Shadows Whisper | | Azriel

64

Cassian was practicing with a dagger when Astryn returned to the training ring to speak with him. The sight was slightly mesmerizing, especially considering he had rid himself of his shirt once the sun rose. The whole thing was a little bit too enticing and Astryn decided to table her interest in the dagger for another time.

"I thought you and Azriel were having pancakes," Cassian remarked, a grin spread across his face and a suggestive glimmer to his eyes. She realized rather easily that pancakes did not actually mean pancakes in this context. She also realized the double meaning would make inviting him to dinner to talk about sex significantly easier.

"We decided to have pancakes for dinner instead," Astryn said, feeling a little proud of herself at the shock that passed over his face. He didn't expect her to realize what he had meant. "We talked about it a bit and wanted to see if you'd like to join us for pancakes this evening."

Cassian's shock only increased at the offer, but there was interest showing clearly too. He observed her closely, a smile on his face.

"Was it your idea to invite me or Azriel's?" he inquired curiously.

"It was my idea," she answered, her cheeks pink. "Azriel agreed to it though. He said you two have...you know."

"I don't think I do," Cassian replied despite the fact that he most certainly did know.

"He said you two have had a girl together before," she spoke quickly, not making eye contact.

"I would love to know how that came up in conversation," Cassian said, a smirk on his face and amusement lighting up his eyes.

"It was just...I asked him if he'd want to and he mentioned that he has before and he said it was with you and a girl and...you know, I didn't think you'd be interested but he thought you would and I didn't see why you'd want to with me but...you know," she rambled, looking anywhere but at him as her momentary confidence vanished.

"Why wouldn't I want to with you?" Cassian asked, eyebrow raised. "You're gorgeous."

"So...do you want to?" she asked nervously, and Cassian felt something in his chest warm over how shy she was about this. He wondered if she truly didn't realize how stunning she was.

"I would absolutely love to," he told her, "but I would also like to know how you even learned that threesomes are a thing?"

"I didn't know that's what they're called," Astryn muttered before clearing her throat and speaking at a normal volume, "Rhysand told me."

Cassian nearly choked on air.

"Why in the world did your brother tell you about threesomes?" he questioned, already thinking of a million ways to taunt Rhys.

"He was telling me about contraceptives and such and he mentioned that if Az is taking it then I don't really need to as long as he's the only person I'm with and that led to...you know, questions," she explained with an awkward shrug, "he didn't really answer anything so I asked Azriel about it."

"Hm," Cassian hummed, his grin becoming just slightly wicked as he thought about all the ways he could piss off Rhys. That wasn't really the main focus, but it was a rather fortunate bonus. "I'll have to thank him next time I see him."

Astryn looked at him oddly at that, but didn't question it.

"Azriel suggested the three of us discuss...things over dinner before we actually do anything so, if you'd like, you can join us for dinner tonight," she offered, giving a small, nervous smile.

"We don't have to wait for dinner," Cassian replied, finding himself a little too eager to sit around waiting all day. "I'm just about done training. If you'd both like, we could get all the talking out of the way now."

In all honesty, he planned to be outside for another hour and a half at least but...well, if their discussion went well, he'd still be getting his exercise in anyway.

"I don't know if Az wants to wait," she responded, "but I suppose we could ask him."

"Lead the way, Ryn," Cassian said, arm splayed out to motion for her to go ahead of him.

Cassian picked up his shirt from where he had tossed it on the floor and shoved it into his pocket and trailed off after her through the halls to the room she now shared with Azriel. He grinned at Azriel when they went in, and the shadowsinger only rolled his eyes at that.

"I heard you were in the mood to relive the good old days," Cassian said, still smiling widely as his eyes drifted to Astryn before he looked back to Azriel, "I do think this will be better than back then though."

"We're establishing some ground rules before you have the privilege of touching her," Azriel replied dryly, "so you can put your shirt on."

"Really? I only took it off because I thought you might appreciate the view," Cassian responded with a mock pout.

"You're about to lose your invitation," Azriel told him, fighting back a smile when his words made Astryn giggle. Cassian, to his credit, took the warning and put his shirt back on.

"Let's talk about the rules then," Cassian conceded, his eyes on Astryn as she crossed the room and sat on the bed with her legs crossed.

"We have safe words in place," Azriel began, "red for stop, yellow to slow down or lighten things up, green is good. We check in pretty frequently when we're trying anything new. As far as what we actually do, if you're not already having some form of contraceptive, you need to before you touch her at all. Nothing happens if you don't do that. She's already having some but we won't do anything if you're not doing the same. We're not taking any risks on that front."

"I drink the contraceptive tea," Cassian confirmed with a nod, knowing why this was such a big point. He wasn't sure if it was a conversation Azriel and Astryn had yet, but aside from the fact that him accidentally getting her pregnant would be an absolute mess, she likely wouldn't survive it if it happened. Children weren't an option for Azriel and Astryn, and any accidental pregnancy would only end in heartbreak.

Azriel went on for a bit, setting rules and guidelines and getting Cassian to add in anything about his own personal limits. It was a bit odd for Cassian to see Azriel take on this role and responsibility. When they ended up with a girl together in the past, they didn't have conversations like this. It was usually just the result of all three people involved drinking just a little too much and deciding it might be fun to experiment—it was never planned and given strict rules. They just did whatever seemed fun at the time.

This was far different, and Cassian knew exactly why. This wasn't the same as any of the times they did things like this before. There was no chance it would be like those times, not with Astryn. Not with someone they both cared about so much. There was no chance this would be as simple as the times they met a girl in a tavern who wanted them both and they both wanted. This was more than just impulsive fun, a night that would be something that stuck with all three of them.

Cassian decided then and there that he would do everything he could to be worthy of the invite he had been given. He would give her everything he had to give.