Never Leave Jorowyn Alone

Chapter 7

BY: Ginsan

He contemplated trashing the lab, but thought better of it. Since he was the only one who regularly came here, he'd be the one who would have to clean and repair it. With no outlet for his anger, he was forced to bottle it for latter.


After leaving Jupiter, he'd gone on to Saturn. Things there had been pleasant enough. Ignoring the initial awkward meeting with Hotaru of course. He had found himself surprised, when the young Queen had insisted on accompanying him personally during his inspection. It had taken him a while to realize, that the request probably come from being unfamiliar with her own systems. Considering her age, it wouldn't have been impossible that her Parent's hadn't thought to educate the girl in their use.

Though he would never admit it, he had actually found the time spent with the young Queen quite enjoyable. She hadn't tried to talk politics, she hadn't tried to weasel 'special' upgrades out of him, and she hadn't tried to bring up 'Old Times'. The fact that she had been four years old when his planet had been destroyed probably helped with that last one.

When it was time to go, he'd actually regretted it, wanting to spend more time with the lonely girl. He really, really should have.

Neptune had been a logistical nightmare, having to travel from one island to another, and even under some of them. By the time he'd left, he was cleaner than he'd ever been in the last ten years. And somehow, it had become a game to see which of his guides could get the closest to drowning him without him being able to actually prove it.

As for Uranus...

He was never stepping foot on Uranus again. Ever. He had thought the constant 'Challenges' on Jupiter had been bad. At least everything he'd done on Jupiter hadn't been watched over by a bunch of paranoid Amazons. Half the time he wasn't even sure if they were trying to catch him in an 'obvious' ploy to sabotage their Crystech, of if they were trying to proposition him. The snickers from Amara when she happened to overhear them during her inspections only cemented his certainty that sticking around this place for any period of time would be bad for his health. And he could think of at least a half dozen other methods of suicide that wouldn't be as tortuous and humiliating.

Then there was Pluto. If he ever found out who is was that reminded the entire remaining populous of the planet that he was Royal Blood, he was going to kill him. Slowly, and as painfully as possible. The systems were in bad enough shape, that he was going to have to send addition work crews. In between work sites, at least a dozen locals would show up, pleading with him to take the Throne. The icing on the cake had been when someone had sent a injured little orphan girl to do their dirty work.

He'd left a few hours after that, Teleporting straight here to the Lab. He should be heading back to the Palace to check in, but fear of what his slow boiling rage might make him say or do, meant he was most likely spending the night here at the lab.

At least that way, he could avoid running into Diana for a little while longer, and having to deal with what had happened in his office a little over two weeks ago.


So far, so good. He'd managed to make it from the Teleporter to his wing of the palace without spotting so much as the tip of a silver tail. Just a few more corridors and he'd be safe.

He carefully peeked around the corner, before hurrying along. Some internal voice was laughing at him, skulking around like some petulant child trying avoid being caught after stealing a sweet from the kitchens. Oh, how he loathed that voice.

He looked around another corner, noticing the increase in palace servants.

"Great, so much for sneaking in in the middle of the night."

"And why would you need to sneak around? Afraid you might be in trouble for something you arrogant jackass?"

Jorowyn flinched, before slowly turning his head to find a rather ticked off Diana glaring at him.

"Well, this certainly is awkward."

"I can't imagine why. It's not like you fucked me, then ran away to hide for two weeks without even trying to talk to me about it. Oh wait...."

He flinched again, before looking away.

"I, I deserved that." He looked back towards the now empty corridor, then back at her. "I doubt you want to have this conversation out here. Let's take this to my office."

He missed the faint blush that creped into her cheeks as he went around the corner.

A few minutes later, and they were inside his office. He let her in first, forcing himself to hold back a groan as he caught a faint whiff of her scent. He closed the door after making sure no one had seen them. He then hurried over to his liquor cabinet, in dire need of something a little stronger than his normal brew to settle his nerves.

He grabbed a bottle of Black Eclipse, not even bothering with a glass. He took a swig directly from the bottle, doing his best to not look at her.

"What the Hell are you doing now?"

"Calming my nerves, so I can at least try to be civil. I know it's a stretch, but it's been a Hell of a week."

"Fine, not like one more drink will help you anyway. But why the Hell are you pouring a glass of Venusian Flower Ale?"

Jorowyn looked from her down to the bottle he was pouring from.

"Where the Hell did I even get this fru fru crap? I don't even drink it." He paused for a moment, then looked back at her. "But you do. Don't you."

She stared at him for a moment, confused, then at the glass.

"Sometimes. Especially when my nerves are frazzled. Like now."

Jorowyn could hear that little voice in the back of his head laughing again, as he slowly put some things together in his mind. He put the bottle of Ale away, then handed the glass to Diana, before going over to his desk and sitting down. He had a feeling about what was going on, and started praying to whatever Deities might still see him in a positive light, that it wasn't what he thought.

"I wasn't sure how to handle what happened, and I hurt you. I'm sorry for that."

Diana sputtered, spilling some of the drink on herself.

"Did you, did you just apologize to me? As if that means anything coming from you."

Jorowyn glared at her before taking another swig.

"Even I have to admit how badly I screwed this up. The way I treated you was wrong, and there's no excuse that could ever make amends for it.

'That's one way to put it. You left. You didn't say anything to me. You ran away and left me alone. Do you have any idea how that feels? To be used like that, and then abandoned? What was it, another one of your insults for something else you think I've done to you?"

Jorowyn couldn't stand looking at the hurt expression on her face and the tears that had started, instead turning away and taking another swig of the bitter Eclipse. Hell, if he was really truthful with himself right now, he couldn't even stand himself. Years of acting like a jerk to keep people at a distance, and the one time he hadn't meant it, he'd caused this fuck up.

"Leaving like that was a mistake. I've done my best to make sure I never get close to anyone. It's worked perfectly for me for the last ten years. Then you came along. What happened scared me. In that moment, I suddenly cared for you more than anyone else I've ever known. I panicked. I'm not proud of it. Yes, I could have handled it better."

"You got scared. Poor you. I'm the one you left half clothed sprawled across your desk, where any servant could have come along seen me. Do you have any idea what sort of scandal that would have started?"

"I can imagine. I've been involved in my fair share of them. In this though, I certainly outdid myself." He took another swig, placing the nearly empty bottle on the desk. "Think about it. If anyone had found out, it would be me against you. You have your family, your associated with the Lunarian Royal family. Hell, you're the personal servant to the damn Queen. Me? I'm the eternal screw up. I'm the punchline of most of the jokes I heard between Mercury and Pluto. You said it yourself back on the Moon. I'm a pity case. I don't even know why Endy's family has let me stay this long." He stared at the bottle a moment, before grabbing it, and chugging down the last of it. "You have no idea how many times I've thought about doing exactly what you suggested on the Moon."

He slung the bottle into a corner, faintly annoyed that it didn't shatter. The dull throbbing in his head still wasn't enough to drown out that little voice. Nothing ever drowned out that voice. He slumped down onto the desk, resting his head on his arms, willing it to just shut up for once.

He was startled, when he was suddenly embraced from behind, and Diana rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm not saying I forgive you, but you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. Yah, you're a screw up. Hard to deny that part. But you don't have to be. You're a screw up because you let yourself be one. Not everyone hates you you know. Some of us just mildly dislike you."