Master of Dragons Exploration

"I'm not leaving you," Ermes said. "I haven't stayed by your side this long just to run away because something might happen. If you're to have any chance at happiness in this life, not just your new one, then you're better off not being alone. So I'm sorry, Master. But you are stuck with me."

"I can think of worse people to be stuck with." Ryuu laughed, he appreciated it though. It was obvious by the look in his eye. "You should call me Ryuu, Master from your mouth has forever sounded too perverted." Not that he'd ever done anything with Ermes as a man. Out of respect for Jiro.

"Perverted? Someone's been thinking naughty thoughts," Ermes said with a laugh then. "I have called you Master for a very long time now. I don't think I can switch that. Not even in my head. It would take just as long to get it right."

"Well, shit. It's not like it's the first time I've asked you to call me Ryuu." The master of dragons pointed out, he had asked before. But you know. It was a thing. "I'm not answering if I've had naughty thoughts. Not a conversation to have today when I'm upset with Jiro."

"That's fair," Ermes said. "I don't think that's going to matter for much longer though." He was trying so hard not to be sad, to put on a brave face and make his master calm and happy again. But inside he knew that today was marking the last few years, if not days, of his relationship with Jiro. "So. Now that everything is settled to a point, shall we go shopping for new furniture?"

"Please don't pretend you're okay for my sake. We are both losing him, not just me. It's okay to be sad with me." Ryuu said, he took Ermes' hand and squeezed it softly. "We are old friends, you and I. Nothing we can hide from each other any longer. But if you would like to go shopping we can."

"I am not going to let pain get in the way of life," Ermes said as he stood up. "I didn't allow that for you all this time and I won't allow it for myself. So yes, let's go shopping." He went over and recovered his hat and the like. Money. Necessary things. "When you're ready, of course."

"Let me put on less old fashioned clothing first." Ryuu said, he preferred the clothing from his time. But for the moment he had to blend. It took him just a moment to be ready. "How are we going to travel today, Ermes?"

"I thought that we could fly," Ermes said. "The weather is really nice out this time of year and it will be fun." He loved flying. He also loved going out of the Shrine with Ryuu and doing normal life things. So it was a win/win for him.

"Flying it is," Ryuu smiled, it meant that Ermes would have to be a dragon, but they could walk once they got closer to an actual town.

Ermes went outside and changed to his dragon form. He waited for Ryuu to mount him (don't get pervy) and then took off through the cave. The other option was swimming but that took longer and would make them wet, which wouldn't do. (Again no perving). Once outside the cave, he took off into the air and headed for a lovely town with a very large department store. Seeing as it was later in the afternoon, the place wasn't so crazy busy. He found an alley to land in unnoticed, allowed Ryuu to dismount, and then changed back into human form.

No being pervy here. Ryuu enjoyed the feeling of flying. It was almost as though he was a real person when it was just him and Ermes in the sky. "I'm glad it is quiet, I am not feeling social today." He said and tied his hair out if his face and waited for Ermes to be ready.

Ermes adjusted his clothes and put on his hat to hide his horn. Yes, he had blue ass hair but that wasn't abnormal. "I thought as much. But we can find everything we need here and while furniture stores are massive, it's unlikely we'll run into more than a few couples at most. Let's go," he said happily and pushed Ryuu forward with a little laugh.

"Couples?" Ryuu asked with a whine. Did it have to be loved up couples? Could it not be students and single assholes? Bah. "I don't want too..." He pouted and all.

"Well, maybe not couples. It could be single people. But uh, this place is kind of expensive, and this level of rich people are normally not single," Ermes said with a laugh. "Normally I bring home rather cheap furniture as it gets destroyed so often but I figure I'll try something new this time. Maybe the craftsmanship will hold up against your tantrums." He dragged Ryuu towards the door.

"Or it will be so nice I won't want to smash it? Maybe we should get a punching bag as well," Ryuu suggested. Then he'd have something he could destroy when he got overwhelmingly mad.

"Oh yes!" Ermes said, clapping his hands together in excitement over the idea. "That is the best idea I've heard today. We are so doing that," he said with a laugh. He opened the door and ushered his master inside to the store. "So, anything catch your eye because everything here is meant to be ah-maze-ing!"

"It's all just possessions. You can decorate. I trust you." Ryuu shrugged, he was not really interested so much. "Perhaps a sofa and a bed that has soft, plush pillows?"

"Our home could use some plush," Ermes agreed. He grabbed his master's wrist and dragged him through the store. "Maybe a comfier bed for you, not that you spend as much time in it as you did." Finding stuff for their quaint little shrine was easy. They couldn't have anything too big as it would take up too much room in the small space. And it had to match the feel of the shrine as well. But Ermes had all that down to an art.

Ryuu smiled, but let Ermes continue on with that. He would love a big bed and more room. "Perhaps one day we shall get a proper house?"

Ermes stopped. "Really? Not in a cave away from people? Or are we moving to a new cave?! Either way I'm on board because as beautiful as the view it, it's getting kind of old after a few hundred years. Ahhh, but we could go house hunting instead of furniture hunting. I can just imagine the faces you'll make when the realtor is explaining what this room and that room would be good for. Ahhh, priceless."

Ryuu made a face. He didn't want to do that. They would go too far with it and he'd realise what he'd missed out on again. "I may be tempted to snap their necks. How about you pick the house too."

"Violence isn't the answer," Ermes said with a wag of his finger. "But I suppose that it would be safer for everyone involved if I did all of that for you. But then you'd have to decide where you'd like to live and what kind of house you'd want. Something quaint and small in the country? Or a little village house on the beach by the water? Or a gigantic mansion with grounds so large and sprawling that you could get lost in them and your next neighbor is so far away that you can't even see their place from your back yard? Or...No you wouldn't want anything big city. Hm..." He got lost in thought then and waved off the employee that came to help them. No point in shopping for furniture if they were going to be moving. Not yet.

"What about a big house by the beach?" Ryuu suggested, he did love to be near water. But he didn't want specifically a beach house. Nor would he want all the wicker furniture that goes with it. "Classy house that has a beach in the back yard?"

"Oh yes," Ermes agreed, excited by the prospect. "You would want classy. I think it's time you live in luxury rather than the simple life of a shrine, Master." He decided to browse furniture then that might look good in a house on the beach but was still classy rather than cheap.

He had been wrong about the people inside. There was only one couple in at the moment, browsing furniture. But there was also a family. A mother, father, and a young girl around the age of four. He got entirely distracted watching them.