There were no words shared between them as they entered the castle, a peaceful silence having fallen between the two. The king was lost in thought, pondering over the human's sudden change in behavior over such a small thing like a flower while the human was lost in his own thoughts, thoughts of a young woman who loved the beauty of nature and a young man who left her in tears.

Deadlox led them into his room, closing the door behind him as Sky absentmindedly sat on the edge of the demon's bed.

Curious, Deadlox took a seat on the floor next to Sky's legs. When it was clear Sky was deep in thought, Deadlox let himself sink deep in his own musings.

Why hadn't he had a panic attack today yet?

Deadlox had grown used to the daily occurrences of his insane riddled mind. He was used to his screams bubbling out of his mouth, the cackles echoing throughout the castle as his body twitched wildly without his consent; his mind would be drawn back to his early childhood and his fangs would clench so hard his gums would bleed.

He was used to it by now, but, since Sky arrived, Deadlox had yet to go into another one of his fits; it was confusing.

"Do you like flowers?" Deadlox murmured, repeating the same question he had asked outside. Sky looked down at him, torn from his thoughts by Deadlox's sudden question.

Sky hummed in reply, hand absentmindedly stroking through the demon's reddish hair.

"No," he answered, the same one worded answer he had said outside. Deadlox was slightly disappointed at this, though he leaned into the hand petting his hair, liking how Sky's long fingers combed through his long hair.

"But," Sky continued, tugging softly at the strands of hair in his hand as Deadlox waited for him to continue, "my mother does. She loves flowers. When we lived in the Overworld, she'd have a huge garden in front of our house filled with all different breeds of flowers. She'd make me help her garden and afterwards, we'd pick out a bouquet and bring it inside. She's place it on the table and then we'd eat some leftover cake."

Sky trailed off, lost in his childhood memories as Deadlox quietly stared at the floor. Was that how a normal childhood was? Without beatings and angry words? Without scars and tears? Without kidnappings and murder?

Deadlox buried the jealousy he felt deep in his chest. Why couldn't his parents have loved him? Why couldn't he have been a normal demon, or, better yet, a human? Why couldn't he have been happy? Why couldn't he have been isane/i?

"What about your father?" Deadlox nonchalantly inquired, fists clenching and unclenching as he ignored how his claws dug into his palm, blood dripping onto his floor. He held back a surprised flinch as Sky harshly tugged at his hair. The human didn't seem to notice Deadlox's flinch as be gently pet the demon's hair in an unsaid apology.

"He left. He left me and my mother, left me with only stupid gold. What good is gold when my family was broken? What good was that stupid sword and fucking necklace when my mother married that fucking squid? What good did it do when my mother just watched as the guards dragged me away to the Nether? Nothing."

Sky was glad he had his sunglasses on, the dark tint hiding his watering eyes from Deadlox's vision as the hand that wasn't patting Deadlox's hair clenched around his golden necklace, thumb rubbing the amethyst thoughtfully.

Deadlox didn't respond,resting his head against Sky's leg, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the sensation of Sky's gentle touch. He couldn't remember the last time someone had touched him in such a kind manner, in such a gentle manner.

It was such a bizarre concept. Why would someone be so nice to him? Touch him like this? Touch him and not regret it? And willingly as well?

Deadlox had literally killed thousands, killed his own parents; he'd abused more people than he could count and had mercilessly burned down villages; he'd practically torn Sky from the life he had and forced him into slavery.

So why was Sky being so nice? Shouldn't he be yelling at Deadlox? Demanding his freedom? At least trying to escape?

But no, instead, Sky was here, petting Deadlox's hair and sharing stories about his past. Should Deadlox share things about his own past? Was that what Sky was expecting, or?

"I didn't like my parents," Deadlox murmured, keeping his eyes firmly on Sky's leg, feeling the human pause in his ministrations, surprised that the king had begun speaking. "They hated me, did awful things to me. They would say such nasty things to me, calling me ugly and stupid and worthless; a waste of their time," he continued, gaze hardening slightly at the long buried memories.

"They had me kidnapped more than once, wanted me to become stronger. Stronger, heh," Deadlox let out a bitter chuckle, barely even noticing how Sky kept petting his hair, trying to comfort the demon, "the demons that kidnapped me, they'd starve me, lock me up in a cell in the darkness, they'd whip me, laugh at my pain, and you know what my parents did?"

Deadlox looked up, gazing at Sky's eyes, golden hazel hidden behind the tinted black sunglasses. "They did absolutely nothing. My captors let me go a year later, because I stopped screaming. I have so many scars from them. I had to kill my parents at age ten."

Silence reigned after Deadlox finished speaking. Was Sky disgusted with his story? Of how different they had been reared? Would he be horrified to see the scars on Deadlox's face? To see the whip marks on the demon's back? He'd already seen the small scars on his bare arms, but what about his legs? What about his mental scars? What would he think of Deadlox being unable to sleep most nights? Of the night terrors that attacked Deadlox every time he fell asleep? Of his insanity fits?

He paused, sniffing the air in curiosity as the scent of salt reached his sensitive nose. Was Sky….. Crying?

Turning his head upwards, realizing Sky had clenched his hand around Deadlox's hair, he watched as tears rolled out from underneath Sky's sunglasses, trailing down his face and hitting the floor.

Trying to keep from panicking at the sight of tears- hewascryingwhywashecryingshoulhebecryingwasitDeadl ox'sfaultofcourseitwasitwasalwayshisfault- Deadlox rose a clawed hand, gently wiping away the tears with a worried frown. Silently watching as Sky's hand left Deadlox's hair and instead wrapped around the clawed hand brushing away his tears.

"Don't cry, why're you crying? Did I say something wrong?" Deadlox questioned, curious as to the reason for such genuine tears to be falling from his human's face.

"That's so… Sad," was all Sky said, bringing Deadlox's hand to cup his face, Deadlox just watching quietly. Sky leaned into the demon's palm, not minding the claws as he silently leaned into Deadlox's touch.

They stayed silent from then on, seeking comfort that had once previously been though unneeded.