Aoife

We started presence training two weeks ago. Chelsea took to it remarkably quickly, and while Matt was a bit slower on the uptake, he still figured things out much quicker than I would’ve anticipated. That day when Erica talked him through it, he managed to take his first, shaky step towards me, and he’d been improving every day since. Odds are, he’d be ready within a week.

I hated doing it though. The training disgusted me. I hated seeing the looks on their faces, twisted with fear and revulsion. I hated knowing I could do this to someone at the drop of a hat. More than anything, I hated that my girlfriends had to put up with it.

They hid it well, but I knew, sometimes, they were both scared of me. That hurt more than anything. Even still, the training had to continue, even as each session left my grip on this power’s leash more tenuous than ever. I just had to put up with this a little bit longer. We all just had to struggle a little bit longer, and then we’d be ready.

Willow and Evelyn were working over time, helping the garden produce as many poisons as possible and Erica would disappear for days on end, working with the centaurs to hunt for food and scavenge whatever weapons they could find, a bullet to the wing was far from pleasant, after all. Cass trained even harder with her sword, and many of the goblins and even a few of the elves joined in. I had no idea how the Fletchers were going to build the radio equipment we needed, but their house belched smoke almost constantly now, not a good sign from anyone else, but indicative of effort and progress from them.

Suffice it to say, I was exhausted when I staggered home this evening, an exhaustion clearly matched by Willow, who arrived home at the same time, and Erica, who was passed out on the living room floor. Since our plan was put into action, this was the first time we were all in the same place, and we were too tired to enjoy it. Wordlessly, I plodded into the living room, scooping the much, much larger Erica up into my arms, and half dragged, half carried her to bed.

With our favorite pillow now in place, I joined Willow as she climbed onto the bull woman’s stomach. As I wrapped my arms around Erica’s side, her arm moved subconsciously, pulling me closer as I nestled into her shoulder. I’d really missed this, and as much as I was hoping things would all work out, part of me was terrified. If we lost, there was every possibility that this, here and now, would be the last time we’d be together this way.

I guess I’d just have to win then, wouldn’t I?

I hissed softly as the possessive, territorial instinct rose up. This place was my home, these two were my home, and I wouldn’t let them be taken from me. I gripped Erica a little tighter as I drifted off to sleep.

Willow

I woke up well before the others. It wasn’t intentional, it just sort of happened. I hadn’t been sleeping the best these days. I tossed and turned for a bit, but when I realized sleep wasn’t going to return, and when my concern for waking Erica grew too great, I decided it’d be best if I started my day.

With the gentlest, quietest leap I could manage, I took off into the still air, fluttering over to the kitchen. I’d grown some coffee beans yesterday, so I quickly animated a nearby houseplant to begin grinding it up while I extracted a pan from the cupboard. The chickens had started laying eggs, and we were lucky enough to get our hands on some.

As I began scrambling some eggs for Aoife and I, Erica plodded quietly into the kitchen. At least, she was as quiet as she could be with her hooves on tile.

“G’morning Pix.” She said softly, grabbing a head of lettuce off the counter and taking a bite like it was an apple. I’d never get used to living with a natural herbivore like that. “The lizard’s still asleep. Seems like she had a rough night.”

I let out a quiet chuckle.

“She was doing better than you at least, Erica. I almost thought you were dead when I saw you laid out on the floor like that.”

“Oh shit. Right. That.” She laughed along with me, taking another bite of her breakfast. “I got home, unpacked all my shit, got tired, and figured a few minutes of floor time would fix me… guess it didn’t.”

“You’re lucky you’re cute.” I rolled my eyes at her as I plated the food before grabbing the french press off the counter.

“I’m a giant bull monster, Pix. You have an odd definition of cute.”

“Or maybe I have the correct definition.”

I shot a smirk her way before grabbing both food and coffee and zipping towards the living room. She just shrugged amicably before following.

“You not gonna bring Aoife her food?” She said as she crouched through the doorway.

“Nah, I wanna let her sleep a bit longer. I had a root turn the oven on just warm enough to keep her food warm. I’ll move her stuff over there once I finish eating.”

“I-” A thought seemed to cross her mind and she trailed off, looking at me with a mix of interest and suspicion. “Are you planning something, Pix?”

“Maybe?” I answered, not yet entirely sure myself. “I was gonna wake you both up with food and coffee, but then you woke up.”

“I did do that, yes.”

“And Aoife’s still asleep.”

“As far as I’m aware, that is indeed the case.”

“And this might be the last morning we have where we’re all together, in our own little private space.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Ok, so remember how a couple weeks after we all started dating, we were talking about boundaries and stuff, and then we went into sexual boundaries and things, and Aoife kind of mentioned how hot it sounded to be tied up in her sleep?”

“Willow…”

“I mean, we talked for a long time about how to play out that scenario in a safe way, right? She gave us permission to give it a go basically whenever as long as we do an early check in, and this might be the last chance we’ll ever have to actually go through with it, so why not, right?”

Erica took a few deep breaths, thinking very seriously for a long moment. Then she stood up, finished off her lettuce, and turned towards the kitchen.

“I’ll move her breakfast to the oven.”