“So you had a little nap in the garden today?” Feyl drawled, waltzing into Jurao’s office after the evening meal.

“I don’t think I fell asleep,” Jurao replied, looking up from the lock he was picking, “But I could be wrong.”

When Jurao’s mothers died, he’d been taken in by his aunt - a blacksmith that still worked in the castle. He’d picked up locksmithing when he was apprenticing under her before deciding to join the army. When he had free time, he still enjoyed the activity - and his aunt enjoyed trying to stump him with new locks. This one was shaped like a Quad-Sabered Lionsnake, with at least two mechanisms he’d need to unlock simultaneously.

Feyl slumped into a seat before the small hearth in the room, waving, “Bring it over here - your desk seats are uncomfortable.”

The Demon King obliged, taking a seat on the floor to place the lock carefully on the lowered table as he worked.

“You did fall asleep,” Feyl said, putting his chin in one of his hands, “You couldn’t have been that busy in the Embracing Garden for two hours to pass - unless you were doing some embracing of your own…?”

“No,” Jurao said simply, “Though…”

“Oh?” his valet leaned over the armrest.

“Part of the time was due to the Stranglehold Vines having an affection for Braelin,” the Demon King replied. Since admitting such in front of Kloy hadn’t seemed to bother the human, Jurao didn’t think it was meant to be a secret. It didn’t seem much different from naming someone’s lover, really.

“Doesn’t the entire garden have an affection for Braelin…?” Feyl asked with a strained smile.

“Not a sexual one.”

It was only when Jurao realized he’d been working on the lock uninterrupted for some time that he looked up in surprise at the lack of response.

Feyl was staring at him, but only when their eyes met did he say, “Could you explain that to me, please.”

“Apparently, Stranglehold Vines have a tendency to fuck people they like,” Jurao shrugged, returning to his lock, “Which Kloy says probably kept Braelin alive and is good for the plants as well.”

“... and you witnessed this?” his valet asked.

“Braelin said it was fine,” the Demon King replied.

“I’m sure he did,” Feyl said, waving a hand vaguely, “But you aren’t usually interested in witnessing those kinds of situations, Jurao.”

Jurao nodded his agreement, then sighed as the locks snapped shut as he fumbled a tumbler.

“... that isn’t why you went to see Kloy, is it?” Feyl asked.

“Not exactly,” the Demon King replied, starting over, “While that was happening, I felt like I might have been getting ill.”

“... really?” his valet asked.

“Yes,” Jurao said, “I felt vaguely nauseous, and a bit warm, and I felt a twinge in my chest.”

Feyl hummed, pressing his palms together in front of him, “And what exactly happened when you felt a twinge in your chest?”

The Demon King considered, listening to the click of tumblers before answering, “Braelin said he wasn’t bothered by my presence.”

“But he would be by someone else’s?” his valet guessed.

Jurao nodded, “Which is unrelated to the sexual encounter, so I really don’t think the other symptoms were sexual attraction.”

“Was that Kloy’s diagnosis?” Feyl asked.

“Yes, but I disagree,” the King reminded him, “I only felt like that briefly - if I were attracted to Braelin that way, it would be more consistent - wouldn’t it.”

“Please learn how to ask a question,” Feyl half groaned, sitting up in his seat, “But no, not necessarily.”

“Really,” Jurao asked.

“Sexual attraction can wax and wane depending on the circumstances,” his valet replied, “But since you’ve never felt it or had much interest in the subject, there’s no reason you would be aware of that. Sometimes seeing someone wear a particular article or style of clothing can make them seem more attractive, or seeing them in a different… light.”

The Demon King considered this, “I wasn’t interested in the plants, though.”

“And I’m not interested in lace undergarments unless someone is wearing them,” Feyl replied, holding out his bottom set of hands in an expansive gesture, “You don’t have to be interested in the plants to have found Braelin attractive while they were fucking him.”

Jurao hardly noticed the locks snap shut again as he considered this new information - then dismissed it with a shake of his head, “I still don’t believe that’s the case.”

“Very well,” his valet waved a hand as if dissipating the conversation, “But you at least have to admit you pay Braelin more attention than other people, yes?”

“No,” the King replied, “At least, not more than anyone else if they were in a similar situation.”

“What does that mean?” Feyl asked.

“Minaz suggested I considered my actions towards Braelin more critically, so I’ve been doing so.”

“Oh dear,” Feyl sighed, “And what conclusions have you made?”

“I find Braelin amusing, and we are similar in nature, so I do enjoy his company,” Jurao began.

“Promising,” his valet said.

“But,” the Demon King continued, “I am only attentive now because I appointed Braelin to a high-level position when he doesn’t know about our society or how far his authority extends. Also, other demons are unlikely to respect that authority unless it’s clear the crown will back it.”

“I see,” Feyl nodded, “So if you find you continue to be this level of attentive to Braelin after he’s established, you’ll consider that you treat him differently?”

“If that were to happen, yes, I would consider it,” Jurao nodded, returning his attention to his lock now that he’d been clear, “Also, since surviving on demon food is bad for humans, Braelin is in poor health, so there’s more to be concerned about.”

“Ah, like how Gavven was ill two weeks ago,” Feyl said.

The Demon King paused, “E was will?”

His valet nodded, “Mm-hm. E was out for three whole days - but surely you noticed em missing staff breakfasts and dinners.”

“I’m sure I did at the time,” Jurao said, “And I am sure someone informed me of eir illness, so I did not question eir absence.”

“Oh, someone did,” Feyl smiled, “Me. The second day e was sick because e asked me to run a message to you. You hadn’t noticed e was missing.”

The locks snapped closed again.

Jurao sighed, deciding he was done trying to solve it for the night, “But I did notice Braelin missing.”

“Before it was actually time for the meal to start, or so I hear,” his valet replied.

“... I’m not very good at being aware of myself, am I,” the King said.

“No, but that was shitty advice anyway because you only tend to think things through the way it suits you,” Feyl rolled his eyes, flicking a piece of hair over his shoulder, “Like when you were convinced fish turned into dragons if you fed them the right minerals.”

Jurao hummed, seeing the logic in that - it had taken a century for him to finally accept that the stories of silver fish becoming dragons were just stories. No combination of the right kind of fish and mineral would change that. So he asked, “So how would you advise me.”

“Oh, just keep moving obliviously forward the way you usually do,” Feyl waved two hands away from his body, the other two clasped across his stomach, “If you are attracted to Braelin sexually or romantically, you’ll figure it out. If you aren’t, everyone will stop bringing it up. Eventually. Life will go on just fine either way.”

Jurao snorted, then smiled, “Thank you, Feyl.”

“Don’t take too long, though - humans don’t usually live to be a hundred,” his valet cautioned.

That caused the Demon King to frown - he hadn’t considered the difference in demon and human lifespans before… he didn’t even know how old Braelin was. He’d been living in the garden for ten years, so how much time did the human have left?

“He’s forty,” Feyl sighed, “Which is about the same age as you, in human years.”

“Ah,” Jurao said. So perhaps sixty to seventy years - not long, but not too short, either…

“You know his cottage will be complete tomorrow,” Feyl said, interrupting his thoughts, “So tonight will probably be the last night Braelin takes up your couch.”

“Probably,” Jurao agreed, wondering why his valet was bringing up something unrelated like that.

“Oh, nevermind,” Feyl sighed, getting to his feet, “I’ll see you in your quarters - perhaps you could ask Braelin if he wants to join the game and explain the rules.”

“Good idea,” the Demon King said, rising to his feet as well. Since he had no more paperwork and was done with the lock for tonight, he decided it was fine to retire a bit early. He bid Alae good night and headed to his quarters - unsurprisingly finding Braelin there once again. The human was making notes while consulting books, likely on plants.

Jurao found himself smiling as he waved and went back into his room to change - then paused while he was in the middle of doing so.

Was there something funny about Braelin making notes…? he wondered. He told Minaz and Feyl he found Braelin amusing, which was true, but… he hadn’t found the man amusing just then but had still smiled at seeing him. He couldn’t think of another time that had happened, even with Feyl or Minaz.

After considering for a moment, he shrugged to himself. It probably wasn’t important.

Once changed, he went back out and set up the Ascension board on the other side of the table.

“Would you like to try playing,” he asked his gardener.

Braelin looked up in surprise, then glanced at his notes before setting his stylus aside and shifting closer, “Alright - but what about Feyl?”

“It can be played with up to five players,” Jurao replied, “He was the one who suggested asking if you want to play.”

Braelin nodded, “I’m not usually good at these kinds of games.”

“There are similar human games,” the Demon King asked.

“A strategy game called Castles used for teaching military tactics,” the gardener replied, “I played with my brother and father, but always found it… boring.”

Jurao chuckled, “Well, it is very different from gardening, and you don’t exactly need to know military strategy…”

Braelin nodded - then paused, “Well, not in the human realm, but since demon gardens are siege weapons…”

The Demon King nodded, “True enough.”

By the time Feyl arrived, they’d had three practice matches. Jurao was a little surprised at how quickly Braelin seemed able to grasp the rules. Ascension was a fairly complicated game, and it took most people a few years to get all the rules down. Yet Braelin had managed to grasp the basics in the first two rounds, and the third match had mainly been about more advanced play.

“Oh, so you decided to play?” Feyl smirked, sitting across from them as he had before, “I’m not going to go easy on you just because you’re a beginner, you know.”

“That’s fine,” Braelin replied, “Then I can get back to my notes faster.”

Feyl sighed, “Take all the fun out of it, won’t you…”

“Braelin’s caught onto the rules very quickly,” Jurao replied, “You may be surprised.”

“Jurao, I’m not about to lose to a beginner,” his valet scoffed.

“We shall see,” the King replied, resetting the board.

The match shockingly took half the time it usually did - especially with a beginner.

“I told you strategy games are boring to me,” Braelin sighed, looking longingly at his notes.

Feyl stared at the board like he was trying to burn a hole into it.

Jurao couldn’t help it - he laughed, not at all upset at losing. 

“No!” his valet said, surging to his feet, “Stop laughing! I refuse to accept this! I demand a rematch!”

“If you insist,” Braelin sighed again.

In twenty minutes, the results were the same. Feyl staring at the board in disbelief, Braelin eyeing his notes, and Jurao laughing at his valet’s shock.

Feyl surged to his feet again, “Wait here! No beginner should be able to win this easily!”

With that, he ran out the door, slamming it behind him.

“So when you called strategy games boring,” Jurao asked, “You meant because you easily win them.”

“No,” Braelin replied, “I just don’t have much fun playing them.”

“You can tell me and Feyl no then,” the Demon King said.

The human shrugged, “It’s not that it’s never fun - I would play with Dad and Malson because I liked playing with them, but other people were a pain about it. They would get mad that I wasn’t taking the game as seriously as they were or something. But you and Feyl play while you talk, the way I played with my dad and brother - so even though he’s mad now, it’s fine.”

“As long as you aren’t forcing yourself,” Jurao said.

The door opened again - revealing an unamused Minaz being pushed inside by Feyl and an apathetic Hujur being dragged behind.

“Set up the board for a full game,” Feyl insisted, using his last free hand to point at Jurao and Braelin, “I won’t admit defeat unless it’s a full game! A! Full! Game!”

Jurao knew exactly why Feyl had retrieved the two of them - in the absence of Vajur, they were two of the best Ascension players in the castle. And they had shared living quarters, which made retrieving the pair easy at this time of night.

Jurao picked up the board and took it to the larger table he had for receiving guests for light meals since it would be easier to fit so many players.

“Is this really necessary…?” Minaz sighed, taking a seat anyway.

“Absolutely!” Feyl insisted, sitting and pounding a fist on the table, “I refuse to let two losses to someone who just learned the game tonight stand!”

“Full games are difficult for anyone to win,” Hujur said drily, “Especially someone who’s never played one before…”

“That’s! The! Point!” Feyl said through his teeth.

“So… you just want Braelin to lose,” Minaz said, arching a brow at the human as he joined them.

“Yes!” Feyl said, throwing up his hands.

“I suppose one game wouldn’t hurt…” Hujur sighed, “Do you enjoy strategy games, Braelin?”

“No,” the human replied, “But I don’t mind.”

Jurao smiled, finishing setting up the board, “Shall we begin, then?”

A full game typically took two to three hours - or more, depending on the opponents. More skilled opponents, like the four demons, tended to take closer to four or five hours. Minaz was the daughter of the General Jurao succeeded. Hujur excelled at reading and managing people and frequently played with Minaz and Vajur.

Braelin beat them all in an hour and a half.

Feyl had his head against the table, hands clenched into fists and shaking with frustration. Minaz was staring at the board with narrowed eyes, no doubt replaying her moves and trying to sort out what had occurred. Hujur was slumped back in his seat, eyes a bit glazed over as he stared into the middle distance.

“I think I’m done now,” the gardener said, hopping down from his chair and walking back to his notes.

Jurao couldn’t help it - he laughed, having never seen the three at such a loss all at once.

Since it was getting late, he dismissed the three for the night - all apparently too shocked to have commentary for him before leaving. He bid Braelin good night as well, retiring to his room in a very good mood despite his losses.

If that was unusual for him, he didn’t recall.