#king widower

Lothaire wasn’t sure what he expected, but it was no this. It would never be this. A live human being, delivered to him wrapped in spider silk; it was the gift of a lifetime, but maybe not for a delicate demon like him. “Oh! Oh, um…it’s lovely, Azhekh.” he poked at the numbed individual with a clawed finger, hardly able to tell if they were still alive or not. Dear god, if they were, this was going to be a strange conversation to have if they set them free. “Y-you know, this is a beautiful gesture, but I don’t exactly eat much human, you know. I’m not much of a red meat fan. I understand it’s an acquired taste, I’m sure I would get used to it, but perhaps tonight is a good night for a fine fish or chicken dish. Don’t you think?” He offered a charming smile, hoping that his refusal was sweet enough not to offend his majesty. The last thing he wanted to do was anger him or push him away, after all.

“Oh, me? Goodness, not really. Though, I’m not against the idea in the least. I adore children. I’ve just never thought about settling down with anyone. To tell you the truth, I’ve lived most of my life not knowing many other demons other than my disastrous cousin.” He rolled his eyes as he did most every time Gamal was brought into discussion. “But I would so love to know the wonders of parenthood one day. To spoil them and coddle them and – ugh, I love the idea.” He was unaware of the pink flush on his cheeks as he grinned like an idiot, staring off in the distance with a mind lost in thought.

“I can’t say I’ve ever felt that way myself.” he said, standing before the spider king and watching his several eyes staring wistfully past him. “But I suppose that answers the question of whether or not people like us can love people like them. Humans aren’t long-lasting, that’s very true, but they have a..quaint kind of charm to them, I suppose.” He attempted to cross his arms and succeeded awkwardly, his giant hands cumbersome to gesture with. “Don’t worry, your majesty, at least you know you’ll have my beautiful face to annoy you for a long, long time.”

“Babysit? Well, I do like children.” It wasn’t a lie. He had a soft spot for the little tykes and enjoyed spoiling them, coddling and playing with them when they were young enough to still be precious little angels. Though, in this case, perhaps ‘angel’ wasn’t the correct term. “It depends, really. How many children are we talking about? Three? Five? Heaven forbid I could handle ten little ones all at once.”

"Don't say it's name, that might summon it." He sounded completely serious, even as silly of an idea as it was. Hey, he still didn't know much about how this whole 'demon' thing worked.

“Great, so I have to expect more of you?” He asked, perhaps a bit snappier than he had intended. He immediately shut himself up, feeling the color drain from his face. “I-I mean…not that it’s a bad thing, just not, you know, not something I used to and…” he was just digging himself further into this hole and he felt it as it was happening. He sighed, eventually giving up this whole charade. “If there was a way to close it, would you even tell me?”

Lothaire wasn’t one to argue with another non-human, specifically something so ancient and revered, so he didn’t say a word until he had extended a hand out in front of him and pressed the end of his cigarette into his own skin. It sizzled at first, but in seconds the wound had healed and the alabaster skin was perfectly clear as it was before. “My apologies.” he said, taking a grandiose bow with one hand behind his back, tipping his hat to the spider king. “I hope you and your children might forgive me. Harm to your young was not my intention.” He was being reasonable, sure, but he said nothing of the comment of ‘gentlemen do not smoke’. He had that one vice, and he intended to keep it.

Gamal liked the king in the way that a bully likes the kid they pick on the most; sure, they might not be friends, but life just wouldn’t be the same without them. So of course this meant he had to bring him occasional gifts…usually things he knew he would not like, such as rotting corpses to ‘stink up’ his ‘domain’ as he so elegantly put it. “Excuse you, I am an educator.” Gamal said, dropping the body with a loud ‘flop’ and hovering straight with a hand pressed to his chest over his blackened, dust-filled heart. “I’m just bringing in a tool to help teach your children about the process of life and death. They’ll have to learn eventually, right? Might as well be from a skilled and highly intelligent source such as myself.”