Work Text:
••• Day 00
"He finally did it! Serves you right, you fucking old bitch!"
"HA – KU – RYU – U—"
"—What the?—Hakuryuu!"
••• Day 01
If they were a few seconds off from escaping from the anti-magic isolation barrier that he had erected, the two of them wouldn't be here today – which would be a damn shame, because victory over that fucking hag feels good.
Of course, it would have been much better if she didn't sabotage his plans of capturing her rukh so he could study more techniques that she has learned in her very long life.
He's learned to not be too picky when it comes to these types of things though – it's more than enough that he's here with Hakuryuu, having accomplished the first phase of their objective. He's not worried about Hakuryuu not recovering from this – the wounds are nothing compared to the burns he had sustained years ago. If he managed to stand having more than half his body burned and his left hand cut off, he could surely survive from a couple of stab wounds.
Judar stays inside the emperor's chambers the whole day, protests from the two geezers otherwise. Also, he doesn't trust any of the staff that they managed to gather – who knew if they were as wishy-washy as them, who could be swayed to change sides so easily – so he takes it upon himself to redress Hakuryuu's bandages, as well as hide Hakuryuu's metal vessels somewhere suitably far from the other's body (no point in having them nearby if they could zap magoi from Hakuryuu's recovering body just by their proximity).
He isn't worried at all.
Judar finds himself floating above Hakuryuu for the next couple of hours.
He isn't worried at all.
But he's getting kind of sleepy.
The emperor's bed is too fucking wide – probably because Koutoku was such a pig – and it's not like Hakuryuu has never experienced waking up to the sight of him curled up beside him.
Judar slowly floats into the space just shy of touching Hakuryuu's right side. The silk sheets of the emperor's bed have the same silky feel as the bedsheets on his own quarters. Judar fidgets as he observes Hakuryuu's bandaged form.
He isn't worried at all.
But he's getting kind of antsy just waiting for Hakuryuu to wake up, because there's so many things he wants to say to the other, mostly along the lines of gloating that Hakuryuu surely chose right in coming to his side since he made his lifelong dream come true.
Judar reaches out and touches Hakuryuu's right hand. Not-that-deliberately, he lets the rukh gathered around him flow into Hakuryuu's body. He's useless when it comes to life magic, but if this can help accelerate his king's healing, then…
••• Day 02
The healers have expressed their surprise at Hakuryuu's faster-than-expected healing, causing Judar to frown suspiciously. It's almost as though they're not that happy to know that Hakuryuu will be back in action much sooner.
Hakuryuu actually wakes up just after lunch – Judar knows because Hakuryuu tugs at his braid, his favorite way of waking him up when they were little. The grip on his hair is weaker than usual though.
Judar stands up so quickly his muscles protest at the motion, but his excitement folds back to himself when he spies the emptiness behind Hakuryuu's gaze.
There's a lot that he wants to say – mostly calls for celebration of their victory – but he settles back down on bed and touches Hakuryuu's hand again, letting the rukh flow.
••• Day 03
Hakuryuu doesn't tug on his braid until after he's mostly finished redressing his wounds.
Wordlessly, the other pushes a plate of food into his face.
It's only then that Judar realizes that he hasn't left this room in three days and that he hasn't eaten in just as long.
Of course, his greatest realization is that Hakuryuu is breaking his habit of never, ever eating in bed, but hey, the bed is so fucking huge, it doesn't matter if crumbs went to one side of the bed.
After eating, Judar reaches out and lets the rukh float into the miniscule space between them.
••• Day 04
Hakuryuu's eyes are still depressingly empty, which remind Judar of that time when he first saw Hakuryuu after the Great Fire.
None of the soldiers in this castle have the capability of teleporting and none of them know how to use the clairvoyance magic, so they still have some time before news travels to Kouen and the rest of the world.
If it comes to worst, he can probably lock the castle inside the anti-magic isolation barrier again? But then, Kouen and his followers have good hand combat skills – the two old geezers might not be enough.
Should he prepare to whisk Hakuryuu away using his teleportation magic?
He wants to fight them all, but he doesn't want to do so without Hakuryuu by his side.
He knows that Hakuryuu's struggling with himself right now – too drunk with the thought of finally killing Gyokuen that he doesn't see that Gyokuen is just one part of this world's crappy fate. He's very straight-forward and pure after all – he can only hate one thing at a time. He hates his fate, but not yet enough to hate the whole world in one go. He'll probably hate Kouen first, then his sister maybe, then his other family, then his so-called buddies at Sindria, but he's going to end up hating everyone else.
Judar is sure of it.
For now though, Judar sidles closer to Hakuryuu and aligns their bodies, presses close from shoulders to the tips of their toes.
••• Day 05
Hakuryuu's eyes are wide open but he doesn't see Judar at all – which is a shame, because Judar's actually being a great help by reading some scrolls about magic.
He started reading about the Kou Empire's history and laws but they're all so boring. Of course, the magic scrolls are also boring, but it's at least more useful for him. He's not interested with the magic used to maintain a youthful look – he's handsome enough, thanks – but his interest is piqued with the sections about healing wounds more efficiently. He has always avoided learning about those because he's all about offensive capabilities – but then.
Look at Hakuryuu and his two djinns that aren't even specialized with offensive power and look where he's now.
(Empty and mostly comatose – but that's beside the point.)
…maybe he should try training for combat instead.
He shakes his head as he flops back into bed, the scrolls thrown aside. He holds Hakuryuu around the waist, but the other doesn't even nod at him in acknowledgement.
He's getting kind of bored just lounging around like this.
••• Day 06
Hakuryuu's totally coming back to himself.
Hakuryuu's totally returning to his cheeky, bratty, annoying self.
Hakuryuu's just shocked that he actually accomplished his goal without him having to resort to a suicide attack.
Hakuryuu's going to return to his old self.
Hakuryuu's going to come back to him.
…Right?
••• Day 07
"…Is Gyokuen… really dead?"
FINALLY.
"Yup! Since she didn't turn to a doll… she's the real thing! And we killed her! Hahahaha!"
"…"
…still no?
Judar's been so beside himself with happiness at seeing Hakuryuu move about that he hasn't paid that much attention to the lingering emptiness in his eyes.
"…What's wrong, Hakuryuu? You don't look too happy… would you be happier if I said something like 'Gyokuen is still alive'?"
…after all, Hakuryuu's hate is what draws them together. Without a target of hate, he's just like this…?
"…no…"
He'll return to him.
Right, Hakuryuu?
••• Day 08
Judar waits for Hakuryuu by the balcony, keeping his back to the scene of the Kou Empire going on with their business as though nothing special is about to happen. The sun is bright and warm against his back, but Judar feels the burn of Hakuryuu's gaze more.
"…I will strike Ren Kouen down."
FINALLY.
"…Then I will become the emperor of the Kou Empire… no, the whole world!"
Finally, there's none of that empty nonsense in Hakuryuu's gaze. There's now that concentrated anger and wrath and despair and he's truly a king, a wonderful, warped king just for him. And after days of being in a daze, Hakuryuu finally smiles at him again, that he can't help but smirk back.
There's still some things that need work with Hakuryuu – he's still hiding behind such grandiose words such as guiding the world on the right path… he should know that Judar will accept him no matter what… he should know that Judar loves that they're both such warped beings that are on their way to wreck the entire world. He doesn't need to sugarcoat his words – not when it's just the two of them. But then again, Judar already understands everything his king wants to say anyway.
"…You understood everything I wanted to say."
"Duh," Judar can't help but say, "I told you so, right? We're the only ones in this entire world who are exactly the same!"
Judar feels the excitement of the entire week of simply staying by Hakuryuu's shell come bursting in one go. Ahh, it's really better if Hakuryuu's like this.
"Our fight will be until our death. Are you ready for that, Hakuryuu?!"
And because Hakuryuu's back to his arrogant and cheeky self, he only replies with: "That's my line! I'll throw you aside if you can't keep up with me!"
He smiles.
After all the time he has spent waiting for Hakuryuu - as if Judar will allow himself to be left behind by his king.
••• end