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“Jester has questions,” Fjord said with a sigh.
Molly huffed. “Since when does she need you to ask them for her? We have tiefling night, why are you taking topics from our agenda?”
Fjord sighed again, pressing his face into his palm and staring forlornly down at his steaming coffee. He was probably regretting choosing a round table, where he couldn’t really get away from Molly no matter what part of the table he sat at.
Caduceus’ smile was all knowing, with a hint of amusement in the corners, and Molly was delighted to see that Cad was clearly getting as much joy from this as he was.
“She wanted to talk to Caleb about it. Even though I said I’d prefer to talk to Caleb about it.” Fjord looked truly put out by this, and that fact alone made Molly take so many mental notes, already crafting the way he’d tell the story to Jester.
“It being me?” Molly purred, leaning into the intentional obtuse, tapping his nails onto the ceramic side of his own mug. He preferred an iced beverage, but Fjord and Caduceus only drank theirs hot, and Molly kind of liked matching them at boy’s day teatime.
“It being you and Essek.” Fjord sighed again, like the mere mention of Molly’s polyamorous relationship was exhausting to him. But Caleb and Essek had always been better at multitasking than Fjord, so Molly could see why the idea of dating two people at once would be overwhelming to him.
“So,” Fjord pushed on, clearly steeling himself to having this conversation. “You’re like, a throuple now?”
Molly made a face. "Gross, don't make it sound like a disease. Throuple— ugh. We’re dating. Partners. I don’t know.” He waved his hand and took a sip of his coffee, enjoying the burn of it sliding down his throat. Maybe he was a hot beverage guy now.
“It’s not just sex,” Caduceus supplied helpfully, and for a guy that just didn’t, Molly was so appreciative of his cavalier attitude about everyone that did.
Molly shook his head. “It’s not. But we do that a lot.” He grinned, letting it turn lascivious just to see what shade Fjord would turn (forest green), even as he felt his heart start to do gooey, happy things in his chest.
“That’s new for you,” Cad observed, “liking each other, not the sex.” And it was just like him to jump right to the root of it. They’d talked about it, when Cad had first come out to him, explained the difference between asexual and aromantic, the umbrella and scale of it all.
They’d talked about it even more when Molly had come back to him, internet history full of terms like gray and demiromantic. Molly had never needed labels, but the idea of his feelings existing in a broader community was still nice. Less isolating to know he wasn’t the only one.
“It is,” Molly replied. “But it’s— I like them. A lot. And they like me. It works for us. So I’ll stick around as long as they’ll let me.”
“I just don’t think I realized Essek and Caleb were…” Fjord trailed off, waving his hand a bit, discomfort clear. He was trying though, and Molly could appreciate that.
“Poly?” he suggested.
Fjord nodded. “And you’ve clearly done this sort of thing before—”
“Threesomes,” Molly supplied cheerfully. “Though I’ve been in larger orgies before.”
“—but I always thought,” FJord soldiered on, painstakingly ignoring Molly’s comment and managing to turn an even darker shade of green, “that Caleb and Essek were on the opposite end of the scale from you. It just surprises me, I guess, but also not really, since you were all just kinda looking at each other for a while.”
Molly didn’t think it had been that obvious. Maybe he had been, but he’d always been pretty shameless with things he liked. But Caleb and Essek were harder to read.
“They’re both demisexual,” Molly explained, and he remembered Caleb sitting him down, explaining that the fact that they let Molly into their bed before anything else was indicative of his importance to them. They had to like him a lot for them to have even been a possibility. “So in a way they are and they aren’t.”
Cad hummed, steam from his tea swirling in front of his face. “Then you must all mean a great deal to each other.”
Molly felt his face heat and looked down at his mug; the ceramic was the same shade of purple as Essek’s skin, with a swirling red-gold pattern that reminded him of Caleb’s magic. “Yeah,” he agreed, unable to stop his smile growing.
“Well shit,” Fjord said, looking at Molly with something almost akin to wonder. “You’re actually in love.”
“Don’t say that where people can hear you!” Molly hissed, his heart soaring around his chest like a goddamn bird.
“Your reputation is at stake,” Cad said, deadpan. “People will think you’re going soft. Committed relationship Molly is the unexpected turn of the century.”
Molly laughed. He loved when Cad got sarcastic and weird. “I’m corrupting wizards, don’t get it twisted.”
Fjord still had that thoughtful look on his face. “I was ready to do a three point shovel talk.”
“All three of us? Fjord, I’m honored.”
“I was more worried you’d break their hearts, if I’m being completely honest.”
“What about my heart, Fjord?” Molly asked, leaning against Fjord’s shoulder and batting his eyelashes up at him.
“Have you ever had your heart broken?” Fjord asked, squinting down at him.
Molly shrugged and shoved himself upright. He tucked his hair behind his ears and smiled wickedly. “There’s a first time for everything.”
He had, actually, but he wasn’t going to talk about it. Not at a coffee shop he frequented with his green and pink friends. Not when he was so stupidly happy.
“I don’t think that’ll happen,” Cad said easily, and Molly made a mental note to buy him fancy tea sometime soon.
“Wildmother telling you secrets?” Fjord teased.
“Nah.” Cad smiled and blew on his steaming tea. “Just a feeling I have.”