The shift in Raijuโs aura was palpable. The playful, teasing nature replaced by stoic coldness and apathetic indifference. Daeus wasnโt sure which one bothered him more. It was incredibly difficult to decipher this creature, let alone understand him or why he did what he did or said what he said. It never failed to put Daeus on the spot and leave him guessing, unable to predict what the otherโs next move might be.
It was unnerving but at the same time intriguing, just as the rest of Raiju was to him. He hated the bastard, no doubt about it, but the hate had slowly begun to shift and morph into something he couldnโt define. The hybrid had never been good at understanding or comprehending emotions, aside from one: anger. It had always been his go-to for almost any situation, but whatever this enemy was now, he couldnโt understand it and thus he couldnโt fight it.
He blamed whatever he was feeling on Raiju and his mental link to himself; using it to influence and manipulate the drakeโs feelings about him, confuse him. Part of it was probably true, but Daeus knew in his heart of hearts that some of the responsibility was definitely his own. It might have been unintentional, and he may not be able to understand or control it, but it was a product of his own mind.
The leviathanโs words made him stiffen a bit, unsure on how to interpret such a statement. It could have been a compliment, Raiju saying that heโd never seen the hybrid as a pet because he had never acted like one, perhaps he was too volatile and defiant to ever be tamed and the other was giving Daeus recognition for that? But it couldโve also been an insult, that because of his actions, what he had done to gain the beastโs ire, Asmodaeus wasnโt worthy of even being his pet.
ย ย โI want you to know your place you filthy cur. At every turn you have tried my patience, soured my vision of your worth until it was nothing but curdled muck. Trash not even fit to lick the bottoms of my shoes clean.โ
Those familiar words of that day rang in his head, and they hurt. They pierced under that tough layer of scale and skin, and the iron cage that housed Daeusโ heart; a truly rare occurrence for anyoneโs words to mean anything to him, let alone to such a degree. The thought of appealing to Raiju for forgiveness, to seek reconciliation and regain his favor had passed through the dragonโs mind several times, but every time it was angrily shoved aside; in shame, in regret, in fear.
Raijuโs offer caused the drake to go stiff, staring at him with wide eyes.
ย ย โDonโt go! Donโt leave me!โ
Struck by a vivid memory, of a time long ago, when he was but a child, a fledgling yet unable to fly, looking up into the sky as a great dragon took flight above him, going away. Leaving him alone.
Heโd learned to fly that day, yet never could find his father, and heโd returned to an empty nest, for his mother had left as well. It was the natural way of things of course, leaving the young after a time to fend for themselves, as survival of the fittest determined who lived and who died. The hunters and the hunted, the predators and the prey. Heโd naturally become the former, but such a lesson left him scarred. One of many. Perhaps he saw some of his father in Raiju; the strength, the brutality, the mercilessness, the cunning. But he was also different -- more. Something he wanted to be. And if he couldnโt be it, then be a part of it; be withย it.
Daeus growled in frustration under his breath, dark blue hair whisking over the side of his face as he clenched his teeth in a snarl, though not one of anger. His features were clearly that of conflict, of indecision and confusion. What should he say? What couldย he say? The truth?
ย ย โ...I... I donโt kn--know... I donโt know what I want.โ
It was really the only answer he could give that was the actual truth.
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