Master of Dragons Exploration

"Do not lie to me!" Ryuu near roared at Ermes. He was intimate with Jiro, he knew that. There was no way after all this time he knew nothing. He grabbed Ermes by the upper arms violently, enough to shake him a bit. But not so much it would hurt. "Jiro is leaving us to go to his master, don't act like you don't know."

"But you're his master," Ermes gasped as he was shaken. "How can he leave to go to you?" he asked, confused. They might have been intimate but Drake was not really something they discussed. Of course Ermes knew of him. That would be the reincarnated life of Ryuu. They had plans for him so that he could reunite with Ryuu's reincarnated love. But beyond that he didn't know much.

"To Drake!" Ryuu yelled then, more frustrated than anything. But it sunk in then. Properly and his mood changed from angry to sad. He slipped to the floor, his eyes overflowing with tears. His ears rang with the pain he felt.

As always, Ermes recovered his balance. He sat down quickly but gracefully in front of Ryuu. "But why?" he asked. He could tell that Ryuu was badly hurt by this but Ermes did not understand. He could see where Ryuu might send the absol to Drake to assist him but clearly that is not what was happening. And if Jiro left...where did that leave them as a couple?

"Because I wasn't enough." Ryuu said, because in his mind that was true. He felt the rest was lies and sweet words to make it better. "Because I'm not Drake. This is why I didn't want to be his Master. I knew he would leave. Everybody leaves."

Ermes felt so bad for Ryuu once again. He pushed aside his own feelings and worries. Right now his master needed him. "I haven't left you," he said, taking his hand. "And I'm not going to either." He smiled at him. "If you don't want Jiro to leave then ask him to stay. He loves you. I bet you that he would."

"No, I will not." Ryuu said, he wasn't going to ask Jiro to stay. Not when he would likely day no. "You should go and talk to him about it. I'm not sure that talking to me is a good idea."

Ermes felt like that might be a bad idea. But if it made him feel better then he would try. He just knew he would have to not focus on him and Jiro, but Ryuu and Jiro. Else he wouldn't get through the conversation without crying himself, likely. "As you wish," he said with a smile and went outside.

Jiro looked up. He was only semi surprised to see Ermes instead of Ryuu. "How is he?" he asked tentatively. He'd heard the tantrum.

"Well you've effectively broken his heart so..." Ermes said and sat down beside Jiro.

"Ah shit," Jiro cursed under his breath.

"What did you say?" Ermes asked.

"In so many words? I asked him if I should go to Drake to help him through what he'll be dealing with after he returns from the past. He didn't take it well."

"He thinks you're abandoning him," Ermes said.

"He's one talk considering what he plans to do once his soul reunites with hers. He'll be the one leaving us then," Jiro said, hurt in his voice. His head went back into his hands.

Ermes was quiet for a moment. "Just because he plans on something doesn't mean that he'll go through with it," he pointed out.

"Doesn't mean he won't either," Jiro countered quietly.

"So why not stay with him until that day comes?" Ermes asked. "He needs you..."

"I know. But two parts of him need me and I don't know which one to choose," Jiro said.

Ryuu just tidied up the area around him. He had made the mess. The broken things were disposed of, they couldn't fixed. Like him. He could hear them talking. Part of him wanted to intervene. Part of him didn't. The angry, hurt part of him didn't. But he still found himself in the doorway.

"You should go. You do not trust that I would stay with you, so go. But its not just me you're leaving. Why start a relationship with either of us just to do this, Jiro?"

Jiro looked up at his master. "Please don't send me away," he said. "I have no intention of forsaking either of you. I only wished to help." And helping Drake was important to him. It always had been. But so was helping Ryuu. And Ermes was... Well, that part was more complicated than he wanted to even address right now.

And it wasn't something Ermes wanted to talk about either. Because if Jiro left, well, he couldn't go with him. He would stay with Ryuu as he should. And if Jiro one day returned, would Ryuu welcome him? Or send him away. If Jiro went to Drake...they would be over.

"You knew though, didn't you? That this choice was going to hurt everyone. Yet you wanted to make it anyway, that says a lot." Ryuu said, with alittle shrug. "Go help. You obviously feel comfortable that I don't need you any more. Fair."

"I am not trying to hurt anyone here," Jiro said. "I merely wanted your advice. I cannot help that I wish to help him as I have helped you. And I don't think it's wrong of me to feel that way. But what I do..." He trailed off. He wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want Ryuu hurt. Nor Ermes.

"Gentlemen, must we discuss this now?" Ermes asked. "Drake has not even been born yet and the time for any of us to help him, indirectly or directly, is many years to come. A decision does not have to be made on this day. Are we not as family? Can we not discuss this properly and find a solution for all worries of all concerned parties?"

"The damage is already done," Ryuu pointed out, he was already hurting. "Might as well not let it be for naught." He slipped back into the house then, to finish his food. He was just going to not address it. It made him too angry and hurt.

They watched Ryuu go, neither sure of how to proceed. Ignoring the problem was not solving it. He was only putting it off for later. For what? He was already feeling pain. Why avoid the resolution?

"I'm sorry..." Jiro said. "This is not what I intended..."

Ermes did not answer.

"I don't know what to do now..."

"Neither do I," Ermes said. "But he clearly has no desire to discuss this further. Just...go. I will see what I can do to calm him."

"And what am I to do in the meantime?" Jiro asked. He did not wish to leave but Ryuu had told him to and now Ermes had as well. To come back, of course, he would.

"You have a lot of thinking to do, Jiro," Ermes said. "You cannot think of what is best just for one person, but for all people involved. And ultimately you must do as your heart wishes for that is the only way you will end up happy when all of this is over." He went back inside then, leaving Jiro alone to think.

"Please don't lecture me about how I should figure out a solution later. I do not want too, it's obvious to me, he knew that by bringing it up it would go this way. He is not dumb." Ryuu said with a reigned sigh. "It means he is seriously considering leaving us. I didn't handle that we'll, I won't lie. But there's no point in my saying anything. He wants to go, I will not sway his decision either way."

Ermes inclined his head at his master. "I am sorry. It was not right of me to ask that of you. Not when you are right." He sat down on the floor and started to pick up the books that were strewn all over from the overturned bookcase. He would need to provide a new one. "I will not sway his decision either. If his heart is telling him that he must go to Drake to help him in his time of need then I will trust my lover. It's not as if he will be gone for good. Humans lives are short. He will return to us one day."

"Will he? Will he not revert to an absol and stay?" Ryuu said and by then, what if things had changed. A new life, a new mind. Right? "We do not know what the future holds. That was always his job."

"No, we don't," Ermes agreed. "But we still must put our faith and our trust in the people we love. Perhaps he will change. And perhaps he will find a new path in his time away from us. Or perhaps he will become lost. But he has helped us quite a lot, has he not? Maybe now it's time that we help him even if that means we lose him because isn't that what you're supposed to do for those you love?"

"When I have fought in the past, it has always ended in death, Ermes. I am scared." Ryuu admitted, because he didn't want that for Jiro. Or for Ermes. "It is best I keep my cursed luck away from him this time."

Ermes was confused then. "What would you be fighting, Master?" He did not understand. "I do not believe you to be cursed nor do I believe that your luck is terrible. What happened was for terrible reasons but you are not to blame. The people who brought it about, they are the ones that caused such awful things. Not you."

"Remember why you are to be male?" Ryuu asked casually. He did, people would use any one he loved against him. He felt at this point, female or otherwise it wouldn't matter.

"Hm, I do now," Ermes said. "I've kind of accepted my duel gender weirdness at this point," he added with a small laugh. "But you have a point. I think if the gods decide to stir up trouble again then there's not much we can do about that decision. But not fighting would be rather foolish. Be it for us or for your new life. I think that love is something worth fighting for and when it comes down to it, love is what we're talking about, right? If you won't fight for that then what will you fight for?"

"You are missing the point here, I think gender no longer matters. I love you both, you are what I hold most dear besides Megumi and my new life. If anyone is being used against me, it will be you both." Ryuu said, he couldn't send Ermes away, because of trickery. But he could with Jiro. "I'm not saying I'm giving up, I'm saying I need to rethink and reconsider what to do next. Because if he goes, we can't protect him. Lucian will have to do it, but can you imagine his father being happy?"

"Has that man ever been happy a day in his life? Because no, I can't imagine him happy," Ermes said. He ran his hand through his hair and thought about what Ryuu was trying to say. "So you want to let Jiro go because then he won't be associated with you and can't be hurt? But if you do let him go and he goes to Drake then you can't protect him? Well, who says we can't protect him? Directly or indirectly? Aren't we helping Drake indirectly by bringing him together with whoever it is Megumi will become?"

"Yes, but it cannot come from me. If I show him any sort of favour, he will be under the radar." Ryuu said thoughtfully, it would be worse now that people were being reincarnated. They would try to break him so he wouldn't help them be together. "I will not order you to go, but know you are safer elsewhere. Away from me. We could stage a large argument and I could send you away. People would believe it."