Stupid Human Traditions

Disclaimer: I do not own Demon Diary of any of its characters.

Eclipse despised mortals. They were obnoxious, selfish, imbecilic, and completely inferior to the demon race. And, of course, they had utterly stupid holidays. Eclipse wouldn't mind so much if he didn't have to be exposed to the holidays and their traditions, due to the presence of his lord's so-called "pages". And, to make things even worse, Lord Raenef actually enjoyed participating in the celebrations. Valentine's Day was certainly no exception.

"And so, today's the day you give special valentines to people you really care about," Raenef explained cheerfully.

"I see," Eclipse nodded, debating over whether or not to feign interest, if only for the sake of his master.

"Well?" Raenef prompted.

Eclipse raised an eyebrow.

"Well what?"

Raenef let out a sigh, sounding exasperated.

"Well, don't you want to make valentines with me?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Of course!"

"Then no."

Eclipse tried, to no avail, not to notice his lord's look of disappointment. He didn't understand why he would ask him to partake in such frivolities.

"Do you want me to, my Lord?"

Raenef looked up at him innocently hopeful eyes.

"I thought it would be fun…"

Eclipse sighed. He could not possibly refuse his Lord Raenef.

"All right. I will make one valentine."

Raenef smiled brightly, but refrained from the urge to jump up and down—Eclipse had taught him that wasn't the "proper way for demon lords to portray elation". He spread out the materials that Erutis had told him were absolutely necessary when making valentines: markers and crayons, glue, tape, scissors, glitter, some fake lace material, and construction paper that, Eclipse noted, was limited to a deep red and a hideous pink color. Raenef settled down, cross-legged on the floor, and eagerly set to work. Eclipse hesitantly set out a piece of the red paper before him. He eyed his lord warily.

"What exactly is the valentine supposed to say?"

"Well," Raenef said, not looking up from his work, "first you put who it's to."

'Humans are such simpletons,' Eclipse remarked to himself as he wrote "To: Master Raenef" on the paper.

"Then, you write that person a message about how you feel about them. See, Erutis showed me some examples."

The young demon lord slid the model valentines over to his mentor. Eclipse flipped the cards open, tracing their words with fine, slender fingers. He wasn't terribly surprised to find the messages incredibly lame—they were made by humans, after all. "You're cute," one read. "Write me," another pleaded. Eclipse scoffed. There was no chance he'd use such ridiculous sayings to share his feelings for his lord. That would be completely inconceivable. He would have to improvise. With one last glance at his happy little Raenef, he set his marker to the paper and got started.

Before he knew it, Eclipse had poured out all of his feelings into the valentine. Fantastically eloquent words written out in handsome penmanship were sprawled across the page, expressing the demon's complete and total adoration for his lord. Eclipse realized, with dread, that his entire heart was laid out on the piece of red paper. He folded it, so it only showed "To: Master Raenef" and decided he would start again.

"Oops!"

Raenef's exclamation caught Eclipse's attention.

"I spilled the glitter. Eclipse, would you get more for me, please?"

"Certainly, my Lord."

Placing the valentine on the floor, Eclipse stood and, after muttering a "go", vanished to retrieve more glitter. Raenef's eyes came to rest curiously on the piece of paper that had been left behind.

"'To: Master Raenef'…hee, that's me!"

He picked it up and unfolded it quickly, excited and eager. His eyes read each line, gradually growing wider as he got closer to the end, and filling with joyous tears. A radiant smile spread across his face and he quickly added something to the valentine he'd made for his beloved mentor.

Eclipse returned to the room just in time to see his master heading out the doorway.

"My Lord?"

Raenef paused to smile sweetly at the older demon.

"Oh, I'll be right back, Eclipse. I want to give Erutis and Chris their valentines!"

Eclipse nodded, but then started when he saw what was in Raenef's hand.

"Wait, my Lord—"

"Oh yeah! Your valentine is right there, Eclipse!" Raenef added, before running off.

Eclipse groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose to clear the inevitable headache. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he picked up the valentine from Lord Raenef and opened it. Inside was a message akin to the cheesy ones the human made, albeit made much more endearing in Lord Raenef's handwriting. And added to it was the following: "P.S. Thank you for the valentine! It was the prettiest one ever! P.P.S. I love you too, Eclipse."

As a small smile graced Eclipse's handsome features, he decided that some mortal traditions may just be worthwhile.

End