“I’ve aleeady talked to her about the wedding. She doesn’t want this either but it’s the best situation for both of us. We’re going to get married, show the kingdom that everything is fine and that we’re in love and whatnot and just... date whoever we want,” he explained as he sniffles, bringing no attention to the tears and made no effort to wipe the mirror away as he sank further into the water.

“I’d you hadn’t run off, you would have already known this,” he murmured with a growing friend, the other’s assurance not helping much with the clear distress. “Look, I’m... I’m sorry, Ambrosio. I don’t know what I’m doing. When I killed my father, I didn’t... know things would be this stressful. I just thought I could have some fun and just relax. Now I’ve got my subjects requesting more land to grow crops but they don’t understand that we’d be pushing into the other kingdom’s land if we did and war would be inevitable. Plus there’s the whole marriage and... I don’t know,” he admitted, this being the first time he really admitted the work he did behind closed doors. He wasn’t just a figure head doing nothing, work had to be done.

“What if your whole spell thing doesn’t work? No one else in this kingdom knows what their doing. I know my responsibilities and know how to manage the economy. If anyone else tried to put themselves on the thrown, they’d just ruin everything and... that wouldn’t be good.”

(Hey, sorry for not finishing the sheet yet. My laptop died so I was going to work on it when I got to school but my shoulder popped out and I don’t want to have to carry that extra weight on my arm. I promise I’ll finish everything tonight and I can’t still reply to our current RPs. I didn’t want you to think I just abandoned it, it’s saved in the messages hence why I couldn’t tell you on there TnT)
 
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"I know what to do, I've observed you closely over three years. You brought me into this. I'm rarely away from your side-- but that's not going to happen because you aren't losing your throne, Dominique. I told you; I'm here to help you. If I can't break the curse, we'll just have to deal with the backlash together. Doesn't mean you have to give your title up and let them walk all over you. You can still be King, it'll just be... more difficult, but I'll be there to help," he promised swiftly, moving in to gently wipe the tears away with his thumb. Comforting a clearly emotional Dominique was a strange moment. They were usually at each other's throats like cat and dog, bickering amongst one another even when it turned insulting and cruel.

To be sat near him, gently soothing him out of his emotional moment, was clearly weird... but it didn't feel that way. It felt perfectly natural for him, almost instinctual, and he was almost glad to see Dominique like this. If anything, it confirmed he liked him - he wouldn't bother building him back up if he didn't. He could have easily seen his weakness and vulnerability and used it against him. The fact he didn't do that spoke volumes.

"...Mind you, I think you'd make an adorable demon if that's what Luana had planned for you. Some cute horns, an extra eye or two... I'd find that irresistible," he gushed, biting his lip to stop the growing grin. "...But I'll try and break the curse for you, you seem intent on staying as a mortal, vulnerable human."



- - - - - - - - -

Oh hey, that's no problem! I didn't think you'd abandoned it, I just assumed you were busy - but reading your explanation, you don't need to rush anything because I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable or anything like that. Respond when you can, even if it takes awhile. I'll get to the other RPs soon too, I've just been busy sorting student finance stuff out for uni which meant stressing out like crazy until it was all sorted c:
 
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“Yes, I enjoy being a mortal. I don’t know what I would do with immortality,” he admitted in a murmur, desperately avoiding the other’s eyes at the gentle touch. It was a foriegn feeling that he didn’t really know if he liked, though he wasn’t opposed to it enough to move away.

“I don’t mean to disappoint you, Ambrosio, but I’m not going to turn into a demon - and if I am, im not going to be one long. It isn’t... me. Im a human, a ruler of a human kingdom. You don’t really understand the mindset of my subjects. There will be uprisings, property will be destroyed, land will be ruined... its harder than it looks,” he sighed, though did offer a wary smile before taking another sip of wine.
 
"...Yes, well, I can't promise you I'll be able to break the curse. Maybe I don't really want to. You've put me through hell in three years. You murdered my best friend and dozens of my kind. You... sent me so many mixed messages regarding your feelings about me and you still think it's okay to treat me like a servant, even though we're-- fuck, I don't know what we are, Dominique, but I know I don't like being a servant to you when we're... getting close," he muttered with a deep frown suddenly appearing on his lips in realisation that he was close to the man that was, for the magic community, the number one enemy. There wasn't a magical creature who didn't want Dominique dead and to suffer, and yet Ambrosio was shushing him and comforting him like they were best friends.

The fact Dominique was happy to threaten him with punishment, even as recent as an hour ago, ought to be the realisation Ambrosio needed that the King wasn't a friend; he would never reciprocate the sort of affection the demon felt he wanted and needed.

"...What are we doing? This is... this is disgusting," he grimaced, repelling from the affectionate position with a deep scowl on his face. "I hate you, this is... it's wrong. I'll have another servant fetch you wine, I should be in bed by now. I have no desire to... to be anything but a servant to you, Dominique. You don't deserve anything else from me."
 
Growing quiet, Dominique responded by staring off at the wall in response, his eyes still red from getting emotional - a feeling he was still both uncomfortable and annoyed by. A King was meant to have control, whether that be his people or his emotions... and he was failing miserably at both.

“Leave, then,” he quietly replied, his eyes intentionally avoiding Ambrosio’s. “I don’t need any more wine, I... don’t. Go to bed, do as you need to. I want to be alone anyway,” he insisted, his voice growing louder as he spoke in an attempt to seem calm. “Good night, Ambrosio, and... thank you for talking to me about this.”
 
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Not needing to be told twice, the demon stubbornly stormed out - only to regret it the moment he did. He was too stubborn to admit that he was wrong and that, really, all he wanted was to get into the other's bed and cuddle up to him all night. Even if he felt like he was betraying his whole community and the memory of Luana, he wouldn't pretend that he wasn't growing fond of Dominique... and he figured he had ruined any chance of something happening now he had called him 'disgusting' and belittled the growing flame between them.

Because he wasn't able to enter and admit he was wrong, he opted to head to his small room in the servants' quarters for a night's sleep. The bed was hardly worthy of the name -it was more or less a mattress on the floor full of lumps and springs- but it was better than nothing, especially when he was drunk and just needed to get his head down to sleep. Apparently, other servants had different ideas. Ambrosio was the head servant, but he was also a demon - inevitably, human servants took offence to the position he had been granted and, after he shirked from his duties for the whole day, they were hardly happy with him. They saw him and his behaviour as disrespectful, especially when t embarrassed them all for not knowing where he had gone.

Inflicting a punishment on him for his behaviour was mutually agreed upon by the group of 10 or so human servants. They didn't like any of the monsters working among them, but they saw Ambrosio as the worst. The demon had often received a few beatings from them over the years he worked at the castle, but the punishment he was dealt this time was the worst.

The ten humans easily overpowered him. He was drunk, exhausted and had been half-awake when they ambushed him in his small room. His feet were tied, his hands restrained behind his back and a gag in his mouth to prevent him shouting out for the monster servants for help as he was beating to within an inch of his life, until the humans had grown exhausted of hitting him. Once they were too tired to continue, the demon's clothes were torn from him and burned and he was tied up against a tree outside, forced to deal with the harsh winter night in nothing but his boxers.

When morning arose, with the tree he was tied up against hidden out of sight in the King's expansive lands, a human servant adopted Ambrosio's duty instead, arriving in Dominique's room with his usual breakfast set up on a table on the balcony. With a brief glance outside to ensure that Ambrosio couldn't be seen, the servant smiled in satisfaction as he stood upright when the teenager stirred.

"Morning, sir. Your breakfast is waiting. I'll prepare your bath as soon as you're finished," he nodded, bowing for extra emphasis. "You have a meeting with your advisers in an hour, they organised it just minutes ago. It's impossible to rearrange."
 
From the amount of wine he had that night after Ambrosio had left, it was understandable that he would stir to having an incredibly horrible hangover. Rolling away from the sound of the servant, he only really moved to look up when realizing that it wasn’t the same voice of his usual companion. Squinting, he rubbed his face wearily with a deep frown on his lips.

He knew the night ended poorly but he was at least expecting to be greeted with the demon again. Looking over the servant suspiciously, he pulled on his robe to obediently sit at his usual spot on the balcony, only to shoot a critical glare towards the human.

“Where’s Ambrosio?” Dominique asked quietly as he patiently waited for his tea to be poured. “You don’t know how I like my bath, bring him here. I’ll wait.” He murmured, his words stern.
 
"We attempted to wake him at 4:30 for his duties and his room was empty and there was no sign of him, we assumed he ran again. We sent word out in the village in case he was spotted, but we haven't heard anything. I'm sure he'll be back," the man nodded, even if he knew the likelihood of Ambrosio getting out of his restraints was slim. Admittedly, he wasn't even sure the others would choose to keep him alive. It was too risky to allow him to wander back to the castle and whine about what had happened to him.

"...I'm sure I can run your bath for you, sir, or I can call on one of the others to do it. Ambrosio isn't here, and I'd hate for you to postpone your bath because the demon selfishly took off in the night. I don't think your routine should be put on hold because of his selfishness."
 
“You can run it but it will only be half the quality of how Ambrosio runs it,” he replied casual with a growing grimace in anger. He couldn’t be surprised after having such harsh things said to him and Ambrosio had run off before... but that didn’t mean he was okay with it. Waving the other servant to start the bath, he began to eat his food carefully.

“I will go look for him after my meeting,” he declared, moreso to himself than the other servant. “If he decided to run off again, I’ll show him that he can’t just do that anymore. I know my kingdom, I know all of the cute little taverns and whatnot that there is to spend time in. He’ll pay for this.”
 
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If Dominique was only going to search taverns, then there was no chance of him coming across the demon. However, tying Ambrosio to a tree on the King's own land wasn't the best place to hide him. Some of the gardeners were monsters who spent the day keeping the lands in check, and they were hardly going to leave Ambrosio tied up. He would be found and the human doubted he and the others would get away with their actions.

For some absurd reason, Dominique seemed intent on finding the demon, rather than just shrug and drop the issue as some of them had expected.

"...Is he worth finding?" He asked carefully, his hands nervously fiddling with the fabric of his shirt. "He's a demon, he... isn't worthy to serve you, I... he's a vile monster, sir."
 
“Who are you to decide what I worth doing?” He quickly replied in clear offense, his eyes wide in shock. “You are a servant, I am a king. If I want to search for my best servant, I will. Don’t you ever doubt my decisions again or you will be punished, understood?” He firmly spoke before shaking his head in disappointment before taking another bite of food.

“Just... run the bath.” He demanded, his anger now simmering intensely. “Tell the advisors that I will be late. I have no intentions of rushing myself when I’m waken up in such a bitter mood. Do your job.”
 
That was precisely the point many of the human servants took offence to. Many of them worked the same long hours as the demon did; they worked their fingers to the bone to serve Dominique. Humans were seen as superior, hence the witch-hunt that had long existed before Dominique was born, and yet he was happy to admit that a demon was his best servant? It hardly made sense and, in fact, it just worsened the already existing contempt between the species.

Falling silent to avoid punishment, he diligently got on with the duties, all while cursing to himself at how underappreciated his own dedication was, whilst Ambrosio was deemed so much better for doing exactly the same thing. As soon as he finished, he rushed to inform his fellow servants about the King's decision to hunt for Ambrosio. He wasn't entirely sure he'd get to them in time, and moving the demon now when Dominique was on the lookout for him was a huge risk - but it was one they decided they needed to take.
 
Watching the servant move quickly, he moved to eventually sink into the tub. It was... fine, sure, but it wasn’t perfect like Ambrosio made it. He wouldn’t punish the servant, mostly because he knew no one could be as good of Ambrosio, and sighed deeply when forced to wash himself.

When no one was there to dry him off, he only grew more irritated with everything. “Is anyone here to at least dress me?!” He bitterly called, his lips pursed tight and growing bloody the harder he bit down. “What the hell is going on?!”
 
Nobody really needed to untie Ambrosio and move him somewhere else - the moment they arrived at the tree did dread set in upon realising the demon had made an escape. Or, at least, he had had help escaping from one of the orc gardeners he was particularly close to. Despite the orc's insistence that he would 'smash the heads' of the servants into 'mush', Ambrosio had waved off the offer.

He was much more curious to see how Dominique reacted. If he couldn't care less, then he would allow his friends in the castle to find justice for him. If, however, Dominique was horrified by the actions of his servants, then Ambrosio could stand smugly behind him as they were rightly punished, making them know that the King had his back.

With the orc carrying him to the King's room, Ambrosio only entered when he was alone, doing so without bothering to knock. His ankle was broken, one of his three eyes was swollen shut, bruises and burns lined his body - with the extent of his injuries, waiting for the King to answer the door wasn't worth it. Instead, he limped in, his bad ankle dragging behind as he all but collapsed on the bed, coughing hard into his arm.

"I-- Get me some whiskey or... or some tea or something," he groaned, breathing hard as he forced his eyes back open, wincing painfully as he placed weight on his ankle. "Or just a kiss from you, a kiss would make me feel better."
 
“Holy - what happened?!” He quickly snapped, a mixture of emotions clear on his face as he took the damage in. Pushing hair from Ambrosio’s face carefully, he took in the damage in horror... only for his anger to grow. Shooting a glare towards the door, he tried to remain relaxed as he moved to pull down the requested whiskey from the top of a cabinet to pour into a glass, carefully wandering back to the bed. “You’re going to have to sit up if you want to drink it or you’ll just dribble it about and you’re already covered in muck,” he commented quietly before sighing deeply.

“Do you remember what happened? Who did this?” He asked slowly as he reviewed the other, pulling the other’s sleeves up to review the bruises and cuts with a grimace. “How did it happen? I thought you ran away again and instead this happened? I don’t know if I’m relieved in a sense...”
 
"Ran away? Why the fuck would I run away? You couldn't exist without me, you'd go to shit, Dom. Like fuck did I run away. I went to bed and those assholes decided to, I dunno, teach me a lesson. Whatever. I'm tough, they weren't gonna kill me. I wouldn't let 'em," he declared bravely as he forced himself to sit up. Despite his proclamations of bravery, his hands were shaky and, now he knew he was safe, he did grow just a little emotional from the ordeal.

"...It's nothing I'm not already used to. Humans hate us, it's... we get this all the time, Dominique. It doesn't help that you like me; they're jealous. It's pathetic. It isn't my fault I'm good at my job," he grunted as he downed the alcohol quickly, sighing at how warm it felt going down his throat. Quickly grabbing the King's hand, he pressed closer for the affection - though he would gladly claim it was for warmth if his attempt wasn't reciprocated.

"God, look at my ankle-- is it broken? I can't run around after you if it's broken," he pointed out, his sharp teeth appearing as he grinned, doing his best to stay upbeat. "...It's my fault, I was an idiot. Didn't lock my door."
 
"You should have locked it, yeah," he replied quietly as he gave the other's hand a squeeze in return. "Or better yet, you shouldn't have stormed out unexpectantly. You could have stayed and talked like a proper adult but you didn't, huh?" He reminded before sighing heavily in emotional exhaustion. "I'll send the doctor to properly check you out, okay? You should just rest for now and take a bath when I get back from my meeting... that of which I'm late for because of you," he reminded with a raised brow.

"Since apparently, no one is going to dress me, I have to myself. I'll look ridiculous because people here are so incompetent," he bitterly grumbled, though did smile to at least attempt to suggest it was a joke. Carefully moving off the bed, he reluctantly searched through his closet with a grimace. "God... this is horrible."
 
Even though he was in agony (and his ankle was broken), the demon forced himself up and headed to the closet, being careful not to place weight on his broken foot. He knew he'd heal eventually, quicker than a human would, but until then he knew he had to be careful - but it wouldn't stop him leaning beside the closet to help the other out. He loved rifling through the King's clothes and choosing him outfits. Hell, it was probably the best duty he had, even if he acknowledged how sad that was.

"Wear this. You look dashing in royal blue," he admitted as he pointed a few articles of clothing out, smiling over at the teenager. "Don't go to the meeting, Dom. Wouldn't you prefer laying in bed with me and getting our feelings back on track? I'm hurt, I need you to look after me~"
 
Getting into the outfit, he did struggle a tad. Dominique's life was a constant reminder that he was, in fact, still a teenager... even if those days were coming to an end. He had been raised by servants who accomplished most menial tasks while he was dealt with more serious issues. He could manage the kingdom's income and farming status but he couldn't tie his bowtie to save his life. Thus led to him patiently waiting for Ambrosio to do so once he led the demon back to bed.

"Please just stay here for now," he insisted quietly. "The meeting will be short and I will lock the door to keep any of those servants out. When I finish the meeting, I'll... attend help you. I'll have a nurse tend to you in the meantime - a monster, of course. It seems your kind are very caring when it comes to one another," he noted. "I'll have her make you some tea, too, though you'll have to handle whiskey for now."
 
"We're not going to be assholes to one another, are we? We have it bad enough from your humans, we need to stick together," the demon coughed, groaning at how tight his chest felt as he collapsed into the bed, sighing to himself at how heavenly it was. Frankly, he didn't care if the nurse sent to him criticised him for resting in the bed of the King - he was injured and he much preferred resting in a luxurious bed than the springy old mattress in his own room.

"Can you send Joy? She's lovely to me, I've been close with her since day one. She'll treat me-- oh, and can you send Colt? He's the orc that carried me here; he's a gardener. I don't imagine you'd know any of their names, but it's hard to miss him. He's, like, 7'0" or something ridiculous. He's one of my best friends here, I'd like him to keep me company," he decided as he curled up under the covers, smiling sweetly over at the teenager. "He's not a clumsy lump, he won't break anything. He and Joy are my friends, I just... I need to distract myself from how furious I am. I'm sure you don't want me massacring your human staff here, hm?"