He was… all energy?Onlyenergy? How was that even possible? Energy that people released dissipated. Pulled out of a body, it was consumed or it dissipated. How could someone beonly energyand bewhole? It was totally stunning, and Trill couldn’t stop looking at him. Thankfully, since everyone was looking at Cormal or sharing glances with one another or just looking stunned in general, no one seemed to notice.
Trill had realized that if there was a time to say anything about himself, this was probably it, but it seemed needlessly cruel to shock the man again. Only he’d given himself away somehow, and Cormal had figured it out. He’d taken it a lot better than Trill expected. He’d been surprisingly kind—well, maybe not entirely surprisingly, not after he’d been so kind to Livala, determined to give herchoices.
Based on Molun and Arvus’s expressions and some of the comments Cormal had made, this was maybe not the norm? But it was how he’d reactednow, and it was honestly the best outcome that Trill could have imagined. It was perfect… except for that bit about him being surrounded by Mage Warriors who would kill him if they knew the truth about him.
Oh, and the possibility that Molun and Arvus were going to think that Trill had just been using them. That was not so great. But the dinner itself was really interesting. Trill had suddenly been united with a group of blood relatives. They were united by this connection to Trill’s grandfather, whom most of them hadn’t actually known or hadn’t known well. But they’d all been rejected in one way or another, and now was the chance to connect.
Trill had shared what he could, letting them know that his mother had died, that she and his grandmother had both been upset by his grandfather’s rejection, but Trill was on his own now, and he was totally fine, and they didn’t need to worry about him at all.
It was a surprisingly pleasant meal given how it had started, and Trill was really glad that he’d had the chance to meet all of them. Livala’s mother had to head back to work soon, but her grandfather would stay until Livala felt settled. Trill loved how they supported her.
But then dinner was finally over, and Trill was so glad that Molun and Arvus had been here with him, but now he was going to be alone with them, and that meant he was going to find out if they were angry with him.
They made their way back to Molun and Arvus’s room in silence, going up the stairs slowly, but Molun didn’t look like he was in too much pain, which was good. And then they were back in their room, and Trill was trying to make himself as small as possible, and Molun was frowning at him.
“What are you doing?”
“Do you want me to go?” he asked in a small voice.
Molun just looked confused, and it was Arvus who said, “Oh, Trill, we’re not angry with you.”
Molun’s expression cleared. “Oh, you thought we were angry? No, no, no, c’mere.”
With something that was very close to a sob, Trill threw himself into their arms, and they wrapped around him. Trill buried his face in Molun’s chest and enjoyed the feeling of being supported by both of them, and the steady thump of Molun’s heart.
“Shh, shh, it’s all right,” Molun was telling him. “You’re safe. We’re all happy, it’s all right.”
Trill was shaking, he realized, but the longer they held him, the more relaxed he felt, until he was finally standing quiescent between them.
“Let’s go to bed,” Molun suggested. “I need to rest the leg.”
They tumbled onto the mattress, and Trill ended up between them again.
“Is that why you came to the city?” Molun asked, no judgment in his voice. “Hoping to see your uncle?”
Trill nodded. “That’s why I found the pub where all the Mage Warriors were.”
Carefully, Arvus asked, “And is that why you came back with us?”
Trill shook his head hurriedly. “Oh, no, I promise not. I mean, I thought I might get really lucky and not only get a night with you but also get a glimpse of my uncle, but I got entirely distracted when I saw you. So pretty.” He smiled at Molun.
Molun grinned. “Thank you. But why didn’t you ask us once you were here?”
Arvus was stroking Trill’s hair. It made him want to purr like a cat, it was so nice.
Trill admitted, “I didn’t want you to think that I was taking advantage of you.”
“We wouldn’t have minded,” Molun said, smiling at him. “We want to help you, remember?”
Trill bit his lip, hesitated.
Molun leaned in and kissed him, soothing the bite. “What is it?”
“You didn’t really… seem to like him?” Trill offered carefully.
A few days ago, he’d come back to the room and found Molun in such a state that he hadn’t known what to do about it. Thankfully, Arvus had come back early and managed to get enough out of him that it became clear that Cormal had donesomethingthat had hurt and infuriated Molun. They’d taken him to bed, and that had seemed to make him feel better. Trill had made sure to insist that he needed to go check out the training Warriors in the quadrangle later so that the two of them would have some alone time and Molun would be able to talk freely to Arvus.
But it had definitely been clear that Cormal had upset Molun and that he didn’t think much of him.
