The Cruise
Disclaimer: StrawberryStealer does not own Demon Diary. She claims no rights to any characters, events, or any other references to the manga, as they belong to their respective owner(s). No money is being made, and no infringement is intended.
Rated: PG-13
Warnings: -Slash- Severe corny-ness, character slaughtering, and cliché-ness. Attempted humor, so try not to die on me. On the account of this being a first fic, NO FLAMES. You have been warned.
Summary: When Erutis blackmails Chris into helping her send Raenef and Eclipse on a romantic cruise in a last ditch attempt to get the two together. Part the second up, featuring Raenef without his room keys, victimized Chris, and Erutis, the world's greatest telepathic make-up artist. And, dare I say it, a plot advancement...
Dedicated: To the makers of Pocky. I'd probably have died years ago without you.
A/N- Hello everyone, sorry for the delay. Further apologies as I seem to have made everyone OOC in this chapter... --;; Note that the steward uniforms are robes, not like airplane uniforms...--;;
Many thankies to all reviewers for their support, encouragement, and advise (Randomfanwritter, A Fan, Riddle, Schycosamri, -RenegadeMustang-, Hoshi-ko88, Terra, Panda-rose, Ugotluvme, RuByMoOn17, Megagirl14045, and animeobsessed3191) Apologies for OOC-ness, shortness –winces-, monk/monk-in-training/cleric-in-training/cleric confusion, and the wait. A glomp is a very, very, very enthusiastic hug -glomps her cookie jar-
The Cruise: Part the Second
---
Curled up comfortably on top of a thick sweater, Erutis slowly counted to a hundred before sticking her finger through the miniscule hole in the zipper track. Forcing the broken contraption back, she stuck her head out of the bag to survey the room that the vacationing demon couple had been assigned to. Polished wood flooring gleamed under painted furniture, cloud white against the powdery blue walls. Flowers arranged in small vases adorned the room; a simple, stylistic touch. Sunlight streamed through the open window, snowy curtains floating lazily in the salty breeze before the meticulous sled style bed. She had struck gold by purchasing the tickets for the Dream Catcher, she thought, as she grinned to herself in pleasure. Part one, subjects relocated to cruise boat in the middle of the ocean complete.
Climbing cat-like out of the bag, Erutis turned around and spied the luggage that she had stored the cleric in. Surprised that he had not emerged from it yet, she pulled a toothbrush out of the suitcase's front pocket and gave it a hard jab. The suitcase gave a muffled yelp in response.
"Chris!" Erutis hissed, "Get out already! Didn't you hear Raenef and Eclipse leave? Or were you sleeping?" she asked, eyes narrowing as she poked at the suitcase.
" 'mph shuck." a muffled voice answered.
Erutis sighed heavily, and plopped down on the bed, propping her feet up on the suitcase the cleric inhibited. "If you really fell asleep and you admit it, I'll go easy on you and only make you do three million strokes when we get back to Raenef's castle."
Inside the suitcase, Chris silently cursed Erutis before stating as loudly and calmly as he could, "I'm stuck."
---
Seated in the spacious observatory, the man's eyes snapped back to the two figures in surprise. That was interesting, he thought, as he watched the giggling boy hurry to catch up with his dark haired counterpart, they hadn't been on the guest list. Stranger still, the girl hadn't shown up and the first mate of the ship had assured him that her ticket had passed into his hands. She must have found out, he mused, though how she had done so was an unsettling dilemma. Ah, well, he thought, he could still bend events in his favor. Sending summons for the nearest steward, he settled back and peered through the glass at the two figures joining the throng of vacationers below. Kidnapping the Demon Lord would suit his purposes just fine.
---
Chris sputtered at the impassive knight. "You forced me into a dusty old suitcase and then piled half the castle on top of my back, saying it's all part of some crackpot plan to send Eclipse and Raenef on a romantic cruise to Rased-knows-where for Rased-knows-how-many days!" he snapped, gripping the side of the bed to hoist both of his feet out of the suitcase. Erutis had indeed dumped half the castle over his back as soon as he was 'comfortably' situated inside, hammered some holes through the top, then promptly zippered it up (though with some difficulty) and wheeled him to Raenef's rooms. She had spent less than five minutes telling Raenef how she had already packed for him, and if he would just take these two suitcases he would find everything he could possibly need for the cruise in them. She had helped the hyper Demon Lord wheel the luggage to the entrance, and, after Raenef had run off to find Eclipse, she began to stow herself away in what he presumed was the other suitcase. After plentiful strings of rather colorful language, Chris heard the tap of feet on the marble floor and the low murmur of voices. He suppressed a small shiver as he was teleported out of the castle to the dock, the scream of seagulls somehow managing to reach his ears. After spending hours crouching on burning knees, it had been a miracle that both Chris and the rambunctious knight didn't make a single sound until after both demons had left to explore the boat. He did have to admit, however, that it was a more a miracle that Eclipse didn't search through the contents of Raenef's suitcase to make sure the bouncing Demon Lord had packed everything.
The rambunctious knight didn't bother to look at him. "It's still your fault for getting stuck in the suitcase." she said, rummaging through the items that he had thrown all over the floor. She had even managed to keep her hair immaculate through the ordeal. "You took up less than a third of the bag to begin with, so if you gained- Don't touch that!" she snapped, snatching the bag that Chris had tossed carelessly onto the floor. Ignoring the raging cleric completely, she plonked down onto the bed and started sorting through it.
---
"Excuse me, sir?" the steward said, leaning towards the fair haired boy in pale, flowing robes. The captain had insisted that he talked to the blonde and not his companion, or even in his presence, and had promised dire consequences should he do otherwise. He had also insisted that the blonde was truly a boy, though the steward was rather unconvinced as he looked the boy in his face. But who was he to question orders? "Were you assigned to room 302?" At the boy's chirped affirmation, he plowed on, "I am sorry, but it has come to our attention that you have been assigned to the wrong room. If you could give me your room key, we can relocate your luggage to the correct room, which will hopefully be more to your liking." He pulled an ornate key from the depths of his uniform. "This key shall grant you entrance to your new room, 716, and please accept my apologies on behalf of the captain and crew of the Dream Catcher" he added, handing it to the boy. He promptly dropped into a pocket, before emptying a dozen others, producing a coin, a slice of bread, a tube of toothpaste with a dent right in the middle, and several brightly colored plastic balls that rolled off the table onto the gleaming maple floors. Blushing slightly, he finally handed over the key. Looking down at it, the steward blinked at the engraved digits; seven, one, and six.
"...Uh, sir..."
---
Dark and light, together to define, but lighter to accentuate; the lines thick or thin depending on the subject. More color on the hollows, less on the planes, blended just so to erase any artificial quality in the glow. Distance distorted, lines pulled farther away than in actuality. Defining planes obscured, only the shades describe the limits. Erutis sat as still as she could, her right hand and arm the only limbs she allowed to move, the thin brush sliding slowly across the palette. The words of the woman in the small shop echoed in her ears as she willed herself to not even breathe, least she be forced to start again.
Sighing in content, Chris shut the now empty refrigerator, and lay down right there on the floor. After being penned up in that suitcase with no light, no food, and no water...he sighed again and rubbed his bulging stomach. The food had been delicious; hot flavorful soups, crisp salads, and creamy mashed potatoes, but the pie was heavenly. And the ice cream. And the cheesecake. Absolute bliss.
He winced. And had given him a monster of a stomachache.
Turning away from the glare of the sun, he spotted Erutis and dozens of small bags scattered carelessly around her. Perhaps she had been kind enough to throw some pain killer on top of his cracking back. Picking himself up gingerly from the floor, Chris ambled over to the preoccupied knight.
"Hey, Erutis," he asked, hunting through the various opaque bags scattered around the girl, "Did you manage to throw any aspirin into one of these when you were 'packing'?" Several ornate bottles of various skin-toned liquids twinkled up at him, followed by thin pallets of sparkling colored powders. Tossing it over his shoulder, he paused. "...Erutis?"
The forsaken girl hadn't even twitched.
Sick of his companion's trademark bullying, Chris jumped up, waving his hands in front of the knight's face. "HELLO?" he yelled, "Are you THERE?" He grasped Erutis by the shoulders and turned her around, only to gasp in shock and let go, backing away from the bed. His jaw sagged on the ground.
The face of his teacher and adopted father, Hejem, High Cleric of the Temple of Rased, glared wickedly, his face de-aged some fifty-plus years looming down upon him.
Review, please