“I didn’t know you liked cinnamon rolls,” Brick commented, watching me devouring one that Bruiser had pulled out of his bag for me.
“You’re kidding me, right?” I laughed. “Is there anyone who doesn’t?”
Bruiser ruffled my hair, and I made a face at him before returning to my treat.
Brick frowned, watching me, but he seemed more thoughtful than upset. I’d sat down on a log next to Bruiser for lunch, and Brick sat on another a few feet away with his brother, Bastion, who was shooting dirty looks at me.
“Speak your mind, friend,” Bruiser addressed Brick. “I can tell there’s something bothering you.”
Brick and Bruiser got along surprisingly well for two guys dating the same girl, but I suppose all my previous experience of polyamorous situations was based on daytime soap operas which made a game of dramatizing every incident until one lover inevitably tried to murder the other. I didn’t know if I could think of a single healthy relationship depicted on any TV shows I’d ever watched.
I knew I didn’t believe in marriage, after watching the mess my parents had made of theirs, and I’d never really thought about polyamorous relationships as a thing I would do either, but when it came down to it, I guessed it was because I never thought of it as being particularly likely. I didn’t have any overbearing moral opinions for or against it, so long as everyone was happy. I just didn’t know how to make sure that happened.
But Bruiser had been in a harem before, and his advice was to keep the lines of communication open and expectations clear. I supposed that was where Bastion and Lily had failed. Bastion had wanted more than what Lily was willing to give him, and false hope had inevitably turned into a deep hatred when things fell apart.
Bruiser’s relationship with Elise had been an entirely different kettle of fish. She’d provided him a home to return to, and he’d loved her dearly, but while he had committed himself to her, he didn’t live with her full-time. He returned to the forest to roam and came home when he needed affection and companionship.
What he had with me was something else. His loss of Elise still weighed on him heavily, and he swore he would not take the time he was given with me for granted. For the first time in his life, he craved a full-time companion.
“You know things about Emma that I don’t,” Brick said finally. “You’ve thought to ask her things, to give her things that I’d never considered. It makes me feel negligent of my duties.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” I licked my fingers, having finished my snack, and moved to sit next to him. “I don’t expect that from you. Your only duty is to be yourself.”
It must be hard to be an elf-raised orc. He was such an amazing guy, but as elves didn’t find him particularly attractive to elf standards and orcs considered him too elvish to be attractive by orc standards, this was his first actual relationship. He wasn’t used to being liked.
He gave me a gruff smile and kissed my forehead.
“You are too accepting of mediocrity. I want to excel at being your boyfriend,” Brick argued, stroking his finger down my cheek. “I never knew how much I wanted this until I found you. But Emma… You’re my family now.”
Bastion snarled next to him, but I ignored him.
“I think you and Bruiser have a lot in common,” I said, looking between them. “You both want the same things, really. A home. Someone to love. Someone who loves you back. But Brick, love isn’t dished out based on performance and I’m not comparing you to each other. I’m not going to favour one person over the other because they buy me stuff.”
“I know,” Brick said, curling his arm around me tightly in a side-hug. “But if there are things that make you happy, I want to know what they are. I want to know every way I can possibly make you smile.”
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“Brick’s right, Emma. It’s time you start asking for more instead of waiting to see what you’re given,” Bruiser said, brushing his knees off and standing. “We are not like your James from your old life, and we will not allow you to feel like you’ve settled. You don’t have limits here. Whatever ambitions you have, we will help see them through. Whatever desires you have, we will try to fulfil them. And while we can swap notes to find ways to do that more effectively,” he glanced at Brick and then back to me, “we know you may still want more and that’s fine too. Find your voice, Emma, and use it.”
His challenge sparked a feeling of desire in my chest that I knew he could smell on my skin. I gripped Brick’s hand tightly, my tail swishing wildly behind me.
“You know I love you equally, but… separately,” I said, turning my firey gaze to Brick. I wasn’t quite ready for that yet.
“I know,” Brick nodded, leaning forwards to murmur in my ear while Bastion made a sound of disgust at the back of his throat. “If you want him, I won’t be offended. It will be my turn again before long.”
“I can’t take this anymore. You three can catch up with me,” Bastion snatched his bag and stormed off.
“Do you think he’ll ever get past this?” I paused, looking after him in concern. I didn’t like to let Bastion actually see it, but I did care about him, as annoying as he could be. Things had been looking up for us for a while, but that had started going downhill again when I had started seeing Bruiser.
“He’ll have to,” Brick said grimly.
“As a party, we have been through a lot together in the past,” Bruiser said. “But those bonds have been formed by fighting at each other’s side and watching each other’s backs, not by squabbling over lovers. You offer something to our party it has never had before, Emma.”
“What’s that?” I asked, curious.
“A heart,” Brick provided the answer. “We’ve become friends, but we’ve never had reason to stay together beyond the quests we take and a celebration or two afterwards. Every member of our team is going to have to learn to accept you in one way or another."
“We should…” Bruiser hesitated, looking back to Brick. “We should make an agreement now.”
Brick nodded. “Our team.”
I looked between them, wondering what I was missing. “What’s going on?"
“It is good practice in a harem to keep everyone informed when a new person is to be brought into the fold. If we want harmony, especially if we will be travelling together, it is vital that we can trust one another,” Bruiser stooped towards me and caught my chin in his fingers. “We want to give you a free pass with our team. Nightfall, Jackal, Bastion. If you want them, have them. Just tell us afterwards.”
“But anyone else… I want to know who they are first. I’d want to take their measure before I could trust them with you,” Brick agreed. “You’re too precious to risk with just anyone, and our world is filled with scoundrels and cheats. I would not like to see you taken advantage of."
“But me and Bastion?” I repeated, aghast. “I think he’d sooner strangle me than sleep with me. I don’t think you have anything to worry about there.”
“I’m not worried,” Brick sighed. “It would do him good if he could come to see you as I see you. He needs to move on from his past. But I don’t expect it any time soon. I was thinking more of Nightfall and Jackal, however.”
“You expect me to fall for them?”
“Jackal is human. Many races… well, prefer their own kind. And Nightfall, while he is a dark elf and aloof in nature is very handsome by all objective standards. More so than myself or Bruiser, by any means.”
“I like the way you look, Brick,” I said, kissing his cheek to drive home the point. He leaned into it and embraced me warmly.
Brick may look like a monster on the outside, but he was a marshmallow on the inside. I thought again of the moments in the Marvel movies where the Hulk had shown affection and been a loveable monster. It wasn’t exactly a foreign concept, and perhaps those movies had ruined me, made me a sucker for green-skinned muscular heroes.
I’d fallen in total insta-lust with Brick when I first saw him, although he had shown an initial concern that my attraction was of a more biological succubus nature, and I might throw him over when a better option came along. It was why he hesitated to want to form an oath-bond with me as well. I didn’t particularly mind about the lack of formality, as these bonds seemed similar to marriage which I wasn’t keen on finding an equivalent of, but I made it my personal mission to show him how wrong he was when he assumed he was unworthy of being loved. He needed to know I loved him for him, and not because he was convenient or tied to me by some kind of formal agreement.
“I just want you to know I’ll understand. And if it’s with them, I know them well enough that you don’t need to even ask. I don’t want you suffering conflicted feelings like you did with Bruiser. Now go, I’ll catch up with Bastion. You go have your fun. I’ve got a lot to think about.”
“I love you,” I squeezed his arm, before standing and joining Bruiser.
“Tell me what you want,” he said, his gaze fanning the flames that were already smouldering within me.
“I want you to bend me over that rock over there,” I demanded in my most sultry tone. “And have your way with me.”
LEVEL UP!
Mitsy
Race: Succubus
Class: Healer
Level Seven
“Goddammit,” I swore, blinking the announcement away. Clearly, my ‘Seduction’ skill had netted me some experience. I was never going to get used to this world.