~Rathien~
Rathien speaks as Salem draws a finger along his jawline. "Perhaps chameleon was the wrong animal...leopard might have been more fitting." He falls silent and stiffens as Salem walks around behind him. He wouldn't give the "trader" the satisfaction of nervousness. Complete control...
He growls deep in his throat as Salem calls him a "pup", his body tensing just a bit more at the contact, ready with any number of throws or steps to take him out of harm's way, until Salem's body retreats.
So, the ulterior motive might not work in his favor. This pursuit was almost as much to redress the balance between himself and Tobias as it was for the other. His ability to kill Tobias had been nullified, but that left a lot of room to wiggle. They would inevitably be spending a lot of time together until Rathien figured out how to change the status quo, but that didn't mean by any means that he had to be submissive. Asserting a bit of dominance would've gone a good ways toward leveling the balance, but Rathien sees now that Tobias might end up gaining the dominance.
Of course, the concept of bedding a mate that could just as soon kill you as rut with you is thrilling to Rathien. The danger adds to the power of the moment, and the ultimate pleasure at its climax. Such a pairing is nearly as pleasurable as ending a Dream at its Fate-ordained moment. And Rathien merely enjoys the act whether with a male or female, no matter the role he plays. He would never tell Tobias how much he'd enjoyed his role when stronger partners had forced him to submit in the past. He would snap and bite and claw the whole way, and the one doing the "forcing" would definitely have his or her work cut out, but Rathien almost enjoyed being taken more than doing the taking, perhaps because it was so different from his regular existence. And of course he would never tell Tobias how much of a turn-on it would be if the "trader", a worthy adversary in most regards and one that Rathien wanted to kill quite badly, would bed him and force him into the "receiving" position for the duration of the mating.
Rathien shakes his head, clearing the reverie. He hadn't allowed himself to wander so deeply in his own desires for quite some time. He performs mental exercises to reduce his heart-rate and clear the other responses his body has unwillingly taken in response to both Tobias's contact and his own mental reverie, both obvious and concealed. He had quickly lost control of that situation, and it might be a dangerous path to go down. Nevertheless he cannot rid himself of the strong desire for his daydreams to become reality. He schools his thoughts, pleasure was delightful, but to become its slave was another way to lose control.
He takes a few deep breaths to clear the air in his lungs and snarls to himself as he is once again forced to follow Salem like a dog on a lead. He shakes his head again, almost saying nothing, almost refusing to answer Salem's question. He decides it would be much too much like sullenness. "You apparently didn't see them shooting at me." Of course that could've been a ruse, one worthy of Tobias himself, but it is all the answer Rathien's willing to give...let Tobias make of it what he would.
