“That’s fair,” Dredyn admits, stepping aside.
I take over breakfast duty while Mara rescues the coffee mug from Ghost, Talon sets the table, and Dredyn sulks about his cooking skills.
“Jasper?” Mara’s voice. “The eggs are burning.”
“Shit.” I flip them quickly, saving them from Dredyn’s fate.
Talon’s still laughing. “You lasted thirty seconds before creating a disaster. New record.”
“Shut up and eat your breakfast.”
And when they all laugh, I laugh too.
Out loud.
Because I can.
Because I choose to.
Because this is what moving forward sounds like.
Talon
Ten months after the fire
“I’m just saying,” Mara’s arguing, gesturing with her wine glass, “pineapple on pizza is objectively correct and you’re all wrong.”
“It’s fruit. On pizza. That’s a crime,” Dredyn counters.
“Tomatoes are fruit.”
“That’s different?—”
“How is it different?”
Jasper sighs from his chair. “This argument is pointless. Everyone knows the best pizza is plain cheese.”
“That’s the most boring take possible. You’re like a five-year-old.”
He flips me off and I grin.
“Okay, new topic,” Mara announces, “because clearly we’re at an impasse on the pizza issue.”
“There is no impasse. You’re just wrong,” Dredyn says.
She ignores him. “I have a question, but it might be weird.”
“All your questions are weird,” I point out. “That’s part of your charm.”
“Fair. Okay, so… Have you three ever thought about… you know. Exploring. With each other.”
Silence.
“Exploring,” Dredyn repeats slowly. “You mean?—”
“Sexually. Romantically. Whatever… I mean, you share me. You’re all comfortable with that dynamic, and you clearly love each other. So I just wondered if you’d ever… considered it?”
Jasper’s staring at his drink like it holds the answers to the universe, Dredyn looks like he’s trying to solve a complex math problem, and I’m?—
