“What should I do then?” Ryuu inquired before sinking again, slowly blowing bubbles in contemplation. He blinked at Mohan, at his robes and gold, and at the cave entrance.
Mohan pursed his lips until the crimson faded into a deathly white. He fought the urge to berate the younger man hiding in the pool and tugged at his blue braids. “Get out, obviously,” Mohan said as he sighed wearily. It had truly been a long day for a man with a low tolerance for bullshit. But somehow, he had managed to step into several piles. He had considered throwing his shoes away rather than dealing with it but ended up following Ryuu and dealing with it instead.
“Get out of the cave first.”
“Why? And what happened to addressing me properly?”
“Oh, like Master Mohan has been addressing me as King Ryuu this entire time? My apologies. Master’s status is obviously so much higher than my own.” Ryuu’s words dripped with venomous sarcasm, and he lowered his head in a bowing gesture. “If Master would be so kind, please leave the cave – I fear my naked body will scar the eyes of this distinguished Master. And we can’t have that.”
Mohan whipped around with a huff and left the cave. Under his breath, he muttered, “Ridiculous. I should’ve just burned the shoes as usual.” This time, Mohan considered himself to be ridiculous in his attempt to help Ryuu. People should always be avoided diligently. People’s emotions should be scorned. Arrogant bastards should not be spared a glance. And yet, he stopped outside the cave and hesitantly tugged on his braids. “Why have I not left yet?” he asked the moon out of concern for his mental health and the obvious string of poor choices. He sighed when his feet refused to budge, being sticklers in the mud.
“Do you have some sort of mark on your body, King Ryuu? Something that connects you to dragons?” Mohan called into the cave.
“…”
“Well, do you?”
“Does a tattoo count?”
“Of course, it does,” Mohan said impatiently, “When you get dressed, do not cover the tattoo.”
“Then Master can come in again.”
Mohan struggled to swallow when he saw the bare back of King Ryuu sitting in front of him. He had the silly desire to become one of the water drops gliding down between those tight muscles along his spine. He shivered at this random thought and pushed it deep, deep into his being where no one, not even him, can see it. He scrutinised the tattoo of the Kaanian crest sketched into the skin of the broad back. The outer circle of the crest had the look of ink smeared with a thumb. A dragon filled the inside of the circle with its wings spreading into the smeared edge. To have this tattoo, Ryuu must have some sort of bond with a dragon. But Mohan had lived through the destruction of Kaan – he had seen how the contract between dragons and humans broke when their Dracontias, cores of bonding, were corrupted. The mystery around Ryuu was disconcerting if not a premonition.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Once you are done drooling, you are more than welcome to start healing me,” Ryuu sneered. He was used to beauties gazing at his rugged body with heated eyes. He laughed mockingly when Mohan scowled and denied the act, but abruptly sobered up, his body slumping as the laughter drained him further. His tattoo burned when Mohan abruptly pressed his scorching fingertips on the edges. Ryuu groaned coarsely and clutched his thighs. It felt like his flesh was being ripped from his bones. Devil’s Death played backward as the notes pulsed from Ryuu’s body into Mohan’s fingers. With the last note, the pain faded, and Ryuu fainted.
Mohan noticed that Ryuu was running a fever when the sleeping man leaned against him. Because he knew that he was going to stay and nurse Ryuu back to health, Mohan’s annoyance with himself grew. He laid the man down on his cloak, kneeled near the entrance of the cave, and on his flute, he played the Song of Remedy throughout the night and the breaking sunrise. Ryuu had fitful nightmares where he struggled with unseen beasts. His breathing rasped and his heartbeat trembled rapidly. By late morning, the fever fully sweated from his body, he woke to soothing music and a beauty basking in the rays of sunlight seeping into the cave.
“You stayed?” Ryuu asked gleefully. His fuzzy mind wildly approved of waking up to this a blessed sight. I should keep him, he thought.
“King Ryuu … leaving you to die of fever would be an insult to the effort I put in to heal you from my song that treated you so harshly.” Mohan’s flute vapourised and he laid down on the cave floor.
“How eloquently you speak, Music Master.”
“…”
“You’re going to sleep now? But the sun is up!” Ryuu scolded as he jumped up and hovered over Mohan. He will be utterly bored if the pretty man settles in, leaving him to talk to cave walls.
“The sun has been up for half a day. You slept just fine,” Mohan stated matter of fact, practising Disassociation Breathing to lull himself to sleep.
“But that was solely your fault! If you hadn’t played that awful song, I would’ve been up at sunrise.”
“Please leave, King Ryuu. You are healed and no longer need my care.”
“How do you know? What if there is a backlash from the song? Whatever will I do if I leave you behind and you die?”
Mohan sighed his soul from his body but chose to ignore Ryuu, falling deeper into his mind where peace cosily wrapped him in its warmth.
“There will be nobody to cure me!”
“…”
“What if I get scammed again? Who will bring me back my gold?”
“King Ryuu, I attended a tiresome festival. I followed you for hours. I stayed up the entire night, playing the Song of Remedy on my knees. If you have any, any gratitude in that stupid body of yours, please, for the love of all things good, let me sleep!” Mohan spat through clenched teeth.
Ryuu sat back in surprise but finally clamped his mouth shut. He was many things, but not ungrateful. Once he was certain Mohan was in a deep sleep, he pulled back the robes and inspected Mohan’s inflamed joints, a common occurrence for someone who kneels often. Ryuu rolled up his cloak to elevate Mohan’s legs after confirming that there seems to be no infection. He formed a layer of ice on his hands and placed it on Mohan’s kneecaps intermittently, treating the inflammation for several hours.
“There. Now, you can’t say I’m ungrateful. And my body is not stupid!” Ryuu pouted as he left the cave. He wore only his robes with no cloak to cover his hair floating in the twilight breeze. He stomped down the mountain edge, muttering the entire way, “See if monsters come to devour you while you take your beauty sleep. Stupid, you are stupid! You hurt me, then you help me, then you’re mad at me. Stupid!”