Instead of trying to reconcile immediately, Taekwoon felt worthless and wrong and he didn’t know what to say… so he didn’t try to say anything yet. In the early mark before sunrise, the dragonrider slowly got ready for the day in an empty room. It felt strange without Jinki’s presence and he wondered where his other half had spent the night. Wherever it was, it was away from Taekwoon, which hurt. Fitting, since the rest of him hurt too. He could only hope that whatever Gain had planned for the day wouldn’t require much of him. Honestly, he didn’t think he had much to give right now.

            He checked his wounds under the bandages to make sure they weren’t much worse than the other day. Ugly but acceptable. Hobbling like an invalid, he went for a quick rinse in the private washrooms, though drawing his bucket of water was a true pain. He regretted his choice almost immediately but at least the cold water helped to wake him. Cleaner than he had been, he then made his slow, painstaking way to the kitchens. It was too early for the dining hall to be in full swing, but he didn’t want to run into people anyway.

            There was no escaping the Head Cook, however. He took one look at Taekwoon and snorted with a knowing gleam in his eye. “You look like Bahamut chewed you up and spit you out,” he commented, one brow raised almost into the headband around his forehead.

            “I feel like it,” the younger man agreed, accepting the meat roll he was handed without complaint.

            “Heard you had a rough day yesterday,” he added, turning back to snap his fingers at the apprentice cooks who were listening in a little too hard. Taekwoon nodded mutely and Junjin turned just in time to catch him before he stopped. “Wanna talk about it?” he offered, wiping his hands on the cloth around his apron belt before he leaned on the prep table attentively.

            “Not particularly,” the dragonrider shook his head, taking another slow bite of his food.

            “You sure?” Junjin asked with a wheedling tone. He turned his head to follow Taekwoon’s gaze when he noticed the younger man looking at the eavesdropping cooks again. “Ah,” he laughed in understanding. “They are a pair of busybodies,” he agreed, giving the two an amused side eyed glare.

            “Sorry sir!” they yelped in unison, turning to focus on their task at hand. It was probably better that way since if they burned the morning meal, they’d be the ones to pay.

            “Ah well. I imagine you’ll have a busy day today, so you may as well as take another roll before you head out,” Junjin offered, snagging another of the meat rolls and handing it off before Taekwoon could object.

            “Does everyone know my business?” he couldn’t help but mutter, still a bit frustrated from the previous evening.

            Junjin tilted his head in mild confusion and shrugged. “You’re a new dragonrider. You lot are always busy. Especially when you’re learning the ins and outs of being a rider,” he added, mouth quirking down into a thoughtful frown before he turned to check on his apprentices.

            Taekwoon winced internally and took another bite “Thanks, Junjin,” he mumbled, saluting the cook with the roll and then shuffling out the way he’d come. It wasn’t fair for him to react so defensively to the cook. He was just still smarting from the previous night’s conversation. Though in truth, Jinki was right in that he shouldn’t have to ask about certain things. Taekwoon should just be able to offer information that was different from the norm, but it was just easier not to say it if he didn’t… Because then he wouldn’t have to answer any follow up questions or try to explain why things were different when he couldn’t always give good answers. Or at least not satisfactory ones. None of which mattered right now anyway.

            The grounds were mostly quiet still but there were a couple early risers. Mostly the newest arrivals and trainees on errands and chores, but a few dragonriders liked the time before sunrise. Why, Taekwoon would never know. Turning his sights to the dragon area, Taekwoon resolutely made his way out to see if he could spy his dragons. He didn’t see them immediately, but at least they’d found a location away from the front of Bahamut’s shrine. They weren’t exactly difficult to locate either. Taekwoon frowned when he saw them essentially out in the open on the plateau, as if banished. His expression softened when he had a chance to really look at them though.

            Copper and blue, they looked extraordinarily different, both in color and size, but they complemented each other quite well. His larger size also made it much easier for Jonghyun to keep Jongup tucked under his wing protectively, the long blue tail sticking out from under it while their heads gently circled towards each other. Taekwoon smiled appreciatively at their position and felt happy and proud in that moment. Whether they heard him or felt him coming, he wasn’t sure, but they woke and started to separate just a bit when he got closer. It almost made him sad.

            Jongup padded over easily enough. At his full height, he was almost one and a half times taller than Taekwoon at the shoulders, but right now, he was about level with his head. “Hey Jongup,” he smiled, reaching out tentatively to see if the blue would come the rest of the way. The dragon paused and stretched his head out, sniffing at the outstretched fingers before nudging the tips with his nose. “You look good today,” he complimented, noticing only a couple bruises and scratches from when he’d attacked Hero the other day. “One could almost say you walked away from a fight with a silver practically unharmed.”

            The blue ducked his head in embarrassment and then preened with a glance back at the copper. Gentle amusement and pride became clear through their bond, and Taekwoon smiled. With a glance down at the second meat roll in his hand, he ambled towards the copper who eyed him unblinking. Unlike the blue, he looked much worse for wear. Though the harness had held like it was supposed to, there were marks where the material had pulled tight against his skin and he had a couple bandaged spots from debris wounds. Not to mention his one wing was not quite folding the way it should and it looked stiff.

            “How are you, Jonghyun?” he asked as he placed a hand on the nearest shoulder. Lying down, the copper was taller than he was. Standing upright, he was almost three times the size of Taekwoon.

            Jonghyun huffed once and it was obvious he wasn’t exactly comfortable.

            “Have you eaten yet?” he asked, looking across the complex towards the livestock pens.

            The copper rolled his eyes and turned his head away.

            Taekwoon laughed. “I can’t really help you with that, Jong,” he added, using one hand to gesture at his own bruised body. “But you can have this if you want,” he offered, raising the meat roll towards the dragon.

            One amber eye rolled back around to see what he was talking about. Amusement roiled through their bond. Taekwoon knew it was ridiculous because it wouldn’t do anything for him, but it was all he had. Grudgingly, Jonghyun swung his head close and tilted it to gingerly bite at the proffered roll.

            “Junjin says you’re welcome,” he grinned, daring to rub the snout with his palm. Jonghyun shook his head and pulled away, but he did settle down and rest it back near Taekwoon’s feet. “Still so touchy,” the dragonrider exhaled, sad that he didn’t have the easy rapport that Hyoyeon did with Donghae. Not that he wanted to treat Jonghyun like that, but it would be nice to be accepted at least.

            A shiver traveled up his spine and he felt uneasy when he got the distinct impression someone was watching them. Glancing around casually, he wasn’t disappointed when he noticed Captain Yunho and Hero off to the side. He was, however, surprised to see Gain there. Leaning particularly close to Hero, who looked very much like he wanted to run away.

            “Taekwoon,” Captain Yunho called with a wave, beckoning the rider over.

            “Sorry, Jong. Gotta go,” he apologized, patting the copper’s shoulder once. He was grateful that at least was accepted. Jonghyun took a breath and sighed but didn’t otherwise respond, so Taekwoon turned his attention back to the trio before him. It took him a moment to realize that Gain and Hero were having a conversation. Well, it looked more like Gain was talking and Hero was being talked to, but talking nonetheless. “Captain,” he greeted when he was close enough, offering a small bow. Much deeper and it would have hurt.

            Yunho seemed to understand as a sympathetic smile crossed his face. “Gain saw you wandering about this morning and figured now was as good a time as any to get started,” he explained with a shrug. “That and I think she wanted to talk to Hero before you both disappeared for the day,” he added, looking over his shoulder and thoroughly amused by whatever his dragon was feeling.

            “For the day?” Taekwoon murmured in confusion, glancing to the gold dragon.

            “You never know with things like this,” Yunho shrugged, turning to bow at Gain. “Your ladyship. He is all yours.”

            Gain seemed to say one final thing to Hero, who nodded abruptly, and then shook to settle her wings anew. More relaxed, she focused her attention to Taekwoon who could only stare at her in brief awe. With the sun just coming up, she glowed like a golden fire, matched with golden eyes that sparkled when they stared at him. Chirping low in , she nodded her head and started to walk, clearly expecting Taekwoon to follow.

            A bit worried about what the day would bring, Taekwoon looked back at Yunho who shooed him along with his hands. Then he glanced at Jonghyun and Jongup, but only the latter was paying him any attention, blue head focused in their direction. He shrugged and waved at the blue who fluttered his wings slightly as if in response. Jonghyun’s tail moved across the ground to circle around in front of Jongup but didn’t do anything more than that. Even then, the blue reacted by pouncing on it playfully, much to the copper’s surprise.

            Taekwoon laughed and some of his worry faded away in that moment. It returned in full force, however, when Gain led him inside the Paramour quarters between the dragon homes and the soaking pools. A large opening allowed passage for even the biggest of dragons. In the antechamber, there were two more large portals for dragons and several smaller alcoves covered by cloth and carved into the cliffside. Distinctly different from the rest of the Aerie, this space was decorated to exude comfort, warmth, and sensuality. Ironically, it made Taekwoon uncomfortable.

            “You’re up early, Gain,” a bleary eyed Heechul mumbled as he stepped out of a smaller alcove, hair a messy brunette bun atop his head and completely . Taekwoon stared in embarrassed surprise until the Paramour noticed he was there. “Oh right,” he nodded, stifling a yawn as he absently reached for a robe on the floor near his door. “Carry on,” he waved, clothing himself in the flimsy fabric before shuffling out of the main entrance.

            The dragonrider could practically feel Gain’s amusement as she used her tail to gently corral him into following her again. “Sorry,” he mumbled, ducking his head and shuffling along, praying no other persons would appear out of nowhere.

            Gain’s chamber was mostly bare. The stone walls had been left largely untouched, though she did have a large woven rug on the smooth floor. She paused at the edge and carefully nudged her talon against his shoed feet before glancing at the dark red fabric.

            “Right,” he nodded in understanding, removing his shoes while she calmly walked into the space and turned around, settling easily in front of him. Stepping on the fabric gingerly, he was surprised by how nice it felt. “What now?” he wondered, shuffling closer to her. As before, she tapped at the spot in front of her with her talon expectantly. Taekwoon did so with nervous hesitancy. This close to the gold, it was hard not to feel at least a little bit intimidated. She was larger even than Hero and, as he’d first thought when he met N, she probably could actually swallow him whole if she wanted to.

            She huffed to catch his attention and then made a lowering motion with her taloned hand. Taekwoon nodded in understanding, though he flushed mildly as he sat down and tried to make himself comfortable. He knew how this was supposed to work, but he wasn’t sure how long it would take to enter Trance with her.

            He looked up with an open mouth to ask but then fell silent as gold eyes captured his. Without warning, he fell. Dark gray landscape hurtled past him and he quickly came to settle on a grassy field. Surprised, he looked around and then watched as the gray turned into blue skies. Taekwoon could only stare until he heard someone behind him. Whirling, he jerked in surprise when he saw a woman instead of a gold dragon. A woman wearing what amounted to a black leather body suit at her core while the rest of her was covered by a sheer black veil.

            “Gain?” he gulped, looking her up and down as he began to question what he was doing here.

            She followed his gaze and laughed. “Oops.” In the blink of an eye, the outfit faded away and in its place was a tight, black version of riding leathers. “This better?” she asked, her tone a bit teasing.

            “Uhh…” he trailed off, grateful only that he himself had clothes on this time. He didn’t know why but he wasn’t going to question it.

            “My apologies,” Gain laughed in earnest, amused by his discomfit. “You are not my usual clientele,” she added, changing her clothes once more. This time, she smoothed down the much more casual lady’s dress. The dark red fabric clashed brilliantly with her short gold hair, but at least she was fully covered. “Better?” she gestured, a brilliant smile working its way past his defenses.

            “Y-yes,” Taekwoon stammered, swallowing hard and looking around furtively.

            “Trance becomes easier with practice,” she offered, clasping her hands before her and walking smoothly towards him.

            “Oh,” the dragonrider mumbled, feeling as if this level of ease might well be impossible for him. “Why-?”

            “Are you wearing clothes? Is the sky blue and the grass green? Am I a human?” she finished for him, a knowing smile on her full, painted lips.

            “Yes,” he nodded slowly, feeling distinctly off balance.

            “Because I willed it so,” she explained simply, one hand extending to her side. She curled her fingers up and a tree grew from the ground, large and healthy and strong.

            “Bahamut’s teeth!” Taekwoon jumped, staring at the apparent magic.

            “I think not,” she shook her head, laughing in bemusement once. “This is my Trance and therefore this world is what I make of it. Now sit,” she gestured behind Taekwoon. He jerked in surprise again when a table and two chairs appeared out of nowhere. “We have much to discuss,” she explained in an ominously serious tone of voice.

            “My Symbiosis,” he offered, gingerly taking a seat as if to test the sturdiness of the solid wooden chair.

            “Among other things,” Gain agreed with a flippant wave of her hand. “Now,” she began, settling herself primly across from him, fingers interlaced before her on the table. “I didn’t start training with you immediately because I had to observe.” Taekwoon tilted his head in confusion. “You and your dragons of course.”

            “Right,” he nodded, his lips and feeling foolish.

            “There is nothing wrong with your Symbiosis, Taekwoon,” she promised him first, her voice confident and soothing. “It’s unusual and backwards, but not wrong.” Her easy laugh made him want to believe that.

            “Then why is it always so wrong when I try with him?” he asked, knowing she would understand who he was talking about.

            “Believe it or not, the problem lies almost entirely with Jonghyun,” she sighed, shaking her head. “Young, foolish, insecure dragon that he is.” Her expression was thoughtful but her tone was sad.

            “I don’t… understand,” Taekwoon admitted hesitantly, feeling immensely conflicted.

            “This is not to say that you share no fault here, however,” she paused, holding up her hand with one long finger extended. “Because of the Symbiosis, Jonghyun has accepted you as his rider. This does not mean he has accepted you as an equal. In all honesty, he probably respects your mate more in this regard.” That made Taekwoon wince. “As I have been told, he fought quite hard for you.”

            And that was more of a gut punch. It felt like the wind had been knocked from Taekwoon and he exhaled slowly. “So I’ve heard,” he agreed in a tight voice. “But I fought Jonghyun as well. And won,” he had to add, feeling just a touch of resentment.

            It amused Gain and she laughed in delight. “Of course you did. Else you probably wouldn’t be here now. But you defeated him when he was a man, new to the form and unable to fight back properly.”

            “How did you…?” he trailed off in confusion.

            “I know how Symbiosis works, rider,” she reminded him with a smirk. “I went through it once myself.” Taekwoon wanted to bang his head against the table in embarrassment. Gain was a Paramour which meant she was a formerly bonded dragon. None of this was new to her. “In your case, however, Jongup altered the outcome. Satoru mentioned that he tried to join your Trance but was only partially successful.”

            Taekwoon had to tamp down on his annoyance at his business being spoken about again. It made sense but it was still frustrating. “Yes. But he was trapped in both forms. Man and dragon. At the time, I thought he was going to die.”

            “He would have,” Gain promised simply, blinking golden eyes once. She explained, “If he had been unable to reconcile his two forms, his body would have failed. Dying here would have killed him out there,” she finished, gesturing to what lay beyond this space. “Why didn’t you let him?” she asked curiously. “He was not your dragon to bind or worry about at that point.”

            “I couldn’t- He was Jonghyun’s mate,” he stated as if that explained it. “He… reminded me of Jinki,” he trailed off, feeling as if it wasn’t reason enough, but knowing in his heart it was. Not in appearance of course, but he felt like what Jinki might have felt like in that situation. It was… complicated.

            “Interesting,” she purred, resting her elbow on the table so she could prop her chin on her hand. “You saved the dragon because you were thinking of your mate but would have accepted death and losing Jinki.”

            “Yes,” he groaned, slumping forward so that his chin could rest on the table. No matter his reasoning, that much was true.

            “Still feeling guilty about that are we?” she asked sympathetically.

            “Probably forever,” he mumbled without pause.

            “Well, that explains why Jongup is conflicted about you,” Gain encouraged, the positive note enough to make him look up. “Indebted to you for saving his life, but intelligent enough to be resentful. He did not gain the full blessing of Symbiosis but because he was a part of your Trance and is bound to his own mate, he shares in some of the… changes,” she explained. “Well, you did attack him with no warning and tried to bind him before you nearly stole his mate. Or what he thought was you trying to steal his mate,” the gold amended with a shrug.

            “That’s something at least,” Taekwoon agreed, a little happy and reassured about that. He had thought Jongup was more receptive to him, but it was hard to tell with Jonghyun being so overprotective.

            “And it brings us to Jonghyun,” she stated firmly, a troubled sound to her voice. “He does not respect you. In fact, it’s very clear he resents you.” At Taekwoon’s confused frown, she clarified. “For almost killing his mate. For cheating to beat him as it were. Human to human. For incidentally forcing him into this bond. For bringing him into a life he didn’t choose or likely want. As you might have guessed, Jonghyun is a strong copper that has probably never been directly challenged in the wild. He has the same problem with Hero,” she chuckled, shaking her head. “And the silver knucklehead is taking it personal. Hence…” she gestured towards where Taekwoon’s injuries would be.

            “I knew that was a strong response for Jonghyun’s antics the other day,” he muttered darkly, annoyed.

            “Yes. And that is a problem that will need to be resolved in time, but our first goal is to fix your relationship with him.”

            “And how are we going to do that?” the dragonrider wondered cautiously. He did not like the excited gleam in her eyes.

            “I’m going to teach you to be a dragon,” she grinned, an almost predatory expression.

            “Eh?”

            “And then you’re going to challenge him as a dragon in Trance. And win. Thus forcing him to respect you as an equal,” she went on as if he wasn’t already panicking at the mere idea of even talking to his dragon, much less fighting, in Trance.

            “That’s impossible!” he quailed automatically.

            “Of course it’s not,” she scoffed, standing up and gesturing towards him firmly.

            Taekwoon felt physically sick as his body twisted and changed in heartbeats. His human form disappeared in the wake of bronze skin, large wings, and teeth and fangs. He roared in panicked surprise, backing away in fear.

            “Calm down,” Gain shushed him, following easily despite their size difference. “My Trance. My world. Remember?” she reminded him, grabbing his jaw in both hands to force him to meet her gaze, gold eyes to amber.

            The bronze dragon whimpered, hunching uncomfortably in on himself.

            “Oh do relax,” she encouraged, patting his nose soothingly. “While Jonghyun won’t teach you how to talk and act like a dragon, I can and will. And I will also teach you to fight like one too,” the gold added, looking at him with a pleased expression. “While you could probably earn his respect in time, there are far too many opportunities for more accidents to happen if you do. Not to mention a decided lack of trained dragons and riders in the Aerie already… So we’re going to speed up the process,” she explained, eyes trailing over him with a pleased look. “You’re a nice big bronze as well,” she grinned. “I won’t have to worry about hurting you too easily.” Her delight was almost palpable. “Oh, I haven’t fought here in so long. This is going to be so much fun!” she cheered, almost skipping in place.

            Fun was not the term Taekwoon suspected he would use.

            Having had some time to think about things and cool off, Jinki knew very well that he had probably overreacted the other evening. While he meant a lot of what he said, he could have phrased things differently… as Henry had kindly told him when he sought refuge in his company. The apprentice healer was a very good listener, if nothing else, and not nearly as difficult to talk to as Mimi, if only because he wasn’t a Master yet.

            Like an older brother, Henry had also gone to the morning meal with Jinki as moral support, but they were both a bit surprised when they didn’t see Taekwoon there. “Maybe he’s sleeping?” Henry had offered helpfully, trying not to jade Jinki’s thoughts.

            “Maybe,” he’d responded, though he was more inclined to think the other man was avoiding him. And likely wallowing in guilt. Neither of which made him inclined to well… anybody.

            He was so bloody foolish sometimes. Taekwoon could fearlessly run at an angry dragon without batting an eye. But he was remarkably skittish about confrontation with Jinki. Admittedly, he didn’t like arguing either, but they happened sometimes in meaningful conversations. Only, when they argued, for some reason it always seemed as if Taekwoon thought they were breaking…

            “I just wish he would talk to me,” he exhaled tiredly while seated in Satoru’s office as the Aerie Master worked on a missive he was preparing to send.

            “He still hasn’t?” Satoru grumbled, glancing over his shoulder with a cross expression.

            “Not really,” Jinki sighed, slouching further in the cushioned seat.

            “He certainly likes to make his own mistakes, doesn’t he,” he murmured as if to himself, a definite hint of disappointment in the tone.

            “That he does,” Jinki agreed with a slow nod.

            Satoru paused and turned about in his chair. “Would tea help?” he wondered openly.

            “No thank you,” his apprentice declined with a laugh, shaking his head.

            “I’m not going to put you to sleep,” the Aerie Master laughed gently. “And really. That was a mercy before,” he reminded him.

            “If you say so,” Jinki snorted before resting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward. When Satoru didn’t say anything after a moment, he went on hesitantly, “Taekwoon was a bit frustrated with me for not telling him some things.”

            The Aerie Master laughed but it was not a happy sound. “Yes, well. It does one like him no good to hear about a Dawnbringer wing harrying the northern coast of Kinshire and the appearance of a band of rogue dragons cropping up near Kokoshir. Not to mention more requests from the sister cities throughout for mediating wings to come and help with tensions that have been rising between trading partners.”

            Jinki winced at the reminder. Jongin had left for Kokoshir recently and he prayed that he did not run into the rogues. The news of the Dawnbringer wing north of Bahamut’s Aerie was also troubling, but it would be met by another wing from the Stardust Battalion and hopefully settle that problem. As for the increase in requests for mediation aide… that was a troubling sign in the numbers they had started to receive them. One every few moons was not unexpected. They’d received three in the last two only. “Wouldn’t it be better for this kind of news to be common knowledge though?” he wondered, and not for the first time.

            “And make everyone else worry the way we do with very little to be done for it right now?” Satoru asked softly as he padded around to take a seat across from Jinki. His face took on a playfully wicked smile as he added, “I didn’t know you had that kind of mean streak in you.”

            “Satoru,” the trainee groaned, though he nodded in understanding. “Commander Eric is sending two wings out tomorrow, isn’t he?” Jinki asked, his voice subdued. The Aerie Master nodded in silent confirmation. “Will they be alright?” he couldn’t help but ask, biting his lip on the answer.

            “Only Bahamut knows,” Satoru sighed with a helpless shrug. “In days past, I would have said yes,” he went on, surprising Jinki. “But now, I feel we are not as strong as we should be. We are certainly not as strong as the Aerie of old was,” he added darkly, expression clouded.

            Leaning forward, Jinki gestured hesitantly. “We could ask High Priest Kevin for help. Surely, he could provide guidance or assistance with recruits or dragons?” he offered, reaching for some strand of reassuring hope.

            “No,” Satoru shook his head, voice strangely flat. “I think it best that we don’t… disturb the Priest with Aerie… problems,” he murmured, as if choosing his words with care. It made Jinki look at him more closely. “Besides, having him here more than once a year is more than enough,” he laughed in earnest, back to his usual self then.

            “If you say so,” Jinki shrugged, conflicted about what he’d heard versus what he’d observed.

            The Aerie Master chuckled and then glanced around thoughtfully. “Goodness. What is the time?” he asked, looking for some kind of timepiece. Jinki glanced out the window and figured it was heading towards dusk with the dimming light. “I fear I have kept you too long today,” Satoru chided himself.

            “It’s fine,” Jinki denied immediately. “I was more worried that I was bothering you,” he admitted, getting to his feet slowly. He knew a dismissal when he heard one.

            “Not at all, Jinki,” Satoru smiled at him with earnest pleasure. “I enjoyed your company.”

            “At least someone does,” Jinki said, meaning for it to be a joke, but it came out more strained and bitter than it should have. He jerked in surprise and raised his hand to cover his mouth, shaking his head in denial. “I didn’t mean that.”

            Satoru chuckled in understanding amusement. “I’m sure Taekwoon enjoys your company too,” he reassured the younger man with a firm clap on his shoulder. “He’s just… young,” he explained, face scrunching as he chose his word with care.

            “He’s eighteen,” Jinki scoffed. More than old enough to have become a soldier in the King’s guard or to marry and start having children elsewhere.

            “Sheltered then,” Satoru amended with a careless shrug.

            “The Aerie is hardly a forgiving environment,” he teased back, feeling comfortably at ease around the much older man.

            “You are being intentionally dense,” the Aerie Master mock scolded, giving his shoulder a gentle shove towards the door. “Now off with you, young one. I’ve work to do and you’ve bothered me enough,” he winked, slipping his hands inside his sleeves.

            “Thank you, Master Satoru,” Jinki grinned, giving a partial bow as he stepped out of the doors carefully. He was tempted to take a moment and investigate the crack in the mural, but figured it could wait for another time. Stepping out into the open air, he could see that it was indeed heading into the dusk marks. With a feeling of nervous tension, he looked up and watched the handful of flying dragons, wondering which ones would be leaving on the morrow. Following one to the ground, he noticed a blue and a copper walking together near the dragon caves. But they were looking at something. Curious, Jinki turned his head to look too and noticed Taekwoon very slowly making his way out of the… Paramour quarters.

            He immediately had to remind himself that Taekwoon had mentioned it wasn’t what it sounded like. And besides. He was still quite hurt from the other day, as even a blind person could see at this point. If nothing else, his niggling concern about his other half’s state of health was enough to make him jog over to check on him. “Woonie?” he asked, pausing just out of range though he wanted to move close and support him. He looked like he needed it.

            “Jinki?” the dragonrider mumbled, turning his head as if he was slow to hear him.

            “You okay?” Jinki asked, looking the other man over with a critical eye. No new bruises but he was quite sweaty and very… exhausted by all appearances. Maybe nauseous too, if the look on his face was any indication.

            “You know that feeling when you run too hard for too long?” Taekwoon mumbled as if in a daze.

            “No,” Jinki admitted with no idea what he was talking about. He yelped in frightened surprise when the dragonrider abruptly turned and got sick, hurling up a thin stream of vomit at his feet. “Woonie!”

            “I’m good!” he croaked, flailing one hand back to ward the other man off. Jinki doubted that, but he watched carefully as Taekwoon stood upright and managed to take a breath. To his credit, he didn’t look quite as bad. “That helped actually,” he exhaled, relaxing a bit.

            “What happened?” Jinki asked with a raised brow, glancing at the Paramour quarters and then back to his other half.

            “Pushed myself too hard,” he mumbled in mild embarrassment, though he managed a determined look at his dragon before he glanced down again.

            “Eh?” Jinki chirped, clearly confused. “Pushed yourself too hard? Doing what?” It was an honest question, really. There weren’t too many things that happened in the Paramour quarters that he knew of…

            “My heart,” Taekwoon groaned with a raised hand as he looked up pitifully, almost pleading in his behavior. “I have just spent all day. With Gain. As a dragon. In Trance,” he punctuated each phrase with a chopping motion of his hand.

            “Eh…?” There were even fewer things that happened in that scenario…

            “Please,” Taekwoon begged. “We can talk later but I can barely think straight right now. I just need… rest,” he assured the other man, half-heartedly reaching one hand as if to grab Jinki’s but then stopping as if that took too much energy. “Healer’s orders,” he added, almost as an afterthought.

            Jinki didn’t even know how to respond to that, but apparently Taekwoon wasn’t really looking for an answer. It seemed as if he was truly distracted for he started hobbling off at his agonizingly slow pace without looking back. Immensely conflicted, Jinki looked from Taekwoon to Jonghyun and Jongup. At least they looked moderately as confused as him. He looked back to the rider and then to the entrance to the Paramour quarters. No answers there.

            Well, he could go and ask. But they probably couldn’t tell him. But he should ask, just to be sure. Did he really want to know though? “Oh Bahamut’s scales,” he grumbled, firming his resolve and stepping into the antechamber. “Hello?” he called out when he didn’t see anyone in the immediate vicinity.

            “Just a moment,” Hyosung’s voice called out from one of the alcoves. In far less time, the immaculately dressed young woman with artfully styled hair stepped out and gave him a brilliant smile. “Jinki! What brings you here?” she asked coyly, batting her lashes in a playfully teasing manner.

            He immediately held up his hand in warding and shook his head. “Not that,” he assured her with a tight laugh.

            “I know. I just wanted to tease you a bit. Heechul seems to be rubbing off on me,” she laughed gently, moving close to stand in front of him with her hands gently clasped before her. “What can I do for you?” she asked with honest interest.

            “Umm,” he hummed, not sure how to ask without sounding… well, nosy or too sad. “I just saw Taekwoon and he mentioned he spent the day with Gain?” he wondered with a shrug and a helpless expression.

            “Oh right,” Hyosung nodded. “He did,” she confirmed without hesitation. “No, I can’t tell you what they were doing,” she answered for him. Her smile was bemused for a moment before she added, “I honestly don’t know. I heard something about special training, but beyond that, your guess is as good as mine. But Gain seemed pleased with him though,” she went on with a thoughtful look at the gold dragon’s entryway.

            “Oh. Okay,” Jinki nodded, suddenly dry lips. “Umm… thank you,” he went on, bowing awkwardly.

            She turned and looked at him strangely for a moment before she realized how that could have sounded. “Oh! I don’t think it was anything like that,” she tried to say, waving the possibility off as quickly as she could.

            “You’re probably right,” Jinki forced himself to agree, though his voice was tight.

            “Oh Bahamut. Just ask him,” she called after the retreating man, sounding slightly troubled.

            “I will,” he waved to try and placate her. “Thanks.” Clearly today wasn’t a good day for it. Tomorrow? Who knew? But shouldn’t he just trust Taekwoon too? He had told him about it, sort of, and he was relatively positive the other man wasn’t interested in women or dragons that way.  “Ugh…” he groaned, slouching as he wandered into the open space again. He thought he felt someone looking at him so he paused and glanced to his right. Jonghyun and Jongup. “What?” he asked in a grumpy tone. The blue tilted his head and the copper huffed as if he was snorting. Jinki frowned slightly and then sighed again. “Complicated indeed,” he murmured, recalling the copper’s words from not that long ago.

            Why couldn’t anything ever just be simple?! People, dragons, life…

(a/n: I do enjoy writing the Paramours. haha And at least we are getting a bit of insight into both parties now. Plus a couple more happenings and explanations for things that are going on outside of here. If you have any questions about anything here or if something doesn't make sense, by all means, let me know. I'm trying to make sure everything is as clear as it can be given the situation and I welcome the criticism that helps me see past my blind spots. heh Thank you!)