Bleeding Hearts Chapter Two: Cutting Ties By: Omnipresent
AN: Disclaimer- don't own demon diary or the characters, no money being made...
Eclipse stood outside on the balcony attached to Raenef's room. Not surprisingly, it was much larger than his own smaller, though by far adequate balcony. The comparison of balconies set the strange for nearly every difference between Eclipse's quarters, and those rooms belonging to Raenef. His own quarters weren't as extravagant as Raenef's, but they were lavish in their own rights. His bed as massive enough to fit several people his size with ease, and it was furnished with heavy brocade drapery, hung thickly over the posts to create drapes and a large canopy. Such decorations weren't normally to his style, but the dark-haired demon was willing to admit that the thick coverings were nice to be able to pull around his bed in the mornings, since his window faced east. Eclipse had no problem getting up early, when required of him, but as Raenef couldn't function in the morning, Eclipse had no desire to get up with the sun, and the curtains did allow him to continue sleeping. In comparison, Raenef's curtains were soft and light. Then again, Raenef's windows faced West. Privately, Eclipse thought it wouldn't have mattered if Raenef's windows faced east and he still had the curtains he had. The pale-haired boy could sleep through nearly anything, the dark-haired man had discovered early on. Various other pieces of furniture, like his desk, dresser, table, and other such things, were designed with the same opulence as the bed. Made from beautifully carved wood, stained a deep red, and carved with delicate designs, they were beautiful, but rather too ostentatious for his own tastes. The only things the demon was willing to admit to being fond of was the balcony that overlooked the courtyard, and the ridiculously large bathtub. The demon would kill himself before admitting to the fact publicly, but he liked being able to soak in blazingly hot water, especially since Raenef had come along. Being able to wallow in water that was practically scalding not only soothed away the days aches, mainly caused from Raenef's clumsiness and lack of care, but the constant tension he seemed to have in his back and shoulders, ever since he had brought Raenef back to the palace. The demon stood on his balcony, watching as the sun sank low in the horizon until it vanished behind a mountain, and the moon crested high in the sky, reclaiming the sky for her domain. The bright stars twinkled above him. Patience had always been something he had been good at. The wind picked up as time edged onwards, and the temperature dropped steadily. Still, Eclipse remained standing outside, observing. His long black hair twisted and twined through the air as the wind tugged on it, writhing with the strands in mid air. Though he could sense the drop in temperature, Eclipse was not troubled by it. Demons had more resistance to extremes of temperature than most evens, or even clerics did. Beyond that, Eclipse had long since trained himself to endure various climates and weather conditions. Only to himself was Eclipse willing to admit that he would have much rather gone inside where it was warmer and less irritating. That, of course, was his dilemma. Going back inside would mean going back into Raenef's room. After Raenef had told Eclipse the whole story, it had not taken long for the blond lord to dissolve into tears again. Oddly enough, they had been silent ones. No harsh sobs had wracked his slender form, no cries. Only pale, crystalline blue tears rolling down pale cheeks and dropping silently onto the comforter below. Eclipse had held him through his silent tears, and finally until the blond boy had fallen asleep. It had taken hours. His arms and legs had been numb by the time Raenef's mind had been lulled into blessed unconsciousness once more. The worst part about it, even worse than seeing those soundless tears, had been being able to pick up stray thoughts. Raenef's mind had kept drifting back to the night of his rape, reliving memories, thoughts, emotions... The young blonde's shields around his mind were still raw from Eclipse's forced penetration, and the emotions were so intense the dark-haired demon hadn't been able to block them out entirely. He still couldn't believe something like that had happened to Raenef. The blond teen had always come a crossed as being so innocent, so naive to the real world. Raenef was so gentle, and kind. How, Eclipse wondered, could someone experience what Raenef had endured first hand, and still come out in the end as Raenef had. Most would have been turned bitter, manipulative, and cruel by such an event. Yet Raenef had remained so kind that even when he had become a demon lord, he still could barely stomach the thought of using magic like the "death drill." He hadn't even been able to kill Erutis, the female knight who had come with every intention of slaughtering him! A soft, quiet mewl of pain came from the bedroom behind him. Eclipse turned quickly, heading inside. He shut the door softly behind him so as not to disturb his lord's sleep any further than he already had. Raenef was caught in the throes of a nightmare. Eclipse could catch vague flashes of it. Asleep, Raenef's mind was even more unguarded then awake, especially with his natural mental shields weak from Eclipse's earlier assault on them. In this state, the demon lord was projecting thoughts and images clearly into Eclipse's own head. He could block the brunt of it, but wisps still escaped past his own fortified shields. The blond was tossing and turning, tangling himself in his bed sheets. The more he entangled himself, the harder he thrashed and fought, murmuring incomprehensible words. Eclipse sat down beside his shuddering lord, and began to stroke the tangled hair. Just as he had earlier, Raenef quieted quickly under the soothing touch. He stopped squirming, and finally went still enough for Eclipse to carefully untangle him from his blankets. "Little master... I'm sorry for what I did... Now, more so then ever, it is my job to protect you." Eclipse couldn't help but think that, lying in the massive bed, swaddled in layers upon layers of blankets, the young blond looked so very small and helpless. The demon found himself wondering, not for the first time, how it was possible that such a small, innocent boy could be demon lord. How could anyone honestly expect him to be able to "wreak havoc, terrorize, torture, and terminate terribly?" For a moment, as he watched the small demon lord sleep, Eclipse was filled with such an intense surge of hatred, for anyone who could ever hurt someone so innocent Raenef was. Images of Genji and his gang, laughing at Raenef's pain and shame, came to him. Long-nailed fingers clenched into a fist as a wave of fury swept over him, and he remembered his words of promise. "I will kill them," he snarled, low in his throat. Eclipse leaned over, hesitantly, placing a gentle kiss on Raenef's sweating forehead as he laid a heavy sleep spell. The demon nudged at the tightly coiled mind as it slipped even deeper into unconsciousness, checking its progress. Finally Raenef's mind slid deep enough for him to feel comfortable, and Eclipse stood. So silently that he resembled a shadow more than any living, breathing being, the demon left the room behind him for the stretching halls of the palace.*******"Gooooooooodmooooooorning!" Erutis trilled in Raenef's ear in an effort to wake the sleeping demon lord. Raenef didn't even flinch, merely continued sleeping peacefully. Well, as peacefully as he could, Erutis mused, taking another glance at the position the demon lord lay in. His arms and legs were sprawled carelessly. It looked painful, the young knight though. The blankets had all bunched up, wrapping around his waist and halfway around one of his arms and face, so that only a few wild strands of blonde hair managed to escape. The demon lord's bed looked as though a tornado had passed over it. Erutis couldn't help but wonder what on earth the kid had been doing during the night, to make his bed look so completely messed up. Erutis sighed in annoyance at the problem presented to her. She knew, from overhearing Eclipse shouting at Raenef in rebuke for being late again, and Raenef in turn protesting that it wasn't his fault he was a really deep sleeper, that the boy could sleep through just about anything."Wakey, wakey," Erutis crooned, poking at the sleeping boy. Not even a hint of reaction. The knight's face scrunched up into a frown."Grrr...get up you lazy oaf! You=re worse than Chris!" the knight glowered. Erutis shook the slender shoulders that peaked through the blankets. Raenef grunted, and rolled over, succeeding in breaking her hold on him. "Ok, that's it then!" The girl fastened her hands on the blankets knotted tightly around Raenef's small form, and pulled with all her might. The blankets came free easily. Raenef, wrapped up in the bedclothes as he was, came along with them. With a loud thump, Raenef landed on the hard floor. Emerald eyes shot wide open, and a startled sound escaped from the young boy. "Hey!" Raenef protested at awaking to find himself on the floor. A chuckle startled him, and he looked up to find Erutis snickering at him." Sorry," the knight laughed. Raenef looked so very confused at being on the floor, she couldn't help her amusement. Really, it was just too funny. "You wouldn't wake up, so I kind of...well...pulled you out of bed, I guess." "That wasn't very nice," Raenef pouted, as he began to try and untangle himself from the blankets. It was rather difficult. He was wrapped in them tightly and they didn't want to let go. Despite his valiant struggle, it quickly became apparent he was fighting a losing battle. Erutis watched his slow progress with a raised eyebrow. "Geez, kid, what were you doing last night to get yourself so tangled up?" the young knight asked curiously. Raenef blinked emerald eyes as he stared down at the blankets. The demon lord didn't look at Erutis, as vague memories of his dreams assuaged him suddenly. Dreams? he thought, disgusted, More like nightmares. Raenef shook his head in answer to Erutis's question. "I don't really remember. Probably some stupid dream," he breathed. "Whatever," she said with a careless shrug. "I'm going, so you can get dressed or do whatever it is you do." The young knight bounced out of the room Raenef sighed, hauling himself free of the last of the stubborn blankets, kicking at them to get the cloth to relinquish him entirely. Erutis's innocent question, "What were you doing last night to get yourself so tangled up...? and his false answer. The young demon lord shivered, suddenly feeling cold, and wrapped his arms around himself. He felt dirty. Unclean. Used. He always did, after remembering what Genji and the others had done. He couldn't help but feel so. Shudders rippled acrossed his form uncontrollably and the young demon fled to the bathroom. Raenef yanked the hot water handle on the tub so hard he heard the caulking around it crack. Hot water surged forth from the faucet, steam billowing out into the bathroom. Within moments, Raenef could feel his shirt clinging to his damp skin. The hot dampness in the air tamed even his wild hair, the strands sticking to his flesh. Raenef yanked at his shirt, wanting to get it off, wanting to immerse himself in that boiling hot water, wanting to feel clean again, even though he knew fro experiance it wouldn't help. The humidity had made the fabric swell around them buttons, and his fingers were shaking too hard to be of much use anyway. The boy yanked at the shirt, eventually ripping off the buttons in his haste to get the cumbersome piece of clothing off. He all but threw himself into the bathtub. The water was hot. So very, very hot. He could almost feel his flesh burning as it made contact with the liquid. Oddly enough, he felt a sort of masochistic relief at the pain surging through his nerve endings. It made him feel cleansed, and the pain helped him keep his tenuous hold on the real world, not allowing him to slip back into the painful memories. He let the bathtub fill completely, up to his chin, before he turned off the hot water. Mechanically, he reached for the soap, beginning to clean his body thoroughly in a desperate yet futile attempt to purge the remembered filth from himself. He scrubbed at his pale flesh until it was raw and, in some places, bleeding from his intense effort. Part of him regretted the harshness, as the hot water burned the open wounds, but more of him felt it was completely necessary. Raenef began to sob, brokenly. "God, I'm acting like such a baby. And in front of Eclipse, to. He already thinks I'm a weak fool, and this is just going to reinforce that." What was worse, was that now, with those awful, horrible memories brought to the front of his mind once again, the thought of any sort of intimacy made him feel nauseous. Even the idea of looking at Eclipse, in any way to her than as his teacher, made Raenef want to lunge for the nearest toilet, and empty his stomach. Raenef wasn't even sure he could force himself to go to his lessons today. He didn't want to go and to have to sit while Eclipse talked about Wars and Battles and violence and death, and about how he was expected to not only play a role in such things, but to be the instigator. How could he, when he had been on the other end up such horrible things. Not to mention, having to sit under Eclipse's watchful, penetrating gaze, knowing that the older demon knew precisely what Raenef was thinking about. He didn't think that he could breathe scrutiny of that dark, fathomless gaze, that gaze that now knew his greatest moment of weakness. Eclipse was constantly berating him for his inability to do as a proper demon lord should. Raenef had tried to force himself to "wreak havoc, terrorize, torture, and terminate terribly" but the young demon simply couldn't. It wasn't in him to cause that sort of violence. Even when he had been with the guild, Raenef had had no desire for power. Now, for Eclipse to not only know that his student was an ultimate failure in terms of all demon lords, but for Eclipse to have seen what Genji and the others had done...Now Eclipse's beliefs that Raenef was a weakling were only supported. Poor Eclipse, Raenef though miserably. The great Eclipse, 3rd ranking, the perfect demon, chosen by the gods themselves to teach the new demon lord...and who does he get? Me. The demon lord who couldn't even kill the knight who was trying to kill him. Even Erutis thinks Eclipse needs to get a new demo lord. The only reason Eclipse hasn't abondoned me yet is because I'm the only one... He can't get another. Raenef splashed angrily at the water "It's not fair!" the young boy shouted. "It's not...fair," Raenef repeated, miserably. He sighed, and reached for one of the scattered bottles of shampoo. The one that smelled like rasberries. Eclipse had commented, once, while he was teaching, that he liked that smell. Raenef hadn't touched a different shampoo since that day. Automatically, he began to wash his hair, scrubbing at the blonde locks until they were slippery, and submerged his whole body into the deep bathtub. The conditioner, one that also smelled like rasberries, came next. The young demon lord emerged from his second dunking with his hair hanging like a curtain in front of his face. Gasping in water, he hurriedly tossed it back, wincing at the thuds the water droplets made as they hit the wall. He'd have to wipe up the mess later, something he hated doing. Raenef stared at a strand of pale hair, stroking it and twisting it in his hands absent-mindedly. After Genji, he'd shorn it all off. The boy couldn't stand the wild tumble of hair. Several times during the...incident-Raenef struggled to call it "rape," somehow that only seemed to make it more real- they had commented on his hair, burying their faces in it, laughing at how it made him more "feminine," and a better screw... Feeling slightly sick and unable to stop the sudden surge of memories, Raenef recalled every moment someone had buried their face in his hair, stroked it, touched it, commented on it... Shivering, Raenef forced himself from the repulsive thought, continuing to fumble with the pale strands. It had been cut so short, in places there were bald spot speaking through. He hadn't been particularly careful where or how he was cutting, just knowing he wanted it off. It had taken years to grow back, and even now it wasn't as long as it had been. By the time it had grown long enough for him to notice, he'd had enough time to begin to put everything behind him, and he'd missed his hair. Even if it did make him look like a porcupine, and had some bad memories with it. The young demon rinsed his hair again and abandoned the water, which was starting to cool anyway. He still didn't feel clean, but he didn't want to wait for the water to drain, and refill it again. Not to mention, he thought, glancing at his hands, that he was beginning to prune rather badly. He hefted himself out of the tub after yanking at the plug, and pulled a fluffy towel off the rack. Oddly enough, there were always towels waiting for him. It didn't matter how many he used in a day, nor that he had never replaced them. But they were always there when he got out of the bathtub. Whenhe'd asked Eclipse about it, and other such occurrences, the demon had saidsomething about servants. When Raenef had in turn, asked the demon why he hadnever seen them, Eclipse had gone off into an achingly long spiel about spellsand incantations and such. Raenef, his head spinning after the talk, hadn'tbothered asking again.Raenef pressed the white towel to his nose, smelling deeply. He likedthe way they always smelled. Clean, and fresh, and just washed. Not to mentionhow soft and huge they were. A single towel covered his whole body, fromshoulders to knees, without any problems, and would probably wrap around himthree times if he tried. Admittedly, he had once, attempted, to see how manytimes he could encircle himself with in it, and subsequently, had not only nearlybroken his leg, the faucet on the bathtub, and half of the bottles around the bathroom, but had been entangled in it for three hours before, horror of allhorrors, Eclipse had come to see what was delaying his master for s long, andfreed Raenef in seconds.He hadn't been able to look at the handsome demon in the eye for severaldays.Raenef sighed, and headed into his bedroom. The majority of his clotheswere scattered a crossed the floor. Interesting, since the servants seemed tobe able to replace towels, ensure soap and other body washes never ran out, andother such things, but never ever picked up his clothes, or the mess of waterhe tended to leave lying in puddles a crossed the bathroom floor. Raenef hada sneaking suspicion, that, after learning of his lord's predisposition to notpick up his clothes, had commanded the servants not to do so, either. Only, itseemed, when said clothes had been scooped up off the floor, and placed in aneat, orderly pile by the door, would they ever seem to vanish, andmysteriously return, perfectly clean and smelling of soap.Raenef hadn't gotten dangerously low enough on clothes to force himselfto clean them up, just yet. In fact, he still had several outfits that he hadonly worn a day or two, and even, he was fairly sure, one that hadn't beenworn yet.Kicking various items of clothing out of his path, the demon lord stoppedin front of his dresser, pulling the door open. There was a lump of clothesat the bottom. At one time, when he had first arrived, in fact, he had openedthe wardrobe door to fine a neat line of beautiful clothes. It hadn't evenbeen three hours before they had all ended up on the floor, in various stagesof disarray. He'd never bothered to hang any of them back up again Whybother, was Raenef's logic, when you're simply going to be taking them off to wearanyway, and then tossing them on the floor. It saved a few steps, afterall,right? He picked a shirt and set of pants that seemed to match well enough, andpulled them on over his body.The fabric clung to his skin in the way only dry clothes can stick toskin still damp from a shower. It took a rather impressive series of contorsionsto pull the clothes on. By the time he was fully dressed, Raenef was pantingfrom exertion, and felt like he was sweating enough to need another shower.Not to mention his hair, which was already frizzy from the shower, wassticking up at random places, making him resemble a giant walking cottonball.It took him another 20 minutes of wrestling with his hair brush to get it asflat as it was going to go, and even then it was only after a handful ofconditioner. Raenef sighed, tugging on a wayward strand of hair in annoyance, beforeshoving it all into a ponytail. Raenef paced, buying as much time ashe thought he could. He wandered aimlessly back and forth acrossed his roomfor the next fifteen minutes, as much time as he felt he could legitematelygive himself. Besides, as embaressing as it was going to be to have to faceEclipse, it would be even more embarassing for the older demon to have to comelooking for him. Raenef wanted, at thevery least, to be able to face Eclipse on his own terms, to be able to decidewhen and where their meeting would take place. It would give him a sense ofcontrol, something he needed desperately after what had happened yesterday.Raenef wandered down the halls, going slower then he usually would have.Normally, he would have flung himself in a head long rush down the corridorsin hopes of managing to make it class on time, and subsequentally, avoid thelecture Eclipse always had ready for him for whever he was late.
****
Eclipse closed the massive ebony doors that led to his bedroom behind him. The sudden darkness of his room made him stop. His eyes had adjusted to the dim, moonlit corridors of the Raenef Palace, but his room was much darker since the moonlight wasn=t able to pierce the thick, heavy drapes hanging in front of his floor-length windows.
Eclipse thought suddenly, that in comparison to Raenef=s own room, his own was rather dull and dark in comparison. The demon found himself missing his lord=s room.
AWell, you certainly fucked up,@ said a voice that would have been almost feminine if not for the haughty tone that colored it.
Eclipse whirled around so fast his pony tail came back to whip in him in the face. Eclipse blinked, brushing the dark-haired strands from his mouth. AKrayon?!@ he demanded, incredulously, squinting into the darkness. Of course it was Krayon. Even in the bad lighting Eclipse was quite certain no one else had Krayon=s odd, horribly kinked hair that seemed to create a halo around him that extended several feet. Not to mention that Krayon was floating several feet above the ground, his legs folded, a position Eclipse recognized.
Sure enough, a slender hand lifted to toss a few strands of wild hair over Krayon=s shoulder, a motion that Krayon employed quite often. AWell, now, Eclipse, that=s not a very nice way to greet me.@ The words were almost a pout.
Eclipse folded his arms around his lanky form and scowled at the demon lord. AHow did you get in here? The palace is warded.@ Eclipse=s mind was already working ahead. Although the grounds themselves were protected, they weren=t protected as heavily as the castle itself which should have kept out any demon lord aside from Raenef himself attempting to enter. Indeed, if Krayon had gotten in then there could very well be a weakness in the shielding. If that was the case then he certainly needed to fix it.
Krayon rolled his eyes slightly and stepped down onto the ground. AWhat do you think, Eclipse? Honestly, as revered as you yourself might be, and as good a teacher I=m sure you are, your lord is quite obviously not up to par. The wards on this palace are adequate, perhaps, to keep someone of a lower rank out, but without Raenef himself able to help them along, I was able to get in quite easily.@
Eclipse scowled at the implied insult to his lord and the well hidden jab at himself. AThat still doesn=t give you the right to come waltzing into the palace of another demon lord as you please,@ he snapped, irritated.
Krayon had turned from Eclipse and was bending over one of the larger pieces of furniture in the room- a heavy, ebony desk scattered with things Eclipse had accumulated over the years. Currently the blond was prodding a small, metal box. At Eclipse=s tone, he rose from his bent position to arch an eyebrow at the dark haired demon. AOf course it does, Eclipse. You know as well as I do that if a demon lord isn=t powerful enough to make demons obey him, then they don=t have to. You should consider yourself lucky that nobody has attempted a power grab. Raenef is pathetically weak. I=ve been more than leinient in regards to the child.@ Krayon walked over to the desk nestled in a corner of the room, trailing fingers over the covers of the many books stacked upon it.
That desk was Eclipse=s only condescension to messiness and disorder. Eclipse himself was naturally a very organized person, a trait he valued considerably. The desk was the only exception in his otherwise carefully arranged room. Papers were scattered messily a crossed, so deep that you couldn=t see the ebony wood beneath. Pens, pencils, and other writing tools that had once, perhaps a very long time ago, actually had a container, had long since resigned themselves to being scattered a crossed the desk.
Eclipse stepped forward firmly, inserting his body between Krayon=s own and the desk. The fact that he was able to stare down into the higher ranking demon=s green eyes added to his boldness. Normally, Eclipse would not have confronted the demon lord so adamantly, but considering the situation- Krayon had entered a demon lord=s palace without Raenef=s knowledge, and then barged into his own quarters- Eclipse felt he had more than enough reason to challenge Krayon. AWhat is it you want, Krayon?@ he demanded sharply.
AHmmm...Such an...interesting question,@ the blond murmurred thoughtfully, pale green eyes raking up and down Eclipse=s body in a way that left no doubt in Eclipse=s mind as to what Ainteresting@ entailed.
If it was possible, Eclipse felt himself growing even more angry. It was not like him, not at all, to lose his control so easily. Krayon, however, had always been able to bring out the worst in him. Apparently, his feelings showed clearly in his eyes because Krayon met them evenly before grinning. AAh, ah, ah now. Don=t get angry at me. There was a time when you would have been flattered by my attentions,@ Krayon murmurred, his voice dropping ever so slightly as, instead of stepping away in response to Eclipse=s challenging stance, he moved closer. Closely enough to press flush against Eclipse=s body.
Despite himself, Eclipse felt long forgotten desire stirring inside him. His mind may have realized the idiocy of such things, but his body had not forgotten the way that Krayon had felt, pressed against him, straining, twisting, writhing... Eclipse snarled internally at himself and pulled himself straighter. Despite his efforts, Eclipse could see the triumph lighting up Krayon=s green eyes. They had been lover=s for several decades, though it had been many, many centuries ago, but demon=s possessed memories to suit their long life spans and Krayon remembered very well precisely how to get to Eclipse.
The blond demon pressed even closer and reached up to wrap his arms around Eclipse=s neck. AI would have thought you would have appreciated this. I saw the way you watched him. That young demon lord of yours, however pretentious the title may be. You used to watch me that way.@ Krayon nearly pouted, his full, red lips pressing together in a way Eclipse knew was purposely meant to be seductive. And however he might be determined to resist, it was difficult with Krayon=s body pressed tightly against his own and the blond haired demon set about to seduce him. AAnd now it seems you=ve completely destroyed any chances you might have had with him, I thought you might be in need of some company.@ Krayon=s voice was all but a purr as he leaned up to pressed his lips lightly against Eclipse=s throat. "You must know, he'll never give you what I can. He's just a child, Eclipse."
Despite himself, Eclipse felt his eyes closing. Heat flooded through his body as forgotten feelings surged. Automatically, Eclipse dropped his hands to rest on the slender curve of Krayon=s hips, helping to steady the older demon.
Krayon grinned triumphantly as he felt long nailed fingers settled against his hips. Eclipse had always left a lasting impression on him. The dark haired demon was easily among the best lovers he had ever taken, and he had had many. Somehow, Eclipse made his aloof almost coldness transform into brilliant, white hot heat in bed. In all reality, Krayon supposed the true reason he found Eclipse so attractive was very simple. Unlike the other lover=s he=d had, Eclipse had never succumbed to his chairs. For the years they had been lovers, Eclipse had always remained distant. That had been something completely new to Krayon who was used to having lovers fall in love with him easily. Eclipse was a challenge, one that he had never conquered, and that fact had always irked him.
When he had searched out the dark haired demon only to find him serving Raenef V- a pathetic excuse of a demon, he had seen an opportunity to gain the dark-haired demon back. Eclipse had always been powerful with a zealous to learn more and become more powerful, and Krayon couldn=t believe that the dark haired demon would turn down his offer to serve as his advisor. After all, Krayon was one of the five oldest and most powerful demons, certainly a step up from the pathetic child that Eclipse was currently suffering under.
He had been utterly shocked when Eclipse had not only turned down his offer, but stepped up to defend his lord and master. That in itself was somewhat ridiculous. Eclipse shouldn=t have had to defend Raenef. Raenef should have been able to do it himself. Yet Eclipse had stepped in to save the boy and then the answer had smacked him in the face. He=d seen that look on Eclipse=s face often enough when they had been lovers, except there had been a depth to it that he had never seen.
After the events of the day when Krayon had returned home, he had had time to reconsider the look. Then it had hit him and he had spent the next several hours laughing in amusement at the situation his ice cold lover had gotten himself into. Eclipse, demon famed for his cruelty in the Hangma wars, had fallen in love with his considerably weaker and kinder lord. It was perhaps the greatest of ironies.
Krayon tilted his head to get a better angle at the little spot just behind Eclipse=s ear that he had discovered so long ago. Sure enough, it had the same effect now as it had hundred=s of years ago. Eclipse moaned fiercely, pulling Krayon tighter against him, and any remaining resistance in the dark haired demon=s body fled. Krayon paused a moment to reflect triumphantly before he lost himself to the rising waves of pleasure.
*****************************************************************************
*********************"Goooooooood mooooooorning!" Erutis trilled in Raenef's ear in an effort to wake the sleeping demon lord. Raenef didn't even flinch, merely continued sleeping peacefully. Well, as peacefully as he could, Erutis mused, taking another glance at the position the demon lord lay in. His arms and legs were sprawled carelessly. It looked painful, the young knight though. The blankets had all bunched up, wrapping around his waist and halfway around one of his arms and face, so that only a few wild strands of blonde hair managedto escape. The demon lord's bed looked as though a tornado hadpassed over it. Erutis couldn't help but wonder what on earth the kid had beendoing during the night, to make his bed look so completely messed up.Erutis sighed in annoyance at the problem presented to her. She knew,from overhearing Eclipse shouting at Raenef in rebuke for being late again, andRaenef in turn protesting that it wasn't his fault he was a really deepsleeper, that the boy could sleep through just about anything."Wakey, wakey," Erutis crooned, poking at the sleeping boy.Not even a hint of reaction. The knight's face scrunched up into a frown."Grrr...get up you lazy oaf!" the knight glowered. Erutis shook the slendershoulders that peaked through the blankets. Raenef grunted, androlled over, succeeding in breaking her hold on him. "Ok, that's it then!" Thegirl fastened her hands on the blankets knotted tightly around Raenef's smallform, and pulled with all her might. The blankets came free easily. Raenef,wrapped up in the bedclothes as he was, came along with them. With a loudthump, Raenef landed on the hard floor.Emerald eyes shot wide open, and a startled sound escaped from theyoung boy. "Hey!" Raenef protested at awaking to find himself on the floor. Achuckle startled him, and he looked up to find Erutis snickering at him."Sorry," the knight laughed. Raenef looked so veryconfused at being on the floor, she couldn't help her amusement. Really, itwas just too funny. "You wouldn't wake up, so I kinda...well...pulled you outof bed, I guess." "That wasn't very nice," Raenefpouted, as he began to try and untangle himself from the blankets. It wasrather difficult. He was wrapped in them tightly and they didn't want to let go.Despite his valient struggle, it quickly became apparent he was fighting aloosing battle. Erutis watchedhis slow progress with a raised eyebrow. "Geez, kid, what were you doing lastnight to get yourself so tangled up?" the young knight asked curiously.Raenef blinked emerald eyes as he stared down at the blankets. The demonlord didn't look at Erutis, as vague memories of his dreams assauged himsuddenly. Dreams? he thought, disgusted, More like nightmares.Raenef shook his head in answer to Erutis's question. "I don'treally remember. Probably some stupid dream," he breathed."Whatever," she said with a careless shrug. "I'm going, so you can getdressed or do whatever it is you do." The young knight bounced out of theroom Raenef sighed, hauling himself free of the last of thestubborn blankets, kicking at them to get the cloth to relinquish him entirely.Erutis's innocent question, "What were you doing last night to get yourselfso tangled up...? and his false answer. The young demon lord shivered,suddenly feeling cold, and wrapped his arms around himself. He feltdirty. Unclean. Used. He always did, after remembering what Genji and theothers had done. He couldn't help but feel so. Shudders rippled acrossed hisform uncontrollably and the young demon fled to the bathroom.Raenef yanked the hot water handle on the tub so hard he heard the caulkingaround it crack. Hot water surged forth from the faucet, steam billowing outinto the bathroom. Within moments, Raenef could feel his shirt clinging to hisdamp skin. The hot dampness in the air tamed even his wild hair, the strandssticking to his flesh.Raenef yanked at his shirt, wanting to get it off, wanting to immersehimself in that boiling hot water, wanting to feel clean again, even though heknew fro experiance it wouldn't help. The humidity had made the fabric swellaround the buttons, and his fingers were shaking too hard to be of much useanyway. The boy yanked at the shirt, eventually ripping off the buttons in hishaste to get the cumbersome piece of clothing off. He all but threwhimself into the bathtub. The water was hot. So very, very hot. He couldalmost feel his flesh burning as it made contact with the liquid. Oddly enough,he felt a sort of masochistic relief at the pain surging through his nerveendings. It made him feel cleansed, and the pain helped him keep his tenuoushold on the real world, not allowing him to slip back into the painful memories.He let the bathtub fill completely, up to his chin, before he turned offthe hot water. Mechanically, he reached for the soap, beginning to clean hisbody thoroughly in a desperate yet futile attempt to purge the rememberedfilth from himself. He scrubbed at his pale flesh until it was raw and, in someplaces, bleeding from his intense effort. Part of him regretted the harshness,as the hot water burned the open wounds, but more of him felt it wascompletely necessary.Raenef began to sob, brokenly. "God, Raenef, grow up. Stop crying, you fool. You=re a demon lord, not some kid anymore. Start acting like one!"
What was worse, was that now, with those awful,horrible memories brought to the front of his mind once again, the thought of anysort of intimacy made him feel nauseosus. Even the idea of looking at Eclipse,in any way other than as his teacher made Raenef want to lunge for thenearest toilet, and empty his stomach.Raenef wasn't even sure he could force himself to go to his lessonstoday. He didn't want to go and to have to sit while Eclipse talked about Wars andBattles and violence and death, and about how he was expected to not onlyplay a role in such things, but to be the instigator. How could he, when he hadbeen on the other end up such horrible things? Not to mention having to situnder Eclipse's watchful, penetrating gaze, knowing that the older demon knewprecisely what Raenef was thinking about. He didn't think that he could bearthe scrutiny of that dark, fathomless gaze; that gaze that now knew hisgreatest moment of weakness.Eclipse was constantly berating him for his inability to do as a properdemon lord should. Raenef had tried to force himself to "wreak havoc,terrorize, torture, and terminate terribly" but the young demon simply couldn't. Itwasn't in him to cause that sort of violence. Even when he had been with theguild, Raenef had had no desire for power. Now, for Eclipse to not only kowthat his student was an ultimate failure in terms of all demon lords, but forEclipse to have seen what Genji and the others had done...Now Eclipse's beliefs that Raenef was a weakling were only supported. PoorEclipse, Raenef though miserably. The great Eclipse, 3rd ranking, the perfectdemon, chosen by the gods themselves to teach the new demon lord...and who doeshe get? Me. The demon lord who couldn't even kill the knight who was tryingto kill him. Even Erutis thinks Eclipse needs to get a new demo lord. Theonly reason Eclipse hasn't abondoned me yet is because I'm the only one... Hecan't get another. Raenef splashed angrily at the water."It's not fair!" the young boy shouted. "It's not...fair," Raenefrepeated, miserably. He sighed, and reached for one of the scattered bottles ofshampoo. The one that smelled like rasberries. Eclipse had commented, once,while he was teaching, that he liked that smell. Raenef hadn't touched adifferent shampoo since that day. Automatically, he began to wash his hair,scrubbing at the blonde locks until they were slippery, and submerged his whole bodyinto the deep bathtub. The conditioner, one that also smelled like rasberries,came next. The young demon lord emerged from his seconddunking with his hair hanging like a curtain in front of his face. Gasping inwater, he hurriedly tossed it back, wincing at the thuds the water dropletsmade as they hit the wall. He'd have to wipe up the mess later, something hehated doing. Raenef stared at a strandof pale hair, stroking it and twisting it in his hands absent-mindedly.After Genji, he'd shorn it all off. The boy couldn't stand the wild tumble ofhair. Several times during the...incident-Raenef struggled to call it "rape,"somehow that only seemed to make it more real- they had commented on hishair, burying their faces in it, laughing at how it made him more "feminine," anda better screw... Feeling slgihtly sick and unable to stopthe sudden surge of memories, Raenef recalled every moment someone had buriedtheir face in his hair, stroked it, touched it, commented on it... Shivering,Raenef forced himself from the repulsive thought, continuing to fumble withthe pale strands. It had been cut so short, in places there were bald spotspeaking through. He hadn't been particularly careful where or how he wascutting, just knowing he wanted it off.It had taken years to grow back, and even now it wasn't as long as it hadbeen. By the time it had grown long enough for him to notice, he'd hadenough time to begin to put everything behind him, and he'd missed his hair. Evenif it did make him look like a porcupine, and had some bad memories with it.The young demon rinsed his hair again and abandoned the water, which wasstarting to cool anyway. He still didn't feel clean, but he didn't want towait for the water to drain, and refill it again. Not to mention, he thought,glancing at his hands, that he was beginning to prune rather badly.He hefted himself out of the tub after yanking at the plug, and pulled afluffy towel off the rack. Oddly enough, there were always towels waitingfor him. It didn't matter how many he used in a day, nor that he had neverreplaced them. But they were always there when he got out of the bathtub. Whenhe'd asked Eclipse about it, and other such occurrences, the demon had saidsomething about servants. When Raenef had in turn, asked the demon why he hadnever seen them, Eclipse had gone off into an achingly long spiel about spellsand incantations and such. Raenef, his head spinning after the talk, hadn'tbothered asking again.Raenef pressed the white towel to his nose, smelling deeply. He likedthe way they always smelled. Clean, and fresh, and just washed. Not to mentionhow soft and huge they were. A single towel covered his whole body, fromshoulders to knees, without any problems, and would probably wrap around himthree times if he tried. Admittedly, he had once, attempted, to see how manytimes he could encircle himself with in it, and subsequently, had not only nearlybroken his leg, the faucet on the bathtub, and half of the bottles around the bathroom, but had been entangled in it for three hours before, horror of allhorrors, Eclipse had come to see what was delaying his master for s long, andfreed Raenef in seconds.He hadn't been able to look at the handsome demon in the eye for severaldays.Raenef sighed, and headed into his bedroom. The majority of his clotheswere scattered a crossed the floor. Interesting, since the servents seemed tobe able to replace towels, ensure soap and other body washes never ran out, andother such things, but never ever picked up his clothes, or the mess of waterhe tended to leave lying in puddles a crossed the bathroom floor. Raenef hada sneaking suspicion, that, after learning of his lord's predisposition to notpick up his clothes, had commanded the servants not to do so, either. Only, itseemed, when said clothes had been scooped up off the floor, and placed in aneat, orderly pile by the door, would they ever seem to vanish, andmysteriously return, perfectly clean and smelling of soap.Raenef hadn't gotten dangerously low enough on clothes to force himselfto clean them up, just yet. In fact, he still had several outfits that he hadonly worn a day or two, and even, he was fairly sure, one that hadn't beenworn yet.Kicking various items of clothing out of his path, the demon lord stoppedin front of his dresser, pulling the door open. There was a lump of clothesat the bottom. At one time, when he had first arrived, in fact, he had openedthe wardrobe door to fine a neat line of beautiful clothes. It hadn't evenbeen three hours before they had all ended up on the floor, in various stagesof disarray. He'd never bothered to hang any of them back up again Whybother, was Raenef's logic, when you're simply going to be taking them off to wearanyway, and then tossing them on the floor. It saved a few steps after all,right? He picked a shirt and set of pants that seemed to match well enough, andpulled them on over his body.The fabric clung to his skin in the way only dry clothes can stick toskin still damp from a shower. It took a rather impressive series of contorsionsto pull the clothes on. By the time he was fully dressed, Raenef was pantingfrom exertion, and felt like he was sweating enough to need another shower.Not to mention his hair, which was already frizzy from the shower, wassticking up at random places, making him resemble a giant walking cottonball.It took him another 20 minutes of wrestling with his hair brush to get it asflat as it was going to go, and even then it was only after a handful ofconditioner. Raenef sighed, tugging on a wayward strand of hair in annoyance, beforeshoving it all into a ponytail. Raenef paced, buying as much time ashe thought he could. He wandered aimlessly back and forth a crossed his roomfor the next fifteen minutes, as much time as he felt he could legitimatelygive himself. Besides, as embarrassing as it was going to be to have to face Eclipse, it would be even more embarrassing for the older demon to have to come looking for him. Raenef wanted, at thievery least, to be able to face Eclipse on his own terms, to be able to decide when and where their meeting would take place. It would give him a sense of control, something he needed desperately after what had happened yesterday. Raenef wandered down the halls, going slower then he usually would have. Normally, he would have flung himself in a head long rush down the corridors in hopes of managing to make it class on time, and subsequently, avoid the lecture Eclipse always had ready for him for whenever he was late.
Raenef grimaced as he looked at the clock one more time. AOh, I am so late,@ he moaned. As if things were not already going to be awkward between Eclipse and himself, now he was late. Raenef took off at a run, sprinting down the hallways towards the study. The demon lord skidded around the corner and...
Straight into a door.
AOUCH!@ Raenef managed to choke out. The demon lord fell back onto the ground with a groan. How typical, the boy sulked as he pushed himself off the ground and opened the door. Raenef hesitantly poked his head in the door way. AEclipse?@ he called, hesitant.
There was no answer. Raenef went into the study, more than a little surprised when he didn=t see Eclipse anywhere. Eclipse was...late? But that was unheard of. In the months since he=d become the demon lord Raenef had never known Eclipse to not be on time for something.
*****************************************************************************
Eclipse blinked rather blearily, only to shut them rapidly as a small sliver of light shone directly into the sensitive orbs. The demon groaned and buried his head back into his pillow. It took a minute for the demon to reorientate himself. His entire body felt like it did after a good fight- relaxed. He was exhausted though, despite the amount of sleep he=d obviously have, if he was to judge the time by the light shining through his drapes.
Light?
Eclipse sat bolt upright in realization of the time. Or at least, he tried to. The demon found his movement restrained by the weight of a strong arm wrapped around his waist, keeping him close to the warm body behind him.
Eclipse=s eyes widened in realization and he froze, not wanting to turn and confirm his worst fears. Oh, no. Please no. Tell me I wasn=t so foolish, not after that disaster with Lord Raenef. Despite his efforts, his head turned to look down at the sleeping form curled next to him. He didn=t even get far enough to sleep past a cascade of wild, gold hair that streamed over the blankets by his thigh. Eclipse groaned out loud.
AGood morning to you too, lover,@ said a voice husky with sleep. Eclipse turned the rest of the way towards Krayon, meeting emerald eyes fogged with sleep. The demon=s blond hair tumbled around him in disarray. Even Eclipse had to admit, Krayon certainly made a pretty picture. Of course, he always had. Eclipse wouldn=t deny that. The problems between them had always arisen when they tried to move beyond simple giving and receiving of pleasure. They were both too similar, and yet too different to ever be more than lovers.
Eclipse sighed. AGood morning, Krayon,@ he offered in return even as he fought to detangle himself from the sheets.
AHmmm...@ Krayon raised himself to his elbows, watching as Eclipse strode naked a crossed the room to a bureau. Krayon=s eyes traced the lean muscles flexing in that positively lovely backside as the demon moved. He could feel the pleasant twinges in his own muscles as he moved, testament to last night. Eclipse certainly hadn=t let his skills get rusty in the many years since they=d been lovers. AYes, it is a good morning, isn=t it? A good morning after an even better night.@
Eclipse pulled out a simple, black robe and slid neatly into it. He tugged his long black hair free from beneath the neckline, grimacing as he worked at the tangles. At Krayon=s words, however, he blinked and turned back to face his lover. AI=m not certain that would be wise.@
Krayon full out pouted, somehow making it look sexy. AWhen will you learn, Eclipse? It=s not about whether it=s wise or not. It=s about whether it=s fun or not. That=s always been your problem, you know. Overanalyzation!@ Krayon declared firmly, pronouncing each syllable with relish.
Eclipse sighed and turned away from the blond haired demon as he fastened his hair. AGood bye, Krayon,@ he said firmly, and murmured the word, AGo!"
Krayon frowned at the abrupt departure. "Eclipse, Eclipse, Eclipse. What am I going to do with you?" The blonde demon sighed and stood. Absently he walked over to the dresser, picking up a brush and running it through his tangled hair. He figured that, considering the liberties Eclipse had taken with his body last night, the least the lower ranking demon could do was to allow him to borrow his hair brush.
Krayon grinned suddenly as he waved his fingers, feeling his clothes appear on him. Life was so much easier as a high ranking demon lord. "You shouldn't dismiss me so easily, Eclipse. I'll most certainly be back. I've missed what we had together just a bit too much."
Hmmm...this formatting is royally screwed up. I don't know why it's gone through and started plugging random words together, but it has. It has also meshed what used to be nicely paragraphed sentences into a big, hulking mess. Oh well. It's 1:37 AM on a school night and I just can't bring myself to care. Maybe later I'll fix it. Night.
AN: Disclaimer- don't own demon diary or the characters, no money being made...
Eclipse stood outside on the balcony attached to Raenef's room. Not surprisingly, it was much larger than his own smaller, though by far adequate balcony. The comparison of balconies set the strange for nearly every difference between Eclipse's quarters, and those rooms belonging to Raenef. His own quarters weren't as extravagant as Raenef's, but they were lavish in their own rights. His bed as massive enough to fit several people his size with ease, and it was furnished with heavy brocade drapery, hung thickly over the posts to create drapes and a large canopy. Such decorations weren't normally to his style, but the dark-haired demon was willing to admit that the thick coverings were nice to be able to pull around his bed in the mornings, since his window faced east. Eclipse had no problem getting up early, when required of him, but as Raenef couldn't function in the morning, Eclipse had no desire to get up with the sun, and the curtains did allow him to continue sleeping. In comparison, Raenef's curtains were soft and light. Then again, Raenef's windows faced West. Privately, Eclipse thought it wouldn't have mattered if Raenef's windows faced east and he still had the curtains he had. The pale-haired boy could sleep through nearly anything, the dark-haired man had discovered early on. Various other pieces of furniture, like his desk, dresser, table, and other such things, were designed with the same opulence as the bed. Made from beautifully carved wood, stained a deep red, and carved with delicate designs, they were beautiful, but rather too ostentatious for his own tastes. The only things the demon was willing to admit to being fond of was the balcony that overlooked the courtyard, and the ridiculously large bathtub. The demon would kill himself before admitting to the fact publicly, but he liked being able to soak in blazingly hot water, especially since Raenef had come along. Being able to wallow in water that was practically scalding not only soothed away the days aches, mainly caused from Raenef's clumsiness and lack of care, but the constant tension he seemed to have in his back and shoulders, ever since he had brought Raenef back to the palace. The demon stood on his balcony, watching as the sun sank low in the horizon until it vanished behind a mountain, and the moon crested high in the sky, reclaiming the sky for her domain. The bright stars twinkled above him. Patience had always been something he had been good at. The wind picked up as time edged onwards, and the temperature dropped steadily. Still, Eclipse remained standing outside, observing. His long black hair twisted and twined through the air as the wind tugged on it, writhing with the strands in mid air. Though he could sense the drop in temperature, Eclipse was not troubled by it. Demons had more resistance to extremes of temperature than most evens, or even clerics did. Beyond that, Eclipse had long since trained himself to endure various climates and weather conditions. Only to himself was Eclipse willing to admit that he would have much rather gone inside where it was warmer and less irritating. That, of course, was his dilemma. Going back inside would mean going back into Raenef's room. After Raenef had told Eclipse the whole story, it had not taken long for the blond lord to dissolve into tears again. Oddly enough, they had been silent ones. No harsh sobs had wracked his slender form, no cries. Only pale, crystalline blue tears rolling down pale cheeks and dropping silently onto the comforter below. Eclipse had held him through his silent tears, and finally until the blond boy had fallen asleep. It had taken hours. His arms and legs had been numb by the time Raenef's mind had been lulled into blessed unconsciousness once more. The worst part about it, even worse than seeing those soundless tears, had been being able to pick up stray thoughts. Raenef's mind had kept drifting back to the night of his rape, reliving memories, thoughts, emotions... The young blonde's shields around his mind were still raw from Eclipse's forced penetration, and the emotions were so intense the dark-haired demon hadn't been able to block them out entirely. He still couldn't believe something like that had happened to Raenef. The blond teen had always come a crossed as being so innocent, so naive to the real world. Raenef was so gentle, and kind. How, Eclipse wondered, could someone experience what Raenef had endured first hand, and still come out in the end as Raenef had. Most would have been turned bitter, manipulative, and cruel by such an event. Yet Raenef had remained so kind that even when he had become a demon lord, he still could barely stomach the thought of using magic like the "death drill." He hadn't even been able to kill Erutis, the female knight who had come with every intention of slaughtering him! A soft, quiet mewl of pain came from the bedroom behind him. Eclipse turned quickly, heading inside. He shut the door softly behind him so as not to disturb his lord's sleep any further than he already had. Raenef was caught in the throes of a nightmare. Eclipse could catch vague flashes of it. Asleep, Raenef's mind was even more unguarded then awake, especially with his natural mental shields weak from Eclipse's earlier assault on them. In this state, the demon lord was projecting thoughts and images clearly into Eclipse's own head. He could block the brunt of it, but wisps still escaped past his own fortified shields. The blond was tossing and turning, tangling himself in his bed sheets. The more he entangled himself, the harder he thrashed and fought, murmuring incomprehensible words. Eclipse sat down beside his shuddering lord, and began to stroke the tangled hair. Just as he had earlier, Raenef quieted quickly under the soothing touch. He stopped squirming, and finally went still enough for Eclipse to carefully untangle him from his blankets. "Little master... I'm sorry for what I did... Now, more so then ever, it is my job to protect you." Eclipse couldn't help but think that, lying in the massive bed, swaddled in layers upon layers of blankets, the young blond looked so very small and helpless. The demon found himself wondering, not for the first time, how it was possible that such a small, innocent boy could be demon lord. How could anyone honestly expect him to be able to "wreak havoc, terrorize, torture, and terminate terribly?" For a moment, as he watched the small demon lord sleep, Eclipse was filled with such an intense surge of hatred, for anyone who could ever hurt someone so innocent Raenef was. Images of Genji and his gang, laughing at Raenef's pain and shame, came to him. Long-nailed fingers clenched into a fist as a wave of fury swept over him, and he remembered his words of promise. "I will kill them," he snarled, low in his throat. Eclipse leaned over, hesitantly, placing a gentle kiss on Raenef's sweating forehead as he laid a heavy sleep spell. The demon nudged at the tightly coiled mind as it slipped even deeper into unconsciousness, checking its progress. Finally Raenef's mind slid deep enough for him to feel comfortable, and Eclipse stood. So silently that he resembled a shadow more than any living, breathing being, the demon left the room behind him for the stretching halls of the palace.*******"Gooooooooodmooooooorning!" Erutis trilled in Raenef's ear in an effort to wake the sleeping demon lord. Raenef didn't even flinch, merely continued sleeping peacefully. Well, as peacefully as he could, Erutis mused, taking another glance at the position the demon lord lay in. His arms and legs were sprawled carelessly. It looked painful, the young knight though. The blankets had all bunched up, wrapping around his waist and halfway around one of his arms and face, so that only a few wild strands of blonde hair managed to escape. The demon lord's bed looked as though a tornado had passed over it. Erutis couldn't help but wonder what on earth the kid had been doing during the night, to make his bed look so completely messed up. Erutis sighed in annoyance at the problem presented to her. She knew, from overhearing Eclipse shouting at Raenef in rebuke for being late again, and Raenef in turn protesting that it wasn't his fault he was a really deep sleeper, that the boy could sleep through just about anything."Wakey, wakey," Erutis crooned, poking at the sleeping boy. Not even a hint of reaction. The knight's face scrunched up into a frown."Grrr...get up you lazy oaf! You=re worse than Chris!" the knight glowered. Erutis shook the slender shoulders that peaked through the blankets. Raenef grunted, and rolled over, succeeding in breaking her hold on him. "Ok, that's it then!" The girl fastened her hands on the blankets knotted tightly around Raenef's small form, and pulled with all her might. The blankets came free easily. Raenef, wrapped up in the bedclothes as he was, came along with them. With a loud thump, Raenef landed on the hard floor. Emerald eyes shot wide open, and a startled sound escaped from the young boy. "Hey!" Raenef protested at awaking to find himself on the floor. A chuckle startled him, and he looked up to find Erutis snickering at him." Sorry," the knight laughed. Raenef looked so very confused at being on the floor, she couldn't help her amusement. Really, it was just too funny. "You wouldn't wake up, so I kind of...well...pulled you out of bed, I guess." "That wasn't very nice," Raenef pouted, as he began to try and untangle himself from the blankets. It was rather difficult. He was wrapped in them tightly and they didn't want to let go. Despite his valiant struggle, it quickly became apparent he was fighting a losing battle. Erutis watched his slow progress with a raised eyebrow. "Geez, kid, what were you doing last night to get yourself so tangled up?" the young knight asked curiously. Raenef blinked emerald eyes as he stared down at the blankets. The demon lord didn't look at Erutis, as vague memories of his dreams assuaged him suddenly. Dreams? he thought, disgusted, More like nightmares. Raenef shook his head in answer to Erutis's question. "I don't really remember. Probably some stupid dream," he breathed. "Whatever," she said with a careless shrug. "I'm going, so you can get dressed or do whatever it is you do." The young knight bounced out of the room Raenef sighed, hauling himself free of the last of the stubborn blankets, kicking at them to get the cloth to relinquish him entirely. Erutis's innocent question, "What were you doing last night to get yourself so tangled up...? and his false answer. The young demon lord shivered, suddenly feeling cold, and wrapped his arms around himself. He felt dirty. Unclean. Used. He always did, after remembering what Genji and the others had done. He couldn't help but feel so. Shudders rippled acrossed his form uncontrollably and the young demon fled to the bathroom. Raenef yanked the hot water handle on the tub so hard he heard the caulking around it crack. Hot water surged forth from the faucet, steam billowing out into the bathroom. Within moments, Raenef could feel his shirt clinging to his damp skin. The hot dampness in the air tamed even his wild hair, the strands sticking to his flesh. Raenef yanked at his shirt, wanting to get it off, wanting to immerse himself in that boiling hot water, wanting to feel clean again, even though he knew fro experiance it wouldn't help. The humidity had made the fabric swell around them buttons, and his fingers were shaking too hard to be of much use anyway. The boy yanked at the shirt, eventually ripping off the buttons in his haste to get the cumbersome piece of clothing off. He all but threw himself into the bathtub. The water was hot. So very, very hot. He could almost feel his flesh burning as it made contact with the liquid. Oddly enough, he felt a sort of masochistic relief at the pain surging through his nerve endings. It made him feel cleansed, and the pain helped him keep his tenuous hold on the real world, not allowing him to slip back into the painful memories. He let the bathtub fill completely, up to his chin, before he turned off the hot water. Mechanically, he reached for the soap, beginning to clean his body thoroughly in a desperate yet futile attempt to purge the remembered filth from himself. He scrubbed at his pale flesh until it was raw and, in some places, bleeding from his intense effort. Part of him regretted the harshness, as the hot water burned the open wounds, but more of him felt it was completely necessary. Raenef began to sob, brokenly. "God, I'm acting like such a baby. And in front of Eclipse, to. He already thinks I'm a weak fool, and this is just going to reinforce that." What was worse, was that now, with those awful, horrible memories brought to the front of his mind once again, the thought of any sort of intimacy made him feel nauseous. Even the idea of looking at Eclipse, in any way to her than as his teacher, made Raenef want to lunge for the nearest toilet, and empty his stomach. Raenef wasn't even sure he could force himself to go to his lessons today. He didn't want to go and to have to sit while Eclipse talked about Wars and Battles and violence and death, and about how he was expected to not only play a role in such things, but to be the instigator. How could he, when he had been on the other end up such horrible things. Not to mention, having to sit under Eclipse's watchful, penetrating gaze, knowing that the older demon knew precisely what Raenef was thinking about. He didn't think that he could breathe scrutiny of that dark, fathomless gaze, that gaze that now knew his greatest moment of weakness. Eclipse was constantly berating him for his inability to do as a proper demon lord should. Raenef had tried to force himself to "wreak havoc, terrorize, torture, and terminate terribly" but the young demon simply couldn't. It wasn't in him to cause that sort of violence. Even when he had been with the guild, Raenef had had no desire for power. Now, for Eclipse to not only know that his student was an ultimate failure in terms of all demon lords, but for Eclipse to have seen what Genji and the others had done...Now Eclipse's beliefs that Raenef was a weakling were only supported. Poor Eclipse, Raenef though miserably. The great Eclipse, 3rd ranking, the perfect demon, chosen by the gods themselves to teach the new demon lord...and who does he get? Me. The demon lord who couldn't even kill the knight who was trying to kill him. Even Erutis thinks Eclipse needs to get a new demo lord. The only reason Eclipse hasn't abondoned me yet is because I'm the only one... He can't get another. Raenef splashed angrily at the water "It's not fair!" the young boy shouted. "It's not...fair," Raenef repeated, miserably. He sighed, and reached for one of the scattered bottles of shampoo. The one that smelled like rasberries. Eclipse had commented, once, while he was teaching, that he liked that smell. Raenef hadn't touched a different shampoo since that day. Automatically, he began to wash his hair, scrubbing at the blonde locks until they were slippery, and submerged his whole body into the deep bathtub. The conditioner, one that also smelled like rasberries, came next. The young demon lord emerged from his second dunking with his hair hanging like a curtain in front of his face. Gasping in water, he hurriedly tossed it back, wincing at the thuds the water droplets made as they hit the wall. He'd have to wipe up the mess later, something he hated doing. Raenef stared at a strand of pale hair, stroking it and twisting it in his hands absent-mindedly. After Genji, he'd shorn it all off. The boy couldn't stand the wild tumble of hair. Several times during the...incident-Raenef struggled to call it "rape," somehow that only seemed to make it more real- they had commented on his hair, burying their faces in it, laughing at how it made him more "feminine," and a better screw... Feeling slightly sick and unable to stop the sudden surge of memories, Raenef recalled every moment someone had buried their face in his hair, stroked it, touched it, commented on it... Shivering, Raenef forced himself from the repulsive thought, continuing to fumble with the pale strands. It had been cut so short, in places there were bald spot speaking through. He hadn't been particularly careful where or how he was cutting, just knowing he wanted it off. It had taken years to grow back, and even now it wasn't as long as it had been. By the time it had grown long enough for him to notice, he'd had enough time to begin to put everything behind him, and he'd missed his hair. Even if it did make him look like a porcupine, and had some bad memories with it. The young demon rinsed his hair again and abandoned the water, which was starting to cool anyway. He still didn't feel clean, but he didn't want to wait for the water to drain, and refill it again. Not to mention, he thought, glancing at his hands, that he was beginning to prune rather badly. He hefted himself out of the tub after yanking at the plug, and pulled a fluffy towel off the rack. Oddly enough, there were always towels waiting for him. It didn't matter how many he used in a day, nor that he had never replaced them. But they were always there when he got out of the bathtub. Whenhe'd asked Eclipse about it, and other such occurrences, the demon had saidsomething about servants. When Raenef had in turn, asked the demon why he hadnever seen them, Eclipse had gone off into an achingly long spiel about spellsand incantations and such. Raenef, his head spinning after the talk, hadn'tbothered asking again.Raenef pressed the white towel to his nose, smelling deeply. He likedthe way they always smelled. Clean, and fresh, and just washed. Not to mentionhow soft and huge they were. A single towel covered his whole body, fromshoulders to knees, without any problems, and would probably wrap around himthree times if he tried. Admittedly, he had once, attempted, to see how manytimes he could encircle himself with in it, and subsequently, had not only nearlybroken his leg, the faucet on the bathtub, and half of the bottles around the bathroom, but had been entangled in it for three hours before, horror of allhorrors, Eclipse had come to see what was delaying his master for s long, andfreed Raenef in seconds.He hadn't been able to look at the handsome demon in the eye for severaldays.Raenef sighed, and headed into his bedroom. The majority of his clotheswere scattered a crossed the floor. Interesting, since the servants seemed tobe able to replace towels, ensure soap and other body washes never ran out, andother such things, but never ever picked up his clothes, or the mess of waterhe tended to leave lying in puddles a crossed the bathroom floor. Raenef hada sneaking suspicion, that, after learning of his lord's predisposition to notpick up his clothes, had commanded the servants not to do so, either. Only, itseemed, when said clothes had been scooped up off the floor, and placed in aneat, orderly pile by the door, would they ever seem to vanish, andmysteriously return, perfectly clean and smelling of soap.Raenef hadn't gotten dangerously low enough on clothes to force himselfto clean them up, just yet. In fact, he still had several outfits that he hadonly worn a day or two, and even, he was fairly sure, one that hadn't beenworn yet.Kicking various items of clothing out of his path, the demon lord stoppedin front of his dresser, pulling the door open. There was a lump of clothesat the bottom. At one time, when he had first arrived, in fact, he had openedthe wardrobe door to fine a neat line of beautiful clothes. It hadn't evenbeen three hours before they had all ended up on the floor, in various stagesof disarray. He'd never bothered to hang any of them back up again Whybother, was Raenef's logic, when you're simply going to be taking them off to wearanyway, and then tossing them on the floor. It saved a few steps, afterall,right? He picked a shirt and set of pants that seemed to match well enough, andpulled them on over his body.The fabric clung to his skin in the way only dry clothes can stick toskin still damp from a shower. It took a rather impressive series of contorsionsto pull the clothes on. By the time he was fully dressed, Raenef was pantingfrom exertion, and felt like he was sweating enough to need another shower.Not to mention his hair, which was already frizzy from the shower, wassticking up at random places, making him resemble a giant walking cottonball.It took him another 20 minutes of wrestling with his hair brush to get it asflat as it was going to go, and even then it was only after a handful ofconditioner. Raenef sighed, tugging on a wayward strand of hair in annoyance, beforeshoving it all into a ponytail. Raenef paced, buying as much time ashe thought he could. He wandered aimlessly back and forth acrossed his roomfor the next fifteen minutes, as much time as he felt he could legitematelygive himself. Besides, as embaressing as it was going to be to have to faceEclipse, it would be even more embarassing for the older demon to have to comelooking for him. Raenef wanted, at thevery least, to be able to face Eclipse on his own terms, to be able to decidewhen and where their meeting would take place. It would give him a sense ofcontrol, something he needed desperately after what had happened yesterday.Raenef wandered down the halls, going slower then he usually would have.Normally, he would have flung himself in a head long rush down the corridorsin hopes of managing to make it class on time, and subsequentally, avoid thelecture Eclipse always had ready for him for whever he was late.
****
Eclipse closed the massive ebony doors that led to his bedroom behind him. The sudden darkness of his room made him stop. His eyes had adjusted to the dim, moonlit corridors of the Raenef Palace, but his room was much darker since the moonlight wasn=t able to pierce the thick, heavy drapes hanging in front of his floor-length windows.
Eclipse thought suddenly, that in comparison to Raenef=s own room, his own was rather dull and dark in comparison. The demon found himself missing his lord=s room.
AWell, you certainly fucked up,@ said a voice that would have been almost feminine if not for the haughty tone that colored it.
Eclipse whirled around so fast his pony tail came back to whip in him in the face. Eclipse blinked, brushing the dark-haired strands from his mouth. AKrayon?!@ he demanded, incredulously, squinting into the darkness. Of course it was Krayon. Even in the bad lighting Eclipse was quite certain no one else had Krayon=s odd, horribly kinked hair that seemed to create a halo around him that extended several feet. Not to mention that Krayon was floating several feet above the ground, his legs folded, a position Eclipse recognized.
Sure enough, a slender hand lifted to toss a few strands of wild hair over Krayon=s shoulder, a motion that Krayon employed quite often. AWell, now, Eclipse, that=s not a very nice way to greet me.@ The words were almost a pout.
Eclipse folded his arms around his lanky form and scowled at the demon lord. AHow did you get in here? The palace is warded.@ Eclipse=s mind was already working ahead. Although the grounds themselves were protected, they weren=t protected as heavily as the castle itself which should have kept out any demon lord aside from Raenef himself attempting to enter. Indeed, if Krayon had gotten in then there could very well be a weakness in the shielding. If that was the case then he certainly needed to fix it.
Krayon rolled his eyes slightly and stepped down onto the ground. AWhat do you think, Eclipse? Honestly, as revered as you yourself might be, and as good a teacher I=m sure you are, your lord is quite obviously not up to par. The wards on this palace are adequate, perhaps, to keep someone of a lower rank out, but without Raenef himself able to help them along, I was able to get in quite easily.@
Eclipse scowled at the implied insult to his lord and the well hidden jab at himself. AThat still doesn=t give you the right to come waltzing into the palace of another demon lord as you please,@ he snapped, irritated.
Krayon had turned from Eclipse and was bending over one of the larger pieces of furniture in the room- a heavy, ebony desk scattered with things Eclipse had accumulated over the years. Currently the blond was prodding a small, metal box. At Eclipse=s tone, he rose from his bent position to arch an eyebrow at the dark haired demon. AOf course it does, Eclipse. You know as well as I do that if a demon lord isn=t powerful enough to make demons obey him, then they don=t have to. You should consider yourself lucky that nobody has attempted a power grab. Raenef is pathetically weak. I=ve been more than leinient in regards to the child.@ Krayon walked over to the desk nestled in a corner of the room, trailing fingers over the covers of the many books stacked upon it.
That desk was Eclipse=s only condescension to messiness and disorder. Eclipse himself was naturally a very organized person, a trait he valued considerably. The desk was the only exception in his otherwise carefully arranged room. Papers were scattered messily a crossed, so deep that you couldn=t see the ebony wood beneath. Pens, pencils, and other writing tools that had once, perhaps a very long time ago, actually had a container, had long since resigned themselves to being scattered a crossed the desk.
Eclipse stepped forward firmly, inserting his body between Krayon=s own and the desk. The fact that he was able to stare down into the higher ranking demon=s green eyes added to his boldness. Normally, Eclipse would not have confronted the demon lord so adamantly, but considering the situation- Krayon had entered a demon lord=s palace without Raenef=s knowledge, and then barged into his own quarters- Eclipse felt he had more than enough reason to challenge Krayon. AWhat is it you want, Krayon?@ he demanded sharply.
AHmmm...Such an...interesting question,@ the blond murmurred thoughtfully, pale green eyes raking up and down Eclipse=s body in a way that left no doubt in Eclipse=s mind as to what Ainteresting@ entailed.
If it was possible, Eclipse felt himself growing even more angry. It was not like him, not at all, to lose his control so easily. Krayon, however, had always been able to bring out the worst in him. Apparently, his feelings showed clearly in his eyes because Krayon met them evenly before grinning. AAh, ah, ah now. Don=t get angry at me. There was a time when you would have been flattered by my attentions,@ Krayon murmurred, his voice dropping ever so slightly as, instead of stepping away in response to Eclipse=s challenging stance, he moved closer. Closely enough to press flush against Eclipse=s body.
Despite himself, Eclipse felt long forgotten desire stirring inside him. His mind may have realized the idiocy of such things, but his body had not forgotten the way that Krayon had felt, pressed against him, straining, twisting, writhing... Eclipse snarled internally at himself and pulled himself straighter. Despite his efforts, Eclipse could see the triumph lighting up Krayon=s green eyes. They had been lover=s for several decades, though it had been many, many centuries ago, but demon=s possessed memories to suit their long life spans and Krayon remembered very well precisely how to get to Eclipse.
The blond demon pressed even closer and reached up to wrap his arms around Eclipse=s neck. AI would have thought you would have appreciated this. I saw the way you watched him. That young demon lord of yours, however pretentious the title may be. You used to watch me that way.@ Krayon nearly pouted, his full, red lips pressing together in a way Eclipse knew was purposely meant to be seductive. And however he might be determined to resist, it was difficult with Krayon=s body pressed tightly against his own and the blond haired demon set about to seduce him. AAnd now it seems you=ve completely destroyed any chances you might have had with him, I thought you might be in need of some company.@ Krayon=s voice was all but a purr as he leaned up to pressed his lips lightly against Eclipse=s throat. "You must know, he'll never give you what I can. He's just a child, Eclipse."
Despite himself, Eclipse felt his eyes closing. Heat flooded through his body as forgotten feelings surged. Automatically, Eclipse dropped his hands to rest on the slender curve of Krayon=s hips, helping to steady the older demon.
Krayon grinned triumphantly as he felt long nailed fingers settled against his hips. Eclipse had always left a lasting impression on him. The dark haired demon was easily among the best lovers he had ever taken, and he had had many. Somehow, Eclipse made his aloof almost coldness transform into brilliant, white hot heat in bed. In all reality, Krayon supposed the true reason he found Eclipse so attractive was very simple. Unlike the other lover=s he=d had, Eclipse had never succumbed to his chairs. For the years they had been lovers, Eclipse had always remained distant. That had been something completely new to Krayon who was used to having lovers fall in love with him easily. Eclipse was a challenge, one that he had never conquered, and that fact had always irked him.
When he had searched out the dark haired demon only to find him serving Raenef V- a pathetic excuse of a demon, he had seen an opportunity to gain the dark-haired demon back. Eclipse had always been powerful with a zealous to learn more and become more powerful, and Krayon couldn=t believe that the dark haired demon would turn down his offer to serve as his advisor. After all, Krayon was one of the five oldest and most powerful demons, certainly a step up from the pathetic child that Eclipse was currently suffering under.
He had been utterly shocked when Eclipse had not only turned down his offer, but stepped up to defend his lord and master. That in itself was somewhat ridiculous. Eclipse shouldn=t have had to defend Raenef. Raenef should have been able to do it himself. Yet Eclipse had stepped in to save the boy and then the answer had smacked him in the face. He=d seen that look on Eclipse=s face often enough when they had been lovers, except there had been a depth to it that he had never seen.
After the events of the day when Krayon had returned home, he had had time to reconsider the look. Then it had hit him and he had spent the next several hours laughing in amusement at the situation his ice cold lover had gotten himself into. Eclipse, demon famed for his cruelty in the Hangma wars, had fallen in love with his considerably weaker and kinder lord. It was perhaps the greatest of ironies.
Krayon tilted his head to get a better angle at the little spot just behind Eclipse=s ear that he had discovered so long ago. Sure enough, it had the same effect now as it had hundred=s of years ago. Eclipse moaned fiercely, pulling Krayon tighter against him, and any remaining resistance in the dark haired demon=s body fled. Krayon paused a moment to reflect triumphantly before he lost himself to the rising waves of pleasure.
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*********************"Goooooooood mooooooorning!" Erutis trilled in Raenef's ear in an effort to wake the sleeping demon lord. Raenef didn't even flinch, merely continued sleeping peacefully. Well, as peacefully as he could, Erutis mused, taking another glance at the position the demon lord lay in. His arms and legs were sprawled carelessly. It looked painful, the young knight though. The blankets had all bunched up, wrapping around his waist and halfway around one of his arms and face, so that only a few wild strands of blonde hair managedto escape. The demon lord's bed looked as though a tornado hadpassed over it. Erutis couldn't help but wonder what on earth the kid had beendoing during the night, to make his bed look so completely messed up.Erutis sighed in annoyance at the problem presented to her. She knew,from overhearing Eclipse shouting at Raenef in rebuke for being late again, andRaenef in turn protesting that it wasn't his fault he was a really deepsleeper, that the boy could sleep through just about anything."Wakey, wakey," Erutis crooned, poking at the sleeping boy.Not even a hint of reaction. The knight's face scrunched up into a frown."Grrr...get up you lazy oaf!" the knight glowered. Erutis shook the slendershoulders that peaked through the blankets. Raenef grunted, androlled over, succeeding in breaking her hold on him. "Ok, that's it then!" Thegirl fastened her hands on the blankets knotted tightly around Raenef's smallform, and pulled with all her might. The blankets came free easily. Raenef,wrapped up in the bedclothes as he was, came along with them. With a loudthump, Raenef landed on the hard floor.Emerald eyes shot wide open, and a startled sound escaped from theyoung boy. "Hey!" Raenef protested at awaking to find himself on the floor. Achuckle startled him, and he looked up to find Erutis snickering at him."Sorry," the knight laughed. Raenef looked so veryconfused at being on the floor, she couldn't help her amusement. Really, itwas just too funny. "You wouldn't wake up, so I kinda...well...pulled you outof bed, I guess." "That wasn't very nice," Raenefpouted, as he began to try and untangle himself from the blankets. It wasrather difficult. He was wrapped in them tightly and they didn't want to let go.Despite his valient struggle, it quickly became apparent he was fighting aloosing battle. Erutis watchedhis slow progress with a raised eyebrow. "Geez, kid, what were you doing lastnight to get yourself so tangled up?" the young knight asked curiously.Raenef blinked emerald eyes as he stared down at the blankets. The demonlord didn't look at Erutis, as vague memories of his dreams assauged himsuddenly. Dreams? he thought, disgusted, More like nightmares.Raenef shook his head in answer to Erutis's question. "I don'treally remember. Probably some stupid dream," he breathed."Whatever," she said with a careless shrug. "I'm going, so you can getdressed or do whatever it is you do." The young knight bounced out of theroom Raenef sighed, hauling himself free of the last of thestubborn blankets, kicking at them to get the cloth to relinquish him entirely.Erutis's innocent question, "What were you doing last night to get yourselfso tangled up...? and his false answer. The young demon lord shivered,suddenly feeling cold, and wrapped his arms around himself. He feltdirty. Unclean. Used. He always did, after remembering what Genji and theothers had done. He couldn't help but feel so. Shudders rippled acrossed hisform uncontrollably and the young demon fled to the bathroom.Raenef yanked the hot water handle on the tub so hard he heard the caulkingaround it crack. Hot water surged forth from the faucet, steam billowing outinto the bathroom. Within moments, Raenef could feel his shirt clinging to hisdamp skin. The hot dampness in the air tamed even his wild hair, the strandssticking to his flesh.Raenef yanked at his shirt, wanting to get it off, wanting to immersehimself in that boiling hot water, wanting to feel clean again, even though heknew fro experiance it wouldn't help. The humidity had made the fabric swellaround the buttons, and his fingers were shaking too hard to be of much useanyway. The boy yanked at the shirt, eventually ripping off the buttons in hishaste to get the cumbersome piece of clothing off. He all but threwhimself into the bathtub. The water was hot. So very, very hot. He couldalmost feel his flesh burning as it made contact with the liquid. Oddly enough,he felt a sort of masochistic relief at the pain surging through his nerveendings. It made him feel cleansed, and the pain helped him keep his tenuoushold on the real world, not allowing him to slip back into the painful memories.He let the bathtub fill completely, up to his chin, before he turned offthe hot water. Mechanically, he reached for the soap, beginning to clean hisbody thoroughly in a desperate yet futile attempt to purge the rememberedfilth from himself. He scrubbed at his pale flesh until it was raw and, in someplaces, bleeding from his intense effort. Part of him regretted the harshness,as the hot water burned the open wounds, but more of him felt it wascompletely necessary.Raenef began to sob, brokenly. "God, Raenef, grow up. Stop crying, you fool. You=re a demon lord, not some kid anymore. Start acting like one!"
What was worse, was that now, with those awful,horrible memories brought to the front of his mind once again, the thought of anysort of intimacy made him feel nauseosus. Even the idea of looking at Eclipse,in any way other than as his teacher made Raenef want to lunge for thenearest toilet, and empty his stomach.Raenef wasn't even sure he could force himself to go to his lessonstoday. He didn't want to go and to have to sit while Eclipse talked about Wars andBattles and violence and death, and about how he was expected to not onlyplay a role in such things, but to be the instigator. How could he, when he hadbeen on the other end up such horrible things? Not to mention having to situnder Eclipse's watchful, penetrating gaze, knowing that the older demon knewprecisely what Raenef was thinking about. He didn't think that he could bearthe scrutiny of that dark, fathomless gaze; that gaze that now knew hisgreatest moment of weakness.Eclipse was constantly berating him for his inability to do as a properdemon lord should. Raenef had tried to force himself to "wreak havoc,terrorize, torture, and terminate terribly" but the young demon simply couldn't. Itwasn't in him to cause that sort of violence. Even when he had been with theguild, Raenef had had no desire for power. Now, for Eclipse to not only kowthat his student was an ultimate failure in terms of all demon lords, but forEclipse to have seen what Genji and the others had done...Now Eclipse's beliefs that Raenef was a weakling were only supported. PoorEclipse, Raenef though miserably. The great Eclipse, 3rd ranking, the perfectdemon, chosen by the gods themselves to teach the new demon lord...and who doeshe get? Me. The demon lord who couldn't even kill the knight who was tryingto kill him. Even Erutis thinks Eclipse needs to get a new demo lord. Theonly reason Eclipse hasn't abondoned me yet is because I'm the only one... Hecan't get another. Raenef splashed angrily at the water."It's not fair!" the young boy shouted. "It's not...fair," Raenefrepeated, miserably. He sighed, and reached for one of the scattered bottles ofshampoo. The one that smelled like rasberries. Eclipse had commented, once,while he was teaching, that he liked that smell. Raenef hadn't touched adifferent shampoo since that day. Automatically, he began to wash his hair,scrubbing at the blonde locks until they were slippery, and submerged his whole bodyinto the deep bathtub. The conditioner, one that also smelled like rasberries,came next. The young demon lord emerged from his seconddunking with his hair hanging like a curtain in front of his face. Gasping inwater, he hurriedly tossed it back, wincing at the thuds the water dropletsmade as they hit the wall. He'd have to wipe up the mess later, something hehated doing. Raenef stared at a strandof pale hair, stroking it and twisting it in his hands absent-mindedly.After Genji, he'd shorn it all off. The boy couldn't stand the wild tumble ofhair. Several times during the...incident-Raenef struggled to call it "rape,"somehow that only seemed to make it more real- they had commented on hishair, burying their faces in it, laughing at how it made him more "feminine," anda better screw... Feeling slgihtly sick and unable to stopthe sudden surge of memories, Raenef recalled every moment someone had buriedtheir face in his hair, stroked it, touched it, commented on it... Shivering,Raenef forced himself from the repulsive thought, continuing to fumble withthe pale strands. It had been cut so short, in places there were bald spotspeaking through. He hadn't been particularly careful where or how he wascutting, just knowing he wanted it off.It had taken years to grow back, and even now it wasn't as long as it hadbeen. By the time it had grown long enough for him to notice, he'd hadenough time to begin to put everything behind him, and he'd missed his hair. Evenif it did make him look like a porcupine, and had some bad memories with it.The young demon rinsed his hair again and abandoned the water, which wasstarting to cool anyway. He still didn't feel clean, but he didn't want towait for the water to drain, and refill it again. Not to mention, he thought,glancing at his hands, that he was beginning to prune rather badly.He hefted himself out of the tub after yanking at the plug, and pulled afluffy towel off the rack. Oddly enough, there were always towels waitingfor him. It didn't matter how many he used in a day, nor that he had neverreplaced them. But they were always there when he got out of the bathtub. Whenhe'd asked Eclipse about it, and other such occurrences, the demon had saidsomething about servants. When Raenef had in turn, asked the demon why he hadnever seen them, Eclipse had gone off into an achingly long spiel about spellsand incantations and such. Raenef, his head spinning after the talk, hadn'tbothered asking again.Raenef pressed the white towel to his nose, smelling deeply. He likedthe way they always smelled. Clean, and fresh, and just washed. Not to mentionhow soft and huge they were. A single towel covered his whole body, fromshoulders to knees, without any problems, and would probably wrap around himthree times if he tried. Admittedly, he had once, attempted, to see how manytimes he could encircle himself with in it, and subsequently, had not only nearlybroken his leg, the faucet on the bathtub, and half of the bottles around the bathroom, but had been entangled in it for three hours before, horror of allhorrors, Eclipse had come to see what was delaying his master for s long, andfreed Raenef in seconds.He hadn't been able to look at the handsome demon in the eye for severaldays.Raenef sighed, and headed into his bedroom. The majority of his clotheswere scattered a crossed the floor. Interesting, since the servents seemed tobe able to replace towels, ensure soap and other body washes never ran out, andother such things, but never ever picked up his clothes, or the mess of waterhe tended to leave lying in puddles a crossed the bathroom floor. Raenef hada sneaking suspicion, that, after learning of his lord's predisposition to notpick up his clothes, had commanded the servants not to do so, either. Only, itseemed, when said clothes had been scooped up off the floor, and placed in aneat, orderly pile by the door, would they ever seem to vanish, andmysteriously return, perfectly clean and smelling of soap.Raenef hadn't gotten dangerously low enough on clothes to force himselfto clean them up, just yet. In fact, he still had several outfits that he hadonly worn a day or two, and even, he was fairly sure, one that hadn't beenworn yet.Kicking various items of clothing out of his path, the demon lord stoppedin front of his dresser, pulling the door open. There was a lump of clothesat the bottom. At one time, when he had first arrived, in fact, he had openedthe wardrobe door to fine a neat line of beautiful clothes. It hadn't evenbeen three hours before they had all ended up on the floor, in various stagesof disarray. He'd never bothered to hang any of them back up again Whybother, was Raenef's logic, when you're simply going to be taking them off to wearanyway, and then tossing them on the floor. It saved a few steps after all,right? He picked a shirt and set of pants that seemed to match well enough, andpulled them on over his body.The fabric clung to his skin in the way only dry clothes can stick toskin still damp from a shower. It took a rather impressive series of contorsionsto pull the clothes on. By the time he was fully dressed, Raenef was pantingfrom exertion, and felt like he was sweating enough to need another shower.Not to mention his hair, which was already frizzy from the shower, wassticking up at random places, making him resemble a giant walking cottonball.It took him another 20 minutes of wrestling with his hair brush to get it asflat as it was going to go, and even then it was only after a handful ofconditioner. Raenef sighed, tugging on a wayward strand of hair in annoyance, beforeshoving it all into a ponytail. Raenef paced, buying as much time ashe thought he could. He wandered aimlessly back and forth a crossed his roomfor the next fifteen minutes, as much time as he felt he could legitimatelygive himself. Besides, as embarrassing as it was going to be to have to face Eclipse, it would be even more embarrassing for the older demon to have to come looking for him. Raenef wanted, at thievery least, to be able to face Eclipse on his own terms, to be able to decide when and where their meeting would take place. It would give him a sense of control, something he needed desperately after what had happened yesterday. Raenef wandered down the halls, going slower then he usually would have. Normally, he would have flung himself in a head long rush down the corridors in hopes of managing to make it class on time, and subsequently, avoid the lecture Eclipse always had ready for him for whenever he was late.
Raenef grimaced as he looked at the clock one more time. AOh, I am so late,@ he moaned. As if things were not already going to be awkward between Eclipse and himself, now he was late. Raenef took off at a run, sprinting down the hallways towards the study. The demon lord skidded around the corner and...
Straight into a door.
AOUCH!@ Raenef managed to choke out. The demon lord fell back onto the ground with a groan. How typical, the boy sulked as he pushed himself off the ground and opened the door. Raenef hesitantly poked his head in the door way. AEclipse?@ he called, hesitant.
There was no answer. Raenef went into the study, more than a little surprised when he didn=t see Eclipse anywhere. Eclipse was...late? But that was unheard of. In the months since he=d become the demon lord Raenef had never known Eclipse to not be on time for something.
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Eclipse blinked rather blearily, only to shut them rapidly as a small sliver of light shone directly into the sensitive orbs. The demon groaned and buried his head back into his pillow. It took a minute for the demon to reorientate himself. His entire body felt like it did after a good fight- relaxed. He was exhausted though, despite the amount of sleep he=d obviously have, if he was to judge the time by the light shining through his drapes.
Light?
Eclipse sat bolt upright in realization of the time. Or at least, he tried to. The demon found his movement restrained by the weight of a strong arm wrapped around his waist, keeping him close to the warm body behind him.
Eclipse=s eyes widened in realization and he froze, not wanting to turn and confirm his worst fears. Oh, no. Please no. Tell me I wasn=t so foolish, not after that disaster with Lord Raenef. Despite his efforts, his head turned to look down at the sleeping form curled next to him. He didn=t even get far enough to sleep past a cascade of wild, gold hair that streamed over the blankets by his thigh. Eclipse groaned out loud.
AGood morning to you too, lover,@ said a voice husky with sleep. Eclipse turned the rest of the way towards Krayon, meeting emerald eyes fogged with sleep. The demon=s blond hair tumbled around him in disarray. Even Eclipse had to admit, Krayon certainly made a pretty picture. Of course, he always had. Eclipse wouldn=t deny that. The problems between them had always arisen when they tried to move beyond simple giving and receiving of pleasure. They were both too similar, and yet too different to ever be more than lovers.
Eclipse sighed. AGood morning, Krayon,@ he offered in return even as he fought to detangle himself from the sheets.
AHmmm...@ Krayon raised himself to his elbows, watching as Eclipse strode naked a crossed the room to a bureau. Krayon=s eyes traced the lean muscles flexing in that positively lovely backside as the demon moved. He could feel the pleasant twinges in his own muscles as he moved, testament to last night. Eclipse certainly hadn=t let his skills get rusty in the many years since they=d been lovers. AYes, it is a good morning, isn=t it? A good morning after an even better night.@
Eclipse pulled out a simple, black robe and slid neatly into it. He tugged his long black hair free from beneath the neckline, grimacing as he worked at the tangles. At Krayon=s words, however, he blinked and turned back to face his lover. AI=m not certain that would be wise.@
Krayon full out pouted, somehow making it look sexy. AWhen will you learn, Eclipse? It=s not about whether it=s wise or not. It=s about whether it=s fun or not. That=s always been your problem, you know. Overanalyzation!@ Krayon declared firmly, pronouncing each syllable with relish.
Eclipse sighed and turned away from the blond haired demon as he fastened his hair. AGood bye, Krayon,@ he said firmly, and murmured the word, AGo!"
Krayon frowned at the abrupt departure. "Eclipse, Eclipse, Eclipse. What am I going to do with you?" The blonde demon sighed and stood. Absently he walked over to the dresser, picking up a brush and running it through his tangled hair. He figured that, considering the liberties Eclipse had taken with his body last night, the least the lower ranking demon could do was to allow him to borrow his hair brush.
Krayon grinned suddenly as he waved his fingers, feeling his clothes appear on him. Life was so much easier as a high ranking demon lord. "You shouldn't dismiss me so easily, Eclipse. I'll most certainly be back. I've missed what we had together just a bit too much."
Hmmm...this formatting is royally screwed up. I don't know why it's gone through and started plugging random words together, but it has. It has also meshed what used to be nicely paragraphed sentences into a big, hulking mess. Oh well. It's 1:37 AM on a school night and I just can't bring myself to care. Maybe later I'll fix it. Night.
