An Uncharmed Life (DevDice Fic)

Chapter 7

*Devil*

Once King left the hospital, he was in much brighter spirits. While unable to talk or assist at the Casino, he just liked being on the game floor, leaning on my shoulder and listening to the sound of slot machines running and cards being dealt. He had a bit of a way to go medically, but his quality of life improved greatly. King spent a lot of time in my room. He'd lay under the weighted covers and rest as long as he needed.

The travel nurses I hired always checked on him and they said King was a very diligent patient. He had managed to not contort his face too much, meaning he didn't need any touch-up surgeries for his face afterward.

They were replacing his bandages, explaining anything important to me.

"Overall, Mr.King is doing very well. Try not to stress him out. At this rate, his face will heal with no scarring." I sighed in relief as King was asleep. He was delicate at the moment, like a flower, but every rose has its thorns. King was bitter. Underneath all the bandages and peaceful evenings, there was a rage in that man. He was angry about how the world treated him. He was angry at the rumors about himself.

Over the next few weeks and checkups, King began to fully heal. The lower parts of his face were free from bandages and his eyes were yet to be finished healing.

"Well? How do I look so far?" King was in his nightly pajamas waiting on me in bed but sat on the edge waiting for me. "Is the scarring bad at all?" He was nervous and eager to be free of these bandages already.

"King, you look lovely. No scarring, thankfully they found all the pieces and  you're healing, beautifully." Those words comforted him, allowing him to lie down and relax.

"Thank you..." He had a light lavender flush to his face.

"It's quite alright, King." I got in next to him and carefully held him close. He wasn't used to sleeping with someone else in bed but preferred I was always with him.

". . . Dev, did you find any leads? I know I'm not mentally prepared to take care of the boys, but if they need me... I'd have to leave." I sighed as the poor man in front of me spoke. The truth was we hadn't found anyone to take care of King's brothers. Wheezy was constantly watching the boys and sending them off to school for King, but the boys were becoming unsettled and frustrated.

"Sorry... King, we haven't found a lead yet,  but I will lift this burden from you..." I carefully held his face in my hands as he nodded.

"Still.... what if it is still up to me? I can't just abandon them." I sighed and shook my head a bit.

"No, that's not happening. We'll figure  this out..." We got closer and attempted to fall asleep when I heard a noise outside. I groaned a bit and left King to rest. I got up and went through the halls of the casino looking for anyone or anything out of place. Eventually, I heard a faint knocking at the front door and went to it. "Seriously, the middle of the night?..." I sighed and opened the door and looked down to see- a kettle?

"Excuse me... is Mr. King Dice here?" The elderly man was polite and cordial as he spoke.

"Yes, but who the hell is asking?" I was defensive since King didn't need any more stress in his life.

"Apologies, I'm Mr. Kettle. Most call me Elder Kettle. I'm the great-great-great grandfather of the cup brothers." He looked up at me and I was surprised.

"Do you have- any proof of this?" I blinked a bit tiredly. 

"No- not on me, apologies. My great-granddaughter was the one who passed in the accident, but I'd be more than willing to do a DNA test if that's what is needed. Is Mr.Dice alright? Why is he suddenly asking for someone else to take my grandkids?" The man wasn't rude in anything he said, but the questions were overwhelming at this hour.

"Dev?"I looked behind me to see King holding onto the wall looking for me, holding a blanket over his chest, hiding the surgery scars he had.

Elder Kettle's eyes widened as he saw King's face wrapped in bandages. "King... someone came saying he's related to the boys." I walked over to the man and helped him over carefully.

"I'm... beyond sorry to bother you so late in the evening. I came from the woods and I just assumed you were working late..." The man sighed feeling bad about interrupting our night.

"No, no, it's ok!" King was as always deeply sweet and kind. "I apologize if it looks like I'm... abandoning my brothers, but things have been a lot since our parents passed... tiring even and that isn't the boy's fault of course! However,... I cannot keep living as their caretaker after what happened to me..." King gently touched the bandages on his face. The accident had made things difficult for him.

"Were you in an accident?" The man looked to King worriedly.

"In simple terms... yes. I'm fine physically, but my accident was caused by harassment I was dealing with from a parent at the boy's school." King seemed to feel ashamed of what happened to him.

"How about you go rest King?" I led him in the right direction to our room and had the imps assist him back.

"Elder Kettle, thank you for coming-" I looked down at the man and saw a relative glare in his eyes. "Do we have a problem here?" I raised an eyebrow at the man.

"Did you convince him to abandon those boys?" I was taken aback by the question but laughed.

"You think King's decision hinders "the Devil made him do it"? Oh please, sir, you are much too smart  to believe that." I knelt just a bit to his level. "King is a tired man. Cared for those boys with everything he had, but that care didn't come with harassment and nearly losing his life. King deserves to be happy, but those boys deserve stability. King and I have spent time and resources looking for relatives of the family. If our efforts were fruitless, he would have been back in that bakery with those boys." I glared down at the speechless man. I wasn't mad or anything. It's understandable to be suspicious of the Devil and to be worried about the boys, but King would never think to compromise the two's safety.

Elder Kettle simply nodded and left. We'd have a formal meeting in the morning. I went to the room to find King tucked in. I got in with him and held him close to me.