“Yes,” Jurao asked.

Braelin huffed as he moved off the King’s lap, sliding further back as one hand gripped his partner’s cock, “Using my mouth.”

“Oh,” Jurao took a steadying breath, “I am… not opposed.”

Braelin chuckled – his free hand reaching down to take hold of his partner’s slightly wagging tag, “I see that.”

Jurao felt his face heat, but it was difficult to be very embarrassed when it made his partner happy.

With only a moment of hesitation, Braelin sucked the tip of the King’s dick into his mouth.

Jurao growled in surprise – while the feeling of his partner’s mouth had not been particularly… enticing to his tongue, it was very nice to his cock.

Braelin made a soft sound as more of the slippery appendage pushed into his mouth, but didn’t try to stop it. He pressed his tongue against it, holding the lower part steady while using his other hand to push a finger into the base of Jurao’s cloaca.

Jurao fought to keep the rest of his body still – claws of his larger hands digging into the mattress while the smaller set dug into his own thighs. The smaller fork of his cock was twisting itself against his partner’s neck – unable to wrap around entirely but doing its best to try.

The King was sure it was this flood of new that caused him to cum quite quickly with another growl.

Braelin sputtered and choked as he pulled back in surprise.

“Ah, sorry,” Jurao gasped, pulling his partner close and rubbing the man’s back, “I did not… anticipate…”

Braelin coughed again, chuckling, “I, hem, I know you didn’t. But I’m,” he cleared his throat, “Glad you enjoyed yourself.”

Jurao made a hum of disapproval, shifting his partner into his so the human’s back was against his chest. He gently reached out with a smaller hand to take Braelin’s human cock in hand, “But you are still… hard.”

His gardener moaned, leaning back against him, “I am.”

“And you did not tell me your sensitive spots last time,” Jurao prompted as he started stroking his partner.

Braelin let out a heavy breath, “That’s… true.”

His partner shifted his weight a bit more comfortably, then said, “Nipples work – like… this.”

Jurao watched as Braelin used one hand to rub at one of his pinkish nipples until it formed a bud he could roll and pinch between his fingers.

The King reached up with his other smaller hand and asked, “Like this.”

Braelin hummed and nodded as Jurao copied the motions carefully – his half-retreated cock still gently undulating up against the human.

“Anywhere else,” Jurao asked, bringing up a third hand to give both of his partner’s nipples attention.

Braelin wrapped an arm around one of Jurao’s and replied, “Not that I can… think of for … right now.”

Jurao hummed – continuing his ministrations until his partner came as well. The King wrapped both sets of arms around the man as they both caught their breath.

After a time, Braelin sighed, “I need to go wash my beard.”

“Sorry,” Jurao said again.

The human snorted, reaching up to pat his partner’s cheek, “I was the one who wanted to try – I’m just sure this isn’t a mess I want to let dry in there…”

Jurao sighed again, softly, before helping his partner to his feet and trailing after to the washroom – they might as well both clean up, after all.

“What did you think of the kissing?” Braelin asked, cleaning himself up.

“I suppose it was effective, but it was mostly odd,” Jurao replied as he did the same.

His partner nodded, “I felt the same – but at least we’ve tried now.”

The King hummed in agreement – then asked, “What made you consider using your mouth like that.”

“Romance novels,” Braelin chuckled, “I never read many, but tonight’s club reminded me of the ones I did read – and some of the activities in them.”

Perhaps I should read some myself, Jurao thought, but was too tired to consider the idea further.

Once they’d both cleaned up and redressed for bed, sleep was easy to find.

The next day, after the midday meal, which Jurao spent with his partner’s family, Feyl breezed into the Demon King’s office.

“You know, I didn’t actually ask before myself,” the valet said, flopping into the chair next to Braelin, “How did the two of you find sex?”

“It was nice,” Jurao replied, continuing his work.

Braelin nodded and hummed an agreement, “Very pleasant.”

Feyl snorted, “Ah, that’s about what I expected. I’m glad the two of you enjoyed yourselves, at least.”

“Thank you,” Jurao replied.

“And did you try kissing with tongue after all?” his best friend asked.

“It was alright,” Braelin said.

It was Jurao’s turn to nod in agreement, “Odd, but not unpleasant. Ah – I thought I might ask if you had any romance book recommendations.”

Both his best friend and partner looked up at him in surprise.

“Whatever for?” Feyl chuckled.

“Well,” Jurao felt his tail swish as he recalled the previous night, “I thought there was… something to be learned from them.”

Braelin snorted, then chuckled as he turned back around – his own face dusted with pink.

Feyl’s brow ridges shot up as he looked between them, but he just smiled and said, “I see – well, I’m sure I could dig up something or other. Borrow from Dad’s collection, at least.”

Braelin seemed to consider a moment before asking, “Do you get along with all your parents?”

Feyl sighed, “More or less – I’ve three fathers, the sexually married noble pair and Dad. Vokes and Father are oh so proud of me for being the King’s valet, though they really do wish we were sleeping together.”

Jurao snorted, well aware of this.

“Why?” Braelin asked.

The valet shrugged, “Jurao mentioned my family tries to emulate Maenscul, yes? It would just be very Maenscul-like for me to be Jurao’s sexual partner, particularly without romance.”

Braelin hummed, considering, before asking, “So that’s why your… vokes and father have a sexual marriage?”

“Vokes wouldn’t have heard otherwise,” Feyl snorted, “That’s my father that gave birth to me, to be clear.”

“Ah,” Braelin nodded, “And why does your family aim to be like Maenscul?”

“Well, if you listen to my vokes,” the valet rolled his eyes, “We’re descended from them – but there are no known records of Maenscul having taken mortal form, so I highly doubt that.”

“Is that usual of demon deities?” the human asked.

“Some more than others,” Jurao replied, “The Ascoken blacksmithing family in Mesescima is descended from Mahen, Deity of Artisans, while the Scafomae family that rules Scagesmaes is descended from Cegae, God of Fire.”

“And for those two deities, those are their only recorded mortal descendants,” Feyl nodded, “It’s said Porscil, God of Travelers, has had many mortal children over the eons, since he frequently walks among us even now. So anyone can claim a kinship to him, really.”

“I see,” Braelin nodded, “Human deities sometimes grant lineage traits, but it seems more rare that they have mortal descendants – at least, the deities in the Northwestern Reaches don’t. I think it may be more common in other countries. Malson would know.”

“Lineage traits,” Jurao asked.

His partner nodded and tapped the corner of one of his eyes, “My eye color is a lineage trait – the Ealdwine Blue. An unusual eye or hair color seems most common. The idea was a god took a liking to a particular royal family, so gave them an easy way of identifying succession candidates. All the children born to the current ruler inherit the trait – and the children of their next oldest eligible child, depending on how the succession in that region works. So Malson’s children probably have the Blues as well.”

“I suppose that would also curb false claims,” Feyl observed.

Braelin nodded again, “It can make it harder to cover up affairs, though. One of the reasons it was easy for everyone to know I was Dad’s son.”

Feyl snorted, “Bit of a double-edged sword, then.”

“Which deity gave your family that trait,” Jurao asked out of curiosity.

“Waegar, God of Commerce,” his partner replied, “While Jost has always been a bit small, we have a large amount of influence in trade.”

“I do recall that,” Jurao nodded – it was one of the reasons his agents monitored Jost specifically amongst the countries of the Northwestern Reaches, “Kaber has the public face of the region, but Jost manages the bulk of trade.”

Braelin hummed, “Kaber has the biggest military force in the region, being the largest country, and more international diplomatic standing – but Jost has more ties to non-aristocratic merchants and the black market. Tariffs in Jost are lower than Kaber as well, but the tariffs between Reaches countries are lower all around – so a lot of trade into Kaber flows through Jost first.”

“So Jost is a wealthy kingdom, then?” Feyl asked, “Or was, when you still lived there?”

“Well,” Braelin sighed, “It depended on the king, really – some spent extravagantly and managed to put the country into debt, while eventually, a successor would repair the debt and invest in the country’s infrastructure and other such matters. Essentially, we went through cycles like that most of the time. Dad, his father, and his grandfather were all debt-repairing – which is likely why the other nobles were growing restless as their coffers started running out from the previous generations’ build-up with continued extravagant spending.

“Not that there wasn’t a faction in Dad’s favor,” the human shrugged, “On spending, at least – a lot of them were still upset about Dad accepting Malson as a man and keeping him as heir because of it.”

“What would his gender even matter as far as succession?” Feyl asked, “He was still the oldest, right?”

“In Jost, it was almost always the oldest son that inherited the crown,” Braelin replied, “Which, in their minds, made Meir’ril the legitimate heir.”

“Human succession is so needlessly confusing,” Feyl huffed and started counting on his fingers, “So you need to be the oldest, a man, and born after marriage?”

“In the Northwestern Reaches, yes,” Braelin snorted in amusement, “There were exceptions, though – if a king only had daughters, his eldest daughter might inherit, though usually only after she married. If a younger son was more capable than an elder son, the crown might be passed in that way – or if a daughter proved herself in some incredible way, she might be picked over her brothers.”

“And what of aesevul,” Jurao asked.

“I… there’s no Jostian equivalent for that word,” Braelin frowned, looking back.

“Those who are not man or woman,” Feyl supplied.

“Ah,” the human nodded, “We don’t… mm. While there are aesevul in Jost, it’s not… culturally acknowledged the way it is here. So there’s no real official stance for aesevul in succession politics in the Reaches.”

“The current Monarch of Lown is aesevul,” Jurao questioned.

“Monarch Rahlee?” Braelin asked.

The King nodded, “Yes.”

His partner nodded as well, “Kinfolk do culturally recognize aesevul, their word is nipang. Lown is heavily influenced by kinfolk culture, especially in the region near the Realm Gate, where the capital is found. Monarch Rahlee is even a brownie, as much of the Lown nobility is. A lot of people throughout the Reaches use nipang, it just doesn’t have a lot of cultural recognition outside of Lown.”

“You seem well versed on the topic,” Feyl observed, “More than I’d expect, at least.”

“Yes,” Braelin chuckled, “I had a kinfolk nipang friend tell me about it. They’ve always wanted to visit the Demon Realm as well, as it happens. For the poisons.”