Trill bit his lip, feeling the tension snake up his spine. “But what if what we prefer isn’t what the other people like?”
“Then we can have an honest discussion about it,” Arvus said gently. “Just because it’s not a preference doesn’t mean it’s a dealbreaker, and contrarily, just because one person has said it’s what they prefer, it doesn’t mean they might decide not to do it when weighed against how the other people feel. But if each of us simply guesses what the other people want, we may actually be getting it wrong or be unhappy ourselves without the other people realizing. We don’t want that, do we?”
And Trill could shake his head now because thatdidn’tsound like something he wanted at all.
Molun smiled encouragingly at him. “So what would you prefer, Trill?”
Trill took a deep breath. “I’m very happy with you. Being able to feed off you means I don’t need to feed off anyone else, and that means I’m getting everything I need from you. I, uh, I guess I don’t know if it’ll stay that way all the time, but it’s certainly how I feel right now. I really enjoy sex, and having it with you is the best! Everything else seems less good in comparison if I think about it now. But I don’t… I don’t bring in money any other way, and I don’t want you to feel like I’m a burden.”
Molun pressed a soft kiss to his lips, and then Arvus did the same.
“Thank you for being so honest, honey. I know that was hard for you to share.”
Trill nodded, feeling a little bit lightheaded.
“So,” Molun said, smiling at him. “IfI’m being honest, I really like what we have together. I’d be the last person to say that someone in a relationship can’t have sex with other people if everyone is in agreement, but I’m finding that the three of us together is definitely what I prefer right now. If we do some experimenting, I’d prefer that it be all together, just like Arvus and I did before you.”
Trill nodded again, because that made sense.
“I feel the same way as Molun,” Arvus agreed. “And if the main reason you’re considering sex with other people isn’t preference but to bring in money, then I would much rather support you and have you not having sex with other people.”
“Oh,” Trill said again, because he hadn’t thought about it like that, either, like he was providing something they wanted bynotbringing in money in his usual way. “If you’re sure?”
Arvus said, “Molun was my first serious relationship. My first everything, really.” He cast Molun a fond look, making him preen and making Trill smile. “It took us time and experimentation to work out what we wanted. For a while at the beginning, it was just us, and we decided to experiment not knowing for sure how we’d feel about it. We discussed it and tried it out, and found what worked for us. We want to do the same with you.”
Molun was nodding. “We found for the two of us that it works better when any extra people happen together.”
Trill nodded, because he’d experienced that with them himself.
“But,” Molun continued, “that doesn’t mean that has to be the rule with you if it doesn’t fit.”
Trill frowned. “But you didn’t like it when you thought I had sex body.”
Molun smiled faintly. “True. But I think that was mostly because we didn’t discuss it beforehand.” He shrugged. “And maybe a little bit of jealousy, if I’m being honest. But that doesn’t mean we still can’t talk about it and figure out what works for all of us. If you get that wandering feeling or you realize you need to feed from more people than just us and you want it to be through sex, then we try that. I think we need to talk about it and not bottle stuff up inside. I don’t want you to feel guilty or me to feel pouty or—or Arvus to defy all expectations and break all the stones in the bedroom in a temper tantrum!”
One of Arvus’s eyebrows rose, but he didn’t object.
Molun smiled at Trill. “We don’t want to hold you to anything unrealistic or anything that might do you harm. We’ve shared a few sexy times with Perian and Brannal, but we’ve never been in a full relationship with a child of two worlds before, and we want to get it right.”
“I’ve never really been in a relationship at all,” Trill admitted. “And I definitely want to get it right. But that all sounds really sensible. I, uh, will probably worry a lot about making you unhappy, especially at first. But I’ll keep working on it.”
“That’s all any of us can do,” Arvus agreed with a soft smile. “Molun and I have been in a relationship for years, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have things to learn about being in a relationship withyou. The three of us together is different from anything we’ve done so far. That makes all of us new, and it makes this something for all of us to work on.”
Trill nodded. “Do you always know the right thing to say?”
“He always does,” Molun agreed with a grin. “Unlike me, who tends either to get it spectacularly right or totally wrong.”
Trill couldn’t help but laugh. It made him feel better about inevitably messing up. Because he was bound to, wasn’t he? But it seemed like they all expected to do that, and that was just… part of being in a relationship?
“Thank you for discussing this with me,” Trill said earnestly. “My, uh, my mom and my grandmother didn’t like to talk things out or explain things very much. I got pretty used to living like that.”
Never quite sure what would set them off. Never supposed to put his own feelings above theirs.
Molun smacked a big kiss to his cheek. “Of course, honey. I mean, there are plenty of times we don’t like to talk, if you know what I mean.” He gave the most ridiculous leer, so it was really impossible to miss his meaning, and Trill couldn’t help but smile.
More seriously, though he was smiling, too, Arvus added, “But our relationship works because we talk to one another, and we’re sure that will be even more important with three of us. Communication is what lets us grow. And we want to do that together.”
Trill couldn’t help but smile. “Your acceptance means a lot to me. Thank you.”
