FIC: Internal, PG
Internal
By Emerald Embers
Louise_cmi_vc@hotmail.com
Rated PG for mild yaoi and some dark themes.
Fandom: Devil May Cry
Pairing: Griffon/Damien (Nightmare)
Non-profit fanfiction, please don’t sue.
It had been a long night, but Griffon had not spoken to Nightmare as it slept on the floor, runes keeping it docile and contained. It took long enough figuring out the binding symbols appropriate for his form given its multiple origins, but the task was worthwhile - Damien would not have to go to the sewers when he got tired anymore, and Mundus agreed to allow this provided Griffon installed a few more of the runes throughout the castle, just in case Nightmare were to get loose unexpectedly again. Life with Damien had been a constant voyage of discovery, and not just on account of the young demon’s peculiarities and his multiple forms. Explaining the world to someone who had only just discovered it reminded Griffon of how little he knew - Damien would press for answers that decades of reading, that the work of billions of humans across the world had been unable to give.
That same curiosity was keeping Griffon awake and silent despite his fatigue. He would have slept peacefully if he had not been asked to watch Damien’s transformation into Nightmare. He knew he was going to have to gloss over a couple of facts when describing it for Damien in the morning, even though the significance of what he’d seen would probably be lost on his young companion.
It was not as if Griffon had decided to watch with no idea what to be prepared for - he had known the process would be strange, because Damien’s human form was so delicate in comparison to the hulking pile of liquid and machinery that made up Nightmare. The process began simply enough, with his skin changing hue and veins darkening, before his features started melting together until they lacked definition. Bones separated from each other out into his increasingly liquid form. Everything seemed, if not quite normal, what one could expect from an artificial demon’s change. Nothing instantaneous, everything sliding and expanding in a logical sequence, extra bulk drawn from the ether by his demonic aspects.
Then the exposed spine cracked. Calmly and quietly, as if that were a normal thing.
Griffon had known for a long time that Damien lacked a heart, but there was nothing horrifying in that - the low whirring sound heard if one pressed their ear to Damien's chest suggested he had a mechanised replacement.
But that crack. Nothing Griffon had ever known of or heard of could survive breaking its spinal chord without death or paralysis, or some semblance of damage. Even a possessed puppet needed the wires threading its head to its back in order to continue moving around.
It meant that whatever controlled Damien's body wasn't a mind with a nervous system. It was something else.
And if it was something else, that meant something Griffon could never have prepared himself for.
Damien was dead.
Not dead like the spirits that lived in the castle - they possessed bodies, items, masks. They didn't own them. And when the body was destroyed or damaged enough, they left it as readily as a hermit crab leaves its shell.
Hermit crabs don't move back in.
Damien was something new. He was trapped. But he lacked any tell-tale signs of a previous life; it was as if he were a reject soul, one never meant to have a body. Or worse, as if his very soul had been made. If Mundus could do that...
Griffon shuddered at the implications before turning over and looking at the sleeping Nightmare. For something occupying such a form, it looked near peaceful, whirring quietly underneath an occasional bubbling that sounded like a fish attempting to purr.
"What are you?" He asked quietly, realising he was as clueless as Damien had been when they first met. That frightened, painfully delicate creature touching his hands - hands with fingernails, a subtlety Mundus had overlooked - asking "What am I?" was written into his memories forever. Damien had been beyond shy at first, scared by the ever shifting world he had been born into, but fear had evolved into curiosity with speed. Griffon seemed to be undergoing a reverse process, with his own curiosity about Nightmare shifting towards fear, and it was deeply unsettling - it had been a long time since he last found himself afraid to learn.
The worst part of it all was trying to reconcile the two halves. Damien and Nightmare shared their body, but their mentalities were entirely different - Nightmare seemed to literally act as a machine, albeit an unstoppable one unless its energy was drained or it was bound in place, while Damien was undeniably sweet natured. His behaviour had a delicacy and a nervousness to it that simply wasn’t demonic by normal standards. Complex emotions were normally reserved for the upper echelons of Underworld society, loyalty and any form of affection exclusive to higher warriors, but for all the novelty of Nightmare’s creation his counterpart had a human capability for learning and adapting.
Griffon resented having humans as the only decent comparison for Damien outside utterly offensive associations with angels or traitors. None of the options truly appealed because he had thus far shown himself to lack their negative traits - his sensitivity and curiosity was not coupled with a destructive or judgemental streak.
It meant Damien genuinely did not fit in. He was fundamentally different from the others and that bothered Griffon, because how exactly did you let someone know the reason the world acted strangely around them was because they were strange themselves? He had never minded referring to Damien as a curious creature because it functioned as a double entendre, and more importantly anyone could be classed as curious. Slimes were the only demons that were technically identical due to their asexual reproduction, so individuality could be claimed by anything. To actually think of Damien as different meant segregating him, stating that he ought not to be classed with demons or anything else for that matter.
Griffon put his head in his hands and pressed hard back against his eyes, the gesture helping him still his thoughts a little. There was no point dwelling on what could not be changed, so if he was to worry, it at least ought to be about something constructive. Damien had not actually changed into something else on account of this new discovery, and as deeply unsettling as it was, at least his being a new sort of creature meant he could not be from a race Griffon already hated. Prejudice was difficult to form against a creature that had never been seen before, and Damien’s attitude so far meant that he was at least giving a good name to his kind. He did his duty - moved where he was told, allowed his other form to take over when he was told - and when not working, he was a simple and relatively harmless being. Damien had only screamed once and the results frightened him so much he never allowed fear to overcome him to that level ever again. That was what ought to be considered important.
After a few moments of forcing his mind to calm, Griffon turned over and looked down at the floor, watching the strange sight of Nightmare waking and shimmering all over before shrinking back into itself, bones settling back towards where they ought to be and liquid gaining solidity as Damien’s flesh reformed. The transformation back into a human form was swifter than expected, although it took a few moments after Damien had regained a recognisable shape for the pale creature to actually wake up. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you in the morning,” Griffon replied, holding his hand out to Damien when his young companion reached up for it. “You woke too early. I’m still trying to sleep.”
Damien blinked. “You have to try?”
“Sometimes, yes.” He watched already large eyes widen further in surprise before settling as the new information was absorbed, and backed up a little to make room in his bed. “If Nightmare has rested, you can stay in here.”
“Thank you!” Damien took the offer up quickly, using his grasp of Griffon’s hand to help himself get up and slide under the sheets. It was a while before he stopped fidgeting, and he started up again as soon as Griffon slipped an arm around his waist.
“Raised nerves?” Griffon prompted, knowing it would be best for Damien to sleep on top of the sheets if that was the actual case. He remembered one particular time when even breath was too much for the young creature’s nerves, how they’d had to set Nightmare free in the castle before discovering how to bind him because it had literally been just too painful for Damien to be conscious with his nerves literally exposed.
“Not very much,” Damien insisted, sliding one of his own arms around Griffon’s chest and cuddling up close. “Your skin is very hot.”
“Thank you.” After stroking his companion’s hair for a minute, Griffon decided it was best to test the waters early. “Would you mind it if you were completely unique?”
“Hm?”
“If there was no one on Earth or in the Underworld who was the same as you. Would it bother you?”
Damien stroked Griffon’s back before responding, “I think... no. It would be strange, but... good. That would make me the only me, right?”
Griffon couldn’t resist chuckling, Damien’s particular way of wording things making life seem as simple as it really ought to be, before nodding and holding the young creature a little bit closer.
He would be glossing over a few details when the morning came and sleep still seemed far away but for now, Damien’s simplicity really did make the world seem that little less cruel and a little more inviting. Maybe it was his attitude, or maybe it was the fact he had never belonged to nature, but it was intoxicating; and for the remainder of this night, at least, Griffon’s thoughts did not belong to the dark.
The End
By Emerald Embers
Louise_cmi_vc@hotmail.com
Rated PG for mild yaoi and some dark themes.
Fandom: Devil May Cry
Pairing: Griffon/Damien (Nightmare)
Non-profit fanfiction, please don’t sue.
It had been a long night, but Griffon had not spoken to Nightmare as it slept on the floor, runes keeping it docile and contained. It took long enough figuring out the binding symbols appropriate for his form given its multiple origins, but the task was worthwhile - Damien would not have to go to the sewers when he got tired anymore, and Mundus agreed to allow this provided Griffon installed a few more of the runes throughout the castle, just in case Nightmare were to get loose unexpectedly again. Life with Damien had been a constant voyage of discovery, and not just on account of the young demon’s peculiarities and his multiple forms. Explaining the world to someone who had only just discovered it reminded Griffon of how little he knew - Damien would press for answers that decades of reading, that the work of billions of humans across the world had been unable to give.
That same curiosity was keeping Griffon awake and silent despite his fatigue. He would have slept peacefully if he had not been asked to watch Damien’s transformation into Nightmare. He knew he was going to have to gloss over a couple of facts when describing it for Damien in the morning, even though the significance of what he’d seen would probably be lost on his young companion.
It was not as if Griffon had decided to watch with no idea what to be prepared for - he had known the process would be strange, because Damien’s human form was so delicate in comparison to the hulking pile of liquid and machinery that made up Nightmare. The process began simply enough, with his skin changing hue and veins darkening, before his features started melting together until they lacked definition. Bones separated from each other out into his increasingly liquid form. Everything seemed, if not quite normal, what one could expect from an artificial demon’s change. Nothing instantaneous, everything sliding and expanding in a logical sequence, extra bulk drawn from the ether by his demonic aspects.
Then the exposed spine cracked. Calmly and quietly, as if that were a normal thing.
Griffon had known for a long time that Damien lacked a heart, but there was nothing horrifying in that - the low whirring sound heard if one pressed their ear to Damien's chest suggested he had a mechanised replacement.
But that crack. Nothing Griffon had ever known of or heard of could survive breaking its spinal chord without death or paralysis, or some semblance of damage. Even a possessed puppet needed the wires threading its head to its back in order to continue moving around.
It meant that whatever controlled Damien's body wasn't a mind with a nervous system. It was something else.
And if it was something else, that meant something Griffon could never have prepared himself for.
Damien was dead.
Not dead like the spirits that lived in the castle - they possessed bodies, items, masks. They didn't own them. And when the body was destroyed or damaged enough, they left it as readily as a hermit crab leaves its shell.
Hermit crabs don't move back in.
Damien was something new. He was trapped. But he lacked any tell-tale signs of a previous life; it was as if he were a reject soul, one never meant to have a body. Or worse, as if his very soul had been made. If Mundus could do that...
Griffon shuddered at the implications before turning over and looking at the sleeping Nightmare. For something occupying such a form, it looked near peaceful, whirring quietly underneath an occasional bubbling that sounded like a fish attempting to purr.
"What are you?" He asked quietly, realising he was as clueless as Damien had been when they first met. That frightened, painfully delicate creature touching his hands - hands with fingernails, a subtlety Mundus had overlooked - asking "What am I?" was written into his memories forever. Damien had been beyond shy at first, scared by the ever shifting world he had been born into, but fear had evolved into curiosity with speed. Griffon seemed to be undergoing a reverse process, with his own curiosity about Nightmare shifting towards fear, and it was deeply unsettling - it had been a long time since he last found himself afraid to learn.
The worst part of it all was trying to reconcile the two halves. Damien and Nightmare shared their body, but their mentalities were entirely different - Nightmare seemed to literally act as a machine, albeit an unstoppable one unless its energy was drained or it was bound in place, while Damien was undeniably sweet natured. His behaviour had a delicacy and a nervousness to it that simply wasn’t demonic by normal standards. Complex emotions were normally reserved for the upper echelons of Underworld society, loyalty and any form of affection exclusive to higher warriors, but for all the novelty of Nightmare’s creation his counterpart had a human capability for learning and adapting.
Griffon resented having humans as the only decent comparison for Damien outside utterly offensive associations with angels or traitors. None of the options truly appealed because he had thus far shown himself to lack their negative traits - his sensitivity and curiosity was not coupled with a destructive or judgemental streak.
It meant Damien genuinely did not fit in. He was fundamentally different from the others and that bothered Griffon, because how exactly did you let someone know the reason the world acted strangely around them was because they were strange themselves? He had never minded referring to Damien as a curious creature because it functioned as a double entendre, and more importantly anyone could be classed as curious. Slimes were the only demons that were technically identical due to their asexual reproduction, so individuality could be claimed by anything. To actually think of Damien as different meant segregating him, stating that he ought not to be classed with demons or anything else for that matter.
Griffon put his head in his hands and pressed hard back against his eyes, the gesture helping him still his thoughts a little. There was no point dwelling on what could not be changed, so if he was to worry, it at least ought to be about something constructive. Damien had not actually changed into something else on account of this new discovery, and as deeply unsettling as it was, at least his being a new sort of creature meant he could not be from a race Griffon already hated. Prejudice was difficult to form against a creature that had never been seen before, and Damien’s attitude so far meant that he was at least giving a good name to his kind. He did his duty - moved where he was told, allowed his other form to take over when he was told - and when not working, he was a simple and relatively harmless being. Damien had only screamed once and the results frightened him so much he never allowed fear to overcome him to that level ever again. That was what ought to be considered important.
After a few moments of forcing his mind to calm, Griffon turned over and looked down at the floor, watching the strange sight of Nightmare waking and shimmering all over before shrinking back into itself, bones settling back towards where they ought to be and liquid gaining solidity as Damien’s flesh reformed. The transformation back into a human form was swifter than expected, although it took a few moments after Damien had regained a recognisable shape for the pale creature to actually wake up. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you in the morning,” Griffon replied, holding his hand out to Damien when his young companion reached up for it. “You woke too early. I’m still trying to sleep.”
Damien blinked. “You have to try?”
“Sometimes, yes.” He watched already large eyes widen further in surprise before settling as the new information was absorbed, and backed up a little to make room in his bed. “If Nightmare has rested, you can stay in here.”
“Thank you!” Damien took the offer up quickly, using his grasp of Griffon’s hand to help himself get up and slide under the sheets. It was a while before he stopped fidgeting, and he started up again as soon as Griffon slipped an arm around his waist.
“Raised nerves?” Griffon prompted, knowing it would be best for Damien to sleep on top of the sheets if that was the actual case. He remembered one particular time when even breath was too much for the young creature’s nerves, how they’d had to set Nightmare free in the castle before discovering how to bind him because it had literally been just too painful for Damien to be conscious with his nerves literally exposed.
“Not very much,” Damien insisted, sliding one of his own arms around Griffon’s chest and cuddling up close. “Your skin is very hot.”
“Thank you.” After stroking his companion’s hair for a minute, Griffon decided it was best to test the waters early. “Would you mind it if you were completely unique?”
“Hm?”
“If there was no one on Earth or in the Underworld who was the same as you. Would it bother you?”
Damien stroked Griffon’s back before responding, “I think... no. It would be strange, but... good. That would make me the only me, right?”
Griffon couldn’t resist chuckling, Damien’s particular way of wording things making life seem as simple as it really ought to be, before nodding and holding the young creature a little bit closer.
He would be glossing over a few details when the morning came and sleep still seemed far away but for now, Damien’s simplicity really did make the world seem that little less cruel and a little more inviting. Maybe it was his attitude, or maybe it was the fact he had never belonged to nature, but it was intoxicating; and for the remainder of this night, at least, Griffon’s thoughts did not belong to the dark.
The End