As we grow older, there are things we being to pay less attention to. Our appearance, the urgent rush of days, what will happen next, even how we appear to others falls behind and becomes insignificant in comparison to who we have found ourselves to be. All that begins to matter is if we are comfortable in our own skin and that what is left of our time in the worlds is spent contently.

          Well, that or contemptly. In this case, it was more the latter. And, I must say, I was enjoying it. His face is normally somewhere between frozen indifference or mild outrage, but right now it was fluctuating wildly from deep concern, to confusion, and clear over to a look that said, ‘I wonder how much I could get away with’.

          The only thing in this, or any, world that could make this moment better would be if I had actually planned this.

          Sadly, I did not. Well, I had only really expected one bed, but I hadn’t actually thought about what that would entail until I saw good ol’ Blackie start to make faces. …Welllll, blessings from the Lord are not to be wasted.

          “Is something wrong?” This was not the time to over play the innocent look. No, here one should act completely normal. Over acting with someone who knows your personality will backfire. The ability to hold a straight face is crucial.

          “…Do you notice anything…off? About..” he gestured to the bed area, “this?”

          So…he wanted to play too, well! We shall see who wins…

          “…Is the bed too short for you? Or are there too few pillows?”

          “There are enough pillows to smother an orphanage, but no, that was not what I meant.”

          “Hm…….Ah, I see it now.”

          “Really?”

          “Yes! The blankets are too thin.”

          “No. I’m sure a child could be hidden in the batting and not change the shape at all.”

          “Is it the wrong shape?”

          “Round is fine.”

          “Wrong height.”

          “I don’t have an opinion on the height.”

          “The bed frame is not to your liking?”

          “…Well, yes. The halos and cherubs are very off putting, but that not it.”

          “…Yes, we need to burn that. I don’t appreciate being looked down on by chubby creatures with weapons while I sleep…”

          “You get use to it, but I’d rather not have to again. I’ll carve a new one, unless we just want the bare wall?”

          “I would appreciate a new one if you wouldn’t mind.”

          “I’ll finish the chess set first before I get started.”

          “How is that going by the way?”

          “Pretty well, I decided on all the final pieces.”      

          “Who do you have for the demon queen?”

          “…There is something wrong here, and  you still haven’t told me what it is.”

          “We don’t have end tables.”

          “I have never used an end table in my life.”

          “Poor lighting?”

          “I’m a demon.”

          “The bed is too small for nightly activities?”

          “No, I think the size is just about- what?!”

          I gave him an odd look, “Well, the way we do it, for two one would need a bed at least twice this size.”

          “…two? …How many people does it normally… involve?”

          “For a really good round, I would say about five or six?”

          “…and here I’ve only had a total of four…”

          “Now that’s just sad, I’ve been in one with almost twenty!”

          Horror, and awe, tinted his face as he looked at me aghast with disbelief.

          “What kind of sad pillow fights have you had to have only four people as the maximum participation.”

          Blood rushed to his face, dying it various brilliant shades of red and purple made clearer by his white skin. He started sputtering like an old man having a heart-attack. It took every bit of self-control I had to keep my face still. This was not the final blow, I had to remind myself, there was still more to hold out for…

          “YOU!”

          “What?”

          He took a deep, long breath. “Nothing. The size is fine.”

          “Yes, that is true, after all you sleep during the day and I sleep at night so only one of us will really have to use the bed at a time.”

 

 

 

          “Sir, it just occurred to me, should we have given the old General two beds? She does have company.”

          Lyciel looked at the poor, naïve Lieutenant next to him in mild dismay. His plan was to make sure the two of them would not leave the cave or cause problems. There were many needs of the body that even the strongest must sate to be content. Food, rest, shiny things. Even the elders of their race still had children in their old age, even more so for demons, as their bodies didn’t actually age and decay like humans.

          “…I am sure she can figure out an arrangement.”

          In his heart he thought to himself, ‘Master, I’ve done what I can. I leave the rest to you.’

 

         

          This time his face was once again frozen, but it wasn’t indifference. It was the look of a teenager or young adult who had just spent three hours trying to figure out how to open a jar, expending every effort to twist and pry it open with everything from a harp to an enchanted battle axe, only to have their mother come in and twist it the other way and pop it off with a simple twist of the wrist.

          “Did I say something wrong?”

          “No….”

          “Then I guess the only problem we’ll run into will be…”

          “Will be?” He sounded so tired; his shoulders slumped a little.

          “When we have sex of course!” I smirked at him.

          The expression on his face didn’t change, not even a little, as he looked at me. There was not a flicker in his lifeless eyes that bore holes into my own. The fine hairs on the back of my neck slowly rose as time passed and his gaze did not faulter. I could see eons pass by and civilizations fall but he still did not blink. All there was left, was the abyss in his eyes.

          “Alright, I think it’s time for bed, dear.”

          Gently leading him, I sat him down and closed his eyelids with my hands. That accursed gaze finally gone, I relaxed and felt him do the same as he fell asleep without a struggle.