Title Dancing Lessons and Dresses
Rating PG (So far)
Disclaimer I own the seven Demon Diary books and four pins which I got off of eBay. Demon Diary belongs to Tokyopop and the copyright belongs to Kara Lim. Or something like that…
Author's Note Somehow, I got the image of Raenef and Eclipse dancing into my head. Somehow, Eclipse was the one in a dress, no questions asked.
Dancing Lessons and Dresses
Eclipse was in his room, looking over the next set of Demon Lord Notices, when he found that his beloved Lord Raenef the Fifth, was in fact, summoned to a festival of sorts. Apparently, the festival was to have dancing, of the ballroom sort, and—what was this, Raenef had to bring a woman with him! Eclipse pressed his thumb and finger to his eyes, there was no way Raenef could dance, with his clumsiness. And with a girl? Had the elders completely lost their minds!
Slightly irritated, Eclipse checked the date.
Even more so now, Eclipse fumed. He had a week, in which to teach his klutz of a demon lord how to dance, and find a wench for him to attend the ball with. The elders were doing this on purpose, and Eclipse was fully aware of it. Knowing all of this, he went to go find his bubbly-headed Raenef.
Raenef, of course, would either be sleeping, Eclipse thought, or eating. That in mind, Eclipse checked his master's bedroom, and with no trace of Raenef, went to check the dining room.
Somehow, Raenef had proved Eclipse wrong, by being asleep at the table, a fork in his hand. Raenef had managed to fall asleep with his head on the plate, food making a mess in Raenef's hair. Sighing, Eclipse shook Raenef to wake him up. Having failed at that attempt, Eclipse arranged Raenef into a sitting position, and cleared away the food. Hopefully, he thought, he didn't really intend on still eating that.
Eclipse crossed his arms and stared at Raenef in wonder. Food and gunk in his hair, and Raenef was still a beautiful mess. A smile crept across Eclipse's features as he recalled all the times Raenef had gotten into a scuffle with the cleric boy, how he'd always come back dirty and scratched up for Eclipse to clean up. Thinking upon how he had had to repair the castle countess times because of a spell gone wrong, or a crusader too scary for his lord. He remembered all the sickeningly adorable apologies Raenef would offer, each having no effect on his stoic tutor.
Or so –Raenef- thought. Eclipse however, felt that awkward sensation in his stomach whenever Raenef would simply flutter his eyelashes, that feeling that he knew should be reserved for... well… for someone in his league. Or at least someone who was female. At first, Eclipse tried convincing himself that he was hungry, and when that didn't work he thought he might have been ill. He forced himself to go to Meruhesae, as that woman was the only one who understood such things. Meruhesae told him that he had finally fallen for her feminine charm, and Eclipse had run away screaming.
Of course, Eclipse knew it was perfectly normal for demon lords to take upon "slave and master" relationships with their servants. It happened all the time now, and Lord Krayon was a perfect example.
Though, Eclipse knew there was no love in those relationships, they were usually only to keep the demon lord amused. Eclipse knew that he would never submit to being someone's toy, and he knew that Raenef would never ask it of him. No, he couldn't even imagine it. Raenef would probably die from the giggles before he got the question out, and Eclipse would die of shame.
Lost in his own thoughts, Eclipse failed to notice when Raenef woke up, and in fact didn't notice until Raenef called his name.
"Eclipse?" Raenef got up from his seat, slightly puzzled as to why there was food in his hair, but more confused as to why Eclipse was staring at him. And… smiling?
"… Master Raenef!" Eclipse threw himself out of his stupor, wondering just how long he had stood there grinning like a bumbling idiot. Though, Raenef was also smiling like a fool now, waiting expectantly for Eclipse to say something, staring at his tutor without blinking.
After a long pause, Eclipse finally said, "I'll… go pour your bath."
"But why?"
"Because, Master Raenef, you failed to stay awake during dinner," Eclipse said as he pointed out the mess in Raenef's hair and on some of his face.
A dark shade of red moved across Raenef's features as he turned his gaze to his feet, the color reaching to the tip of his nose. "Oh. I'm sorry Eclipse. I was just tired after…" but Raenef looked up and Eclipse had already left.
Raenef sat in his bath, scrubbing his hair clean as Eclipse stood on the other side of the door, telling him about this ball he was supposed to attend. However, Raenef's thoughts were elsewhere.
After making sure his hair was cleansed of food, Raenef sat back with his legs stretching out along the length of the bathtub, his head tilted back in thought. Just why -had- Eclipse been staring at him while he was asleep? Raenef found it slightly unsettling, the way Eclipse looked at him with that rare smile, lost in thought.
Though, Raenef knew that he wasn't being fair. How many times had he taken advantage of his lessons just to have an excuse to stare at his tutor? How many times had he gotten into a fight with Chris, just so that Eclipse could fix him up later? How many times had he used a nightmare or a thunderstorm as an excuse to climb into Eclipse's bed?
How many times had he refused a bride because he knew that he only wanted to be with Eclipse?
Raenef drew his legs up to his chest, pouting. It wasn't fair, it wasn't. He liked Eclipse a lot, maybe even loved him, but that wasn't what was expected of him. No, he had to learn all these spells, he had to cause terror, he had to produce an heir, and he had to be respectable. Without even asking Eclipse, Raenef knew that falling for his servant was not respectable.
"Master Raenef, are you listening?" he heard Eclipse say, though truthfully he wasn't paying any attention.
"Sorry," Raenef called back, feeling a bit guilty.
"What I was saying, is that you'll be required to attend a ball. There will be dancing—which you'll have to learn." Eclipse failed to add that Raenef would have to bring a woman, but there was still a week to worry about that.
"Oh, ok... is that all?" Raenef asked, hoping to hear Eclipse's voice again. "Yes, my lord," was all he got.
Raenef climbed out of the tub once the water started growing cold. After drying himself off and donning a simple white tunic, Raenef fastened a silver belt around his waist, and left his hair down to dry.
Walking out of the bathroom, Raenef greeted Eclipse with his usual cheery smile. "So, when do lessons start?" he asked.
I hope that was decent enough to keep your attention. Please review; it'll give me reason to continue this. ;