Paint It Black

He admired Ronin. For his actions. Certainly, the year of silence only empowered this feeling of reverence. Zainab knew words as a tool to mask, dismantle or distract, but a persons actions were where the truth couldn't hide. That was why he could hear the warrior now. Accept these promises as an unquestionable reality. While he did all he could to deter Ronin's advances and deny his own emotions, like a true fool; Zainab Fadoul had never stopped trusting Ronin Song. His severe threats. His indisputable might. Now, his aching vulnerability.

Ronin was truth. Zainab's guiding light. In their world of chaos and absolutes.

Through Ronin's confession and subtle reassurance, Zai could briefly recollect on all he had managed to claim in his short 28 years. He defied a God once before. He defied an entire civilization, then so many to follow. He made equal sons and daughters of many Gods his lessers. For Zainab Fadoul, challenging four more Gods to see his destiny on Earth fully realized should be a natural next step. He was in short a menace. A heretic to the fabric of a reality woven eons before him. That had been rewritten time and again by trembling unworthy.

Why not him?

Why not them?

Ronin thrust himself against the crocodile's immovable form. Clinging to the ancient reptile as if he were his very lifeline. And Zai finally experienced what it should be like to feel something beyond the physical; spiritual.

"Ronin Song." Were the lone words that dripped off of Zainab's overspent lips. Empty of performance, he was unsure if his energy carried each syllable on a potent battle cry or undetectable whisper. All he knew was that it felt like his first prayer.

It differed from every prayer emitted by mankind since their inception, because when Zainab spoke Ronin's name, the summoner made his presence known. Through a kiss, a demand, an entire display of the purest form of indisputable submission.

He would fall to his knees upon the shoreline with Ronin securely braced in the might of his embrace. Somehow, the bonfire of his old, humble camp had been set to life with a roaring blaze. Illuminating the image of them both, still obscuring their bound, twisted, and flexed forms in it's organic, untamable flicker. He would let Ronin gently fall, with just a hair of force from gravity that would push a breath from the warrior's glistening chest.

"Your incredible mind." He spoke without control, censorship, or care. All while mindfully pressing what clothing still clung to his hips and legs off. "Your... flawless, powerful body. ... And terrifyingly divine spirit." Torso and member hung erect above Ronin. Admiring... but prepared to fully consume him. In whatever would come of this shattering of stale oaths. This creation of something yet unseen, a terrible, but grand horror for all--but them. “Your pleasure. … Your pain.”

On a shallow breath, Zainab would lean forward to seize both clawed hands at the hem of Ronin's soaked briefs. With a level of calculated sophistication, peel them off of those perfectly tanned, muscular legs. Littering the waters as they would touch and drag their clothing away, into his realm; the nether. "They are all mine... and... all I have ever been, will forever be... is yours."

Upon releasing Ronin's sharp ankles with care, the crocodile leant in to eclipse him. Their chests, nipples touched light as a feathers, but each aroused inhale fit them and their bellies together like an incomplete puzzle. Zainab claimed his beloved's worn mouth first. Obeying the summoner's perfect law; no more words. His hunger remained, but dwelled further in the background of his kiss than ever before.

He began to savor, memorize the curve and even twitch of Ronin's full--still cold--lips against his own. Determined that those perfect lips would be slicked, swollen, perhaps even a bit cut by the time he had completed Ronin's first task. His right hand would take grip to form dips in Ronin's chiseled cheeks, exposing his taut throat.

A neck that appeared timeless as marble, protected behind pillars and walls of a holy temple, for far too long. Zainab would flex open his maw and pierce Ronin with an unforgiving bite, that would reach well past his fortified skin, but clench the muscles and tissue hidden beneath til a pain near unbearable would flood his system. All the while, this cut gave way to that crimson elixir only shed by the most foolish or worthy. The very life and essence that created this perfect being graced his tongue. Sweet as heaven, but cursed and acrid as snake venom. It was no wonder this elixir imprinted upon him at first taste.

Zainab would stop, but only to loose the flood that carried that heat he had summoned. His prior instinct to bathe and cure the wound was no longer withheld. Zai's wretched tongue would lap and seal each wide dent over with both arousal and that sense of care he had been overcome with.

Meanwhile, his unkind hands carved at the length of Ronin's torso, hips and thighs. Both clenching the sand against his true love's form and brushing it clear from him. Still finding pleasure in the dragon rider's inherited element that would forever sooth, tickle, and vex the soul, flesh and senses of a crocodile.

"Let me... taste you." The sound of his uncensored words were akin to a beg, as if he hadn't made good on the wish already by drawing the godling's very blood. With a swipe from his palm, Ronin's hips were turned to the side to reveal his sand kissed rear end. Zainab delved downward to spread Song's plump right cheek aside. Near plummeting his nose, lips and chin into the delightful heat hidden within. Like some mortal who had been without water for days.

He never looked away from him even as they transitioned to the shore. Spellbound on the desperate need to hear his name on that tongue. To hear him say anything would be a blessing in this moment. Every possessive word that came from his mouth, every oath of faith, stirred a sleeping force within him. Something primal called to him whenever Zai was near. As if a beast slept within him only walking from its eternal slumber once it's mate was found. It clawed from within Ronin's chest and it wished to drag Zai into it's cage to be kept and fed on. Ironic given Ronin found himself in the mouth of Zai's beast.

That sting of fangs sinking into this unmarked skin. The mere taboo of letting some bite into his flesh, drawing the warmth of his own blood to paint over his tanned canvas. A moaned gasp escaped his lips into Zai's sensitive ears but it wasn't of rejection. It was craving he was once ashamed he missed. But there would be no more shame when it came to his want for this man...this beast. Every part of him latched onto Zai's as he fed on Ronin. Legs coiled around his large waist, grinding the growing blood rushed cock into Zai's abs. His hands wrapped like a cobra's grip tight enough to squeeze the air from his throat. Only his grip forced Zai's bite dipper. The need for his mark pushing trickled pre cum to smear into Zai's skin as Ronin grew feverish from the friction across his member. The last time Zai did this act Ronin returned the favor but he knew better than to try his teeth against those scale. Instead he licked across the space between Zai's neck and shoulder. Slipping the tip of his tongue to trace across every ridge and divide between his scales.

Ronin gave into the act of submission until it was no act. Something that felt so foreign to him, so violating was almost freeing when at the hands of Zainab. His dragon born in crocodile skin. It was surreal the way his body craved this new form of him. The attraction that drew him before was maddening now. Ronin never knew the true meaning of restraint until he first witnessed Zai's evolution but could not touch him due to the rift he put in place. Now he dared any force on this plane or the next denying him to pleasure of being at Zai's mercy.

The sheer savagery of his tongue pushed Ronin over whatever ledge of self control he had left. His wet hair pressed back into the sand as if he could drag himself away while his hands dug dipper into the ground to push himself deeper into Zai's rigid tongue. "By the gods....fuck....oh fuck Zai..." Words spilling out his mouth without the usual decorum or wit. He could barely think straight as his multitasking intellect could only center on the sensation led by the dangerous tip of Zai's tongue. Opening his hole to latch onto it greedily.

" Taste me...drink of me...I am yours to....fuck...oh fuck....yours...I am....yours..." As much as he tried to return words they broke under the tongues lashes. Eyes rolling back he surrender to to the bliss that sparked lights behind his eyes light fireworks. His mind quiet as his body rode Zai's tongue

This had to be the reckoning Zai spent his whole life running from, but the gentle kiss that Ronin adorned to his lips disarmed the well programmed resistance. Dispelled the fear. More than that, as Ronin's most secret internal debates began to spill out for them both to hear. A confession. One so vulnerable and massive, that Zainab considered it brave. Then terrifying, because many of the thoughts Ronin shared were an exact mirroring of Zai's points of contention since their separation.

For once, Zai couldn't recall if an impact was what he was after that day they stood on the red shore. No more needed to be said... for him, it simply hurt. It hurt to turn his back completely to Ronin--it felt the same as turning on himself--but that hurt was the one absolute maintaining their private pledge. Even for the (not-so-sober) moments Zai tried to convince himself it could be ended, he would remember that he stayed away for Ronin's sake too.

So it was a surprise to hear that Ronin craved his acknowledgment. When through the many seasons of hatred and grief, Zai didn't stop considering the warrior's best interest. Why should he seek the favor of a demon when he could receive that and more from a God King? An edge carved through the soft words with each strike the dragon rider connected with Zainab's chest. Something Zai was prepared to handle, but his feelings of genuine concern started to well up again. He set his jaw, held back just awhile longer, though his eyes could no longer cloak the pleading whirling inside. How he just wanted the hurt TO END as he saw it in such a physical form, pouring out of his treasured fixation.

I'm so afraid of you. That you might be the one person with the power to break me like no one else.

Those words, the look in Ronin's eyes as he courageously vented to him directly, Zainab feared their protective pledge and far more was about to be broken.

"I don't want to." The plead trapped inside was evident in his voice, as he reached his free hand to cup Ronin's warm cheek. He pleaded with himself. Despite knowing in his soul... in his heart that this was true. His nose lightly nudged against Ronin's and his forehead came to rest above his knotted brow. An attempt to comfort. Shutting his eyes, he said it again, "I don't want to."

He would say that Ronin's father would have been right to make an example of him. The confirmation bias should have felt validating, but Ronin's declaration that his own life would be lesser without Zai rivaled what he was accustomed to hearing. Believing. This should have prepared him for the last statement... that sounded like pure surrender from Ronin's spent lips. Who had been lost in the wondering and trapped by a future they had both sprinted toward blindly.

"... But I would have then." He admitted. "I told you I had lovers who wanted me dead. ... They made for better assassins than those my competitors hired." This wasn't the best time for humor. "... I grew up humbled. Pitied. Underestimated. Once I left those walls, I swore I wouldn't let the world mistake me for someone lesser again. No one would.

On Earth, you either have power or you have none. Even our saints work the same way." He grimaced at the word he hated most. "So I took like they do. I spread my own gospel 'f fear and hopelessness. I enjoyed seeing it in the eyes of others."

If he were honest. "Still do." The serious tone was suddenly cut as he huffed a small chuckle. "My intentions toward you were no better." He made clear. "'how that would have played out--... you were better off on your own."

He felt most pathetic to admit this. "It started to become enough; to stay on the island... where you were. 'see you whenever I wanted. Like a pretty fish in a bowl." His free hand traced up Ronin's curved spine. "So long as you stayed. So long as you remained unharmed, I wouldn't contest the gods. I would stay forever."

"No one has denied me like you. No one... makes me feel more alive. A hunger... a thirst that cannot be satiated. Even when I taste you." He could get hard just off the thought. "... You are magic, Ronin. I see that in you... the same way I did when we met. 'n every day since. ... I don't want to take from you or harm you. Like a human would.

I've... searched my life for proof of you. 'n I've seen so much more, but... you're all I want to think about." With that said, Zainab tried to give this moment room to breathe. To hear Ronin say he was falling for him was still unconscionable to Zai... but what was he to do if he felt the very same way? He wrapped his arms around Ronin, and lent closer in til he could capture the weakened warrior's lips. A kiss that was still warmed by endless desire, but handled with the intention to be delicate with Ronin in this moment.

The nudge caused him to loosen the stiffened position his body locked him in. Urging him to release a held breath he hadn't known he'd taken as he leaned into the drawing touch of the other. A softness that made the growing stiffness in his briefs feel inappropriate for such a moment. At least until he felt Zai was having the same issue himself. Ronin was a fool to fall into this act that Zainab played so well. That he was worthless...undeserving. His accolades spoke otherwise. Ronin knew from that first time they hunted down assassins for stepping upon their island. He told himself it was an act of loyalty to their gods. But it was less to do with his faith and more so the company he ran those streets with.

"You are worthy of so much more than you may ever give yourself credit for...there is reason more than my denial of my feelings that made me fight you so. It's that I knew there was no one else among the others who would ever be a threat to my ascension other than you." He cracked a smile with the slightest breath of laughter behind it. "I guess in a way you still are..." Because as they spoke these words. These blasphemes promises that broke their vows to their gods...he knew there was no turning back. Some doors could not be closed once opened. And even if they were safe here hidden away from their gods there would be consequences when this all came to an end. But looking into those eyes, those pools of a hungry beast that craved him...he knew they would tear the stars from the sky before ever allowing themselves to be torn from one another again.

However his words held no regret. If anything these feelings freed him from a path that was not his true destiny. Ambition was a hallow platform to stake your value upon. This, whatever this cord that tied him to Zainab was, empowered him more than an stolen text could. "I'm magic..but together we are power in it's truest form." Because together he knew not even the gods could tear down what they could build together. Adjusting himself in Zai's hold he rose up, bracing on the croc's shoulders for leverage. His legs wrapped gracefully around Zai's waist while his hands held to either side of his face pulled him. "You have me, Zainab Fadoul. Know that there is no doubt in me heart for that to be true longer than I wished to admit. And know that as the man I take to stand at my side you are just as worthy as I. You are a force of nature and formidable beast that will tear through any opponent before you. Know I would never seek companionship with one beneath me."

Zai confessed he stayed for Ronin. Not for the gods, the power or the throne. HIM. He had already made the choice Ronin had warred within himself over. That was enough for him to also let go of the path he walked to forge a new one with Zai. They would rush into the flames of their damnation together hand in hand. That was his vow. "We have said enough words for now. We have to see this festival through to the end before we can make our next move. But before that..." His arms wrapped around Zai's neck until their lips were brushed together with every word he spoke. "...I want you to take me to the shore and show me how much I belong to you." A kiss capture Zai's bottom lip before a light nip of teeth took hold of the skin. Grinding his growing erection into the one Zai had been hiding. "I want you to fuck me until I am burned into your memory of this shore...and then do the same in my garden...and then once we can no longer tell the present memory from the past I want you to accept Bane's invitation. And show him how much of a fool he is for calling a dragon into his little play den."

A speechless Zai would make for a happier world indeed, but the greatest of his joys in life were talking shit and tasting his fill. Ronin was so bold to remind them both of the track record, but there was a softness to the edge of his word choice. Zai would never deny what was true. He deserved far worse--that many others would have gladly inflicted--but supposed the year spent apart was a special punishment only the pair of them could pull off. As if they had waited their whole lives for such a challenge.

Ronin Song's smile would have left the entire war room stunned in New Olympia. It worked as a salve for not only Fadoul's remaining doubts, but the concern he held for the godling's wellbeing during their silent spat. Only this smile showed him that there was life after so much death and destruction they wrought. There was still light. To witness the sight endeared Zai and made room for a slight ache in his chest. Did his heart just get a boner?

It seemed Zai's almost-prayer had at last been answered once the night folded in around them. Dark and light. Indulgence and restraint. A deep ocean and floating sky island. Fadoul spent the whole year convincing himself that neither could share space. Not without one of them coming out short handed. But this room stood to prove the contrary. The room, paired with Ronin's subtle vying for connection through his touches.

"Don't be so gracious. Not til you know more." He chuckled from his squatted position beside the dead fire. "A bit of mystery is better than the boring reality. I prefer every story a stranger imagined for me." In his experience, a mix of wonder and disdain made every fight or sexual encounter better. Certain that Ronin would not free him from the task, he rolled his eyes and let out a soft, self-pitying groan. "Ruminating over this shit... nothing could make me softer."

As if sensing the pains a show-and-tell might cause the croc, Ronin started to shed what little clothing he wore and inch close to the water. Like a spell, Zai's attention shifted back solely to Ronin. Watching him this time felt far more innocent. Out in the open. Knowing Ro was aware... and ready to flaunt himself. Just for Zai. The moment oddly meant a great deal to the beast. Of course, that coil of arousal stirred, but it was delight enough to watch Ronin settle waist deep in the shallows. More proof that this picture... belonged. It felt right.

The animal was thrilled to heed the rider's delayed call. He abandoned the small camp. His steps quite silent in this preferred element. Soon, he took a spot in the water before the ethereal godling. His pale, scaled tail draped behind. Somewhat buoyant as it curled around the small ripple waving around their bodies. "Always in such a rush," He quietly teased. "but I guess my patience hasn't gotten us very far..." It was impossible to keep hands off of Ronin when they were so close... and Zainab was done trying to.

With a slight bend, he gripped and lifted Ronin from the dark water with only his left arm. His forearm and wrist hugged below the warrior's ass, and fingers clutched greedily at his left cheek. The sound of Ronin breathing against him and the water dripping off of his body gratified the crocodile as the same sensations had last night. "... You are beautiful..." He caught himself sighing aloud while his green eyes that had drank in Ronin so many times marveled once more.

"It's a town... on some land mass back on Earth called Africa. All the way down south." He explained, trying to keep details simple. "'a place overlooked, unless the crimes that kept us fed and entertained couldn’t be ignored. ‘my first murder was that sort of situation.” He grinned at the memory. His victory of avoiding consequence. The curse he became to the world with fewer lines left to cross.

"I didn’t want or plan to.” That was until Jinx sent him back. At first he was sure it was another means for the Gods to torture him, but the venture inevitably led him to Father Dagon. An answer to the true mystery of his young life.

The small grimace he developed while saying this gently vanished from his features. "Alexandra is a couple of concrete walls for the hopeless... but it's also the most honest place I've known.” He came to accept that. Almost found comfort in it.

“As for my crew, we went our separate ways, but Sipho stuck with me. ('more that we were paired together.) ... I didn't know him too well then." Thinking of Sipho, he tended to picture him as an adult, but being in this place took Zainab back to that blissful week when they were young. The much harder months that followed. When their lives officially began.

He parted his mouth to correct, as was his nature when someone spoke half truths about who he was but his words were caught in his throat. The sudden lift from the water caught him completely off guard until he was up in Zai's arms nestled against his chest. Ronin felt small....helpless...but there were other words he couldn't scratch just below the surface. He tried to speak but was once again silenced without words by Zainab.

"... You are beautiful..."

Ronin just stared up at that face with the backdrop of a million stars over head as those words blanketed him. He had nothing to say in response. Just a bunch of feelings that broke to the surface he couldn't process fully. He felt small and helpless....but also safe...and...what was that word Zai used? Soft? Yeah that felt about right. Although the gesture made some parts of his lower half semi-harder the rest of his body felt soft. So instead of biting back or dismissing the gesture, he just melted into Zai's hold. Letting the beat of the creature's heart offer music to the tales of his past. Listening as it rose or fell depending on what part of the story he shared.

From the angle he laid he couldn't see Zai's face but he could see how his jaw shifted as he talked about his first kill. He could tell Zai was smiling. And it made Ronin smile too for whatever reason, quickly questioning how he could share in a kill without knowing the full story. Because...it made Zai smile was enough reason. A person he once shunned for looking to hunt down elves in their sleep. At his lack of honor in war. But where was this moral high ground Ronin believed he could stand on? His father's were knights of honor and code but they held a level of respect he believed he inherited. However after stealing from the Acoma archives and robbing souls of their peace in death did he have any honor to wear? No. In truth he was not a knight like his fathers...he was an assassin for the gods much like Zainab. They had much blood on their hands spilled for power and sometimes enjoyment of the kill. And yet there was no hand he felt safer in.

When the story came to an end Ronin felt he received an offering of Zainab that many would ever receive. Would anyone be bold enough to even ask? Or were they all too afraid to get close to the this beautiful, majestic beast he was more drawn to than he cared to admit. A boy raised around dragons would never shy away from someone like Zainab. Even now as he grew in size and lost parts of his features that made him more human than beast. If anything these enhancement weren't a mutation in Ronin's eyes but signs of evolution. A show of the power that laid dormant in Zai before.

He rose a hand to stroke fingers in a downward gesture across Zai's face. Silently asking him to look toward Ronin so he could tell him these words that were bubbling at the back of his throat. Only when their eyes met again Ronin's body reacted in away he hadn't planned but also didn't fight.

It wasn't the usual heated, lust fueled kiss they were accustomed to. It was...what was that word again? Soft. Grateful. Loving. He stroke his hands stained in enough blood to turn the color these waters with such gentle affection across Zai's skin. But before it could get too deep or Zai could slip that dangerous tongue of his into the mix, Ronin pulled away. Silently looking up for a moment before he finally spoke. "Thank you for sharing that with me...it's clear that there is more to you than I allowed myself to give you credit for."

He held the gaze for a moment before he turned away and rested against Zainab chest. These words were dangerous and he wasn't sure he could speak them all while under the weight of that gaze. "Did I tell you why I left New Olympia after that night we shared? Because you were a distraction. Not because we were rivals...but because I had tunnel vision whenever you were with me. Even when I didn't look your way you still penetrated my thoughts..." They had shared their pasts but now Ronin sought to reveal truths about their present. Because this all felt like some small window of freedom that would soon close. They would be back on New Olympia with their gods peering into their every thought and secrets. He needed to get this out while it was just them in their heads.

"I left and came back with a new power and a dragon feeling like a god. But it only took a few words with you to make me feel weak again. Not because your words hurt as much as I was just disappointed. Because even when away from you there was no one I wanted to acknowledge my new power more than you. To acknowledge me." He ran had over Zai's chest as he spoke. Distracting the nerves that made his whole body want to seize up by the random shapes he drew into Zai's skin. "So I put up another wall between us and kept my distance because you were again distracted me from my goal. But whoever said out of sight, out of mind fucking lied. You were still there in the back of my thoughts no matter how I tried to ignore it."

Something swelled in his body and those gentle fingers clenched into a fist and slammed into Zai's chest. Not enough to hurt that thick hide of muscle but it was a release of frustration. "Why? Why do you seep into me so deeply? Why do you continue to remind me that no matter how much armor I put on you always find the one crack to breakthrough..." He hit him for third time before something broke in his chest and it all came spilling out. "...I'm so afraid of what I feel for you. Because I don't know what you want from me. I don't even know what I want from you. But I know it's not just the way my body craves your touch. My lips craves your kiss. It's so much deeper than that..."

He finally looked up and again something was on his face that would be a shock for anyone. In the corner of his eyes there was the smallest build up of moisture like he was on the verge of tears. Ronin would say it was just the water from around them but his face never touch the surface. "I'm so afraid of you. That you might be the one person with the power to break me like no one else. And I can't understand why?" Zainab Fadoul was not the guy he could've brought home to his parents. His father Dio would've probably welcomed him but his father Hugo probably would've taken Zai's head after a few choice words. The concept brought a quick amusement to the tension in his chest. His laughter shaking one tear free to fall down his cheek. "My father...the one whose sword is in the garden...would've probably mounted you head over the fireplace if I brought you home. And as much as the idea of silent you I could look at everyday sounds appeal...I would miss the better parts of you I enjoy most. Surprisingly your voice is one of them."

He felt so exposed in Zai's arms. Like he'd taken those clawed fingers and tore Ronin open, causing something to leak out he couldn't control. No one touched Ronin the way Zai did. The way he was frantically worried by Ronin's fight and the scars she caused. Many people to Ronin he was beautiful but no one penetrated him with those words like Zainab. The way he held him and made him feel safe for the first time since his parent's death. "I'm afraid of you Zainab Fadoul...because I think I'm falling in love with you...and I don't know what to do with that feeling once we leave this place..."

So practiced in this personal code. He was surprised when that sick feeling didn't crawl up. A tell in moments of self-betrayal. Secretly, he took satisfaction in what the moment revealed. Ronin Song was different from any soul Zainab had come across. The apology would sit amongst Zai's innumerable acts of cruelty. One he couldn't and wouldn't take back.

The tricky part was what came after. How the other might receive those words. Zainab was at peace with a lack of control in this special circumstance. That was what made an apology genuine. If Ronin rejected the gesture, it was his right to do so. All Zai could process was the silence at first. When Ronin turned his cheek to grimace, a rightful rejection seemed imminent, but his final reply didn't match. It was strange... to surrender like this. Stranger, to find Ronin joining in. Accepting. Binding.

The white of Zainab's eyes showed clearer once Ronin rested against his body. It was unfamiliar territory. Scary, in it's own way, due to his inexperience. He felt his cold heart begin to thud, for once not fueled by rage or hunger. Zai didn't know. He never imagined he'd put himself in this position. Least of all what he should do after. Lucky for them both, it seemed that Ronin was practiced enough to have an idea.

Ronin's sense of security encouraged Zai to lean into his own. His thick arms enclosed around the other's frame to... embrace him. His left hand cautiously settled around the back of Ronin's head and neck. Pale digits nested atop the many dark curls. And he savored this moment that felt close to serenity. Zai could no longer distort the inner truth that had struggled to be acknowledged. That he never wanted to be the harm that came to Ronin Song. Through words or violence. He would pay whatever it cost of himself to protect him.

"Hm." He chuckled, "Tempting, but I intend that to be my first... and last. So you might savor the moment." He teased. "'don't tell me apologies are treated like cheap currency where you come from too..."

Ronin continued to share while Zai quietly listened. It sounded like absolute nonsense to the uneducated beast at first, but the logic was simple enough to follow. Except for Ronin's ability to view Sobek's spawn in such a kind light. Flying high beside Draco and his rider. So close to the sun. "Maybe..." After all he witnessed, Zai couldn't confidently deny the possibility.

"Draco... I could trust. Without a word exchanged. 'unflinching in his loyalty to you." This wasn't news to anyone, but in rooms with strangers who were merely out for themselves, Zainab appreciated some beacon of clarity. Even if the dragon would rise against him one day. "... something to admire."

He felt a final, cleansing breath wash between their bodies before Ronin raised the question. One that Zainab was avoiding, mostly for his own sake. To say this place was of Acoma, there shouldn't be an ocean connected to the sky island. "I don't know..." He spoke honestly. The waters were inviting, but he had spent thousands of hours exploring many Indian ocean bays.

"... You could check it out with me," It felt awkward to offer, since he was usually quite private. "but our last beach walk was a bit of a disaster."

It was meant as a joke, but Zai did feel nervous. The ocean was the one place he felt embraced without judgment. But if he could understand dragons (at least pretend to), maybe Ronin would meet him halfway. Gathering his courage, he endeavored to appear bold as ever. Landing a brisk pat with his palm against the meat of Ronin's thick thigh muscle. "Come on. There might be a tiki bar and fuck lounge with my name on it 'round the bend." However unlikely.

-----------

The garden paths dusty ground softly loosened on their approach to the sandy shoreline. Despite the restrictions of this 'room', the beach seemed to stretch a generous distance. A literal tropical bay, the ends masked with a thick collection of swaying palm trees. Uninhabited, clear and warm even at this early hour.

Zai felt himself smirk, "It's smaller than I remember." No wonder his memory was fuzzy. "Maputo Bay. This was where I swam in the ocean for the first time." Despite his underwhelming introduction, that first taste of freedom was still palpable from where he stood. An inspiration he didn't take for granted. Rather than jump in, Zai progressed across the damp end of the shore.

He let go of a heated sigh as he moved to correct the offense instead of bite back, "Words have no value to be deemed as any currency. Just a string of air and sounds. And a apology holds even less weight than a promise. But YOUR apology? That has value. Value in offering a piece of yourself that is not easily given. As I’d gather you’d rather bite your own tongue off before apologizing to anyone." Said without his ear leaving the comfort of Zai's tempo heart rate. Growing louder some how as he sunk into the melody of it. With a tilt he kept to the tune while looking up at Zai, though his face was hide by Ronin's position. Only able to stare at the sharp edge of his jawline. Something to admire? Did Zainab have anyone loyal to him? Was he loyal to anyone but himself? Even in their comfort Ronin did not delude himself to believe Zai was anything but what he was. A hunter. A predator. A creature of primal nature and desires. But...that didn't mean he was unworthy of the basic kindness so many others clung to.

Ronin was alone but he had Draco. His dragon, bond to him by an unseen tither only felt between rider and beast. Through all their discord Ronin felt himself tithered to Zai, even if it was different. Wondering if he felt that unseen cord that always pulled them together no matter how they pushed away. Like two animals trying to bite a limb off before their realized escape was futile and maybe...just maybe...not what they really wanted. To be a part. To be...alone.

Lifting his upper torso he sat up on Zai's lap. An offer to walk on the beach would be Romance 101 in most books. "Most of our conversations end in disaster. And I have yet to surmise this won't as well..." With a hand on his wide chest for support he met Zai's gave for a lingered moment. "...but it's going better than most..." His mouth doing something most uncharacteristic for him again...he smiled. Genuinely, even a slight flash of teeth. If he didn't know any better he'd think this 'Zainab' was a figment of his imagination like the rest of their hotel room. Lifting himself off and on to his feet again he waited for his guide to rise and him to follow.

Ronin fought the urge to reach for Zai's hand as they walked. Had Zai and his lack of boundaries taken Ronin's hand he might feign to fight about it even let himself be led. Gosh, what was happening to him? Zai was doing the thing Ronin hated (in theory) the most. How distracting he could be. They were on a mission and yet here they were walking towards a beach like they snagged the private villa in a Love Island comp. Don't judge him for knowing what that was. Before his thoughts could get too critical of his actions his mind was distract by a sudden shift. As his bare feet left the soft well kept grounds of his father's garden to the outstretch field of sand, night fell. He hadn't noticed till now that the sun never went down over their villa or the garden and yet it was a gradual shift from day to night as they walked further.

"Is it smaller or are you just bigger?" He teased, running a hand up Zai's bare back before walking around him to explore a little further. Continuing to speak while eyes scanned the surrounding like he was looking for a threat as much as taking it all in. "Never heard of either places. Granted I never left the island on Acoma until I came to New Olympia...it's...better than I gave credit to your origin story." Yes that could be very offensive to say. Honesty, especially from Ronin, had a habit of having a little bite. This barely a nip though.

Making a path towards the recently abandoned campsite he picked up on things like any good tracker. The number of indentation in the said, the members of his crew. Walking pass each patch till he stopped at one. "You slept here..." Said more so to himself as he somehow figured which one belonged to Zai. A familiarity to the body Zai once stocked when they first met. "Do you know where they are? The members of your crew?" Leaving the campsite peeling away his shirt as he continued on with a line of rapid fire questions. "Why did you need to escape...Alexandria, is it? Where is that? Where is this? Do you ever want or plan to go back?" By time he finished speaking Ronin had stripped down to his briefs. A little closer in dress to Zai now than before. He tested the waters first with his toes, letting his body adjust to the settle temp. Not to hot, not too cold. Like a perfect 70-80 degree spring day. As the water rose to his hip he turned to Zai with an invitation in his eye to join.

The fire Ronin helped coax out in Zai's chest threatened to redirect. Down south, he could feel the coil and stir long before Ronin began to make his climb. But he got ahold of himself, by taking full grip of the summoner. His worn finger pads held pressure upon the subtle dip where Ronin's thighs and ass connected, making dents in his soft skin. Under the obsidian warrior's shadow, his green eyes and pale lips arched to reflect that cruel pleasure he empathized with so intimately.

"I don't mean to be discouraging, dove." He wouldn't waste more breath on the acolytes, come and gone. Zai made it no secret, Ronin knew how he despised the others. They burned a bridge together so Zainab made it so with all of them. Every acolyte for themself. Let Ronin do as he pleased. So long as the crocodile's personal game wasn't cut short. "Animus knows, I would have gotten out of hand quick with a talent like yours. Only, I would miss the screams."

He was perplexed to hear more, that Ronin didn't design such a cage for the beast... and even envisioned a greater fate. Zai had no choice but to face this unbelievable truth from the last man he expected to hear it. Like the night prior, there was nowhere to run or hide at such a proximity. Neither budged to repeat the avoidant pattern.

Despite a rousing pleasure and new found security, ready to eclipse his mind, Zainab still carried a heaviness within. Not elicited by that gentle touch the other slipped atop his possessive hand, but in the very eyes of the dragon mentioned. Draco, who would not have approved of Zai throwing such a question at his rider. Even heartless Zai could see his implied accusation struck Ronin in a place the demon hadn't managed to reach before. A price paid for an answer he might not receive.

The cloaked hand tilted up to link their matching symbols of arrogance and regret together. With a slide and turn, he brought the top of Ronin's hand to his cheek. The warrior would feel a slight scrape of morning stubble and rise and dip of scars as Zai rubbed against it. There was no hiding his own signs of self-abandonment in compliance with the Dark Court's wants, when he could count each in his reflection every day. Zai's lips traced the bumps of Ronin's deceptively soft battle calloused knuckles.

"... I..." No. To say these words for the first time, Zainab couldn't hesitate. His green eyes peered up at Ronin. A contrite predator.

"I apologize."

"... But I needed to know."

He would kiss him, if only he could believe it was deserved after all the hurt he inflicted and harbored all this time. If only he could believe a touch from his claws or fangs could actually heal something. Let alone someone. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed with Ronin's deep pair. Showed him the respect of a beast who had been humbled.

The title of 'dove' should make him cringe and pull away. Never wanted to be seen as something as soft and pure as the bird. But...oddly enjoying the tile that came from Zai's lips, and from no others. So he settled in the title and the hold Zai had on him without any need to pull away. He was the one that climbed into this seat after all. Even in this sense of serenity that washed over him what came next was far from expectation.

"I apologize."

Ronin braced himself to find something less than genuine when he looked to Zai but it appeared he meant those words. And for the second time in the last couple of days Ronin was rendered speechless. He wanted to bite back or say something to to dismiss the words as if they meant nothing. And yet all he could do was stare into those eyes as he fought for control of his tongue and senses again. Instead he turned his face away and chewed the inside of his cheek. A habit Zai might start to pick up on when Ronin was lost for words. "A...apology accepted." Nothing more to speak on the matter before he leaned in and rested his head against Zai's chest.

For a moment he just sank into the comfort of Zai's enlarged body. Letting the rhythm of Zai's heart sooth the nervousness that was building in Ronin's stomach. That this was a trick...a dream...that if he pulled away Zai would say something vile and wash whatever was building away. So instead of biting his tongue he let what stirred in his stomach flow up and out of him. "I really do like this new body of yours...and if you keep dishing out apologies like that I might take it for a spin sooner than anticipated..."

Speaking truth of how much he wanted Zai. As much as Ronin felt wanted, if not more. It was just easier for him to stay in the game if he kept others at arms length. And Zai in particular an island away. Because it was hard to fight this pull when they shared the same space. Could he be entranced by the heartbeat in Zai's chest...how his breathing suddenly synced to the crocs after a couple breaths. It felt so calming here. He wished it could stay this way forever. "Did you know that crocodiles have a close relationship to birds...they have common ancestors some billions of years ago. Personally I think that's the mortals way of trying to rationalize you might be descendant from dragons..." Had Ronin researched crocodiles after being so attached to one descendant from crocodile god....maybe. "...probably why you and Draco get along..."

The arrow flew, ending this fantasy, and Ronin closed in to share Bane's invitation. One that felt underwhelming at this moment. Though, a battle in some arena with a crowd to win over would usually thrill him to the core.

But he was too busy, hanging on every word wasted before. A chance, an opportunity to aid in what Ronin needed. Give of himself blindly before being... asked. Zai used the words partners and we. Pathetic proof that, once more, he was wishing for a reality that could not exist.

After a cold year, why would their King call upon and place him in league with his own champion? It wasn't impossible that this was all some trap. A toy-box for Zainab to play in, til drunk enough to drop his guard. With Ronin here... offering himself so blatantly in public and private, it didn't even cost the Dark Court a day to make Zai lose the plot.

The harder Zai fought for power and knowledge, the less in control of the future he felt. He had pledged himself, and unwittingly fittingly became their slave. He believed his mind would remain his own, but that was where belief, hope and faith always fell short. It was not honest. It was not the truth; that they owned his flesh. And that tricky mind? Simply on loan.

For once, the angst felt wasn't only for his skin and freewill... he was ruining the security and future of The Deep Ones. Every choice he made, lead his people to their doom.

You won't find anything lookin' off the edge.

Zainab took a breath he'd been holding before Hesperides vanished and he fell back on one of the garden's lounge seats. He didn't have Dinah's silent comfort or Jinx's drugs to subdue him. Just a collection of soft pillows and all of this... light and beauty. Maybe that's why such intervening words from memory reached him now. Words that he cut too, before the crocodile.

Ronin tested Zainab with such a question. As the demon tried to give whatever was happening here... a chance. Even if that meant that Ronin had already won. Even if that meant that he, Zai, was already dead. There were more important matters at stake.

"'but you've already answered that question." He replied after adjusting a cushion to fill up the lounge with his open arms and cascading tail. "I even confessed..." Too easily, like all the other embarrassing things he'd done the last 24 hours. But he wouldn't take it back.

He noticed that remarkably, the fresh berry hadn't been crushed in his fist. Zainab did hate wasting food, so damned it all by popping the berry into his mouth. Stem included. His mind sought out some imperfection while his mouth devoured. A trace of mildew or dirt. Instead, he found it immaculate. The most balanced sweetness Zai had experienced, second to Ronin's mouth... but he couldn't be sure as he still hadn't sampled his ass (or cock for that matter).

"I witnessed from my shadows. 'the least Henri deserved, I suppose. Considering how he ended up." As always, Zai could say more, but the name held no weight since that day. Unlike others...

"I know, I spoiled your big reveal at the docks." He added in a lighter voice, but that sing-song tone didn't last. "Defeating then immortalizing my prey. Keeping the secret. imagining over-and-over what it'd look and feel like to throw all that back in my face."

He set his jaw and closed his eyes briefly, drawing in a sharp breath. "I stayed out of your way... then Henri was generous enough to show me why I was right to."

After a pause, Zai lazily tilted his head back in Ronin's direction. Expression cross. It was his turn to ask a question. "... If you didn't invite Kinger in... why do any of us know about Draco?" A fresh fire burned, stoked by their conversation and the emotions Zai held for someone actually alive. One of his few friends. He didn't know the burden of responsibility Ronin carried his entire life, to protect a world, a species, but he'd recently gotten a taste.

"Why did you allow a dragon to be branded? ... If it's not all for Him!"

There was no violation felt by hearing Zai was present that day. He couldn't say he was one who wished for audience but he did enjoy being watched by Zai at least. "Aww, did you think I might grant you the same?" A soft hint of mocking amusement as he started to draw closer, bare feet shifted across the well kept grass. "Henri had no value to this to world or the Gods...I simple found a better use for him...and others..." The devilish curve to his lips showed no remorse in his actions. "But while I can't say killing you isn't off the table given the right incentive..."

With the tips of his first toe toes he stepped unto the edge of the bench Zai sat, just between his thighs and hair away from his crotch. He used the leverage to push himself up ever so graceful before setting a foot on either side of the croc's hips. "...however I would never wish such a fate upon you. Even if you may enjoy being at my leash for the rest of eternity your soul deserves a greater fate than my prison." Lowering himself until he was perfectly sat in Zai's lap facing him. Permission? Why did he need permission to sit upon what he claimed? Shifting his rear until he was most comfortable. So close he could still taste sent of strawberries on Zai's breath. "So you have nothing to fear to cause you to stay out my way when it comes to 'that'." Emphasis on that particular word and distinction.

As they continued to play their dance of verbal blades, Zai might've drawn first blood. The questionable accusation of Ronin's choice to bring Draco into the fold stung. And the way his jaw clenched was enough for a show that Zai's words chipped the stoic mask. Not in the habit of explaining himself he didn't HAVE to tell Zai anything. But he chose to anyway. "Firstly, while I do find this little friendship you have with my dragon adorable...do remember that his fate is mines to decide as his rider. He is not a pet or commodity I would barter on a whim. He is a part of me." That sharp tongue that could sooth as easily as it could cut sought a return of split blood. Then it eased a bit as he settled in his seat, turning his face and attention elsewhere.