Leaf and Seth both chuckled, and then Seth asked, “They behave too well?”
“Well, nottoowell, or maybe….” Dev seemed to ponder that for a moment. “I mean, I guess you’re the kind of people who don’talwaysrequire them to behave themselves, right?”
“Right. It’s not hard for them not to misbehave or be too in your face all the time,” Leaf said seriously.
“Missy,” Seth coughed the word theatrically.
Dev let out a peal of laughter at that. “Yeah, she seemed a bit… livelier.”
“She’s only two years old—she’s the kid,” Leaf defended her.
“She’s also a bit simple. She wasn’t first in line when they were giving out brains,” Seth murmured, but anyone could’ve noticed he loved the dog dearly.
“Do you have a big backyard?” Dev asked, then went back to eating with enthusiasm.
“Yeah, it’s pretty nice. But it’s home, you know. It’s only exciting for them to a point,” Leaf said and took a sip of his red wine. He preferred that with pasta dishes, while the others were having water.
“Do you go on hikes with them? There’s bound to be a ton of good places around here?”
“As often as we can. I mean, I go alone with them sometimes, but I’d rather have Seth with us, and he works a lot. But they come with me wherever I go for work. We have an RV in the big garage, so we spend most of the time together anyway.”
“Oh, that’s neat. I’d like to see the RV at some point if that’s okay. I always wanted to road-trip in one, but our parents weren’t too keen on that idea.” Dev grinned in a way that said there was a story behind that statement.
“Sure. After dinner. We need to feed the dogs, and they usually eat on the back porch during the warm months. Less drool on the floor,” Leaf told Dev.
They finished the dinner, talking mostly about art and games and how those combined and changed the ways people saw digital art in general. Seth enjoyed himself immensely, finding himself agreeing with Dev a lot, and feeling very interested in continuing with the next game on Dev’s list.
“You two go set up the game, and once I go out the back, Dev can join me?” Leaf suggested when their conversation carried over after they were finished eating.
“But shouldn’t we help you clean up? You fed us, after all,” Dev asked, frowning a little.
Leaf chuckled. “A well-raised boy. I like that.” He winked at Dev, who ducked his head a little, and Seth felt glad not to be the only one around who could blush. “It’s fine. You do your thing. It’s your date, after all.”
Dev and Seth headed back to the computer, and Dev started the next game.
“Now, because the last one was grayscale, this one is sort of the opposite, but not. Basically, similar ideas of using the color in the art, but it’s also part of the game mechanic. It’s calledHue.”
Seth was soon swept up in another platform puzzle game where he guided a little guy—called Hue—through a very dark world. This time, though, he had to collect and use colors to change the world around himself to figure out how to advance in the game.
The controls were simple, so after a while, Dev left him alone with a surprising kiss on his temple and went to find Leaf. The dogs had dashed past them a while ago, so it was obviously feeding time.
Seth got a bit lost in the game and snapped out of it when both Dev and Leaf came to sit on the couch with him, one on each side.
“I think we should talk a bit more, if you’re willing to let go of the game for now?” Dev teased. He helped him close the game, then also showed where he could start it again.
“Okay, what’s on your mind?” Seth asked, leaning against Leaf’s side, smiling when he lifted his arm for Seth to cuddle closer.
“Well, see, I know it’s much too early to even start to think about, you know, where we’re heading with this dating thing,” Dev started, then licked his lips as he thought some more. “I mean, obviously you have your own thing and have had it for ages. But I want to know where I fit in and how exactly. I’m not expecting anything, really, but I’d like there to be some sort of rules, maybe?” He peered at them thoughtfully.
Leaf hummed behind Seth. “I think the best thing might be if we all are in this together, but also do things separately. Like Seth and I obviously share the everyday thing and such, but if you and I go on a date or you and Seth do, it should be just fine? Figure out the pair dynamics while we figure out the three-way thing?” Leaf smiled a little.
Seth nodded. “I think so too. I mean, it seems like we both want to date you, but we have our life here as well. It won’t take away from our relationship if we extend it to you.”
“Okay,” Dev said, nodding. Then he smirked wickedly and peered at them. “How about sex things?”
“Oh, figures the young one starts that particular conversation,” Leaf teased good-naturedly.
Seth came to Dev’s defense. “You know I like to be prepared for everything. I’d rather know beforehand what we might be getting into. It’s not an unimportant thing.”
