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Just a regular day in Hell. Dan, a buff-built, very attractive devil was wandering around the busy main ring, a dozen or so of his imp servants all following behind him. Among them was a tiny, pale, black-haired imp named Zero. Zero was one of Dan's newer imps, having spawned about a day or so ago and been accepted by his master and the others immediately.
As the group wandered around the crowded streets, something caught the young imp's eye. He stopped walking, turning to look at the thing of interest. It was just a shop, with glittery objects inside. Being so young and naive, he smiled at the shimmering items, and turned his head to point them out to his master and friends... only to not see them. His smile faded as he scanned the crowd, hoping to find one of the other imps and run after them. But the longer he looked, the more panicked he became. Dan and the others were gone, leaving Zero all by himself in an unfamiliar, busy place.
Zero started to panic. He was separated from his master, and had no idea where he was or how to get around. He knew he needed to get back to Dan, so he quickly began to push his was through the crowds of demons, succubi, incubi, and other types of hell creatures. As he ran, he looked back and forth at the faces passing by. None of them looked familiar. None of them were Dan.
He decided that he should start calling out for Dan. The devil couldn't have gotten far, right? And with the other imps... surely one of them would hear him and recognize his voice. Zero lifted his hands to his mouth and began to call out as he ran, continuing to look around at the crowds of people.
"Master? Master Dan? Where are you?!" He yelled out as loud as he could, but his voice only carried a few feet before being drowned out by the noises of the busy streets. He continued his calls, unaware that his voice was unable to reach very far, and was going unnoticed by most other creatures wandering around him.
By the time he finally realized this idea wasn't working, he was far from where he started and had no idea where exactly he was. The streets of Hell could be confusing, especially for new imps. Zero stopped running, looking around. He was tired, sore, and scared. He wanted nothing more than to just cling to his master and cuddle with him, desperately missing the way Dan's arms wrapped around him securely.
His poor little mind could only think of one other thing to do. Zero dragged his feet over to a small separation between two buildings, plopped down onto his butt, and began to cry. He sobbed hard, ignoring the way the passerbys would look at him, some with concern and others with disgust and annoyance. But none of them stopped to help him, so he didn't even notice. He just cried and cried and cried, his eyes all puffy and cheeks stained red.
He was hoping that Dan would sense or hear his distress and come right over. But due to the loud crowds and the devil's other imps talking at him, Zero's cries and sobs for him were drowned out. Zero just cried harder and harder the longer he went undiscovered, his head pounding and his body heavy with exhaustion.
This was all his fault, and he knew it. He knew he shouldn't have let himself get distracted. He should've just stayed with Dan, or his friends, or he should've asked for help when he first got lost... Zero sobbed harder, whining for his master, begging to be found and cradled and soothed.
"Dan! Dan! I want my master! I want my Dan!"
A purple-haired demon stopped, staring at the tiny little imp boy crying and nestled between two buildings. He walked over, standing over him with his hands in his pockets. Zero was still crying, not noticing the man standing right in front of him.
"Hey, bud. Why are you crying?"
Zero sniffled and slowed his sobs, looking up at the demon through watery eyes. The demon smiled softly at him, tilting his head as he waited for an answer. Zero swallowed as he tried to answer without blubbering.
"I-I was with my m-master, and I s-stopped to look at a s-store, a-and when I l-looked back, h-he was gone!" Despite his best efforts, Zero started to cry again. The demon stared at him for a while before gently kneeling down in front of him.
"Your master, huh? What's his name?"
Zero sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve, looking at the demon in front of him. "D-Dan. H-His name is Dan."
The demon nodded, thinking for a moment. He suddenly smiled at Zero and pulled a hand from his pocket, holding it out for the imp in front of him. "Tell 'ya what, bud. Why don't you come with me? We can look around for your... master, and if we don't find him, I'll take you back to my place!"
Zero started at the demon before nodding and taking his hand. A feeling of strange warmth spread through his tiny body, and he suddenly felt his sadness disappear. It was like he completely forgot about what has happened and why he was sad!
The demon pulled Zero to his feet, smiling and patting his head. He melted into the touch, feeling a strange connection to this stranger who approached him.
"The names Lloyd, by the way!" The demon suddenly said, taking his hand off Zero's head. The imp just nodded, smiling as the two started walking down the street again... going towards Lloyd's house without even bothering to actually look for Dan. But Zero didn't seem to notice.
Little did the poor imp know, but Lloyd had placed a binding curse on him that temporarily transmitted Dan's ownership of Zero... to himself. For as long as Lloyd was alive, Zero now belonged to him, and he had no idea.
Back at the house, Dan couldn't help but feel like something was off. He was new to the whole "getting imps" thing, since they had just started spawning like crazy around a week or so ago, and could hardly keep track of them all. Though... he could've sworn there was one specific imp that would always ask to cuddle. He distinctly remembered a tiny, black-haired imp that would sometimes crawl into his bed and curl up next to him at night, much to the other imps' jealousy. Then again, he did have a lot of imps now, and many of them had dark colored hair. Perhaps they had all merged in his mind, and that's what was creating the very specific image of a young, pale, dark-haired imp.
As Dan sat down in a chair and sighed, he just agreed to that last though of his own mind playing tricks on him. But deep down, he did feel like he heard someone crying out for him earlier, but he couldn't be sure. As he thought about it, he felt a strange sensation. It was like his connections with his imps; it felt familiar and relaxing, like he had always known the feeling. It felt like someone cuddling against him, someone he could wrap his arms around and hold.
But that feeling... it was so much fainter now. Now, it has a feeling of loss attached to the warmth. Like he had lost a close friend or, strangely, his own child. Dan sighed and shook his head. He was tired after a long day, and just assumed that this strange feeling was from exhaustion.
He had no idea that, for years, he would never see Zero. He would never see that tiny, pale, black-haired imp that was always clinging to his side, and always asking to cuddle. The imp that would wake up in the middle of the night, sneak into his room, and curl up next to him under the blankets.