Disclaimer: Demon Diary does not belong to me. It belongs to people with names I can't remember the spellings of – and to find out, I'd have to go all the way into my room from here and drag out a DD volume – so let's just stick with the 'does not belong to me' part. Such is the extent of my laziness.

a/n: What can be said about an Eclipse/Chris? Other than the fact the pairing itself is bordering on AU land. Although maybe I'd like to claim it's the FIRST ECLIPSE/CHRIS but I don't really know that for sure, so I'll settle for ONE OF THE FEW ECLIPSE/CHRIS PAIRINGS. Mwuahaha, fear the insanity. Fear!

And no, I don't actually fangirl over the pairing or anything of the sort; this is just a one-time plot bunnie that was eating away at my brain.

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Gainsaying

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In the world of Demon Lords and their subordinates, there was always a strict routine to adhere to. Commit to studies, frighten underlings, maintain borders… and so on and so forth. There was a system of order and discipline. But these strictures did not hold up against the inhabitants of the castle of no name. Every day seemed to bring more scandals (in the opinion of demons), more strange events (in the opinion of humans), and more chaotic pandemonium (in the opinion of one certain demon mentor) than the last (to the chagrin of most).

But the day had started off well enough. The weather was still and clear, the breeze lulling the faint scent of earth and tree through the high windows that stood open in parts of the castle. In the large room of the library, which sat overlooking one of many pillared courtyards, Eclipse was at work tutoring his lord. The day's lesson was moving slowly but surely.

But as always, the peace was not to last.

"Chris!"

Following the all-too familiar screech, there was a thunder of flying feet as the cleric flew past the open doorway.

"CHRIS!"

Closer, angrier.

Eclipse released a slow breath - pointedly averting his gaze away from the dimwit who suddenly careened through the threshold - and attempted to reclaim his waning patience. He looked down at Raenef's ruined notes along with the young lord, eyeing the ugly streak of black caused by the unexpected disruption. Or, he thought with an inner sigh, quite expected given the destructive tendencies of their… guests. Although, such was to be expected from shoving a guileless demon lord, a half-wit cleric, a rowdy knight, and an ancient demon of feared and reputable skills into one space and expecting them to get along peacefully.

Oblivious to the cross look shot him, Chris shrugged off any immediate concern over the pursuit and marched up to the table, planting his hands on his hips with a superior tilt of the head. "I'll give you a good piece of advice: watch out for Erutis, she's in one of those moods again and – "

"Let's carry on," Eclipse broke in, gesturing at Raenef's forgotten quill and parchment. The demon ignored the sight of Chris' ballooning cheeks as the human prepared to vocalize whatever new "witticism" was floating around in his head. "Recite the first forty-two commandments of the precept of angels." If he was quick, then he could stop any more interruptions from the boy cleric until the knight Erutis discovered his whereabouts and dragged him off, perhaps never to return if Eclipse was lucky.

Raenef V scratched the back of his neck and shot his mentor a shamefaced look. "Umm, well… I don't know them." A carefully crafted face of innocence.

"Then quote the ones you do."

"… But I don't know any. At all." Raenef laughed sheepishly as Eclipse's brows lowered. "I think I misplaced those notes… Oops." The demon lord's feeble excuse for lazy neglect was fortunately (for him) overlooked as Chris shoved his way into the spotlight.

The cleric tapped his chin smugly. "I already studied that precept at the temple, because, as you know, I am a High Cleric of Rased, and I take my education very seriously" – here, Eclipse's snort of disbelief went unnoticed – "but what I don't get is why you demons think you have to know all that stuff too. Demon politics is demon politics, after all."

To stay silent would have been the wisest course, but there was still the risk that the cleric's slowly inflating head would steal away all the breathable air in the room. But to pop that overly large and unbelievably thick thing balanced on the boy's shoulders would grant some momentary quiet, at least. Tempting.

Unfortunately, his lord's penchant for welcoming trouble seemed to be rubbing off somewhat.

"Meaning?" Eclipse finally risked.

Chris crossed his arms in a self-satisfied manner. "Meaning what do demons really do aside from pillaging and killing?" (Eclipse scoffed at this. So soon he forgot the convoluted goings-on of the demon councils he had perceived during his stay at the castle.) "You don't need to understand the philosophy of the creatures of heaven to do that, right?" The last part Chris directed at Raenef, who shrugged back up at him with wide eyes. Both looked to Eclipse.

The demon eyed them both blankly. Inwardly, he allowed himself another weary sigh. Of course the impudent little cleric would grab at any chance to drag up arguments that had been waged centuries before his very birth. All children of the temple seemed to find it necessary to avoid the truth and turn to their own flawed notions when it was deemed fit. When it came to the aptitude of demons, it was no different.

"You seem to be under the impression that demons are devoid of the same intelligence as humans," Eclipse at last replied. "Indeed, did I ever mention that when I am alone I revert to all fours and drool from the corners of my mouth?"

Raenef clapped his hands to his mouth in a vain attempt to stifle his laughter while Chris backtracked, fumbling for a response. "That's not what I meant – yeah, demons are smart and all, but you don't see us running around killing each other over blood feuds and stuff like that."

Eclipse closed his eyes and raised one finger. "But you do run around and kill each other over petty emotions like greed and jealousy. Am I wrong?"

"It isn't about how smart either is. It all comes down to basic nature. Demons just work by instinct rather than practicality." The new voice came from the open doorway.

Chris shot a dark look at the redheaded young woman that clearly read 'don't defend them, you're a knight!' as she straightened from her position against the doorframe. In answer, Erutis made a rude gesture. "Stop being a twit."

Eclipse gave a fraction of a nod. "The answer isn't so simple, but yes, it does all return to the basic principals of instinct." He picked away at the cleric with his gaze. Getting the stubborn boy to admit to an invalid argument on his part was nearly as tedious a task as teaching Raenef. "If you were a man starving, you would find food to whatever extent you had to, no matter your beliefs or inhibitions, correct? If you were a man in a life-or-death battle, would you simply allow death to take you, or would you fight to preserve your life?"

An annoyed frown tugged at one corner of the cleric's mouth. Eclipse knew the boy did not enjoy being stripped to the bare bones and having his innermost motivations compared to those of a demon. Taking into consideration the events of his past, and the unconscious hatred of demons bred from that, it was not at all surprising. But learning a lesson offered without expense was better than learning it the hard way.

Folding his arms behind his head, all Chris did was mutter something noncommittal.

Eclipse studied the human, brushing a raven strand from his sight. What did humans truly hope to accomplish by setting themselves on such a high (and yet so fragile) pedestal? All-consuming worship in the gods was not enough to deny the truth of things.

"You are a creature driven by innate instinct before you are a cleric."

No, the boy did not enjoy it at all.

"… Hey, Chris?" Raenef ventured tentatively.

At the moment, it was just the two of them walking around the grounds. Well, walking aimlessly to be precise. Hours later, Chris was still mulling over what had been said in the library – at least in the opinion of Erutis. 'Don't worry about it, he'll snap out of it eventually. He's just lost in thought, and he would be, since it's new territory and all,' she had said with a dismissive wave.

Somehow the idea of Chris actually taking to heart words from someone other than himself – and spending time thinking on them, no less – just didn't sit right with Raenef. In his opinion, Chris had just eaten something funny.

Rae had to jump back to avoid walking into Chris' back when he promptly stopped walking. The cleric dropped down to sit cross-legged in the leafy shade of a nearby tree that had a curious knot in its base, leaving its foliage to bend and sag to the side rather than upwards. The demon lord groaned as he realized they were under the same gnarled old tree they had already passed twice before. But he chose to sit too. Following a friend as he walked around in circles was really rather tiring.

Resting his chin in a hand, the cleric answered, "Yeah?"

Raenef linked his arms around his knees and tried to give Chris his best penetrating stare. "What's wrong? You haven't been yourself since you and Eclipse argued."

"It wasn't an argument. That makes us sound like an old married couple. It was a disagreement," Chris said, rolling his eyes. The checkered flecks of sunlight and shadow on the ground attracted his attention, and he was silent for a while before he spoke again. "You were living as a human before you found out you were a demon lord. Do you think it's true that humans and demons follow the same… basic impulses?"

Rae bit his lip, thinking. The question seemed important to Chris. But what to say? He wasn't sure himself. Demons and humans were certainly at odds in most cases, but they were similar in other respects. When they needed to eat, they ate, and when they needed to drink, they drank. When they were dishonoured, they took offence. They each had rules and mannerisms and ethics. And he knew firsthand that survival was a powerful motivator for either race… Raenef touched a hand to his head. This was hard. "Uh… sure, in a way."

Chris stared. "That's it? That's all you have to say on the matter?"

"Well… look at us! We're not so different, are we?"

"You're a demon lord, and I'm a High Cleric! How much different could it get?"

Raenef rubbed his cheek, stumped. Good point. "… Umm, well, I guess we are pretty different, then."

Chris made an exasperated noise and jumped to his feet. "What kind of demon lord are you, anyway?" And with that, the cleric turned and stomped away, presumably with a more distinct purpose this time.

He found him looking through a leather-bound book in a room just off the west wing.

His back was to the door, hiding those piercing eyes, but he was still an imposing sight; his presence drew the eyes like a hypnotist's toy, and no matter how ridiculous he was caught looking or acting (like that one time with the apron…), nothing could hide the fact that he was a dangerous force to be reckoned with. Chris had understood that from the first moment he had laid eyes on him, at the temple, as the demon protected Raenef from his Holy Bolt like it was no more a matter than swatting a fly from his face.

He would never admit it openly, but Eclipse frightened him at times. He kept telling himself it was because he was demon (a demon: those ugly, bloodthirsty, barbaric things), a creature that was absolutely nothing like him. But then there had come Raenef, the exception to so many things. They could have strolled down a crowded market street together, and no one would realize the truth. A person could even overhear the things Rae said, and they still wouldn't recognize that the happy-go-lucky blonde was actually a lord of demons.

Chris didn't have an answer for that. How could it be that a demon and human could be so much alike…?

"Lost again, are we?"

Chris looked up into those dark, clever eyes, wondering how long it would take Eclipse to cross the room and snap his neck, or how many he had killed during the Hangma War. His stomach churned indignantly.

"I was looking for you," Chris muttered.

Rae's mentor closed the book and put it back into its rightful place, turning to face him fully. "And what have you broken now?"

"Nothing yet… But I just wanted… to tell you…" He stopped. Fists clenching, an abrupt shadow passed over his face. His anger blossomed like a sudden summer storm. "What you said – you were wrong! We have nothing in common!" His voice had grown louder, enraged, and as he spat out the last few words Eclipse saw his eyes turn dark and stormy, churning with anger. The wizened old cleric from the temple had been right about the boy's inexplicable disdain of demons. The boy cleric probably did not even question the source of all his fury.

"As much as any self-respecting demon would loathe to admit so, you and I are not so at odds."

Chris had opened his mouth even before Eclipse was finished speaking, another barrage of denials on his tongue, when he suddenly found himself face to face with the object of his ire.

The soft robes of demon silk brushed his body, unlike any material found in the world of mortals. That face, so inhumanly beautiful, was close. Too close. Much too close. He could feel his breath. Chris' throat was abruptly filled with cotton. The thought that Eclipse smelled of moonlight and shadow and everything graceful about night blinked across his mind and was gone. "What – what are you doing?" As much as he wanted to, he couldn't look away from Eclipse's eyes as the demon bent even closer.

"Humans and demons are more alike than you seem to believe. Both are driven by their basic instincts… of wrath and vengeance, of self-preservation, of carnal lusts."

Rased, guide me. The prayer came unbidden. I don't want to believe it.

Eclipse dipped his head closer still. A long strand of raven hair brushed his cheek. His hand twitched, and it scared him that he couldn't tell whether it be because of surprise, or the yearning to touch the length. Eclipse's voice came as a tickling whisper. "Whatever beliefs you may hold as a cleric are only an outer shell of what makes you what you are. As I said, you are a creature of innate instinct before you are a cleric."

Back off was what he wanted to say, but he remained silent and pliant, enfolded in the rich embrace of Eclipse's presence. What was wrong with him? This… this closeness should have repulsed him at best; he should be kicking out and screaming about the insult of it all. Who was he to preach about his nature? To dare to get so close to a child of the temple? But all he did was shiver, feeling gooseflesh raise the hair at the nape of his neck.

"Is a human any more able to resist their basic natures?"

The words barely registered in his cloudy head. Eclipse's voice seemed so much sweeter sounding at this proximity. Vaguely, Chris wondered if this wasn't some sort of glamour or spell. That would explain why he couldn't pull away. (Later on, he would grudgingly admit that an enchantment on Eclipse's part couldn't have been wrought without him sensing – a part of his training as a cleric that wasn't just another tall tale.)

Eclipse brought his hand up towards the cleric's face – he's going to do it! Snap my neck like a twig! – to rest lightly at the juncture of his neck and collarbone. Fingertips ghosted up the vulnerable flesh to his jaw, eliciting another shiver. Chris trembled, but made no attempt to flee. Something held him still, that flame of anger sparking in his belly. Lashes slid partway closed over his eyes as the hand, so gentle and nice, slid up to cradle his cheek. He didn't notice tilting his head ever so slightly towards that caress like a flower to the sun, only when his hand reached up and took hold of a fistful of cloth.

The inclination of Eclipse's head seemed to be inquiring as to what he wanted. Chris wasn't entirely sure, and when he leaned up to place his face a scant breadth from Eclipse's he still wasn't sure. It was only when he twined his fingers into the sleek strands of hair did he realize that flame deep in his belly wasn't anger at all but something else – and that something else became apparent when he pressed his mouth to the other's, an act that would have shocked him had he been in a proper frame of mind. Eclipse didn't seem to mind the bold advance at all; on the contrary: the hand resting on Chris' cheek moved to the back of his neck and angled his head comfortably.

Eclipse tasted of honey and wine and velvet silk, a forbidden fruit both hot and sweet. It made the cleric crave more. He moaned then, a sound foreign to his ears, and suddenly he was leading the dance, his mouth was open and greedy and wanting and taking, and nothing mattered past the kindling need coiling in his stomach –

The prick of a fang against his lip was what brought reality crashing down with a startling swiftness.

All at once Chris shoved back from the demon before him with a body that no longer felt like his own. His back hit the wall beside the still-open door; his legs folded under his weight and he slowly slumped to the floor, shaken by his desire. He wanted to run his hands through his hair, or wipe his mouth, but they were shaking too hard to do little else but clench at his thighs.

Rased… Gods, he couldn't think.

Eclipse gazed down at him, face schooled into a quiet look. "I'll ask again: is a human any more able to resist their basic natures?"

The cleric did not answer – could not answer. His only response was to raise one unsteady hand to his swollen lips, to feel his body tremble with fading arousal. He swallowed once… twice. The taste of Eclipse still lingered. Chris rubbed at his arms as though warding away phantom caresses.

As if he reading his desperate thoughts, Eclipse left him alone without another word.

Chris tipped his head back against the wall and let out a laugh. There was no disgust, or horror, or even regret. Maybe that was the most unsettling notion of all.

The next day, the cleric held his tongue as the interrupted lesson continued.

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… Yes, I am also staring at the screen going 'WTF?' too. Don't blame me - it was the plot bunnie's fault, I swear!