Exton

K'thyri yawned and stretched and her hand encountered something soft and warm.

Mmmmmm, she thinks, wonder if he could be persuaded to play a little? She grins. What am I saying? This is Gareth; of course he can.

Then she opens her eyes and realizes that she fell asleep on the chaise lounge, and further, that this isn't Gareth she's sleeping with.

Raina is lying spooned against her, dressed in jeans and a tee. Ky tries to remember if anything happened… Probably not; we're both fully dressed. She smiles at the speculation, then gets up quietly and heads upstairs to the kitchen. Gareth always has juice in the fridge… that sounds good right now….

In the kitchen, she pours a glass of orange juice and sips thoughtfully. Her shoulders square with sudden decision and she turns her steps toward Nick's room….

I was kicked back in our new room catching a breather - absent, of course, any particular need to breathe - when K'thyri paid me a call.

"Hey, Nick," she said, smiling a little uncertainly. "I'd like to talk if you have a few minutes...?"

I waved her in. "C'mon in, have a seat. I was beginning to think you were scared of me."

"Huh?" Now she looks really confused. Good going, Nick.

"You do realize this is the first time you've been alone with me?"

"Oh. Well, you're not the easiest guy to get to know."

I let that pass. "So what did you want to talk about? By the way, I have to say you've picked up the local speech patterns really quickly."

She shrugs. "It is the way of things in the Unformed Plane. Things are in a continual state of flux; you adapt or you die. Anyway, what I wanted to ask you... I know that you and Gareth are lovers."

"Yes, we don't flaunt it particularly, but we don't make any effort to hide it, either...." I watch her face, curious now.

"I know of such things. It is not uncommon among the Fae, either the Fae of the Courts or my own people. Still..." She seems at a loss how to continue.

"Yes?," I prod gently.

"I know of passion shared between women. I have tasted it myself occasionally."

I give her a grin. "How well you put it."

She grins back and much of her nervousness seems to drop away. "I have never had a lover before who shared passion with another man. Before I can commit to living with you when I am in this Realm, I need to know..." She gestures vaguely, lost for words.

"You need to know if you can handle it."

"Yes, exactly. If I accept your invitation, I want to enter into your lives fully, hold nothing back; so I have to be sure that I can feel good about things when Gareth is in your bed and not mine."

I consider that for a minute. "You know that Gareth and Raina are lovers," I say finally.

"Yes. Passion shared between a man and a woman is well known to me, and passion between women. It is only passion between men that I have no experience with. I love Raina as the sister of my soul, and I think, if I let myself, I could love Gareth." Now, incredibly, she blushes. "I want to watch you, you and Gareth, together."

I smile. "You want to watch me and Gareth have sex."

She colors slightly, but nods.

I stretch, flexing my fingers. "Well, I have no objection. This is apt to be a casual household, and it's probably as well to find out if you can handle it early on. Have you spoken to Gareth about this?"

"No, not yet. I wanted to be certain of you first."

"Then run along and ask him, and tell him you have my consent."

"Thank you, Nick." Then K'thyri astounds me by giving me a hot searching kiss, tongues and all, before giggling and running off in search of Gareth.

Well, I think as I lean back in my chair, I think things at the Lodge just got even more interesting....