A Visit Returned [Kala/Kaus]

[Raithen]

The day passed pleasantly. Raithen had no responsibilities associated with the common people sworn to his house and could not have pointed out any that were not a part of the household staff so it was a novel experience, seeing a noble family bound so tightly to their people. Mostly he listened, memorizing names, professions, bits of information out of habit. His mother and brother could have no use for such knowledge but the cataloguing was too ingrained in him to stop. Manners and mannerisms were also observed, absorbed; he wanted to learn the local way.

When dinner came he ate as he always did, with gusto. The mood of the meal was not at all what he might have expected if he had been told there would be a noble family dinner at home. Having spent the day as he had, however, he was prepared to adjust his expectations to something more like a dinner he shared with friends. It wasn't quite that, for any friends who would share a comfortable meal with him were significantly lower status than he and that would be reflected. This felt like the sharing of equals, something he, upon considering, didn't think he'd ever experienced before.

Respect was still due to the Lady of the House and the heir but as they spoke together he felt more and more at ease, particularly with Aquilios. There was a familiar warrior's mindset to him that Raithen shared. When the heir and his smaller family had departed the young Dux laughed.

"I am looking forward to sparring at least as much as he is. Even if your children team up on me I'll be learning valuable tactics."

The relationship between Akshara and her younger children was not so very much different from his with his own mother. The expressions of the relationship were different but he believed the twins had devotion for Akshara and she affection for them. There was some byplay that he did not understand but he did not ask either. Familial matters were not his to pry into and the little information he'd received before departing had no included information as to Akshara's illness.

He finished what was in his wine glass before leaning back and asking, relaxed,

"So, what have the two of you planned for me?" Sparring on the morrow, at least, and flying through their mountains, he knew, but nothing else.

[Kala Leukos]

.

Raithen didn't need to voice a question for them to intuit his curiosity.

"Childbirth is difficult on the body at the best of times," Kala said quietly. "Even moreso with Avialae. No matter the race of the mother, her children tend to be much bigger than her womb would like. Aquilios came with relative ease, but a twin birth..." She sighed.

"Mother's health never fully recovered," Kaus chimed in sadly. There was a guilt in both of them, as well as a knowledge that they held no fault for being born. "Even the highest priestess of Ioniri available couldn't quite restore her health."

"But in me, she has a healer with a particular interest in her recovery. My efforts seem to be having some effect, although..." She paused. "I have a grimoire from Garel himself. When I unlock the power to create more Avialae, I intend to give her wings first. The wings hold magic, else we wouldn't be able to fly. It is my hope that the strength they lend her will complete her recovery."

"You will manage it," Kaus said with a supportive smile.

"I know." She smiled back. And then they were both smiling at Raithen, sharing the bittersweet, though the sight of him banished the bitter. And he could feel how his presence had that effect via their bond. That bond reduced the need for validation. They considered him with eerily similar expressions, though he knew better than most how different from and yet complementary to each other they were. He could feel the tingle of lust, as well as a thoughtful consideration.

There were secrets in Starfall, and the changes wrought upon Kala by Naori expedited certain necessary changes. Akshara and Aquilios were considering how to strategically make these changes, and sharing some of their secrets with a scion of the sands might be part of it, but that was out of the twins' hands.

"Well, Kaus wants to kiss you, but I just want to use you for sex," she said bluntly.

.

[Raithen]

The information the twins were providing as Raithen swiveled comfortably between the two as their speaking style overlapped itself was interesting not very little in it felt like something he should comment on. It was exactly the sort of information he'd been trained from a young age to absorb and keep in case it was ever useful. The problem was that he didn't actually want any information on his host family that would be useful in the ways that gathering such information usually was. He didn't want anything on them that he could pass on to be used. Unable to simply turn off his training he instead just sort of let his mind go vague about it. He was interested, but he didn't want the sort of clarity that might be used against him, and then against them, later.

This became difficult when the Grimoire of Garel was mentioned and Raithen knew there was no way he was going to forget or cover up this secret if anyone with access to his mind went looking. Lady Kala, as she chose to be called despite her ascension, probably had ways to protect herself. If she didn't it might be useful to offer her aid, so long as doing so didn't fly in the face of the wishes of his own twinned deities.

Instead of memorizing the details of their discussion, he turned his mind to the details of their connection, the way they responded to each other fascinated him. When they both turned their attention back to him he lit up, beaming at them in a perhaps less than dignified manner. The reconnection with the bond that the three had created in his homeland had been like remembering that he could fly after having been grounded for a long time. Their thoughts and interests were similar enough to his own on most things, at least where the three of them were concerned, that he often failed to realize that it was someone else's feelings he was feeling. If he concentrated he could tell the twins' from his own and if he was very intent he could even tell theirs apart from each other.

His bright laugh came easily when Kala teased,

"I am at your service." His eyes were silvery bright as he bowed elegantly in acknowledgment of their desires. "Though I'm afraid I do not know your customs." He glanced around the now empty dining hall, "Is it acceptable to bed a Lady of the House in the public hall?"

It would not have been that unusual for such a thing to happen at home.
His bright laugh came easily when Kala teased,

"I am at your service." His eyes were sparking silver as he bowed elegantly in acknowledgement of their desires. "Though am afraid I do not know your customs." He glanced around the now empty dining hall, "Is it acceptable to bed a Lady of the House in the public hall?"

It would not have been that unusual for such a thing to happen at home.

[Kala Leukos]

.

"I think perhaps not," Kala said, though there was a sparkle to her eyes and a flush to her cheeks mirrored in her twin.

There was an eagerness in them that complemented Raithen's own, though their experience of the world was quite different. They had never wanted for companionship when they had been born with their minds intertwined, and as their bodies matured, there hadn't been all that many options for exploration. That might have been different in Kalzasi, but there was decorum and there was a strong streak in demisexuality each of them.

They weren't in love with Raithen, though they were both, to different degrees, infatuated. And the light bond they shared was all the connection they needed, it seemed. In his presence, they were much more sexual creatures.

"But there are bedrooms," Kaus promised, tugging on Raithen's clothes, low over his waist.

"Or we could fly up to where the air is rarefied and hope to climax before we land..."

Kala's suggestion was more creative, but either elementalist could have crafted them a bubble of breathable air far up into the atmosphere, giving them more time for their free fall dare devilry. They were playful. They were touching him inappropriately as they guided him away from the table and toward somebody's bedroom.

Of course, they were amenable to other things. With their bonds, though, it was unlikely anything would happen where anyone felt compelled.

.

[Raithen]

Raithen had been raised in the hyper civilized environs of Solunarium and even his sex, as passionate and enthusiastic as it could be, usually reflected that. With the twins, their desire and his mixing and reflecting in their bonds, it felt simpler, more natural. There was something of the animal in it, a wild, old instinct in his blood rose at the sight of them and it was not the only thing that did.

Images of running through open spaces under the sky, playing chase-and-catch games where all of them won no matter who was the hunter and who the prey, filled his heart and sometimes his head. Dreams in which he was a fox or a wolf or a deer or all three changing from moment to moment, had come to him since he had met Kala and Kaus. It made him fleetingly wish he had the rune of Animus to share with them. But he wanted them as they were, to have them as he was, and now, he could.

Excitement and interest flowed between them but there was no rush, the build-up was as good as what came after. Raithen wouldn't have known how to say if he were in love or not, his sudden and intense obsession with different people came to him almost as soon as he saw them and often left as quickly. It hadn't come when he'd met the twins but his personal interest in members of his own species, who were his own age had been strong enough in itself to form a connection once they had shown similar interest in the connection. The bonding had done plenty on its own and entirely aside from that they were both playful, interesting and entirely too attractive for him not to want them. Perhaps this was infatuation in a more normal form than his typical, but whatever it was, he liked the way it sat inside him.

His hands came up, thoughtlessly mirroring Kaus' touch, leaning towards him in little nuzzling motions without quite kissing him. Laughter was the reply to the idea that they could fly up and try to recreate the mating habits some imagined birds of prey to have. The idea was intriguing but he would be entirely too distracted from his partners to properly enjoy their first coupling. An idea for another time.

"I wouldn't want the distractions." He murmured, voice already dipping lower despite the amusement lacing it as he was pulled from the public space toward what he assumed were less public ones. "But surely there is a tower top where we can show the stars our skin."

[Kala Leukos]

.

They were young, so while they were exhausted when all was said and done, they didn't sleep, but rather reveled in the sensuous aftereffects of it all. Not wanting to call for food, nor leave to fetch it, Kaus had been keen enough to stash some snacks, some wine, the sort of things they could pass around easily, or feed to each other.

The twins weren't attracted to each other, but neither were they upset by the other's presence. Having someone like Raithen who was equally attracted to both of them was nice. Nothing needed explaining; they just enjoyed Raithen and he enjoyed them.

A few lamps were lit, albeit dimly, and only the light of the stars came through the casements. During a lull in the touching and the giggling and the random thoughts shared without fear, Kaus began to share a poem he was writing. It seemed appropriate given his muse was there present and after they had been somewhat shameless, he had little fear in sharing.

"They say there is a war
Between the man and the woman.
I've never felt like this before;
My heart knew that I couldn't."

And Kala, who knew his poetry almost as soon as he did, sang quiet, fluting trills, a sort of ornamentation. She hummed and kissed Raithen's chest while Kaus shifted words around in his head, the better to explain what was in his heart.

"And then you take me in
And everything in me begins to feel like I belong
Like everybody needs a home
And when I take your hand
Like the world has never held a man
I know I cannot heal the hurt
But I will hold you here forever
If I can, if I can.

And then I learned the truth:
How everything good in life seems to lead back to you
And every single time I run into your arms
I feel like I exist for love..."

It wasn't finished, but Raithen knew that.

"Someday," Kala purred against Raithen's skin, "perhaps he will share the more lascivious poems he has written about you."

Kaus scoffed, but didn't deny it. One twin or the other wondered idly if the bond they had shared with Raithen would deepen. Some thoughts were like that here and now, nobody quite sure who had thought it first. Perhaps it didn't matter, though Kala did have to remind herself not to fully unveil herself lest her divinity overpower the others.

"Raithen, my duck..." Kala began cautiously. She had taken to sometimes calling him that because, well, he had wings and he was a dux. "The Pyramid is Paramount in Solunarium, and the devotees of the Divine Twins accept hierarchy and chains, but... for you, yourself, would you rather see your chains or remain blissfully unaware?"

.

[Raithen]

The Dux lay back in the pretty white bower bed, not tired but sated, body the sort of relaxed that only came from working most of his muscles for a prolonged period. Kala lay atop his chest and Kaus sat lower down, near his feet. They had been talking but he wouldn't have been able to tell anyone what the subject had been. When the Lord began to recite Raithen tucked one hand around the Lady and the other behind his head so that he could watch the starlight and shadows play over the beautiful body and shimmer off the wet lips as Kaus spoke.

The humming moved lightly from Kala's body into his and his eyes closed sometimes to hear the harmony of them the better. They opened fully when it was finished, though it wasn't finished. When the sister teased her brother a grin of playful pride pulled Raithen's lips apart below an expression of deep self-satisfaction. He was flattered and enjoying it.

Sitting up, dislodging the body on his own gently he took a small round fruit that he was not familiar with but had found he quite liked, between his teeth and leaned forward, offering it, and himself, to Kaus. It burst between their mouths but they were pressed together tightly enough that it was shared without spilling. It was not all the reward that had been earned but it was a promise for later.

When their shared kiss finally broke and Raithen began to settle back into his sprawl, Kala asked her question,

"Yes, my dove?" He answered first, then thought about his fuller answer as he settled himself, belly down this time, propped on his elbows.

Humming thoughtfully, and then happily as he felt Kaus settle close he finally said,

"I don't think it would matter, either way. The chains on me are placed, as you say, by the Divinities I serve, and by my family. I know some of them and know there are others I don't. I probably wouldn't understand the unknown ones and if I did, I wouldn't fight them. It is just and right that they be."

This he meant, as nakedly as was his body, but it was not true. One can not know what they do not know and the well of things which Raithen had been intentionally kept from knowing contained depths beyond his current imagining. He believed it to be true, and that was easy to see.

[Kala Leukos]

.

Kaus bit into the fruit shyly at first, but Raithen always brought boldness out of him, ever since the night they met. His juicy kiss was eager and guileless, and perhaps Raithen would appreciate how his own pleasure was juxtaposed over Kaus' within his heart, and the addition of Kala's compersion blooming within his heart as well. Kaus kissed Raithen as though they would sate his hunger, but toppled over to prop himself up on his elbow and watch.

He grew perhaps a little too quiet at Kala's question, and it remained even as Raithen answered. Their friend would feel the faint tension between them, whether they would or would not tell him something they were fairly certain he didn't know. It released at his answer, though, and the moment passed.

Kala kissed him thoughtfully on the knee as that was closest now, her hand cupping the bend behind his knee, then sliding up his inner thigh. She wasn't reaching for more action, but merely enjoying the feel of his skin and the muscle playing underneath.

"Well, you should know a bit more about Avialae bonds in any case... Since you have bonded to us and it is entirely possible that the bonds will grow deeper and more powerful if we all desire it to be so. We told you how the bonds were built into the race by Garel as a precaution against the psychic powers of the Hellmaw. It could drive men mad, or control them, or... well, accounts have some variation as they are wont to do. But having a tether to someone else, someone who could overpower them mentally, keep them from turning on each other and the people they were defending... Hm, so it was a feature, not a flaw. All the same, that feature was abused by the Gelerian Imperium and it could be used against you."

"You wouldn't, I think," Kaus interjected, "have kept our bond if you didn't trust us. And you wouldn't let it grow deeper and more powerful if you didn't want it and trust us."

Kala nodded. "But we do not have a place in the Solunarian Pyramid. We have been happy guests and hopefully will be again." She sighed. "I am slowly growing into divine power. I would be able to command you as if I were a master of the Rune of Command. I would not, of course. Unless, perhaps, I felt it was necessary to save your life and there was no time to explain."

"We are more on par, though," Kaus continued. "Equal in our bond, but we could... well, influence each other. As if with Semblance or Mesmer, but an artefact that blocked Semblance and Mesmer wouldn't protect you from it. Or me. So, it could be insidious. It's even possible to want the other to do something badly enough that we influence without meaning to."

"It is important for you to know the ramifications of your bonds," Kala said. "Should you be moved to create other ones, you have to weigh your trust. Between Avialae, the power is balanced. But should you bond with a Re'hyæan, the power they held over you would outweigh your power over them. In most cases, your enthusiastic consent is required, but there are... hm... loopholes."

Almost as one, they fit themselves against him on either side.

"I won't give you reason to regret it," Kaus promised quietly.

Whether Raithen made the connection or not, he had the information he needed to do so now.

.

[Raithen]

The tension that entered Raithen's bond with Kaus, and then passed to Kala without being gently quelled, as he had noticed often happened when one or the other grew apprehensive, added a layer of something to the conversation. The dux was not sure what it meant, but he could have guessed, given a moment to consider it in seriousness, that the Lady's question had not been one of simple curiosity.

Kala, of course, knew things that he did not, even about himself. She was a Goddess now, and though she was not the one he worshiped (at least, not in matters of religion), she would still have access to information that mortals did not. Kaus being privy to some of that information was so obviously the way of things the thought wasn't even necessary for Raithen to understand its truth.

He ran a finger over one eyebrow that had become disarrayed somewhere amongst the kissing and sex play and tried to push his mind from the relaxed of post-coital bliss to the floating relaxed that allowed him to absorb information. The switch was made less successful by the comfortably familiar touch of the Lady's small hands moving intimately over his skin. Raithen really could have just stayed there with them for whole days, switching between talking, sex, eating and sleep as the moods struck them and, as the option to do so was so new, the pull of it was strong on him.

Kala's words quickly drew back his attention, being of a topic that he was almost obsessively interested in and his wings switched almost like a dog's ears, perking as though to propel him closer to the object of his interest. Though he had no instruction in how to work with Avialea bonds he thought that he could break the ones between himself and the twins if he tried. There was something instinctive to it, now that he could feel them so he nodded to Kaus' interjection without interrupting.

The suggestion that Kala might Command him, via their bond, or her budding powers neither surprised nor worried Raithen. He was a creature for whom receiving commands was the natural state of being. His mind and emotions remained open to both twins without any tension at the idea. He would hate to be the cause of strife between the Divine Twins of his homeland and the new deity but it wasn't something he could have much control over.

The idea that he might also influence those he bonded took on a playful, sexual context in his mind that he had to quickly attempt to repress. This he was successful in but not before they would have felt the teasing idea inside him.

Again he was nodding, new understanding of the possible dangers both to him and from him that could present if all parties were not mindful of the bond.

"If you noticed me doing that, pressuring either of you, tell me. I haven't had a reason to try to repress the things I want inwardly." Everyone in his homeland repressed things they wanted outwardly.

It was hard to keep his thoughts on the serious topic as he was surrounded suddenly by exceptional flesh. His arms wove around Kala in front of him and his exceptionally flexible wings wove back around Kaus so that his chest could press between them to Raithen's back. It was an exceptionally intimate and vulnerable position that he had almost never allowed anyone inside but Kaus would understand that, knowing how it would feel himself. At least, Raithen assumed he would, being ignorant of the level of the twins' sexual innocence.

Even the inducement of their touch did not drive the topic from his mind, however, and after a moment of adjusting limbs for the comfort of all he asked,

"When did you bond each other? Can children do it?"

[Kala Leukos]

.

Both twins smiled at the thought he couldn't repress fast enough. Hers was small, more wicked than ever seen in public. Kaus' was wider, more open, but there was something about their smiles that was the same.

"It is also incumbent upon us to remain self-aware enough to know what is us and what is our bondmate. The intimacy can become unhealthy if the people involved are unhealthy." She shrugged slightly; that was just the nature of the beast. "I think I am safe unless you turn out to be a genius at manipulation. But you do make Kaus hard when you look at him, even if he doesn't see you looking."

"Kala!"

There was a flash of indignation, embarrassment, but also warm pleasure that seeped out and become indistinguishable from the afterglow.

"I think normally," he continued, "it would bother me that you would not enjoy me doing to you what you do to me, but I feel some of it through the bond anyway, and it feels good so I don't mind so much."

Kala's amusement faded into keen attention. She was as aware of Kaus' emotional makeup as she was of her own.
The both of them eased into the shared embrace that Raithen urged, and Kaus began to kiss on Raithen's neck, snuffling in his golden hair. He hardened between them, but just rearranged himself so he could move a little between golden cheeks, not entering. Without hands, the little goddess shifted her sex against the dux's.

"Children can. Theirs can be fleeting... light bonds with a new playmate, easily forgotten to dissipate if they never meet again. Some are stronger, such as with family. But they are often more ephemeral too, easier to fade without the will to make them more permanent. Ours was strange. The deepest of bonds happening somewhere between conception and birth, never wavering."

She paused.

"Duck. How would you feel if I asked you to put a child in me?"

.