Molun preened.
Trill had never seen him quite like this with anyone else, and he could see at a glance that while they were attracted to one another—and Arvus, too—the connection didn’t have the depthof emotion that Molun and Arvus had for one another, or, he was pretty sure, for him. (Perian was right; it wasn’t quite the same seeing things about yourself as opposed to others.)
But it had been entirely obvious with one look at Perian and Brannal that they were utterly devoted to one another. Suddenly, Trill laughed.
“The couple who would put on shows for you. It’s these two.”
Brannal raised a sardonic eyebrow, and Perian laughed.
Sighing, Brannal asked, “Why does it not surprise me that you would feel it necessary to share that?”
“It came up in conversation,” Molun said with would-be innocence.
Brannal huffed a breath, shaking his head, but he looked amused.
“Do you still like to put on shows?” Trill asked with interest.
“Good night,” Brannal announced loudly as he started pulling Perian out of the room.
“We’ll chat tomorrow,” Perian assured him.
And Trill couldn’t help but note that not even Brannal had said no.
Trill turned back to Molun and Arvus. “They’rewonderful.”
Molun grinned. “Aren’t they? It’s so great to see them again.”
Trill could only imagine how hard it was being separated from people that you cared that much about.
They got ready for bed and then climbed in together, Trill in the middle.
“How’s your leg?” Arvus asked.
“It’s fine,” Molun said, considering. “Actually, it—”
His eyes snapped to Trill’s face, and his expression justmelted.
“Trill, honey, have you been healing me? Is that why my leg feels so good?”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t doing more!” Trill apologized immediately. “I didn’t want anyone to notice. I was afraid of what might happen, because if you killed me, I couldn’t keep healing you, and I didn’t—”
Molun cut him off with a kiss, and Trill sank into the embrace, letting the other man’s tongue swipe into his mouth, warm and questing. Arvus was a warm weight behind him, pressing kisses to his shoulders and neck, to the skin behind his ear.
“Thank you so much,” Molun said when he pulled back. “That really—Seriously, thank you so much. But you don’thaveto, you know that, right?”
Trill shot him an unimpressed look. “I don’thave totake away your pain when I’m capable of doing so? Try again.”
Molun huffed out a breath that was almost a laugh. He looked like he was trying to come up with something to say, and then he just nodded, his eyes filling with tears.
It was Trill’s turn to lean in to kisshim, gentler this time, because he could feel the emotions that were overwhelming Molun. Arvus’s long arms wrapped tight around both of them. Molun eventually buried his face in Trill’s neck and cried. Trill held him close.
Molun fell asleep still cuddled up to Trill like that, but he could tell from Arvus’s breathing that he was still awake.
“Thank you,” he whispered, and Trill could hear in the thick roughness of his voice just how much this meant to him, because having the person you loved in pain was one of the worst things ever. “Thank you so much.”
Trill grabbed one of those long arms and pressed a kiss to it. “Of course. I only want you to be happy.”
That was all that Trill had ever wanted, and it wassuch a reliefthat now this could be out in the open—at least with these people. Given that Perian had apparently been banished here,it seemed that things weren’t exactlygood, but it was so much better than the people Trill cared about trying to kill him.
