Onyx-Three needed time, and that was alright, Alek told himself. And in a way it was a true statement, and in a way it was not. The aquatic dragon would never pressure his friend if the other felt a need for waiting. But, at the same time, Alek was still drifting.
He had come to the Chaos Forge to find purpose, and he had been denied. And he was to wait, knowing that purpose had been so close, yet he had failed. And he couldn't regret failing, because he could never give up his family.
Yet... It hurt, in a way, being in Draco and knowing all he could do was wait. He felt like a failure. But he wouldn't fail Onyx-Three further, he had decided. For now, he laid down beside the river in Pegasus, gnawing on what little remained of his meal with a sense of weariness.
"Alek!" called a raspy yet enthusiastic voice, interrupting the silence. Erasmus had been hesitating over visiting Draco itself, but then they had seen signs of Alek in Pegasus and had tracked him.
Yet the vampire paused as Alek came into view proper, his weariness clear to their eyes. "...How is Alek?" they asked, voice as gentle as the raspy tones could be.
But first, before they got into things proper, some news. Not all the news yet, Erasmus still wasn't sure if they should speak the other news. They had told part of it to Cadenza, but a key part of it had been left out. "Raspite hatched! Name's Whisper!" they told Alek, knowing the other would like to know.
Alek was startled to hear Erasmus, but only for a moment. He had been expecting the other to visit eventually. "Erasmus," he greeted in return, voice musical.
The question was a surprise, in a way. Erasmus seemed more direct than before, not that they had ever been particularly indirect but... They seemed happier, more confident as well. Maybe Alek had been holding the other back even more than he thought, all this time spent allowing the other to rely upon him as he had.
But those thoughts trailed off as Erasmus announced their news. "Congratulations, Erasmus! I am so happy for you," Alek sincerely told the vampire. He knew how much the small Raspite's chrysalis and their lack of hatching had worried Erasmus. Sometimes, Alek had wondered if the Raspite would ever hatch, with his mind considering the realistic possibility it might not.
He paused after passing on his happiness, wondering how to answer the question Erasmus had asked. "I could not join the Chaos Forge. I would have needed to forsake my family and..." he trailed off, gaze falling.
"I am still staying in Draco. Yet..." he paused, wondering if he should continue. But he had already started. "...I feel purposeless there. Onyx-Three is making a decision about something, and they need time, and I respect that, of course. But I don't know what to do with myself in the meantime."
"Alek's family, most important to Alek," Erasmus voiced, voice gentle. For though this would seem obvious to them, it was not for the first time it seemed to be distressing Alek. After all, the distress Erasmus had caused Alek's family had hurt Alek too.
"Why Alek wait?" they wondered. It was surely not good for Alek, to simply suffer in purposelessness. He would not want that for Erasmus. And so Erasmus did not want that for Alek. "Not healthy," they pointed out.
"Erasmus wants Alek healthy, like Alek wants Erasmus healthy," they pointed out. Then they hesitated, a thought occurring to them. They had separated because their love wasn't entirely healthy, but even though this wasn't healthy for Alek, Alek stayed. It made Erasmus wonder.
"Does Alek love Onyx-Three... more? ...Than Erasmus?" they wondered, raspy voice soft, but trying to understand.
"Waiting is important to Onyx-Three," he answered, the question seeming easy enough at first. Then Erasmus paused, and asked their question that made Alek's heart hurt for Erasmus.
"You are family, I love you as much in a different kind of way, Erasmus," Alek reassured the vampire. "I love Onyx-Three like my parents love each other, sort of. I think. Except in a way that is distinctly Onyx-Three and I instead."
He nodded, firmly trying to convince the vampire of his veracity. "But that does not mean I do not love you. Erasmus, you are my family, no matter how else we began."
"And it is a big decision before Onyx-Three. I wanted... to give Onyx-Three a child of mine, perhaps, that could be in the Chaos Forge, a member of his first family," he told Erasmus.
Erasmus was family to Alek, in the same way Erasmus saw Alek. They had not expected that feeling returned, but they knew to Alek, family came first.
They reached a hand to touch the dragon's face gently. "Alek... thanks. Gave Erasmus... family," their voice rasped, full of bitterness for their beginning and sweetness for what things had become instead.
"Erasmus supports Alek and Onyx-Three, both important to Erasmus," the vampire added. The question of children was indeed a big one. Which reminded Erasmus...
"What difference between Order and Hive?" they asked, raspy words intently focused. "Both... enemies of Chaos Forge?"
Erasmus had truly gained confidence, if they felt no fear touching Alek gently like this. Alek leaned into the comforting touch.
"You gave me family too. Yourself, our children..." he pointed out. "Do not dwell on our beginning. It matters, still, but it does not have to define you."
Alek felt emotionally touched by the way Erasmus wholeheartedly offered support for both him and Onyx-Three.
The question that followed at the end made Alek blink with many eyes, puzzled. "I... did not know there was a difference. I will try to ask." Because this seemed important to Erasmus.
"Has everything been alright, with Whisper and everything?" he inquired, feeling he had talked much himself but not offered a listen to what Erasmus wished to say.
It meant a lot to Erasmus, seeing Alek lean into their touch. The dragon did not fear them, had never feared them, but Erasmus had still been frightened, in the past, of giving touches like this. Afraid that touches would turn to harm. And yet Alek showed how easily he trusted Erasmus not to.
Erasmus nodded firmly, both to Alek's decision to ask and the request not to dwell. "Erasmus will not dwell. Erasmus will live, not survive, but live," they declared. "Alek ask, then tell Erasmus," the vampire ordered.
"Whisper wonderful," they expressed, expression warm as they thought of their small and amazing child. "Erasmus love. Whisper love Erasmus, too," the vampire expressed with awe.
Though... They backed up a moment, and they open their other hand to show a piece of Hiddenite. "Erasmus found dead canine gembound. Was rotting. Erasmus saved the stone, but..." they hesitated sad, showing they did not know what to do with it. Then an idea struck. "If Alek makes child and needs stone, Erasmus will hold onto for," Erasmus stated, cradling the stone close.
Alek paused, startled by the clear distinction between surviving and living Erasmus expressed, and yet not. For all that Erasmus spoke differently, they had always been keenly intelligent. Their children together showed that same intelligence, in their own ways.
"I am so happy for you," Alek told Erasmus again, speaking of their bond with Whisper.
They were startled by the piece of Hiddenite stone, once alive. A part of them wanted to warn Erasmus that the stone could break, but they did not wish to hurt the other. "I will keep that in mind. I am sorry you saw that."
Silence fell, but not an uncomfortable one. Instead, it was one borne of a long companionship with each other.
old friends and new - echoes of wishes
There was magic here.
It was an old magic, an echo called to this place now, one year after its last flicker through the caves.
Or it was a new magic, a gift in and of itself, in memory of what had come before.
Or it was something else. Something born of connections and magic numbers, time past and time yet to come.
A flicker, as two who had met before, met again. A promise. A whisper of
possibility, but only a fraction of what it could have been. Still... it could be something. They had only a flash of time. No chance to discuss. No long minutes of soft debate, or calculation. Only this moment, a whim, the instinct to guide the spark of magic toward
a gift. Would they choose something the other truly would like, adore, fall in love with, respect, feel forever grateful for? Or would their gift be a mistake, a misstep, well-intentioned but easily forgotten?
There was no time for second-guessing. Each of them felt it: the offer, for that split second, of making something
come true for their companion.
__________
Each Gembound has only an instant to decide upon a Wish for their thread partner. While the players are free to discuss OOCly, the Gembounds themselves are the ones making this Wish: it should not use out-of-character information but should instead reflect the intent and beliefs of the Wish-makers.
Please GM tag a second time to have a Game Master confirm that all Wishes are viable.
@Alek