to scare me Alastor, if you wanted to hurt me you would have done so already." she warned. "We talk this out like adults, I already expected you'd done something like murder to wind up as a demon anyway. I was more worried you'd go on a rampage, or hurt innocent people, or separate me from John in some twisted bid to win me over," she explained. "I had no idea what I was working with and I wasn't sure if your interest in me was temporary, or worth banking on in the event you got your full power back, but I had to at least try and get through to you."

He reverted back to normal. "I assume that as long as I continue to behave around you and keep you and John away from the darker aspects of my work... You'll still want me around?" Alastor asked hesitantly.

"We'll work out the specifics when we all get out of here," she replied and wriggled out of his hold. "For now, You alright? I'm guessing you got more of your powers back?"

He was still radiating red magic. He nodded. "Most of them, actually! My magic is about as useless as yours is I'm afraid. It should settle down once this blasted rut wears off..."

"You look a lot better." she commented.

"Talking helped, I can see why you make a habit of doing so."

Author's Note

The Devil Companion has reached Rank 6 out of 10.

Dragonfire2lm: I plugged away at this scene by scene on my PS4 over the course of the week and made sure character interaction came first and foremost. Originally The Containment Arc would have solely focused on RadioGirl shipping, however I asked Sanguine if he wanted to do anything with the more SCP aspects of the Conservation Committee, so now smol bug is captured as well.

When I wrote the chapter Escalation, I wrote doe girl's conversation with Rarity and co with the intention of putting my own thought process into words. I didn't know demisexuality was even a thing until after I wrote the chapter and our friend ponybird21 told me what Demiace means. I promptly started panicking and, more than a bit overwhelmed, did my own research. I couldn't find anything about Demiace specifically but I found plenty of articles about Demisexuality and realized that the term described how I function to a T. It still took a few days to really process that, something I had brushed off as my own weirdness and uniqueness was something that was understood, had a name and could be easily put into words.

I tried to reflect my own experience (yes I had an existential crisis over a word) in learning about it when writing doe girl learning about it and I can only hope I explained things properly. I really do want to thank Ponybird and Lucid for dealing with my nervous panic.

As for doe girl's estrus, it serves as a way to move things forward between her and Alastor and I had this planned for a long time. Heat cycles are a common trope in fanfiction, even in Hazbin Hotel works. I like the trope itself but it always irks me when used on male characters as heat is a female thing and males are affected differently. I wanted to reflect this to a degree but character interaction and characterization were my top priority when writing this, sex isn't the end goal of this, it never was.

Lucid: Dragon wanted to publish this early, because she really wanted to get it done and was nervous about it. I think it's wonderful and I'm very proud of her.