Dragon King

“A… what?”

Konzen’s squint would look less comical if only he wasn’t stuck to the goddamn floor. He tried his best to look at the offered blade, noting how the edge glinted dangerously in the sunlight. One wrong move and he might just end up losing more than a couple of hair strands. 

“On second thought, if you would be most kind…”

The blond tried to straighten up as best as he could. The sticky goop tugged at his tresses, making movement practically impossible but he eventually managed to pull a couple of inches free. Although true escape would definitely cost at least two inches off his split ends.

“Just… please don’t cut any more than you should.” Konzen closed his eyes, silently praying that Gojun’s skill with the blade was not just some ridiculous rumor.

“A no—nevermind.” A matching frown to the officer’s furrowed brows at Konzen’s lack of comprehension judging from that ridiculous squinting. Well, that answered his unspoken question about the blonde handling a weapon. “Very well then.” At the other’s request, Gojun flipped the nodachi around so now he held the handle and the sharp blade pointed downward toward the sticky mess.

The fact that Konzen had eyes shut as if the Dragon King was going to lop off his head or something, made him wonder if the blonde treasured his hair that much? And how did Konzen got himself in this mess anyways?

“Hmp.” A huff, followed by an obviously irked face was what met the Dragon King when Konzen finally drew nearer. He had his arms crossed over his chest, stopping by the other god, only expressing how he couldn’t agree more with how pointless the aforementioned obligation was.

“They like wasting everyone’s time, I’m honestly looking forward to the whole place getting set on fire midway the event.” The beautiful god continued walking out the door, his graceful movements causing his long, silky golden hair flailing on mid-air. Maybe even brushing on the Dragon King’s pristine white uniform. Ah, such a scenario filled with utter virility happening between two heavenly acquaintances of their high ranks.

Gojun couldn’t help but cough to subtly hide the surprise at the blonde’s musing, a bit taken back at the choice in words. Though, considering the two rarely, if ever, had a conversation that lasted more than a few minutes outside of paperwork, it shouldn’t be surprising, right? The officer had to give the god credit for such wishful thinking. Gojun could only imagine the chaos that would soon ensure following that mess.

“Are you proposing it’s going to occur?”

@fire-ouji [ based off this ]

Feathered quill quietly scribbled to and fro, stopping every so often to replenish the depleted ink as Gojun wrote his report for the day. It was rather lengthy due to all the activities raging down in the Lower World. Everything must be accounted for, or else someone will have a conniption. He had witnessed that firsthand and it was something he rather not deal with. At all. The fact that casualties from his division were still consistently low were of relief to him. At the same time, he wondered just how long this war was going to drag out. Gojun made a mental note to bring it up during the next meeting with high-ranking gods and maybe an audience with the Jade Emperor. At this rate, valuable resources were being wasted if there was no timeline to follow. It was his duty as the Commanding Officer after all.

The Dragon King briefly paused, giving his hand a quick reprieve as red eyes automatically swept over the interior of his austere office. They stopped at a being dozing off on the couch, uncharacteristically out of place among the scene even though some time has passed since then. A minute frown marred an otherwise stoic face. Gojun still could not fathom why those above him thought this was a great idea. Regardless of the reason, they have assigned one Demon Prince Kougaiji to be in the officer’s care. It was similar to Konzen’s and Goku’s situation, and yet entirely not.

Kougaiji, Gojun judged to be relatively young, given the other’s rather straightforwardness and stubborn streak that would probably put most to shame and, based on the reports, of how easy it was to capture him.  Admittedly, he found it rather odd but the stories from the soldiers on ground corroborated, thus he let it be. Whatever impression Kougaiji had in his head about Tengoku, Gojun apparently continued to baffle him in the ways the Dragon King treated him. Was it so odd to treat—Gojun sincerely despised the word pet—his charge so humanely?

The officer resumed his writing, and moments later, carefully stamped his seal in red ink upon completion. Filing the documents neatly, he rose from his desk with the paper in and walked on over to the Demon Prince. “Care to take a walk with me, Kougaiji?”

“Good to hear! I could certainly drink to that,” Gojyo said in a more hearty manner at the quick, and perhaps irrational, relief he immediately felt at the stranger’s admission. Seemingly trusting his word just like that. 

Unfortunately for the other, as soon as the hanyou got his mug of booze, he lounged back against the bar and made himself comfy like he had no intention to leave anytime soon. He also seemed to be completely oblivious to the other’s irritation. More likely, he just didn’t care. 

Foot tapping restlessly, Gojyo took a healthy swig of beer before looking back over to his reluctant companion. “So what’s your name, Draggy?”

A minute frown appeared. Was there a  need of a reason for a drink? Unless to somehow justify it? This redhead certainly had an uncanny resemblance and attitude to one Kenren Taisho that if Gojun didn't know better, this was the man in disguise. Now that he thought about it, the Dragon King would not be surprised if that was the case.  

Refilling his cup with more tea, an inaudible sigh escaped him once he realized this stranger was not going anywhere. Gojun momentarily regretted entering the bar rather than an inn like his usual routine. And today of all days he decided to stray from that.

Of course.

A rather displeased look surfaced at the peculiar name-calling, causing him to pause in the midst of sipping his tea to put it down. "Pardon? Draggy?" He repeated, brow quirking at this then slightly furrowed, indecisive of whether to be insulted or not. "The name is Gojun. Odd to ask for a name before offering your own. Sandy." The officer casually remarked.

The Dragon King was rounding the corner, on his way to the next dull meeting with documents filed neatly under his arm, only to suddenly stop at the heap of a body on the floor. It took only a split second to quickly identify who it was: one Konzen Douji, nephew to Kanzeon Bosatsu. Slender silver brows slightly furrowed, confused as to why the other was on the floor until Gojun spotted the reason. And the rather awkward movement.

Shaking his head Loki tried to make the world stop spinning as he turned around.  Blinking in surprise at what stood before him.  Okay, that wasn’t… Normal?  Then again he was a man with grin skin and pointy ears so he could hardly call the kettle black.

Taking his hands away from the sides of his head the goblin waved with a large, sharp toothed grin.

“Hey buddy!  When’d you get here?  Tell me you didn’t just watch me descend from the trees…”  If he could he would try to play off toppling head over heels from the branches.

Sticking out his hand the male tilted his head curiously “Say friend, you’re not from around here are you?  Well, I’m not either so I guess we’ve got something in common!  Name’s Loki by the way~  What’s yours?”

Mirroring the other, Gojun had to blink a few times to make sure what he saw was legitimate. He had never seen such a green color on a youkai. Was this individual sick? If so, was he severely contagious? However, judging from the way the other was behaving, he appeared fine. Well, as fine as one could be after falling through dozens of branches.

Gojun simply nodded in response to the toothy grin. Though, he couldn’t help but slightly smirk at the individual’s admission. “It’s difficult to see such a fall, but rather easy to hear it. I do hope that you are alright?”

Red eyes briefly looked at the offering hand before taking it and giving it a firm shake. Was it that obvious he wasn’t from around the area? “You’re correct. I’m…passing through, for lack of a better word. Gojun is my name. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Looking upwards as if to find the original tree for his fall before returning his gaze to Loki, Gojun asked, “Was your fall an accident?”

@dragonkinggojun liked for a starter with LOKI!

“I’M AWAKE!” Loki yelped.  Nearly falling out of the tree he’d slept in!  Luckily the man’s tail had naturally moved to wrap around the branch he was on.  Not so lucky however, that he ended up stuck upside down because of it.

Oh… He had forgotten that was an instinct.  It’d been so long since he’d climbed a tree…

Unraveling his tail the goblin fell from the surprising height.  Luckily Forester Goblins always landed on their feet!  But now this time it seemed as the man ended up hitting almost every other branch on the way down.

That was gonna sting tomorrow.

Letting out a groan Loki carefully got to his feet and swayed, stumbling this way and that as he tried to get the world to stop spinning.  Oh man.  Been a while since he’d hit his head that hard too!

Only the second or third time using the Dimensional Gate without supervision, it took Gojun a bit to get used to it. Hopefully this time around he entered in the right coordinates and not wind up in the pond like last time.

Moments later found him in the forest. Well, so far so good. Taking in a deep breath, unfamiliar scents assailed him. It was kind of nice, actually. The Lower World certainly felt more alive than up in Heaven.  

Brief moment of reprieve was broken at the recognizable sounds of broken branches. Lots of them, now that Gojun paid attention. Both curious and concerned, the Dragon Prince quietly trekked his way over to the source of noise.

From the piles of paper on his desk, Konzen’s head slowly rose up as the familiar voice broke his concentration. When he saw who was at his office’s door, he returned the frown. The Dragon King? Executive lu…

“Oh.” His palm slowly placed itself at his face. He’d completely forgotten. And the Dragon King coming to pick him up? He must’ve kept him waiting far too long. After all, they had to do this thing together for a smorgasbord of biz reasons he didn’t even want to recall for now.

Begrudgingly, the god’s bureaucratic ass pulled itself up from the chair and dragged his legs towards the other man. Truly, this audit season in heaven is filled with these kinds of bullshit he’s obliged to attend. Not that he had a choice.

Did he?

“Fine. Let’s go.”

Gojun hadn't intended  for his frown to be directed at the blonde god, rather at the situation. Whoever came up with the idea for this audit should personally meet his nodachi and then some. Granted, he viewed Heaven's Orders as absolute, but this was a tad ridiculous. A bit amused at the lanky male's obvious reluctance to attend this forsaken lunch, the Dragon King waited until the other was at the door before he began walking, albeit slowly. They had some time to spare. Those attending were rarely punctual but oh-so harried, which annoyed Gojun more than he cared to admit.

Just like Konzen, he was also mandated to attend thanks to his title and duties. He couldn't get out of it even if he tried, though, he wouldn't even if he wanted to. Such was his nature. A silent sigh escaped thin lips.  

He slammed his hand down on the documents, curling his fingers a little so that the papers began to crinkle. “What is going on.” It was more like a bark than anything else.  

“Yeeeeaaah.. so the last time a crazy nut-job came down from the heavens, it was to try and kill us.” It wasn’t exactly like he was trying to imply that the guy before him was a crazy nut-job… but the insinuation of an insult was there. “So… you’re not gonna stab me in the back or anything once I’m wasted, right?”

Speaking of, the redhead temporarily turned away when the barkeep stepped over so he could quickly order a mug of beer before turning back to the one he probably shouldn’t have taken his eyes off in the first place if he truly thought he was dangerous.

Gojun had picked up the insinuation quite easily when Gojyo spoke. It was even more apparent at the open-ended question that sounded somewhat like a plea. Though, the God was rather curious who this ‘crazy nut-job’ was. Only select few had the express permission to kill in the Lower World, including himself. Any other and it would have been considered treason to the Jade Emperor.

Gojun simply scoffed in response with a slight shake of his head. “I’m above such underhanded tactics.” Still a bit miffed, he subconsciously drank his tea a bit more aggressively. There goes his quiet day. Red gaze noted that the hanyou had placed an order for an alcoholic drink. If this man met with Kenren, then nothing would be accomplished. Add in Tenpou, then forget it. That whole squad would be rendered useless without the two leaders.

Well. Wasn’t he all prim and proper? Gojyo invited himself to take a seat on the empty bar-stool next to the other man.  “No worries~” Gojyo rummaged through pants pockets before he pulled out a pack of smokes. He continued talking even as he stuck the cancer stick between his lips to bring out a lighter next, words slightly muffled around the object. “You know, now that I think about it… it’s not the first time someone called me that…..”

It was just as he lit up that his brain made the connection on who had last called him ‘general’ and his eyes widened and shot over to regard the other with sudden caution. 

Slowly reaching up, Gojyo took the cigarette from his lips. “Are you a god?”

A minute furrowing of brows occurred when the other--now that Gojun had a better look once the surprise wore off--was a hanyou. Rather curious but, more importantly, he had seated himself right next to the God. Gojun was about to politely protest until the familiar ritual of rummaging through one’s pocket for a cigarette and a lighter turn thin lips into a slight frown. This man was certainly the General’s twin.