Chapter Text
The days following a major life event tend to be strange. Saving the world is no different.
There was crying, fires to put out, friends to hold or hours of self-isolation and reflection.
But when there was a purpose, a life to get back to, jobs to do… things tend to fall back into place. Even when there was one crisis after another, a routine is formed, and a new normalcy replaces the old one.
The palace became a center for this. Even when it was the source of chaos, it then similarly became the eye of the hurricane when it was in the hands of someone who rightfully deserved it.
Nadia, determined to right the wrongs of Lucio, wasted no time in finding stability. She knew that growth came from stable foundations, and she provided it effortlessly. Resources are pooled together, and she drew in the people close to her, and they created a plan.
They created a home.
Problems are identified, and they split up accordingly.
Portia, Muriel and Nix focused on Vesuvia’s outskirts, and what to do with the exotic animal sanctuary and the empty Colosseum, and they discussed establishing orphanages. Nadia’s sisters helped set up a Prakran embassy, and Natiqa further used her connections to open up doors to other countries for trade. Julian, Salim, and Aisha focused on providing clean water to the city, and Asra worked in tandem with them to figure out options for the flooded district. Valerius assisted Nadia in finding real, capable experts to be on her Consul, and once they established a system, began to phase himself into a real retirement- one that started with a new export of Vesuvian wine.
There wasn’t room for much thinking in those first few weeks.
Nadia’s memories had been restored once the Devil had truly been locked away, but she never had time to reflect on them, and she almost didn’t want to. After being so frustratingly helpless with her own lack of memory, the idea of comparing what she had then to what she had now seemed almost blasphemous when she had such a clear path ahead of her.
Yet, unwilling or not, those memories came back to her in her dreams.
They were foggy, small adventures and snippets and knowledge that she shouldn’t have but somehow did. She automatically knew Asra’s favorite tea. She remembered the ending to a story that Julian had told halfway through him telling it.
She dreamed of when herself and Asra and Julian had stayed in a ramshackle inn: only this time, the animal they found in the basement was Lucio, eyes glowing and on cloven hoofs, and she screamed when she awoke, sweat beaded on her forehead.
Other nights she dreamed of happier situations—of gifts, spells and card tricks, of tinkering on her projects in her tower, and of pining looks in the library between friends when they thought no one was looking.
Then there were dreams of beetles. Of black sand and the ash of a darkened island, and the smell of decay.
Those nights, Nadia would take walks, inevitably running into Julian or Asra or both, and they would stare out into the gardens, and her memories of the past and the present would merge and then fade.
It took a few nights of restless sleep in a row before Asra suggested, and Julian stammered, and Nadia agreed, and they fell asleep on the veranda overlooking the gardens, in a private reading nook full of pillows. It was the same place they had once shared as friends, a small oasis away from her husband.
There, the air was warm and fresh, the smell of the flowers below sweet, and they would awake again with the sun, and go their separate ways. Sometimes it would just be her and Asra, or her and Julian, or she would wake up in her own bed and wonder if they had done the same or not, and ignored the uncomfortable feeling it gave her.
Despite her memories of them coming to the surface, Nadia would not let herself compare the past and the present, no matter how haunted she was by it—because she knew what she preferred. Their little family had grown, and Lucio’s shadow no longer loomed. She had nothing weighing her down, no chains to speak of, and neither did anyone else.
Portia was still a close confidant, as well as Nix, and Muriel had grown on her, and had even brought her rare herbs he had picked from the forest for her kitchens.
However, more often than not, it was Asra and Julian that she saw. Nix moved back to their shop, Muriel to his hut, Portia to her sanctuary.
Julian instead had moved in to be the Palace’s physician, and Asra had moved in to be with his parents. It was convenient for the work they did, and gave her the benefit of their companionship.
It wasn’t a problem, because she couldn’t afford to have problems, but it was an… issue of sorts.
She was methodical with her emotions, trying to decipher reasons for her rising attraction towards her friends, and the way she saw it, there could be many: their returning chemistry from years ago, their level of physical attractiveness, Asra’s charm and Julian’s wit and how they genuinely seemed to care for her. And ever still, what seemed to help most of all was the shared history- the shared demons that made them pace through the halls at night, and work tirelessly to make amends during the day.
Despite all of Nadia’s best efforts, the issue only grew larger, until she could no longer deny it.
She admitted it to herself, one early morning, when she awoke in the reading nook. They had twisted in the night, curled close on their bed of cushions and pillows, and found that she was using Asra as a pillow, who also had an arm around her and Julian each, almost protective.
Julian’s face was opposite hers on Asra’s chest, and she smiled when she spotted Faust wrapped around his arm and shoulder, curled into his embrace.
Dawn had broken, and she watched as sunlight bled through the darkness, and how it gave Asra’s hair a blushing pink tint to it, and she finally admitted to herself that her rising attraction wasn’t going anywhere.
It took another week of indecision, another handful of shared nights before her dreams decided for her. She dreamed of swirling, twisting paths through Vesuvia, of the comforting interior of Nix’s shop, and the fan of cards hiding their face.
The dream followed her through her breakfast, and Nadia trusted her own intuition once again, like she had done so many months before.
Nix arrived right as breakfast was ending, their series of carefully crafted portals making travel easier. Nadia greeted them, and they made small talk on their way to the morning’s counsel meeting, but she pulled them aside before they could enter.
“Could you do me a favor?” She asked, strangely flustered.
“Of course,” Nix replied.
“Could you do a card reading for me? I have found myself indecisive on whether I should act, but I feel as though it would be reckless to do so…”
“Nadia, whatever it is, I’m sure the Arcana will have an answer,” Nix replied as the deck appeared in their hand. “Just focus on what you want to happen.”
Nadia did as they were told, and watched as Nix flipped a card up, revealing the Wheel of Fortune. Nix hummed, translating. “Whatever happens, you are still the guardian of your own fate. Strive for what you want, and life will provide for you.”
“That is…nice, and definitely reassuring, but a bit vague,” Nadia said, still doubting herself.
“They aren’t providing anything more, sorry.” Nix apologized as they tucked the deck away. “But Nadia?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t want to push, but I’m always here to listen if you need me.”
Nadia squeezed Nix’s shoulder gently. “I appreciate it, but unfortunately I think I need to figure it out on my own.” Not with a mutual friend.
The Wheel of Fortune’s advice gave her hope, but Nadia was still muddled in her own thoughts, and decided to accept help from another avenue. She threw her schedule into disarray, and made an unscheduled mid-morning trip to the Prakran embassy.
Natiqa, the only one not invested in the little family they had built, initially turned out to be particularly unhelpful about the subject.
“Just get drunk together and ask them,” she said nonchalantly as she popped a grape into her mouth. They were in Natiqa’s office, sharing a bottle of Valerius’ wine, despite it being before noon. “The worst that could happen is you could blame it on the alcohol and the fact that you haven’t gotten laid in like, forever—which absolutely sucks by the way.”
“Is that really how you’ve handled all your relationships?” Nadia asked her incredulous, but not dismissing the idea either.
“No, but you’re a special case.” Natiqa said. “You’re the Countess, they’re on your Consul, and what, you said they slept together a couple years ago?”
Nadia winced. “Yes, I was under the impression that it did not end well, probably augmented by the fact that one was arrested for murder and had to flee the country, and the other was in love with Nix, who was dead at the time.”
Natiqa’s eyes widened, surprise overtaking her so much that she had to set her wine glass down. “And you think reopening that scenario is a good idea?”
Nadia pressed her lips together, embarrassed. “I never said it was the best idea, just that I wanted to.”
“Okay Nadi, I know you though—you have a backup plan right?”
“Of course, I have a backup plan,” Nadia scoffed, “but it doesn’t mean they have to follow it. I don’t get to manipulate them to spare my own feelings if I face rejection.”
“Spoken like a true princess,” she replied, and Nadia was reminded of their mother. Natiqa shook her head, earrings dangling. “Alright, I’m going to need more info, and more wine.” She picked her glass up and settled back into her chair, ready to listen.
“I can’t list off the pros and cons, I just…” Nadia looked out the window over the city, wistful. “They made be happy, and things have changed for the better. We’ve grown. Julian isn’t actually a murderer, but is kind, competent, and I know would put Vesuvia’s needs about all else. Asra is a much-needed perspective about Vesuvia, and is loyal and empathetic, and his connection to Nix is purely platonic. The roadblocks that have held us back before aren’t there anymore.”
Natiqa sighed. “Personally? That’s a whole mess I wouldn’t risk. But…something tells me the problem isn’t them is it?”
Nadia looked at her and then out over her city again. “I already put my own selfish desires above my city once, by standing idly by as Lucio destroyed it. I don’t want to make the same mistake twice,” Nadia was quiet, at the heart of the issue. “They are important for Vesuvia, and to me. I don’t want to destroy everything we’ve worked so hard for.”
Natiqa smiled softly. “We all have to make choices like this as royalty, but if you focus too much on the risks, you will never allow happiness into your life.” She took a breath, gathering her thoughts. “Listen. If all three of you really want to put the effort in to make this work --and I can tell you that it’ll probably be a lot of work-- well I don’t see why you can’t try. Put in the same effort into your relationship as you do to your city and you’ll be just fine. That’s the Natiqa seal of approval sis.”
Nadia stared at her sister, suddenly fighting the urge to tear up. “I…really needed to hear that, especially when I know you’d be honest with me” she said, and she paused, clearing her throat, “but it’s funny… Nix’s cards said the something similar.”
Natiqa laughed, and the room brightened again. “No way! Maybe that’s a sign I should go into fortune telling.”
It was mid-afternoon when Julian ran into Nix, and the palace’s resident physician really did manage to run right into Nix, after he turned a corner too sharply.
“Oh Nix I-,” he tripped over his words, hands reaching out to steady them. “I’m sorry, but you’re actually just who I was looking for, I need to talk to you.”
“I was just on my way out,” Nix said, “I can walk and talk at the same time though. Is everything alright?”
Julian flushed as they started walking, and his nervous energy showed in the way he talked with his hands. “Yes, well- no. I was talking to Pasha and asking for her advice and I think I kept annoying her because she told me to come find you.”
Nix smiled, biting back laughter. “That sounds like her. What did she tell you?”
Julian grinned back, a little sheepish. “Well I was mostly complaining. She kept saying to do the thing I was scared to do because I was denying myself happiness or something.”
“Are you?” They asked reasonably, and that seemed to stop his rambling.
“Probably,” he said, and his face fell as he reflected, “But for a good reason…I don’t know if I could make them happy. If they even like me, if I want to risk what we have, if--” he cut himself off, blushing, and Nix’s eyebrows raised.
“You know,” they said, filing that information away. “You’re not the terrible person you think you are. It sounds like they think the same.”
Nix was also purposefully vague, if not a little teasing about his crush, genuinely happy. In their pocket, The Star whispered warm words, and Nix pressed their palm to it. “I think you need to believe in your own inner light- that you are worthy of love.”
That stopped him in his tracks, eyebrows knitted together in a painfully vulnerable expression. “You think so?”
Nix reached out and took his hands, squeezing them. “I do.” They said, “But I really have to go. Good luck okay? And listen to your sister more-- she gives great advice.”
Asra laid upside down on Nix’s bed, head and shoulders dangling off the edge as he watched them etch runes into animal collars. It was a new project, designed as a fail-safe to magically guide the animals back to the sanctuary should they ever escape.
Nix had picked up the collars from Portia on their way home, and although they didn’t gossip necessarily for Julian’s (and Nadia’s) privacy, there was some shared eye-rolling on their friends’ behalf, and Nix kissed her goodbye, promising to be there in the morning with pumpkin bread.
They weren’t at all surprised then to find Asra on their doorstep, and let him in to brood over tea, surer than ever that they had pieced together something incredibly interesting.
Night had fallen since then, and it was quiet in their shop, if not for the rustle of Nix’s clothing as they worked, and it was a comfortable silence, one that they and Asra were used to as a pair, even if he didn’t technically live there anymore.
Asra tried to be as casual as possible when breaking said silence.
“Do you think I could borrow the deck for a minute?” He asked, and Faust perked up from her spot under his hat.
Nix didn’t even look up from their work, their tone the one of someone who knew exactly where this was going and had just been waiting for one to ask. “The deck says go for it.”
Asra, startled at their response, nearly fell off the bed. “What?”
“Just do whatever you’re planning to do,” Nix said, runes glowing faintly under their hands, and Asra twisted to sit up, confused.
“Did you even ask the Arcana?”
“I didn’t need to,” Nix’s expression was carefully blank.
Asra narrowed his eyes. “You know something.”
“Yep.”
“Are you going to tell me how much you know?”
“Nope.”
Asra pouted for a few minutes, taking this new information in. “…can I still get a real reading?”
Nix paused, hearing the uncertainty in his voice, and they looked at him then, the space between them stretching out to be impossibly large, with a million unspoken truths passed between friends.
Nix’s expression became something softer, kinder. “The only one talking to you right now is The Fool.” They said gently. “I know you’re insecure, no matter how hard you try to hide it but…take the leap Asra. Trust me.”
Asra did.
Two nights later, Nadia dreamed of the Lazaret again; of an army of corpses lining the shores, and she left bed when the moon was still high in the sky, shaken.
She donned her slippers and placed a shall over her nightgown. The night guards nodded to her, sympathetic, but silent and discreet.
Asra was already on the veranda with Faust wrapped around his hands, in a simple white shirt and pants. He was carefully balanced on the banister, leaning against a column, the moonlight the only thing they could see by. Faust flicked her tongue at Nadia, a greeting.
“Dare I ask how long you’ve been here?” She said as she stood next to him, and he smiled at her, a little sad.
“Never even tried to sleep,” he replied. “I have a lot on my mind, and the insomnia doesn’t help.”
“Care to enlighten me?”
Asra shrugged. “Later. I’d just like the company for now.”
They watched the clouds roll over the stars, warm wind carrying the sounds of crickets in the night, and she tried to relax the knot in her chest, trying to remove the weight of her secret attraction that had been influencing every interaction she had with them.
It only grew heavier when the soft sound of footsteps reached them.
Julian rounded the corner, barefoot, dark circles stark under his eyes. He was without his eye patch, and only in soft pants and a sleeveless black top that had seen better days. She made a mental note to try to update his wardrobe later in the week.
The murderer’s brand completed the haunted look on his face, and she took a moment to take it in as he approached, his hands not often bare. He was uncharacteristically silent when he stood next to her, not even a quip about meeting in strange places, and she reached out to take that hand, only to find that it was shaking.
She didn’t know how long they stood there with their own thoughts, but before she could suggest trying to sleep again, it was Asra that broke the silence.
“Do you think this is weird?’ He asked, and after a heartbeat, further clarified by gesturing to all of them. “This? What we’re doing?”
Nadia felt, rather than see Julian wince, his instinct to pull away, and she tightened her grip on his hand. “Not really,” she said, tone soft. “I’d rather we be here together than suffer in silence.”
It was a pointed remark aimed at all three of them, and Asra smiled, taking it in.
Julian cleared his throat. “Would you rather we…didn’t?”
Asra looked at them, careful. “No, I like it. I’m just questioning the intentions behind it.”
Nadia’s breath caught in her throat, and the door to a conversation she didn’t know how to start cracked open.
Julian rubbed his red eye, obviously not catching on. “Is the point of all this not to get a few hours of sleep?”
“Yes,” Nadia said, and hoped. “But only because I don’t want to drive you both away.”
Julian squinted at her, and then at Asra. “Honestly, I would say the same of myself, but I don’t quite understand what that has to do with anything.”
Asra face went through a series of unreadable expressions, and finally settled on imploring, trying to get some unspoken message across. “I…really do like what we have now, and I’m afraid of changing it.”
“Isn’t change how we got here in the first place?” Nadia pointed out, layers to her own words, and she tried to break through. “And to speak plainly, I think we deserve another step in- in- “the words catch in her throat, her doubts cutting off her confidence in the situation.
“I think we deserve a little fun,” Asra said, and it’s a little strained, a little cryptic. “Or maybe more than that?”
The tension became thick and visceral, hitting deep seated emotions. It forced them to acknowledge what had grown between them, and yet… despite its intensity, Nadia felt that the tension was still soft. This moment, suspended in time, was ethereal in the cool glow of the moon.
“Julian?” Nadia could barely breathe, and turned to look at him, whose expression was of confused vulnerability, tired and unsure and a little hopeful.
“I- “he began, and his hand in hers was loose, but she could feel the rapid beat of his pulse. “Are we all talking about the same thing here? Are you asking if we could…” he trailed off.
Asra shrugged, but the nonchalance was intentional, deflecting what might become rejection. “I am suggesting it.”
“I would like to try.” Nadia met Asra’s eyes and Asra, casually resting his back against the column, finally released the breath he’d been holding, relieved.
“I mean,” Julian said, but there was an off-kilter tone to his words that made her stiffen, but she couldn’t pin down exactly what it was. “I’m always down for a little fun.”
He faltered when they look at him, and a flash of realization crossed Asra’s features, before morphing into a nameless cousin of affectionate sympathy that Julian didn’t quite know how to handle. “Ilya, this isn’t a proposition. I’m- we’re- asking if you’d like to date us.”
It was there out in the open, and Nadia tried to catch it, control it, a nervous instinct. “I care about both of you very much,” she admitted, “I’d like to explore the possibility of romance, but I also know that this might be difficult in more ways than one.”
Julian blinked, insecurity making him smaller, slower. “You… I… have reservations about that. Mostly in the general area of-” he used his hand to gesture at the space between him and Asra, who winced in response. “I want to, but I asked too much of you once. I really…don’t want to hurt you again.”
“You were the most impulsive thing I’ve ever done,” Asra answered him, and it didn’t hold any malice, only fact. “And that’s my fault. I regret not taking the time to sort out my own feelings about Nix, because maybe it could have spared us both.”
“What about your feelings now?”
It was a fair question, a shy one, one that Julian expected a half-hearted answer to, but to his pleasant surprise, Asra was suddenly blushing. The tips of his ears turned red, put on the spot and at a loss for words.
Nadia stared at him, the lump in her throat from Julian’s hesitation suddenly disappearing, and she couldn’t help but let a small coy smile show. “Yes Asra, you're not particularly forthcoming on details of your life, I would love to know more about what you’re feeling.”
“Love!” said a small voice, and Julian jumped, startled. Nadia was similarly taken aback but recovered quickly as Asra stared down at the snake in his lap, pouting.
Julian looked rather ill. “Why is the snake talking to me in my head?”
To Nadia, it sounded very much like he didn’t actually want to know the answer to the question. Still, Asra whipped his head back up, shocked. “You can hear her?”
“It appears that we can.” Nadia said. “And I’m never so grateful to hear her answer.”
Faust curled around Asra’s wrist, flicking her tongue. “Love a friends!”
“Is that so Faust?” Nadia sounded increasingly smug as Asra looked like he wanted to sink into the marble, blushing all the way down to his chest.
“R-really?” Julian looked up at him, painfully hopeful, and took in the magician’s flustered expression.
There was a pause before Asra gave a single, tiny nod and Julian’s entire face lit up. His smirk practically radiated trouble, and he sunk as much gleeful teasing into his voice as he possibly could. “Really?”
“Asra,” Nadia’s voice was gentler, coaxing.
Asra ran a hand over his face but relented, eyes fond and a little far away. “After we defeated the Devil, I was hit will all of my memories again, and I realized I appreciated you both so much, and these past few months fixing Vesuvia have been great, and... I do miss what we had before. But.”
“But?”
“It was years ago,” Asra said. “We’re different people now. I like the people we are now, the person that I am. We saved the world, Nix’s alive and happy, we got our memories back and,” he continued, voice becoming stronger, more confident. “I think this can work, because there’s a big difference between then and now.”
Julian looked helplessly between them as Nadia’s smile grew, pure delight etched into the corners of her mouth. “What?”
Asra grinned, eyes dancing in the glow of the moon. “Lucio isn’t here anymore.”
“We’re free.” Nadia said, laughter bubbling over, light and airy. “We’re actually, finally free of that monster and everything he brought with him.”
Asra’s grin gained a mischievous glint to it. “We’re free to do whatever or whoever we want.”
Julian blushed but still looked uncertain, and Nadia squeezed his hand to draw his attention as her own insecurities rose to the surface. “I’m sorry if I’ve been reading you wrong Julian, but is your hesitance more to do with me?”
“No--” He blurted it out, startling all three of them, and he tried to recover. “No Nadia, liking you is not the problem, it’s not the problem for either of you actually. It’s more err--”
Julian’s mouth clicked open and shut, working through a thousand different sentences, a thousand different denials. “I mean. I’m not the, I’m.”
Their gazes were understanding, patient, hopeful and that somehow unraveled him more. He started again, and it was softer, quieter, a helplessly lost admittance. “I’ve... I’ve never been in a real relationship before.”
Asra moved then, Faust climbing to his shoulders as he slid off the banister to be closer to them. He reached his hand out to hold Julian’s, and it felt like forgiveness. “It wouldn’t be the same without you, you know. You’re important to us. I want to try again and do it right, with all of us.”
“Believe me,” Nadia said as she completed the circle, taking Asra’s hand. “Whatever happens, it won’t have been the worst relationship I’ve ever been in.” She laughed at her own joke, and it felt like a new beginning.
Julian’s smirk was soft around the edges, fond, and it felt like hope. “I guess I have to thank him for setting the bar so low.”
“Ilya, I think the bar was actually on the ground,” Asra joked, and it set off a round of laughter, the tension breaking into something profoundly happier.
“Ilya,” Nadia said once they calmed down, testing it on her lips, their accents conflicting. Yet, Julian was staring at her, blushing hard. “Can I call you that?”
“I- I’d like that.”
Nadia smiled wide. She didn’t know if it was the situation or if Julian was always that easy to fluster, but she was particularly excited to find out.
Asra yawned then, jaw clicking, and Nadia tugged them both towards the nook. “We can talk more in the morning, for now, we should probably try to sleep.”
They passed out, casually entangled as if nothing had changed, but content with the knowledge and relief that everything had, and it was for the better.
There was an excitement that came with something new. An eagerness that buzzed under the skin, and Julian could feel it in his fucking teeth, the way they all gravitated towards each other, flirting and lovesick and sappy-sweet, dancing around each other in dizzying circles.
They agreed on it, wanted it, but they were busy people with busy lives and many responsibilities, and most nights were spent building a routine of recharging for the next day, rather than exploring new horizons so to speak.
They were already so god-damn intimate though, with the way that they held their bodies, held each other, the sphere of personal space already crossed because of the way they slept now-a-days, finally actually moving to a real bed in Nadia’s quarters.
It gave Julian jitters, thinking about the title of Countess, how whenever he snuck in to her room he felt like he wasn’t supposed to be there, but whenever he was there, he slept better than he had in months.
And it was just sleeping, the aforementioned horizons yet unexplored, but the intimacy was still there. He downgraded to sleep shorts instead of pants, Nadia’s nightgown became shorter and lighter, and Asra somehow lost his shirt entirely, the privacy of her room giving them the privilege to be somewhat more comfortable.
But the intimacy showed itself in other ways, smaller ones, dependent on who was with who at the time: they made excuses and grasped at reasons for affection.
Nadia seemed to delight in having recommendations for what they would wear that day. Asra and her would take walks in the maze, arm in arm, touch casual but heated. Other times Asra would pull Julian from his work and insist on exploring the palace, determined to find every hidden doorway and portal that Portia couldn’t, bodies pressed together in cramped passages.
Then there was the discovery that not only did Nadia love to dance, it was the one thing that Asra was pretty terrible at: and it became Julian and Nadia’s stress relief, teaching each other waltzes and sailor’s jigs and folk songs from their countries, secretly dancing in the salon when no one was around, hands heavy and gazes heated and feet light.
Still, the three of them were slow, careful with boundaries. Careful with the push-pull of intimacy; the give and take of what could be love if they nurtured it properly. Julian was particularly grateful in this regard, being able to fully explore romance without any expectations or insecurity. It made him feel more stable that they weren’t going away: that this wasn’t just a fling.
He could tuck a lock of hair behind Asra’s ear in the dead of night, he could kiss the back of Nadia’s hand, adoration in his eyes. It’s what made the dance all the more fun, being able to taste the tension on his tongue, and he embraced the adrenaline of remapping charted waters.
Flirting, he had found, was much more fun when it was people that loved him back.
Eventually though, the tension had to reach a crescendo.
It was after dinner, the sun just starting to set, and there was this energy to them, the type that made him choke, because Asra was reading, Julian curled up on the couch next to him, and Nadia was standing, stretching. Domestic.
“I asked to have a bath prepared,” she said lightly. “It should be ready by now.”
He would’ve dismissed it any other night but this, this energy was addictive, red-hot in his veins, and he looked up to find that Nadia was staring at him, through him, before she turned to her vanity and began taking off her jewelry, a carefully practiced ritual.
“That sounds nice,” Asra didn’t look up from his book, but his tone was heavy with something Julian couldn’t quite name, but he knew, he knew then that they felt it too.
Julian jumped in his seat, swallowing heavily, because Asra had put his hand on his thigh, deceptively casual, but touch burning nonetheless.
“You’re welcome to join me,” Nadia said, and Asra’s hand squeezed. “If you want.”
It was an out, a chance to end the dance before another started, and Julian looked at Asra, aware that Nadia was probably looking that them through her mirror. Asra’s eyes were soft when he looked at him, questioning, and Julian- Julian felt his pulse spike and he grinned.
Asra’s eyes raked down his face, taking him in, and then he winked, finally setting his book off to the side.
“I think we might take you up on that,” Julian finally managed to reply, tone knowing as he turned back to look at her. “If you want.”
There was a strange familiarity to the way they moved: the way Nadia slipped off her dress with confidence, letting them follow her to the bath. The way Asra tugged him along, but with a tenderness to it, a comforting brush of his thumb against his cheek when Asra ended up kissing him breathless against the door, and the way he held his gaze when he also started to strip, the cold tile under their feet.
They were different people now, in a vastly different relationship, but Julian was still hit with memories that he’d tried to hold back as he watched Asra follow Nadia into the water. It was a crash, a series of flashes, of desperate visits in the dead of night, of the way Asra looked over him in the dark.
It was dizzying, that rush of adrenaline, the imprint of past hands on his skin, and Julian tried to shake it off, pulling his shirt over his head.
His hands were shaky when he started on his pants however, because he was acutely aware that he was being watched. Asra and Nadia were casual, less than an arm’s length apart from each other, talking in low tones. Yet they were watching him out of the corners of their eyes, their hands winding together, Asra kissing their interlocked fingers.
Nadia had let her hair down, purple spilling in waves over her shoulders, the glow of the lanterns reflecting of the perfumes and bottles that lined the tub in a dazzling array of color, and Julian gave in- he had barely even gotten the first button of his trousers undone and he was already falling apart, going to lay on his stomach and elbows at the edge of the tub, head at the perfect height for needy kisses.
Nadia leaned forward to oblige him, picking up on the way he moved, the way his eyes asked for permission, and kissed him sweetly, her free hand coming up to run her fingers through his hair.
“Not going to join us then?” It was light, teasing, and Asra inched forward to close the gap for his own kiss, slow and soft.
“In a minute,” Julian replied, breathless as Nadia continued to pet him, nails long and achingly sharp. He pressed his hips harder into the cold tile, half hard cock starting to throb.
“Is this alright?” Asra asked gently, checking in.
Julian grinned, laughter and nerves making his voice shaky: “I’m just trying to maintain some dignity and composure here, but when you two look as good as you do, it drives me up the wall.”
“What if I don’t want you composed,” Nadia murmured, and her fingers slid under the string of his eyepatch, sliding it off all together and flicking it in the direction of his shirt, and Julian had a comeback at the ready, falling into flirting as easy as breathing—but then Asra moved.
His free hand was suddenly under Julian’s chin, his kiss firmer than before— unrelenting and all-consuming, and when they broke apart, Asra was only a hair’s breadth away and Julian was enraptured, chest tight.
It was possessive, harder, and the memories between old Asra and new blurred for a moment, but then Asra’s forehead was resting against his, waiting, questioning the dynamic in unspoken touches and Julian could cry because this time the love was there, the trust, and Julian wanted it so bad he could taste it.
“Please.” He whispered, and there was trust there yes, but also forgiveness and permission, and Asra let out a shaky breath before the hand on Julian chin drifted down to his neck— not squeezing, but very much there.
“Strip for us Ilya,” he ordered, and Julian practically melted on the spot. “Now.”
Suddenly he was released, the space between them insurmountable, and even Nadia’s hand left his hair, leaving him unable (and unwilling) to do anything else but stumble to his feet, staggering a few steps away to fumble with the rest of his clothes.
“You have to teach me that,” Nadia said to Asra, and Julian nearly fell over from where he had one leg still in his pants, sputtering.
“No one’s teaching anyone anything,” he snapped back, blushing hard, but his tone lacked any real argument as he kicked off the rest of his clothes, as he could admit to himself that the idea was more than a little appealing, but if Nadia was anywhere near the intensity of Asra he was absolutely going to die.
But when he did look at them again, fully, they were pressed together, kissing, the lazy push-pull of making out, honey-sweet and hot and so damn sensual he forgot how to breathe.
He used the stairs on the other side of the tub and slipped into the water, eyes fixed on his partners, memorized.
They broke apart, gasping, and the energy spiked between them. They looked at him, waiting, the moment stretching as he waded closer, and Asra’s eyes were twinkling which is never a good sign, and in a flash that energy was directed towards him.
Nadia reached out for him, hand catching his wrist and pulling him to them, ruby red eyes taking him apart inch by inch and he fell into her, the water making their movements light as they kissed.
He was burning up, the steady heat of the bath no match for the intensity of Nadia’s kisses, her hands on his shoulders, or of Asra’s solid weight next to them, his hand reaching out to touch his waist. Their presence was overwhelming, carefully confident, respectfully intimate as they tested the boundaries of their bodies.
Nadia’s hands ended up on his face, holding him as her fingers brushed over his throat, his hands on the edge of the pool to support his weight, and they broke off, letting his forehead rest against hers.
“I think I love you,” he said, in the beat of inaction between one touch to the next. It’s soft, he didn’t mean to say it, but he did, and it felt so right he couldn’t even find it in himself to be embarrassed. He turned to look at Asra, addressing and including him in the soft proclamation. “I really think I do. You’ve made me want to be better.”
“I know, I-” Asra stuttered, and he closed the gap between them, eyes warm. “I have too, for a while.”
Nadia reached out hold Asra’s arm, grounding herself to both of them with her touch. “Faust did give you away, a little bit.” She murmured to Asra, smiling as Julian started to laugh. She looked between them, and her heart swelled in her chest. “Still…I have never been so happy to hear you say that anyway.”
“Do-,” Julian didn’t even finish, because Nadia looked him in the eyes, expression fond.
“I love you both,” she said, confirming, quiet. “I woke up on the veranda one day and realized I wanted to wake up like that everyday for the rest of my life.”
Asra was oddly subdued, and Nadia realized he was nearly glowing, the smile on his face radiating such affection, such love, that it took her breath away.
“I could list off every reason I love you” Asra whispered, words heavy in the air between them, and his smile gained a mischievous tint to it, one that made Julian blush to the tips of his ears. “But I think I would rather show you.”
“Would you now?” Julian teased, and his grin gained the playful edge to it, eyes meeting Asra’s. “So why don’t we default to ladies first?”
To Nadia’s endless delight, they did.