Since the medical wards were on his way, Jurao decided to check in with Kloy after all - just to be sure. He found the Royal Physician’s door open and knocked on the frame.
Kloy looked up from his desk for a moment before returning to paperwork - then did a doubletake and sat up, “My lord?”
“Did you have a moment,” Jurao asked.
“Of course,” Kloy said, gesturing to the benches across from his desk, “Is there something wrong…?”
“Maybe,” the Demon King replied, walking over and taking a seat, “I felt odd earlier, and I wanted to check with you if it might be signs of illness.”
“Well, you’ve rarely been ill before,” Kloy said, “Since your trollish heritage is very robust…”
Jurao nodded, “That’s why I figured it’s probably nothing.”
“Alright,” Kloy said, pulling a notepad out from under a stack of folders on his desk, “What symptoms were you experiencing?”
“I felt warmer than usual,” Jurao replied, “And somewhat vaguely nauseous. Rather a… discomfort in my stomachs - and an odd pressure in my chest.”
Kloy frowned, “That sounds like it could be quite serious - were you in pain?”
Jurao shook his head, “No, just mild discomfort.”
The physician nodded, “And how long did these symptoms last?”
The Demon King hummed as he considered, cupping his chin and crossing his lower set of arms, “Twenty to thirty minutes, perhaps.”
“And what were you doing at the time?” Kloy asked.
“I had spent the morning watching Braelin work in the gardens to understand what he does,” Jurao replied.
Kloy’s stylus paused, and he looked up with a... complicated expression, “Oh?”
“We were at the Embracing Garden at the time,” the Demon King added.
The physician took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before asking, “And did you happen to see the Stranglehold Vines being… affectionate with him?”
“If you mean did I see them fuck him, then yes,” Jurao shrugged, “He said he didn’t mind if I remained.”
“I’m sure he did,” Kloy said in a strained voice, taking off his glasses to rub at his forehead, “I don’t think you’re ill, my lord.”
“No,” Jurao asked.
Kloy shook his head, “No, I believe you were just…” he sighed, putting his glasses back on before continuing, “My lord, I believe witnessing Braelin in a sexual encounter caused you to experience mild arousal.”
The Demon King frowned, “That doesn’t seem right. I’ve never felt that seeing other sexual encounters.”
Kloy smiled, but his eyes were still strained, “Perhaps, then, it was because there was something - or someone - different about the situation, my lord.”
Jurao considered this, then said, “I suppose I’ve never seen a sexual encounter involving plants before…”
Kloy rubbed the bridge of his nose, “So while the encounter was occurring, you were focused on the plants?”
The Demon King considered this - but rather than plants, what came to mind was the flushed, slack expression Braelin had during the event. So he shook his head, “I was not.”
“Then, perhaps,” Kloy said gently, “It was the person…?”
“I don’t think so,” Jurao replied, “If I were sexually attracted to Braelin, I would feel that way all the time, wouldn’t I.”
Kloy clasped all four hands on top of his desk, “Not necessarily, my lord - people experience differing levels of sexual attraction, and it can fluctuate depending on circumstances.”
“But changing circumstances have never caused me to feel attracted to anyone else,” Jurao pressed, “Surely this would have happened before if that were the case.”
“I…” Kloy pressed his lips together, tapping one set of clasped hands against his chin for a moment before replying, “My lord, if you truly believe that you are not attracted to Braelin in any way, then I will not press to convince you otherwise. But what you have described to me suggests that you have had your first experience with sexual attraction, triggered by seeing Braelin in a sexual encounter.”
Jurao considered this before replying, “Perhaps I ate something that spoiled.”
The physician’s smile was strained as he said, “I suppose that could also be the case. If the… symptoms persist or reappear, let me know, and we can have another consult. Otherwise, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”
Jurao nodded, standing, “Thank you for your time, Kloy.”
“Of course, my lord,” the physician said, waving as he returned to the papers on his desk.
***
Jurao looked up from his paperwork as the door to his office opened, revealing Minaz - one of the two people that did not need permission to enter. The other, of course, was Feyl, though he rarely did.
“How was watching Braelin work?” she asked, taking one of the seats across from his desk.
“Educational,” Jurao replied, continuing his paperwork - most of it was routine reports on castle and holdings goings-on and didn’t require his complete focus.
Minaz hummed, “I heard you stopped in to see Kloy after.”
“I did,” the Demon King said.
His right hand waited a few moments before prompting, “Did something happen that you needed healing for?”
Jurao shook his head, “I thought I might have been getting ill, but Kloy disagreed.”
“What did he think happened instead?” Minaz asked, pulling out a dagger and whetstone to idly sharpen it.
“He believes I felt sexual attraction towards Braelin,” Jurao replied easily, “But I doubt that.”
Minaz hummed again, “Why?”
The Demon King paused, looking up, “What do you mean.”
“Why do you doubt that’s the case?” Minaz asked patiently.
“Because I’ve never felt sexual attraction before,” Jurao said, tilting his head and furrowing his brows.
“That’s certainly true,” Minaz huffed, then shook her head and said, “Nevermind that - Voga isn’t happy about the transfer of harvesting duties to Braelin.”
“I’m not surprised,” the Demon King sighed, returning to reading as they spoke, “Voga is very particular.”
“Voga is a pain in the ass,” Minaz replied, “Honestly, with as much as he complains about how much work running the kitchens is, you think he’d welcome a little lightening of the load…”
“Should I speak to him,” Jurao asked.
“Festi can handle him,” Minaz replied, “They’re not going to put up with him refusing to cooperate twice in one week.”
The Demon King nodded, “Was there something else you needed.”
“I think you spoil Braelin a little too much,” Minaz replied.
“Spoil,” Jurao frowned.
“You haven’t refused or reconsidered any of his requests,” his right hand replied, “And you’ve taken a very active role in ensuring his success.”
“His requests all make sense,” the Demon King replied, “And I appointed him to a position of high authority suddenly, while he has little direct experience with our society at all.”
“Which Hujur and I can help him adjust to,” Minaz replied, “Which you usually let us do, rather than taking such a direct role.”
Jurao paused again, considering that - and it was true. He usually did leave that kind of work to Hujur and Minaz, since they were better at managing and organizing people than he was. Realizing this, he said, “Ah.”
Then he went back to his paperwork.
Minaz groaned, “That’s it?”
“I’m not sure what you wanted me to do with that information,” Jurao replied, knowing he’d failed to meet her expectations but having no idea what those expectations were.
“Perhaps consider why you treat Braelin differently?” she prompted.
“Does it matter,” the Demon King asked.
“It… no, I suppose not,” Minaz sighed, “Not as long as his requests really do make sense and Gaele keeps routing them properly up the chain…”
Still, this seemed important to her, so Jurao tried to think of the reason as a point of courtesy for their friendship.
“... he’s amusing,” he finally came up with, “So I suppose I enjoy interacting with him on that account.”
“Amusing,” Minaz said, considering the word. After a few moments, she shrugged, “That’s a start.”
“A start of what,” Jurao asked.
“I said you should be more aware of yourself, right?” Minaz replied, “That’s some very basic self-awareness.”
“You think I should consider my actions more critically,” Jurao realized.
“Yes,” Minaz replied, “I know you don’t care what anyone else thinks, and fuck them anyway, but you should know why you’re doing something, don’t you think?”
The Demon King hummed as he considered that - then said, “But I know why I do things.”
“You didn’t know why you were so hands-on helping Braelin,” his right hand countered.
And I didn’t know why I was comfortable watching him with the vines, Jurao reflected, then sighed, “I suppose you have a point.”
“Thank you,” Minaz said, and stood and stretched, “And if you need someone to hear you out while you think on why you do things, I’m always ready to lend an ear.”
“You aren’t usually this concerned,” the Demon King pointed out.
“Well,” Minaz sighed, putting one set of hands on her hips and scratching at her chin, “You’re confused as to why everyone thinks you have a crush on Braelin, right?”
“I am.”
“I think part of that is because you aren’t really paying attention to the way you act around him, and what that looks like to others,” his Right Hand went on, “I’m not saying you should act differently, but if you pay more attention to that kind of thing, it might make the confusion make more sense.”
“I see,” Jurao nodded, then considered, “Do I act very differently around Braelin.”
“Since you can’t sense him walking behind you, you have him walk next to you, which is pretty damn noticeable,” Minaz pointed out, “And since you find him amusing, you smile a lot more around him.”
“Ah, yes,” the Demon King realized, “Those do sound like typical signs of romantic attraction - when taken out of context.”
“Yes, out of context,” Minaz nodded, but smiled a little, “Things like letting Braelin sleep in your quarters seem very much like typical signs of romantic attraction. Especially when most people don’t know it’s just on the couch in your receiving room.”
“Oh,” Jurao’s brows furrowed, “Yes, Feyl also pointed that out.”
Minaz hummed and nodded, “He’s pretty good about picking stuff like that out.”
“But I see no reason to alter my actions based on the assumptions of others,” the Demon King shrugged.
“I didn’t think you would, but at least you understand why they’re making those assumptions,” his Right Hand sighed, and waved a hand over her shoulder as she headed for the door.
“Thank you, Minaz,” Jurao said as a farewell - after all, he did appreciate her help clearing up his confusion.
She waved again, walking out the door without another word.
Jurao wasn’t disturbed from his work for the rest of the afternoon. He made his way to the dining hall, considering what Minaz had said earlier.
He supposed he had spent a significant amount of time with Braelin over the past three days, despite having only just met - but that felt natural, as it solidified his new position as a high-level staff member. Of course, on reflection, it probably would have made more sense to create a new branch under Jouvi’s groundskeeping than to make Braelin head of a new department. Still, it felt too late to make that change now. Besides, Jouvi didn’t seem to mind relinquishing any responsibility - unlike Voga.
Jurao thought he should talk to Voga after all - it was only a matter of time before the man confronted Braelin directly, and the Demon King wasn’t sure how that would turn out. It seemed like it would be easier to handle before then - and then he also paused in that thought.
If Voga were causing problems for Gnori, he considered, Would I think to step in like this?
He wouldn’t - but Gnori was well acquainted with the difficult Head of the Kitchens, and comfortable exercising his authority as Head of the Castle Guard. As the rest of his high-level staff were comfortable in their positions, it wasn’t that Braelin was special in some way, Jurao concluded, but that all his other equivalent staff were more experienced.
Having made this conclusion, Jurao entered the dining hall feeling more assured than ever that he did not feel anything in particular towards his Royal Gardener - other than amusement, in any case.
Though upon thinking such, his mind went back to the gardens earlier that day - to sitting with his eyes closed and a hand on Braelin’s shoulder, relaxed and comfortable. It made him pause, trying to remember if he’d ever been that comfortable with another person.
“Is something wrong, my lord?” Hujur asked, turning from a conversation with Festi.
Jurao shook his head, dismissing the errant thought and walking to his seat, “Nothing.”
“Braelin is certainly finding ways to keep every department busy,” Festi huffed, and started counting off on their fingers, “Requests for clay pots and tools from the artisans, pissing off Voga again - not that that’s an accomplishment - and Meage is scrambling to rework the castle budget…”
“She can take from my personal funds until she’s had time to set things up properly,” Jurao replied to the last, taking his seat and noticing his gardener had not made it to the hall yet.
“I already told her to do that, but I’ll pass along the official word,” Festi sighed, pinching the bridge of their nose.
“Most people would think to consult with the king before suggesting using his personal funds,” Hujur observed drily.
“But he’s the one insisting we cooperate,” Festi pointed out, “So the budgetary issues are his fault to begin with.”
“That’s true,” the Demon King agreed, glad his intentions in making that suggestion had been read correctly. He wondered if Gaele had lost track of time, and thus had yet to retrieve Braelin - not that it would make a terrible difference if the man missed a staff dinner every now and again…
“That’s true, but you should still seek official approval,” Hujur said, “Otherwise, it could look like embezzlement.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Festi sighed.
“You haven’t found him in the gardens yet, have you, Gnori?” Gavven giggled.
Gnori hit the table, “No, but I will! I refuse to believe he could hide that long without getting caught!”
“You know, I just remembered that sometimes the plants would block access to certain parts of the garden,” Jouvi drawled, “I always assumed it was due to an attack, but sometimes there was no report to confirm - maybe they were covering for Braelin those times.”
Jurao remembered that Kloy had mentioned fainting spells before, and figured they could have been hiding the human during one of those - which hopefully weren’t the cause of him being absent currently.
Before he had time to be truly concerned, Braelin appeared - gently pushed through the doorway by Gaele, who quickly scampered off with a bow in the general direction of the interior.
“You can relax now,” Minaz said, still seated one over from her actual seat.
Jurao flinched, looking at her in surprise.
She raised her brows at him significantly.
Ah, he realized, Of course, she doesn’t know Braelin is currently in less than ideal health and has trouble keeping track of time.
He would just have to let her know later that had been the cause for his concern, not at all noticing how he reached out to briefly touch the human’s shoulder as the man settled in his seat.
