Author's Note: This is my first attempt at a foray into an alternate fan-fiction realm. If it has any impact or praise, I may publish further entries in the future. Enjoy.

Alois and Claude

Alois Trancy was being prepared for bed. He had been in a foul mood all day and was not yet ready to quiet his temper for the evening. He had struck Hannah of course, had ridiculed Claude repeatedly and thrown too many fits and temper tantrums to count with any real accuracy. He was still not contented with his work. He wanted to inflict further pain and suffering. He levelled his gaze from the curtains onto Claude who was wholly engrossed in the act of unbuttoning his shirt. He was tired of Hannah's cries – they bored him after a certain point – but was never disinterested in his butler's restraint even when pressed to the limit. As Claude raised his arms to divest him of his shirt, Alois slapped him across the face. The demon did not even register the contact and freed him of one sleeve. The boy struck him again, this time with a closed fist. The impact slightly jostled the butler's spectacles, leaving them somewhat askew.

Claude readjusted them and eased the boy's remaining arm from the shirt sleeve. Alois snatched the spectacles clean off his nose. The demon's eyes did not even flicker. They regarded him in silence for several moments. When he did nothing with the spectacles except hold them, Claude proceeded to stand up, fold the boy's shirt and reach for the nightshirt. Alois snapped the spectacles in half. He then threw them at the butler's chest where they bounced off onto the carpet. Claude's face remained expressionless as the boy pointed to the remnants now littering the floor.

"Crush them underfoot. I want you to grind them into powder." Alois said with a slight snarl. Claude bowed.

"Yes, Your Highness." The boy watched with a queer sort of delight as the demon stepped on both pieces simultaneously and then stepped off them with such fluidity of movement that it seemed like some kind of eccentric dance step. All that remained of the spectacles were two small mounds of fine powder. Alois could not help but clap his hands and emit a short cry of joy at such an impressive feat. Claude was upon him with the nightshirt in hand a moment later. The boy did not want the game to end. He pressed his foot flat against the butler's chest to halt his advance.

"No. Not yet. Take off your shoe."

Claude placed the nightshirt to one side before sinking to one knee in order to unlace his immaculately polished left shoe. He removed it before presenting it to the boy still in his knelt position. Alois gestured to the space directly below his feet.

"Put it down there. I need a piss." Claude's eyes did flicker at this instruction, but nothing more. It didn't matter much: one semblance of emotion from a creature as vacant as Claude was enough reason to carry on. Once it was placed, Alois slid off the side of the bed and did exactly what he was certain his butler feared he would do. He urinated into the shoe, staring into the demon's eyes the whole time and smiling to make sure he understood how much fun he was having. When he finished, the shoe had been flooded and the carpet saturated too. None had touched Claude though. Alois was slightly soured by this but maintained his smile.

"What do you think I'm going to ask you to do now, Claude? Can you guess?" He inquired coquettishly. The butler's face was still blank.

"I would imagine something unpleasant, Highness."

"I want you to drink it." Alois instructed him whilst pointing to it, "It stinks and is making a horrible mess. I want it gone, all of it. Do you understand?" Claude's eyes flickered with a whisper of what might have been annoyance, but nothing more. He inclined his head.

"Yes, Your Highness." Alois stood with baited breath and a certain amount of excitement as the demon delicately lifted the soiled shoe from the carpet and held it close to his mouth. The boy's eyes widened in expectation as Claude began to simultaneously tilt the shoe and part his lips. He was actually going to do it. It was a great rush to hold such power. Alois drew closer. A few testing drops fell from the shoe's heel, landing in the centre of the butler's open mouth. Claude did not react at all. The liquid was now precariously close to the edge. Alois waited. The demon appeared to hesitate.

"Do you not wish me to bid you goodnight, Your Highness?" Claude asked. The boy frowned.

"Do you want me to order you, Claude? I asked you nicely to drink my piss. I didn't have to. I don't want to order you to but I will."

"Very well, but I shan't be kissing you goodnight, as you enjoy, this evening."

"Enough!" Alois snapped, tiring of his butler's passive defiance. He tipped the shoe over the demon's head, soiling his entire suit in the process. He then stamped the shoe's heel into Claude's face, trying in vain to break his nose or bruise his perfect skin. The butler's face remained pristine despite repeated blows. "You're absolute shit tonight, Claude! I ask you to do very simple things and you disobey me! I order you to clean up this mess and dress me for bed before I really lose my temper with you! Are we clear? I order you." Claude's response to this outburst could have been described only by the word inhuman. He wiped away the drops that threatened to fall into his eyes, gave his master a brief flash of anger and then inclined his head.

"Certainly, Highness. I shan't be but a moment."

There was a blur of motion, the most fleeting scent of soap and water, and suddenly Claude was once again stood before him in immaculate attire. The fresh stain was gone as was any evidence of the spectacles. Alois did not move. He stood naked and vulnerable in front of the bed simply in awe of the creature he had so callously humiliated only moments earlier. He was so wonderful, this demon of his. He was so forgiving it made the boy feel terribly about his actions. Claude picked up the discarded nightshirt and advanced towards the boy. "You look cold, Your Highness. Perhaps it is time you retired for the evening." The butler suggested without a single trace of care or compassion. Alois regarded him in mute appreciation for the longest time before uttering a word.

"Whatever. Just hurry up and dress me, you idiot demon."

Claude gently took hold of his shoulders and guided him back to his seat on the edge of the bed. He sat him down and then proceeded to dress him in the nightshirt, buttoning it with the same concentration he had displayed in unbuttoning the other shirt. He adjusted the lace on the collar and straightened the bow beneath it.

"Do you think I'm pretty, Claude?" Alois said as the butler motioned for him to stand up. The boy complied. Claude threw back the bedcovers and indicated for him to lie down on the mattress. "Please answer me, Claude. Do you think I'm pretty?" Alois asked again with a little more urgency in his voice. The demon regarded him in abject quiet. Then his hand left the covers and came to rest on the boy's cheek. Alois felt something ease inside him with that gesture. When Claude's thumb began to stroke his cheek in small, concentric circles, the boy actually saw some genuine emotion fill the demon's otherwise empty gaze.

"Yes, of course. I cannot wait to feast on your pretty soul. It will be one hell of a meal." Alois had heard these kind of words before, but never with that sort of gaze. It was not happiness or longing, but something deeper, something more…intimate. The boy had the strangest idea that Claude was looking at him lovingly, a notion that satisfied him to such a degree that his own contentment startled him. He placed his hand on top of the demon's and stroked it in reply.

"Do you love me, Claude? Would you do anything to make me happy?" He said whilst bringing his other hand up to fix the butler's hand to his face and prevent its escape. Claude's eyes were still shining with sentiments Alois could not quite place. He wanted it to be love, but since he had never seen love for him in anyone but his brother's eyes, it was too difficult to tell.

"Of course I do. And of course I would. You are my master and that is the most important thing to me." Claude told him in a voice that was flat and cold in its delivery of words intended to be warm. Alois did not care how the words were delivered though: it was enough that they were said. It was enough. The boy closed his eyes and squeezed the butler's comforting hand with all the strength he could muster.

"I'm sorry I hurt you tonight, Claude. I really am. I just get upset so easily when I think about the past."

"No apologies are necessary, Highness. You are tired and it is understandable. Please do not worry yourself with my feelings." Claude said whilst softly manoeuvring the boy with his pinned hand onto the mattress. Alois kept his eyes closed and his hold of the demon's hand firm even as the bedcovers were replaced and he settled himself for sleep. "May I please have my hand back, Highness? It is somewhat difficult to take my leave when we are still attached in this manner." Claude's voice asked of him. Alois smiled.

"I know you think I'm just a silly little boy and a spoiled brat, Claude. But can you please stay here until I fall asleep? I always feel better if you stay with me like this."

"As you wish, Your Highness." Alois expected his butler would simply stand beside the bed until his grasp failed him. It was what he always did in these moments of weakness. But instead, the boy felt a great weight settle right beside him and a hand comb its way through his hair. He opened his eyes as much in shock as he did in curiosity. It was Claude who was sitting next to him and tenderly stroking his hair. "You are not as bad a person as you believe. I have known many more people in my lifetime less deserving of life and in far better circumstances than we are now. You have been without doubt, the best master I have entered into a contract with."

"Am I really, Claude? Am I the best master for you?"

"You are the only master for me, Highness, now and forever."

Alois closed his eyes and sighed in the deepest satisfaction he believed he had ever known. The hair stroking continued and eventually, the darkness took him away to rest. It was not love but it was enough, for now.