“You missed the evening meal,” Feyl observed, eyes darting down to their joined hands as Braelin and Jurao entered the King’s suite, “Were you both with Braelin’s family?”

“For some of the time,” Braelin replied.

“I went to ask Aunt Nevve about my mothers,” Jurao explained, tail still swishing, “I was… struck by some melancholy when I saw Braelin’s reunion with his parents.”

“I went to find him because I saw he was upset,” his partner said, smiling as he looked back at the King’s tail, “A question.”

“Yes?” Feyl asked, snorting as Snip hopped onto the couch and laid her head in his lap.

“Jurao said tail touching is an intimate act,” Braelin stated, “Is it intimate that only people close to you can, or that it should only been done in private?”

“I suppose Min only ever grabs Vajur’s tail when she’s annoyed with him,” Feyl chuckled, dislodging the waste hound to a grumble, “But it’s not a private act, no.”

“Ah,” Braelin said, reaching out to card his hand through the fur on top of Jurao’s tail, “Thank you.”

Jurao felt his face heat up again at the action – tail stilling under the gentle petting.

“Well,” Feyl stretched, “I suppose you’ll both want to be turning in soon – I’ll leave you to any before-sleep activities you wish.”

“Good night,” Jurao said, glad his best friend had added the second part – otherwise, he would have refuted the claim.

“Good night, Feyl,” Braelin said.

“Good night,” the valet chuckled, then hummed as he waltzed out the door.

Braelin continued petting his partner’s tail, smiling as he did.

It took Jurao a few minutes of the enjoyable sensation to say, “Love.”

“Yes?” Braelin asked, turning his smile up to the King.

Jurao hummed, clasping all four hands behind his back, “Ah. That is… mm.”

“I love you,” Braelin said, as though he’d said it a hundred times already.

Jurao felt like an oil lamp – warm, bright, and incapable of speech.

“I realized some time ago,” Braelin went on, playing with the fur of Jurao’s tail, “But I didn’t think to say it – I thought… well,” he chuckled, “I suppose I thought it was obvious. But it feels good, to say it. Sorry, I should have said when I realized it.”

Jurao hummed – then crouched down, bumping his forehead into his partner’s, the words easy now, “I love you.”

Braelin hummed as well, leaning his weight against his partner, “It’s nice to hear, too.”

“I only realized when Omarri assumed,” Jurao said, tail swishing again, “But I think I have loved you for some time.”

His partner nodded, turning his face up for a kiss.

When Jurao pulled away he said, “Circumstance.”

Braelin chuckled, pressing his face into the King’s shoulder, “Yes – this felt much more like how other people describe kissing.”

Jurao asked, “Bed.”

“Yes,” Braelin yawned, “Today has been… a lot.”

The King easily picked his partner up, wanting to enjoy the contact a little longer before they needed to change for sleep. Once they had, they curled back together in bed, and sleep came quickly for them both.

When Jurao sat up after waking the next morning for training, he noticed something… odd with his partner as he roused the man.

“You’re erect,” he observed.

Braelin hummed as he stretched, then chuckled, “Yes – that happens sometimes with humans. Waking up erect.”
Jurao considered, then shifted to lay down again, “Do you want to skip training together.”

“Yes,” his partner chuckled again, turning to press a lazy kiss against Jurao’s lips.

The King returned it with the same comfortable energy as one of his hands trailed up to grasp his partner’s cock and stroke it gently.

Braelin moaned appreciatively, knuckles of one of his hands rubbing Jurao’s slit.

It was pleasant – the unhurried pace and gentleness of it. It reminded him more of their early, longer kissing sessions, enjoying each other for its own sake.

When he’d half-everted, Jurao shifted to lay over his partner, careful not to rest his weight on Braelin as he let his cock twist about the human’s and focused on kissing.

Braelin chuckled warmly when they broke, “You’re less cautious now.”

“I know how much strength to use now,” Jurao replied, tail swishing languidly as he rested his forehead against his partner’s.

Braelin hummed, gently rocking his hips, “This is a nice way to wake up.”

“Yes,” Jurao agreed, then added, “But I think you would get in trouble for missing training too often… hm…”

“Hm?” Braelin asked.

Jurao leaned back, supporting his partner’s hips with his lower hands and caressing his sides with the upper set, “I thought, perhaps… an endearment.”

“Ah,” Braelin smiled, lightly panting, “Demon romantic endearments are… usually water-based… aren’t they?”

The King nodded, “I believe… it is usually something that arises naturally.”

“I think it’s fine to… think about it,” his partner replied, “Human endearments tend to… be less… specific.”

Jurao could tell his partner was getting close, and experimentally reached out to grasp a large hand around his cock twined about Braelin’s.

“Mn,” his partner groaned, then gasped as he rocked into the increased pressure, “Ah.”

The King felt very satisfied as he watched his partner cum – and not only because he followed soon after. He leaned down to kiss Braelin’s temple, “I’ll take some time to consider. Did you have an endearment you wanted to use for me.”

Braelin chuckled, wrapping his arms around Jurao’s neck, “My heart.”

Jurao felt his tail swish, “I like that.”

“I’m glad,” his partner replied drowsily, “Mm, let’s sleep some more.”

“We do have time,” the King agreed, shifting to lie on his side and pulling Braelin close as he drew the covers back up.

Forvi roused them both as the morning drew on, in time to prepare for breakfast.

“Will you be going to eat with your family, Braelin?” the prince asked from the other side of the changing screen, clearly amused by the state he’d found them in.

“I will, yes,” Braelin replied, “Did you want to join us, Jurao?”

“I’ll join you for midday,” the King replied, “You should have some time to yourselves now that I feel better.”

“Alright, we’ll see you then,” his partner said, cheeks turning pink as he added, “My heart.”

“You were feeling unwell?” Forvi asked.

Jurao emerged first, shaking his head, “I was feeling sad, but it’s resolved now.”

“I see,” the prince chuckled, looking between them, “Did something good happen to make you feel better?”

“I went to ask my aunt for stories about my mothers,” Jurao replied, tail swishing from the endearment, “I did enjoy hearing them, but I do not know if I would consider that ‘good’ in the way you seem to mean.”

“So nothing else happened last night to put you in a better mood?” Forvi asked, arching his left brows.

“Not that I can think of,” Jurao replied, “Ah, Braelin joined me in listening to the stories – that also eased my melancholy.”

Braelin laughed as he joined them, “We also said we love each other for the first time.”

“Oh,” Jurao said, reaching down to pet Snip and Snap as the waste hounds trotted to his sides, “I had considered that a separate matter, but, yes, that has also improved my mood.”

Petal was just behind the hounds, shuffling to pat at its master similarly.

Forvi turned away a moment to stifle a laugh, then said, “Congratulations – is that the reason for the new endearment?”

“I’ve thought about using it recently,” Braelin said, reaching out to pet Jurao’s tail, “Jurao hasn’t decided on one yet.”

“… mud-eel,” Jurao considered.

“… mud-eel?” Forvi asked, in a tone of disbelief.

“Braelin’s name may mean fish,” Jurao explained, “And mud-eels are a symbol of Vislaelos – and they are able to walk across land to travel between hot springs,” he put a hand to his chest, “Braelin makes my hearts feel warm, and he is in all of them.”

His partner smiled, face red, “I like that.”

“It’s… very sweet,” Forvi said, pursing his lips with a smile, then added, “But it is… a bit odd, Jurao.”

“That’s fine,” Jurao said, “As long as Braelin likes it.”

“Well,” Forvi sighed, “That is the most important part.”

They said farewell when their paths diverged; Braelin headed towards the gardens while Jurao went to the Heads of Staff Dining Hall.

“You missed quite the show at morning training,” Minaz greeted him.

“Oh,” Jurao asked, taking his seat.

“Apparently,” Gavven giggled, eyeing Gnori, “Ebener was one of the most accomplished swordsmen in the Northern Reaches.”

“Which our Captain of the Guard learned the hard way,” Kloy mused.

Gnori, sporting bandages wrapped around one upper arm, pounded the table – then winced, “It was a good match!”

“I really didn’t expect a regular human of that age to be able to beat a demon, even in a friendly match,” Minaz snorted, “He didn’t even do all that fancy bullshit Malson does – it was straight swordplay.”

“A broadsword, no less,” Gavven giggled.

“How do you lose against someone with the same weapon that much smaller and older than you?” Vajur scoffed.

“I’m not sure what age has to do with it,” Kloy smiled, “I may be slowing down a bit, but I think I could still best many opponents younger than I.”

“But you’ve had millennia to perfect your skills,” Vajur argued, “A human of an equivalent age hasn’t even had a century! And he’s still older than you equivalently!”

“I’ll concede that much,” the physician shrugged.

“Perhaps I will challenge him to a duel tomorrow morning,” Jurao considered.

“At least you wouldn’t be trying to show off to Braelin,” Gavven grinned, “Much less embarrassing!”

Gnori’s face went dark as he pounded the table again – this time, remembering to use his uninjured hand – and said, “I wasn’t trying to impress anyone!”

“Sure,” Minaz snorted, “But if you and Malson dance around each other any harder, an ensemble might drop out of the sky.”

Gnori slammed a fist on the table again, but only sputtered in response.

“In official news,” Kloy cleared his throat, “I’ve hired my cousin as Assistant Royal Physician – with all our new non-demon higher level staff, I thought someone who has studied in all three Mortal Triads would be prudent for the role.”

“Ah, yes, I agree,” Jurao nodded.

“Though speaking of dancing,” Hujur chuckled, “I scheduled lessons for you and Braelin, my lord.”