As planned, Jurao followed Braelin to the gardens after breakfast to watch his daily routine. When they arrived outside, however, Gaele was waiting for them.
“Ah! Your highness!” they said, jumping in surprise at seeing him and bowing from the waist, “Good morning!?”
“Is that what I’m supposed to do?” Braelin asked, watching them.
“No, they’re just more enthusiastic than most,” Jurao replied, “You don’t have to hold your bow when you greet me in a casual setting, Lordis Gaele.”
They raised their head slowly, then cleared their throat with darkened cheeks as they rose, “Ah, yes, I’m sorry, your highness.”
“I just came out to watch Braelin work today,” Jurao said, holding up a hand, “Sorry for the alarm.”
“Oh!” Gaele waved their arms a bit frantically, “No! Please! No need to apologize to me, your highness!”
“Did you have something to tell me?” Braelin asked, distracting them.
“I did,” Gaele nodded, clearing their throat and straightening up, “I put in requests for the supplies you asked for, but it will take a few days for them to be fully processed.”
“That’s fine,” Braelin said, “We don’t have anywhere to put them yet.”
Gaele nodded and glanced at Jurao before saying, “Since they’re adding storage and an office, the construction of your cabin will take about two more days than planned.”
“An office?” Braelin tilted his head.
“That was my suggestion,” Jurao replied, “I realized you would need one.”
Braelin nodded, “Ah, alright.”
“I apologize if Jouvi is frustrated with the last-minute changes,” Jurao added, turning back to Gaele.
They waved their hands again, “Ah, no, it’s-! I’m used to handling this sort of thing, your highness!”
Jurao nodded, “Please, continue.”
Gaele inclined their head to him, then went on, “Other than that, I am waiting to hear if there are any of the kinds of books you asked after.”
“Books,” Jurao asked.
Braelin nodded, “Most of the books in the library don't include how to care for the plants - I asked Gaele to look for any that had more detailed accounts.”
“Ah,” Jurao nodded.
After a moment of hesitation, Gaele said, “That, uh, was all I had for you - sorry.”
Braelin shook his head, “That was all I asked you to do - I don’t have anything new at the moment, though. You can just do what you want until you hear back about supplies.”
Gaele looked nervously at Jurao, shifting their weight as they asked, “Are you sure?”
Braelin shrugged, “Since I don’t have anything, there’s no point in keeping you.”
Gaele frowned, looking at Jurao again.
“If Braelin doesn’t need you, you’re free to take time for yourself,” the Demon King assured, though he was uncertain why Gaele thought he would disagree.
With that, Gaele bowed, “Ah! Then! Thank you, and I’ll come back again later!”
Much as they had before, the deer-featured demon scampered off quickly.
“Do they run like that when I’m not around,” Jurao asked, watching after them.
“No,” Braelin replied, heading into the garden, “They really admire you.”
Jurao hummed, following - he wasn’t sure what to make of that. Instead of dwelling, he asked, “What are you doing now.”
“I usually walk around the gardens first,” Braelin said, leaning down and poking the soil, “I’m looking for anything left behind that shouldn’t be or debris to collect. Ah… I should get a cart for that…” he looked into the middle distance for a moment, then continued, “I also check how dry the soil is, so I know where they need more water. Hmm…”
“What is it,” Jurao asked.
“I had these… clay pots,” Braelin made a rounded gesture with his hands, “That I would fill with water, and it would release into the soil. Until you asked, I hadn’t thought to ask about them instead of carrying buckets from the well.”
“You carried buckets from the well across the entire garden,” Jurao asked, tilting his head.
Braelin nodded, “The plants in the pond offered their water sometimes, but I didn’t want to disturb them.”
Jurao snorted in amusement, “You can ask Gaele later to contact the royal artisans about the pots - it seems simple enough.”
Braelin nodded, then continued walking along, “I also check for any signs of disease or pests - ah, I should get…” the human held up a hand to ask Jurao to pause and took off at a measured jog.
Jurao waited where he was, noticing the Labyrinthine Hedge was still in bloom with its white flowers. He reached out to gently touch the petals, reflecting that they made the hedge feel happier compared to before.
Braelin returned soon enough, and held out an item for inspection, “This is the thorn I’ve been using as a tool.”
Jurao accepted the thorn, looking it over - while it was small in his palm, it was about the size of a typical dagger in Braelin’s grasp. A stick had been attached to the base and wrapped with cloth to make a handle. Pressing a fingertip to it, it was sharp, but not enough to cut without force. The Demon King returned it, “You can get a proper dagger if you wish.”
Braelin considered, passing the thorn dagger between his hands, “I’d rather have some whittling tools - I could fix this into something better then.”
Jurao nodded, “That works as well. You were saying something about checking for disease and pests.”
Braelin nodded, tucking the makeshift dagger into a pocket, “Yes - sometimes I cut away diseased parts, or I used my blood. As for pests, crushing eggs and larvae before they become an issue is helpful, and then I can feed them to plants they don’t eat.”
“Have you had trouble with the adults,” Jurao asked.
“Not since the spider showed up,” Braelin replied.
“The spider,” the demon asked.
Braelin nodded and held out a hand a little above his own waist, “About this big, has a crystal-like body that changes colors. Reminded me of some of the spiders back home, so I started tossing larvae to it so it would stay while leaving me alone,” he shrugged, “It worked. Now it catches the adult pests. I call it Shiny.”
I’ll have to make a note of that to the others, Jurao thought, smiling at the idea of a human taming a Mirage Spider to eat garden pests. They were extremely venomous, but since they tended to stay in solitary places and feast on small animals and other insects, not usually a concern.
Jurao continued following Braelin through various parts of the garden, watching as he checked the soil for dryness and pulled any debris out into the open. He said it was so it would be easy to spot when he came back around to collect it - and the demon saw how a cart would make the task easier, as the human could then collect as he went.
“Oh, I suppose I can collect the food and herbs now,” Braelin realized as they entered the food garden.
It was the safest of all the gardens, so while not the most scenic, it did have most of the garden’s visitors. As such, day seating had been placed for guests to use at their leisure. The nobles noticed their joint entry immediately, whispering to and nudging each other.
“Yes, I would say that falls under your purview,” Jurao nodded, acting as though he hadn’t noticed, “Who has been doing so until now.”
“The kitchens,” Braelin replied, then frowned, “They’re rather rude about it - sometimes, they pick fruit that isn’t quite ripe yet, which can hurt the plants. Well, not physically - it hurts their feelings because they work hard and don’t like giving out a half-finished product.”
“I see,” Jurao smiled, “We’ll tell Gavven about the change - reassigning responsibilities would be a difficult task for Gaele that would end up going to em anyway.”
Braelin nodded, looking off into the middle distance again - if the Demon King were to guess, considering the best way to go about future harvests.
After that inspection, two gardens were left - though Jurao was mostly interested in their final destination, the Embracing Garden, where he had first met Braelin taking care of the Stranglehold Vines.
The Snapblooms - with their venomous thorn-like fangs hidden in their flower blossoms that caused extreme disorientation and nausea - strained to nuzzle Braelin’s legs as he walked by. The human bent to pat them on his way. He also reached past them to pat the sides of the Coffin Gourds, which could not move more than a slight bend. While the serrated inside walls of the gourds kept prey from escaping their acid-filled bellies, it was a combination of sweet-smelling pollen and the Stranglehold Vines that helped them catch their food.
Snarefans purred from their soil beds, a few snapping their wide mouths open and shut - the plants in the Embracing Garden were all the most aggressive, which was why they were placed towards the back as a first line of defense. Snarefans also utilized acid - but they took a chunk out of their prey with their powerful serrated teeth rather than keeping an entire person or animal.
And, of course, there were the Stranglehold Vines - planted around the edges of this garden on heavy metal trellises, easily able to hold intruders in place for the other plants in the Embracing Garden.
Jurao watched as the vines reached for Braelin immediately, more than he’d seen before - they seemed to be checking him over… rather thoroughly.
“Are they usually like that,” Jurao asked in surprise.
Braelin frowned and shook his head, “They were yesterday, but I assumed that was because they were worried - come on, now, I can’t work if you-” the human flinched and sighed heavily, “Well, I suppose it has been a bit…”
Jurao was confused at first - he doubted at this point any of the plants in the garden would harm Braelin, so what had caused the pause? He thought to ask, but realized the answer upon a more careful look at the human that prompted him to ask, “Ah - should I leave.”
“If you’re uncomfortable,” Braelin replied, frowning at the vines as they curled and slid around his body - slipping under his clothing and pulling him closer as they slid up his thighs in particular, “But it doesn’t really matter to me.”
The demon hummed - he was almost certain this kind of situation was one he would normally walk away from, but… for some reason, his attention was captured. He asked, “Are they normally this aggressive.”
Braelin squirmed in their hold, but didn’t attempt to free himself, “I would say this is rather tame for them, considering my clothes are still on…”
Jurao wasn’t sure why that sentiment caused a strange sensation in his chest - or why watching the outline of the vines under the human’s clothes made his face feel a little warm. He shifted his weight, “So this does not happen often.”
“About,” Braelin breathed out heavily, bucking forward in the vines’ grip, “Once a week or so, I’ve reckoned. Oh, I forgot,” the human turned to push his cheek against the vines he was gripping, “Thank you for managing the,” he made a small noise, “Poisoning eating demon food caused me.”
The vines shuddered, rubbed back against the man’s cheek, and seemed to loop over his head to stroke his hair affectionately.
Jurao somehow remembered the feel of doing so himself on accident, and felt his hand twitch as he thought, I wonder if he would mind if I did it on purpose…
Braelin made a sudden choked sound, tensing up and gripping the vines more tightly, “I’m… surprised that… they’re doing this… with… ah… someone else here, though…”
Jurao made a noncommittal noise of acknowledgment, feeling like his stomachs were twisting around each other as he saw the way the human was pushed forward, able to piece together for himself what the vines were doing even with his lack of personal experience with the activity.
Braelin’s face was flushed and slack, his eyes closed as he panted breathily and occasionally gave a soft moan at the attention of the vines - then went still and held his breath as he bucked forward again, holding for a moment before going limp.
The vines set him down to lean back against the trellis, fixing his clothing with speed the best castle valet would envy. They still gave more chastely affectionate gestures, though the majority pulled back.
After a moment, Jurao approached and sat next to Braelin, asking, “Are you alright.”
“I’m fine,” the human sighed, still keeping his eyes closed, “I just need some time.”
Jurao hummed, holding out a hand as some of the vines swayed toward him. Hesitantly, they wrapped and unwrapped around his hand and wrist - like they were exploring the limb. After a moment, they pulled back, wrapping around the trellis in nonsense patterns. He was still feeling a bit uncomfortably warm, but it was an ignorable thing - though he was a bit concerned at the strange feeling in general. If it persisted, he might have to consult Kloy in case he was getting ill…
“Usually they at least,” Braelin sighed, breathing returning to normal, “Wait until after I go about my work. That’s why I leave them for last.”
“That makes sense,” Jurao nodded, “Though I do not think you should let them do that with other nobles around.”
Braelin hummed, “I wouldn’t anyway - it just didn’t bother me if you stayed, my lord.
“Why not,” the Demon King asked, ignoring the odd twinge in his chest - maybe he really was becoming ill…
The human shrugged, “I feel comfortable around you. You don’t expect me to people.”
Jurao chuckled, “I understand the sentiment.”
Braelin gave him a small smile back, closing his eyes again.
Comfortable, Jurao turned to word over in his mind, closing his own eyes and leaning back against the trellis. Yes, that was what this was, wasn’t it? This moment of relaxation where he wasn’t worried about the person next to him - though he did reach out to touch the human’s shoulder. Really, Braelin could disappear so easily when out of sight, it made him almost feel like a person made out of dream stuff.
Braelin made a noncommittal noise and shifted his weight to lean a little into the touch, but not so much that Jurao was supporting his weight in any way.
Jurao wasn’t sure how long they sat there like that - not too long, he was sure, as they were interrupted by a sudden rustling and the vines gently rousing them to action.
“Braelin…?” Gaele appeared a few moments after they’d gotten to their feet - then flinched and bowed, “Your highness! You’re still here!?”
Jurao yawned, surprised by his own drowsiness, as he replied, “It seems a bit early for you to have returned, Lordis Gaele.”
“Oh!” they didn’t seem to know what to do with their body, sort of awkwardly changing the position of their hands and shifting their weight, “I … I’m not good at doing nothing? So I thought I would check in - but that’s all! Really!”
“I wasn’t admonishing you,” Jurao said, “I merely wondered if more time than I thought I had passed.”
“I have more things for you to do now,” Braelin added, and started rambling off the various things he’d realized he needed while they’d walked around the gardens.
Jurao chuckled and hardly noticed the motion as he reached out and tousled the human’s hair before waving vaguely and heading for the castle to take care of his own work for the day.
He noticed Gaele quickly glancing between him and Braelin with a wide-eyed look of confusion, but didn’t pay it much mind.
Braelin didn’t seem to have minded the action, vines reaching out to fix Jurao’s mess.
