Title: Matching Embraces
Fandom: Adventure World
Rating: R
Length: 2339
Author notes: also for the bingo square "Mountain"
Summary: Laris, Rufus, and Dianthea sleep together for the first time, and there are a few complications.


It was late when they reached the shelter of Laris' tent, and they were all exhausted. Dianthea had travelled the entire day to reach the fort, and was perhaps the most drained, but Laris and Rufus were not far behind her. For far from the first time in his life, Laris pushed open the flap of the tent and gave thanks that Calkas was still there and still awake. The gnome stood as the three of them staggered in, looking concerned at first, and then relieved when he saw that they were not hurt or in considerable distress, merely extremely tired.

"Could you..." Laris began, then trailed off, uncertain what exactly he was asking for. "We want to sleep together here tonight," he said instead, trusting that Calkas could figure things out from there.

Calkas raised an eyebrow slightly, but smiled. "Would you like me to secure some additional bedding for you? I don't think a single camp bed will be sufficient, but I could probably locate some others..."

"The ground will be fine," Laris said. He felt drained, as though remaining standing was requiring a great deal more effort than it usually did. He wasn't sure if it was some after-effect of the ritual, or simply the culmination of several particularly tiring days finally catching up with him.

Dianthea nodded. "We'll make do, as long as there are some blankets and pillows."

"I'll find some at once," Calkas said, and hurried off to do so.

Rufus scrounged around the tent and came up with some bread and dried meat, and a bottle of wine, and they sat at the table and each had some, eating more or less in silence. Eventually Calkas returned with a mountain of blankets and pillows nearly larger than he was, and a pair of confused-looking soldiers carrying a couple of straw mattresses. The gnome directed them to lay the unwieldy bundles on the ground and then dismissed them. He took care of things efficiently, laying out some blankets atop the mattresses first to soften the scratchy surfaces, and then placing the pillows at one end. Finally he laid the rest of the blankets down, folding them back as neatly as though it was Laris' bed at home.

"Is there anything else you need?" he asked Laris, who shook his head.

"It's more than enough," Laris told him. "Thank you."

Calkas gave a slight bow - he wasn't a slave anymore, but some habits had proven hard to break. "Then I'll leave you to rest," he said, and departed. Laris felt momentarily guilty for that - normally Calkas slept in his tent while they were on campaign, and he wasn't sure where the gnome might wind up tonight, but he was too tired to worry about that very much.

Instead he turned to worrying about what he ought to wear to bed. Should he leave his tunic on, or remove it? Would either of his partners be offended or bothered if he was too undressed, or not undressed enough? Rufus helped settle the matter by unfastening his belt and tugging his own tunic off, leaving him in nothing but a loincloth. "Come on," he said, "we're all exhausted. Just wear whatever you're comfortable in and get into bed."

"That seems quite reasonable." Dianthea took off her mantle but left her shift on, and then turned to the business of letting her hair down. Laris was transfixed watching her for a moment, but then Rufus stepped over to help him with his cloak and belt, and he turned to give him a grateful smile.

Before long they were as ready as they were likely to be. "You get in first," Rufus told Laris, who crept to the middle of the makeshift bed. Dianthea laid down next to him, and Rufus curled up on the other side, drawing the blankets over all of them. Laris had a few brief moments to wonder whether he would be able to get any rest at all like this before he was out like a light.

****

Shadar-kai didn't usually need much rest. Four hours was often sufficient for Laris' needs, and sometimes he might simply trance instead of sleeping. This time, however, he had fallen into a deep, if troubled, sleep, his dreams haunted by ghostly presences he couldn't quite catch up with, always a few steps ahead of him.

When he woke up, he had no idea how long he had slept, except that the tent was still dark. Rufus was sprawled on his back, snoring lightly, and Dianthea had stolen several of the blankets and was rolled up in them in a snug little bundle. Laris lay stuck in the middle, not wanting to wake either of them up by moving, but also unable to get back to sleep. His arm still had a lingering soreness from where it had been cut for the ritual earlier, although Dianthea had healed it enough to close the wound, and the ache was bothering him.

He looked over at the others, resting soundly, and wished that either one of them - or both? - might roll over and embrace him. He couldn't bring himself to disturb their rest by taking that step himself, but that didn't mean he didn't desperately want it to happen. He was still shaken from Ulkash's revelations about the purpose of the Kai Do Arat and his role in protecting this place. He had asked not to be alone tonight - to keep both of them within arm's reach - and yet here he was, unable or unwilling to bridge that gap in case it bothered them. Some part of him recognized it as foolish, but that still didn't mean he could bring himself to reach out and pull either of them closer.

There was something else disturbing his rest too, he realized. It took him a little while to recognize the issue because it was a relatively uncommon one for him: he had an erection. He tried to ignore it, figuring that it would go away on its own. But his closeness to both Dianthea and Rufus was an unaccustomed complication. Even if they weren't touching him, or even awake, he could feel their bodies on either side of his on the mattress, hear the soft sounds of their breathing, smell their scents... It led his imagination in inappropriate directions, despite his best efforts to stop.

Guiding his thoughts back to the fortress and the Kai Do Arat was worse, though - or at least more stressful, if less emotionally fraught - and so he flipped between feeling guilty for fantasizing about his partners, separately or together, and feeling anxious about what he would have to do as the new 'Champion', and worrying about balancing his responsibilities in Nesu Abamatu with his new duties here...

Maybe, he thought, if he could discreetly take care of his most pressing problem, the others would fade away for a while. Maybe they wouldn't wake up, if he could stay quiet enough and not bother anyone. He slid his hand down, easing his loincloth just out of the way enough to let him touch his cock. It felt awkward and uncomfortable - his arm was sore, and he was worried about making any noise or movement that might disturb his partners' rest. A few clumsy strokes were enough to make him realize this was a futile effort, and that he really ought to stop, but still he kept his hand there, lightly rubbing his thumb over the tip of his cock because it felt good enough to distract him from his other worries.

He froze as Dianthea stirred, rolling over and stretching within her cocoon of blankets, her face about all that was peeking out. Laris jerked his hand away and tried to act calm, but he couldn't even pull a blanket over himself to hide the evidence of what he had been doing. As his wife opened her eyes, blinking slightly as she looked at him with a sleepy smile, Laris' face grew warm with shame.

"Oh," she said softly, "I seem to have stolen all the blankets. Here..." She unwrapped herself from the layers of bedding she had inadvertently taken, offering some of them back to Laris. "Now you can come closer."

Laris inched towards her beneath the covers, but stayed on his back, still acutely aware of his erection. Dianthea curled up against him, all warm and soft, her hair tousled and messy from sleep. Her arm draped over his waist and Laris sucked in his breath involuntarily, causing her to glance up at him. "Is this alright?"

It was exactly what he had wanted just a short while ago, but now he felt tense and anxious instead of comforted by it. "I... I'm sorry," he said, more curtly than he intended.

Dianthea frowned, concerned. "Is your arm still hurting you?"

"No," Laris said, "it's not that."

She moved to draw her arm away and brushed accidentally against the head of his cock. "Oh!" Dianthea was momentarily surprised, but turned to look at Laris again, keeping her hand at a careful distance. "Was that what was bothering you?"

Laris nodded, blushing. "I didn't want to cause any offense..." he began, realizing it sounded foolish but not sure how else to express that he just hadn't wanted to bother anyone.

At that Rufus stirred, rolling over to face the two of them. "Mmm, what's this, Laris is being offensive? I know he can be a stick in the mud sometimes, but..." He hesitated as he realized the look on Laris' face was more serious. "What's the matter?"

Now they were both staring at him and Laris felt like he was on stage in front of an audience of hundreds, rather than with two people he loved. He shifted uncomfortably. "It's nothing, really."

"Laris," Dianthea said gently, "I'm not offended. I doubt Rufus is either."

"I'm barely awake," Rufus said. "I don't even know what's going on. But I'm not offended."

"He had an erection," Dianthea explained. "It wasn't anything inappropriate, or that would be upsetting to us."

"More like flattering," Rufus told him, sliding closer to give him a hug.

"You told me sometimes it just happens on its own," Dianthea pointed out. "And that you can ignore it if you want, or deal with it."

"I didn't intend to make things uncomfortable," Laris mumbled. "I know you just wanted to sleep."

"I've slept," Dianthea said, and Rufus nodded his agreement, despite stifling a yawn. "And we're not uncomfortable."

"It's not bad to feel turned on when you're in bed with people you're attracted to," said Rufus. "It doesn't mean we have to do anything about it, if that feels weird, but just having a physical response doesn't mean you're imposing on us, or being inappropriate."

"It wasn't just...my body having a response," Laris said under his breath. "I thought maybe I could take care of it without bothering either of you. I stopped because it wasn't going to work anyway, and I shouldn't have, it was wrong, I know that..." The words came faster as he continued, until Dianthea and Rufus both moved to embrace him, shushing him and holding him close.

"We love you, Laris," Dianthea told him. "We're all still getting used to this, and I'm sure we'll all make mistakes along the way, but you'll understand, because you love us too."

"I don't think it was even a mistake," Rufus added. "Feeling desire isn't a mistake. Maybe a bit awkward occasionally, but not wrong. And even if Dianthea and I don't desire each other, we aren't going to get upset that you feel that way sometimes when we're both here."

Dianthea nodded. "We've talked about it from time to time - about what we'd feel comfortable with, together. We think we could find ways to make it work, if it was something you wanted to try."

"You have?" Laris' mind whirled with what they might possibly have discussed.

"Sure," Rufus said with a grin. "We talk about you a lot."

"He's saying that to make you blush, because he likes it when you do that," Dianthea added, glancing slyly over Laris at Rufus.

"And she likes to watch you practice archery because, and I quote, 'his shoulders are gorgeous,'" Rufus said. "She's not wrong, by the way."

"It's not just the shoulders," Dianthea protested with a smile. "It's also about the precision and the control."

"Now we really are making him blush," Rufus said, reaching up to stroke Laris' cheek gently. "Look, Laris - the point is, we love you, and we desire you, and at some point, if we all feel comfortable with it, maybe we can take that next step - but if we don't feel like it, that's alright too. And you don't need to feel ashamed about wanting us. Your feelings aren't an inconvenience, or a bother, or imposing on us just by existing - they're part of you and we love you."

"Rufus said it better than I could have," Dianthea added, "so I'll just say that I agree with him, and that I never want you to feel like you have to hide from us." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Now... what do you want?"

"Right now I just want you both like this," Laris said slowly. "Holding me. It feels... safe." Having one of them on either side of him, nestled close, was comforting. Even if he wasn't aroused any longer, it felt good to be surrounded by people he loved, and their words had reassured him, helping him to relax. In fact, he thought, maybe he could even go back to sleep like this... It was still dark out, and they had nowhere they needed to be until morning. The extra rest would certainly do them all good. "I love you," Laris murmured to both of them.

"I love you too," Rufus and Dianthea said, echoing one another as they burrowed in closer, arms wrapped around Laris to hold him in matching embraces.