Page 40 of Badmouths & Bards

Tala swallowed down the awful feeling, moving to kneel at Casimine’s side. His cyan skin had paled considerably, but he at least looked aware of his surroundings… mostly.

“I’m fine,” she assured, resting her hand on Casimine’s shoulder. “What about you?”

“I’m perfect,” Casimine said, though his eyes were a little heavy. “I’m just sorry if that was upsetting to hear…we weren’t sure how close you were with her.”

“Yeah, well, that makes two of us,” Tala muttered before shaking her head. She refused to cry. “But it’s fine. All that matters is she’s all right.”

“Wow, you’re taking this really well,” Ameriden remarked. “I think I’d lose my shit if Casi slept with someone without me.”

“Never gonna happen,” Casimine mumbled.

“Wait—Avie and I aren’t like that.”

“You mean she’s not your lover?” Ameriden perked up.

“No. And honestly, right now I’m not sure she’s my anything…she’s not mine.”

Avie had never been Tala’s, but they had been each other’s in a way that was very different from Casimine and Ameriden. Where Tala lacked in social graces, Avie excelled. When Avie couldn’t hold her own, Tala was there to be assertive for her. They were best friends, but now Tala wasn’t sure what they were, only that it hurt the more Tala thought about it. Tala couldn’t punch anything and she definitely couldn’t leave the two bards unsupervised, but maybe…

“How fucked up are you right now?” Tala asked.

“Ah…” Casimine blinked, slow with reflection. “I mean, I’m pretty drowsy. I could probably sleep for a while.”

“But you aren’t hurting anywhere, right?”

Casimine shook his head.

“And you’re okay?” Tala asked Ameriden.

He laughed, “I’m always okay, look at me.”

Tala nodded.

Then she dropped the opal. It fell onto the carpet with a thump that echoed in her ears. Tala shifted back on her knees, unsheathed her batons, and placed them on the coffee table. The two men looked curious as Tala pushed the coffee table away from Casimine.

“Okay,” Tala nodded, crawling in front of Casimine with a determination. “What do you need from me? I go to the healer regularly. I was just examined last month and I haven’t been with anyone in a long time. How do we do this?”

Casimine’s eyes widened at the same time as Ameriden’s jaw dropped.

“Are you sure?” Casimine asked. “We haven’t been with anyone since our last healer visit, but we’re happy to give you time to think it over—”

“Yeah, that was supposed to be a gift,” Ameriden said. “There’s no rush—”

“Do you two wanna fuck me, or not?” Tala demanded, hands resting on Casimine’s thighs as she leaned toward them.

Why can’t I have this? If Avie’s doing it without a care in the world, why can’t I?

“Of course we do.” Casimine leaned forward.

Tala could see the grayish blue extended to his sclera, moving almost like the waves of an ocean. An ocean was a better alternative to get lost in than her anger.

“We just want to make sure this is something you want, even if you’re hurting right now,” Ameriden said.

“I’m not hurting.”

Casimine pressed his forehead to hers. “Yes, you are.”

It was infuriating how well they had seen through her in such a short amount of time. Not that her little freak out earlier had helped her hide, but Tala hated when people could read through her indifference. It was almost as bad as how indifferent they were to her temper. Fuck, she was going to need to be more honest here, wasn’t she?