Master of Dragons Exploration

"I'm no longer your Master," Ryuu said but then her pulled her against him as he kissed her. Had he been sober, he would be surprised that she was so easily going with his words, but in his drunk state he was very much just eager in his touch and kisses.

Ermes was still tired but she was waking up more now. Yes, she was still angry and hurt over Jiro. Feelings didn't just disappear after a few nights. But she wasn't going to let them cause her to hurt ryuu when she knew that she loved him too. So while she would be surprised in the morning that she had so easily given in, in the moment she just didn't think on it much. And after he started to kiss on her she didn't try to think much at all. No doubt or shocked thoughts would happen when they were dine either fir she'd gall asleep fairly quickly after from so much chi being taken.

Ryuu would easily fall asleep as well. But alcohol, food and sex did that to men. He didn't even move himself from her bed, or from her side and he held her all night. But as the sun creeped through the window and onto his face, he groaned.

Immediate headache. He lifted his arm, or tried too, but realised there was someone laying on it. He jolted awake then, and then just looked at Ermes in his arms. She was naked. He was naked. What?

Oh....

Ermes was not used to sharing a bed with someone. So when he tried to move it woke her up very suddenly. She calmed down a second later before realizing who was in bed with her. Her sleepy mind went somewhere else. Awake, everything came back. She looked at him and saw his confusion. Well. That might not be good. What if he didn't remember anything from last night?

"Good morning?" She said quietly in case he was hungover.

"Good morning..." Ryuu replied, be was hungover but not so bad. He was somewhat used to it. He remembered though, he remembered that he'd started it as well. "I'm not sure if I'm meant to apologise for last night or not..." Had he been sober, he would not have been so bold nor spoken so much truth. "No, I feel I must, that was terribly unfair of me to do that to you so soon after Jiro... I'm so sorry."

Ermes shrugged. That was as close as she was going to get to "fuck him" sort of attitude. "You don't have to be sorry for telling me your feelings." At least he hadn't woken up and told her that was just a drunk fueled weird thing.

"I do, it wasn't the right time..." Ryuu said, but in fairness there would never have been a time he felt was really right. "And please don't confuse my words, I do not regret last night. Only the timing and the pressure you must have felt. I meant everything I said."

"Well so long as there is no confusion and no regrets then I can't complain," Ermes answered. She stretched her arms above her head, yawned sleepily, and settled down back into his arms.

Ryuu blinked and just stared at Ermes. She was... She was.... Snuggling him. He felt the panic rise up in his throat. "Should we be doing this?" He asked quietly.

Ermes stared at him. Oh no. Best to get everything out now. She wasn't going to ignore relationship ending problems in the beginning again. "Why do you think we shouldn't be? "

"Because Jiro is here? It's only been a few days and he might be hurt. Your bed wasn't even cold yet and I climbed in. That's on me, not on you. But we haven't even properly talked about it. You're just... Going with it." Ryuu said he thought those were sound reasons. And it was true, she just went along with it all rather than hash out any problems. It was too.... Easy?

"Do you wish me to push you away?" Ermes asked, confused. "Jiro left me. He left for the very reasons I said we wouldn't work in the beginning. If I wish to move on then I can regardless of how he might feel about it. But what you want is on you. You have been friends longer."

"I don't want you to push me away, but rather than so passively going along, could we not discuss it? I don't..." Ryuu put a hand over his face and just breathed for a minute. It had been so long and... Yeah. "I'm scared. I don't want to be your rebound guy and please don't get mad at me for being honest."

"I assumed we were going to talk about it now that you're sober," Ermes replied. "I would never use you as a rebound. I couldn't hurt you that way, Master. That wouldn't be fair to you no matter how hurt I am right now."

"I'm not your master any more, Drake is." Ryuu said, because she needed to use his name. Especially if they were to be more than friends. "I don't think you'd it intentionally, of course. If it is too soon, I suggest we wait. That's all. I want you to think about this seriously as well. Because of who and what I am, and what that means I can offer you. I'm not sure that without a soul I can love, but I do know that this is as close to the feeling as I've ever had before. I feel you deserve better than a husk of a man, but that's not fully my decision as it's yours as well. But i at least want to know you've thought about it before we continue. Does that make sense?"

"You havent lost your heart," Ermes pointed out. "Only your soul." But due was fully awake now. And it all seems so terribly complicated now. And yet the answer was a simple yes or no. At least it should have been. But it wasn't just on her. "What do you want?" She asked curiously.

"You." Ryuu said honestly, it was about as honest as he could get. "I have for a very long time but... Well, you know the history." It wasn't like it came out of no where.

"I do," Ermes said. "I want you too. Can't it be that simple?" She had always known that it would one day end with Jiro. And when he announced he was going to Drake, well she'd known then that their time together would soon be over. She still hurt. But Ryuu was not a rebound. She loved and cared for him far too much.

"Nothing in life is that simple." Ryuu pointed out, there was still the Jiro thing. She hadn't even seriously considered the other thing. "Is it not the soul that makes a person what they are? Isn't it where emotions come from? My heart is just a muscle, the metaphorical heart is not sometime I am sure I possess any more. But I would still give you all I have. All I can be."

"That's all I need, " Ermes replied. "I know who you are. I have been by your side all this time. It is not as if I am walking into this blind, " she pointed out.

"Being friends is different to being in a relationship though, Ermes." Ryuu pointed out, he was pretty calm considering. "If we do this, I want to go slow. And we don't say anything to Jiro for a bit. I don't... I don't want him to be mad."

Ermes nodded. She agreed. "Define slow for me sl that I know what you're thinking," she requested. She didn't want super slow. But rushing things when they were drastically changing their dynamic would be poor.

"I should think we should start with dates, though obviously we'd be in a relationship, but we should do it properly. Slow means, we aren't official yet... I guess? I don't know. Help me, Ermes. I am at a lost, confused."

Ermes laughed. "I don't know. I am aware of how humans do things but they seem complicated to me. We are not so cautious I suppose." Dragons had very different ways of picking out and claiming their partners. "I do not need to test things to know that I will be fine with it. We have been intimate before. And I have seen your devoting to the one you loved. So I am fine. But I will do what makes you comfortable. "

"Again, being friends is different from a relationship and so we don't know that we will work intimately. It's very different and I may not be able to give you what you need but I will try." Ryuu said, because he wasn't a lazy lover. Far from it.