There's so little canon here, I could probably claim it as mine. I won't. Sorry.
Chris was in a bit of a funk. Despite his genius, he had still not been named High Cleric of Rased. The old man cited immaturity and an ego the size of a small planet, which were both preposterous. On top of that, though, the winter solstice was approaching, and Chris was going to spend it at the temple yet again.
In the East, the winter solstice was traditionally used as an excuse to 1) buy expensive things for- and 2) spend time with- one's sweetheart. As a cleric, Chris did not have a sweetheart. He had Rased. Not to say Rased was not brimming with divine holiness, but in the sweetheart department Chris felt the god was lacking. Regardless, the clerics generally used the solstice to prepare for the countless wedding ceremonies that invariably followed each year. That meant hours of memorization of tomes worth of rituals in dry, dusty rooms with a bunch of dry, dusty old men. Huzzah.
However, the day before the solstice, a demand for sacrifice arrived from the local demon lord. Chris' mentor interpreted this as the friendly invitation it was, and Chris was sent speedily on his way. A minor shindig was held to celebrate his absence. Chris was indignant to be so unceremoniously trussed up and expelled via summoning circle, but also relieved to escape the tedious wedding preparations and his own lonely solstice thoughts. Did demons even celebrate such a thing?
Chris was deposited near Raenef's castle, his humongous ego cushioning a five-foot drop. Suddenly, a rare thought struck him: What were the odds of being invited on the night of the winter solstice if demons didn't celebrate it? Wasn't it more likely that they did, and this was a party of some sort? Then why would he, the main character, be invited to a party to celebrate this holiday of love when everyone knew he was so severely and permanently single? Unless... this was the supporting character, a.k.a. Raenef, making a move?
Curse those twisted authors. He'd read the extra short at the end of the first volume (for research purposes, of course). Crystal Heart. It hadn't made much of an impact at the time, as the entire story did not include a single super genius cleric, but those were boys, and there was love, and the authors were big BL fans and completely suspect! Come on, Raenef was a good supporting character, but he would make a terrible love interest. His feet were much too small.
The cleric's wild musings were interrupted by two familiar voices coming from down the road.
"... Did I ask you? It's none of your business who I see or when. You're not my keeper!"
"But Erutis, my rose, I get nervous when you see other men. If anything were to happen, I'd have to murder them. I know how that upsets you."
"I'm not your rose! Quit following me! Go- Oh, hey Chris." Spotting him, the young knight grimaced and gestured to demon lord Krayon, who was floating just outside of her reach, pouting. "I still haven't gotten rid of this creep. Headed to the party?"
Chris paled imperceptibly. Great, everyone has a date. "Um, yeah. Let's go."
When they reached the castle, the group was greeted by Eclipse, who teleported them to the main hall without a word. There were a few other people already there, milling around a table full of appetizers. Erutis spied the food immediately, and after a day-long walk gave nothing more than a brief "Hey, Eclipse" before leaving them to pounce on it, her paramour trailing behind. Chris was left alone with Eclipse, who was giving him a rather strange look.
"Welcome back, Monkey. Master Raenef will be along shortly." The demon said. "I wish for your health in the coming year." He paused, giving him a strangely expectant look.
"Uh, thanks. Happy Solstice?" That seemed to be the correct response, as Eclipse flashed a maniacal grin and wandered away to check the holiday cheese ball.
"You'll need to get that back before you leave." Chris jumped, finding a sheepishly smiling Raenef standing quietly behind him. "He just stole a year of your life. You need to wish for his health for the year in return, or you lose it permanently. It's a demon solstice tradition."
Turning, he saw to his horror that Raenef was holding a small, brightly colored package. Doing some quick mental calculations, Chris came up with Present + Solstice = Declaration of Impossible Yet Ultimately Overpowering Love From Attractive Supporting Character. He blushed, pointed awkwardly at the offending item, gaped like a fish and finally burst out:
"I'm sorry, but I don't like you that way!"
Raenef cocked his head and smiled in confusion. "Well, I'm not sure how you celebrate in the East, but as a Demon Lord, for the solstice I'm obligated to give a gift to all of my friends and associates to symbolize my Gracious Agreement to Not Kill You Horribly." He handed Chris the small gift. "Here. I have to go socialize now. Help yourself to some food. Did you know we have a cheese ball?"
As the demon lord left to mingle, Chris realized he was holding a rather ridiculous pose in addition to the gift. He fled to a nearby table, hoping no one had noticed his foolishness, but all he saw was a slinky woman carrying a weird plant tied to a stick who seemed to be stalking Eclipse. Over by the appetizers, Raenef was passing out more presents while explaining how the people of Pulhel celebrated the season.
"It's not a terribly popular holiday, you see. There's never snow, but instead there's a really long rainy season when everything gets all damp and cold and terrible and everyone stays inside. Since it's raining so much, everyone's socks get wet all the time, so there are always socks drying around the fireplace. Well, the thieves of the city take this as a great opportunity, so they sneak down the chimneys, stuff the socks full of coal and steal the lot. The socks are great, since it's kind of suspicious to be carrying a bag when you go sliding down someone's chimney."
Chris turned back to his gift. The paper was covered with small red evergreens. Another demon tradition? He carefully unwrapped it, unsure if he would be breaking some rule or not (Of course, if he did it would just be another victory over evil). Inside, he found lumpy, snowflake patterned socks.
His mind easily made the jump Weird Sock Story From Youth + Touching Sock Gift = Declaration of Impossible Yet Ultimately Overpowering Love From Attractive Supporting Character, but he decided he'd had enough excitement for one night. He'd make awkward accusations in the morning, when there was slightly less of an audience. Even his monstrous ego had a hard time with this awful relationship business. In the mean time, he figured he'd get his year of life back from Eclipse, who seemed to be hiding from the woman with the plant behind the table near the cheese ball.
Hey, look, a cheese ball.