Demesne Patron EX SS 12 - Talking About This (Patreon)

Takes Place Immediately After 154

For a moment, absolutely silence reigned in Rian's house as her Bindership left, her ominous words hanging in the air. The windows on either side of the door were absolutely black, and while she could still hear the sounds of people outside, nothing of them could be seen. Inside, the fire glowed warm, but light came from a stone on the shelf above the bed that glowed cold and bright and white, something that her Bindership had given Rian. It lit the room stronger and clearer than any candle, casting sharp shadows on the opposite wall.

"Well," Rian said, breaking the relative silence, "I think you've been good for her, Riz. She's threatening instead of going straight to violence first. That's… something of an improvement, isn't it?"

Umu stared at him, still backed up into the corner of the house, and so did the other women. Her heart was still clenched tightly at her Bindership's matter-of-fact words about what she could do to them if they touched Rian, as straightforward as another woman might state she needed more thread. Warily, she stepped back from Rian so that she didn’t touch him by accident. She had thought that Binder Lori had no intentions on Rian herself but threatening violent death weren't the actions of a sane woman unless they were jealous or possessive.

Rian glanced towards her, then at Riz. "Uh, will you let me pass? I just… need to get something."

Umu warily backed away some more as Rian walked towards his shelves, on which his pack and several other things now rested. He opened it and rummaged around inside, pulling out his blanket. It was a thin thing, barely three sheets thick and not even quilted, and it was getting worn despite how careful Umu had been when she laundered it. She sighed internally at how stained the undyed fabric looked, something that Rian seemed to reciprocate. It wasn't the best of blankets, and had belonged to someone else who had died on the way here, but it had been better than the hard, rough canvas he'd been using after he'd given Umu his old blanket, when he had though she had been feeling too cold to sleep.

She still had it.

"I really need to wash this thing," he muttered. Then he glanced at Umu, looking guilty. "I really need to learn how to wash this myself," he amended. Still, he took the blanket and moved towards the head of the bed where it was shoved up against the wall. He sat down and took off his boots, then leaned back with his feet folded up under him as he wrapped his blanket around himself. "Sorry, but it's just really cold for me tonight. I might need to move the bed in front of the fireplace just to get warm enough to sleep."

"That's a good way of catching fire when a spark goes flying onto your bed," Riz said immediately. "Don't do it."

Rian sighed. "Ugh… I might need to sleep under my bedroll tonight…" He shook his head. "All right, what now, what now…" He looked at the three of them in turn, and Umu felt a twinge of petty jealousy he looked at Mikon first. Granted, the woman was closest and opposite him on the bed, but her jealousy didn't care. He took a deep breath. "This… is probably not something a lord should do, undermining his Binder immediately after she leaves, but…" Hesitantly, he pulled his arm out of his blanket, holding out his hand. "If you want to touch me, go ahead. Lori says you need my 'express approval', so I give you my express approval. You and everyone else in the demesne. It's cute, and almost endearing she's that worried about me, but I'm not going to be a reason anyone dies."

"You'd do that?" Umu blurted out.

"I'm lord. It's my job to keep everyone in the demesne alive," Rian said, stating it as a simple fact. "Besides, she was probably just being dramatic. You know Lori. At worse she'll yell a lot, and then she'll send me to take care of it, and I can usually talk her down to something not-terrible. So feel free to touch me as much as you want."

Had Umu been a more quick-witted woman and not bewildered by Rian's declaration that he would protect them from Binder Lori's wrath, she might have made a teasing comment about Rian asking them to touch him. Mikon, that shameless, lustful flirt, immediately leaned forward and took his hand. "Of course Rian," she said, that annoying smile Umu sometimes really wanted to slap off her face on her face. "I would be very glad to touch you, if you want. I'm happy that you trust me with this." She squeezed his hand before letting go, still smiling before making a show of leaning back and adjusting her skirt.

Ugh. Stupid, pretty, witty, annoyingly friendly, better than her woman... why couldn't she just be satisfied sleeping with Riz and leave Rian for her? Her hair was a nicer color, she had smoother ankles, her lips were so much more pouty… Umu tore her gaze from those ankles as she tried not to think about how much better the other woman was compared to her. She even wove faster, and her threads were finer and stronger! Even with Binder Lori's dubiously helpful advice—the same woman who'd just threatened them with death! Violent death!—Umu didn't feel like she was drawing Rian's interest enough to compete with all that…

"We'll have to talk about that," Rian said. "Look, I'm flattered at all the interest—" He was? He certainly didn't look like it. He mostly looked confused. "—but I don’t really know any of you that well. Certainly not enough for… " He glanced down, and Umu followed his gaze to the bedroll that Mikon was seemingly absently patting with one hand invitingly. Rian hastily looked away, face blushing. "…for, uh, any sort of decision about… this."

"I'd be very happy to let you get to know me better," Mikon said, and the perfectly straightforward statement sounded like the lewdest of salacious invitations to Umu. And, apparently, to Riz and Rian as well, given how they both stared at the woman, blushing. Mikon made another gesture as if to straighten her skirt, but seemed only to pull Umu's gaze down to her uncovered ankles, which was probably the idea. Argh, how did she keep doing that, using completely innocent-seeming gestures to direct looks at her most attractive features? Mikon looked over her shoulder, smiling at Umu and Riz as well. "I would be happy to let all of you know me better. What would you like to know?" Why was she making friendly overtures now, of all times?

Rian hesitated. "Why me?" he asked in a small voice. "I'm not anyone special. I'm a lord, but that's only because Lori wants to avoid talking to people as much as humanly possible, and I help limit that to 'one person, potentially for all time'."

"Because I like you," Mikon said immediately, with absolutely no shame. She didn't even blush, just smiled as brightly as before. "You're kind, even-tempered, funny, hard-working, and you're patient with the children. My aunt says that last is important in a good husband, and she's not the only one. Why not you?"

Rian's eyes went wide, and when he spoke, he sounded like he was choking. "I'm not that special…" he began.

"You don't need to be," Mikon said. "I like you. Isn't that enough?" She looked towards Umu and Riz again. "I don't know about them."

"I like you, Rian!" Umu blurted out. She was used to the rush of embarrassment as her mouth got ahead of her again. The only thing to do was keep letting it lead as she stepped towards him, not stopping until her shins were up against the bed. "I've liked you a lot for a long time…" She wasn't as beautiful as Mikon as helpful to Rian as Riz, but she couldn't just give up. She glanced at his blanket, at the pack full of obviously smelly clothes. She was washing those. It was all she could do to appeal to him, so she would. "And tomorrow, I'm doing your laundry. You… you have to help her Bindership with things and then Riz has to tell you what's happened, right? You don't have time to learn how to do your laundry, so I'll do it!"

"You—" Rian began.

"I know I don't have to do it, but I want to! Because I like you! I've always liked you! So I'll keep doing things for you."

Why was Mikon nodding and smiling at her like that?

Riz was looking between Mikon and her, face determined, and walked around the bed to be on the opposite side from Umu. She met Rian's gaze, and there was no blurting, no embarrassment. She spoke with strength and certainty that Umu couldn't help but envy. It was completely different from Mikon's easy, shameless words. "Rian… I like you. You… you listen. When I talk to you, you don't just hear only what you want to hear." The northerner woman looked almost defiantly at Mikon and Umu, as if daring them to say something. "That's important to me, all right? And you don't just listen to me, you listen to everyone." She chuckled suddenly. "You don't always understand, but you listen and you try and… I want that. I want someone who listens and tries to hear what I say."

Out of the corner of her eye, Umu saw Mikon reach out and give Riz's hand a squeeze. Riz didn't even seem to notice as she squeezed back. Rian did and was glancing at it with an odd look on his face.

"There, you two. You've said it. Do you feel better?" Ugh, did she have to smiling so encouraging like that? Yes, she did feel better, she had finally said it, but now it was up to Rian, and she wasn't— "And so you've heard us, Rian. We like you. Is this what you wanted to know?"

For a moment, Rian closed his eyes. "Well, it's clear now, at least… So, is this the part where the three of you ask me to choose between you?"

YES!

"Of course not," Mikon said.

ARGH!

"At least, I don't intend to. It would be unfair towards you, and selfish of us. After all, just because we tell you we like you doesn't mean you need to like us back." For a moment, Mikon's smile changed, filled with irony and just a hint of bitterness. Then it was as cheerful as ever as she leaned forward. "I like you. If say you don't return the feeling…" She shrugged. "I can't expect you to. Not yet. But I want you to. I'm sure Umu and Riz want you to. So give us a chance. Please?"

Rian closed his eyes. He breathed in, sighed, and opened his eyes again. "This… would be so much easier if there was only one of you. You're wonderful women. I don't want to hurt any of you."

"Does that mean that if it were just any one of us, you'd say yes?" Umu blurted out.

Silence as Rian's eyes widened. "No..?" he said weakly.

"You said it would have been an easy choice," Riz said, leaning forward. "And that you wouldn't hurt any of us."

"And that we were wonderful," Mikon said cheerfully.

Riz stared at him. Then she slowly stepped forward, her eyes never leaving his face as she turned and sat down next to him at the head of the bed. Rian met her gaze, even as his blush, which had slowly been fading, grew stronger again.

"Tell me to stop, and I'll stop." Still moving slowly, Riz leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, and Umu's fingers twitched as her heart clenched. Stop! Stop! Sto—

There was a creak as Mikon stood up, Riz and Rian turning to look at her. Mikon, seemingly unmindful of their gaze, walked around the bed towards where Umu still stood. The pink-haired weaver was a little taller than her, making Umu have to look up slightly as Mikon pressed towards her, and the blonde involuntarily took a step back before she stopped herself.

"Why don't you sit next to Rian, Umu," Mikon said, her gently voice surprisingly at odds with her cheerful smile. "You don't want to let Riz have all the fun, do you?"

She stared at the woman who insisted on being friendly and fair and frustrating even if they should be rivals and enemies and— ARGH! Why did she have to be like this?-! Why couldn't she be annoying and easy to dislike the way Riz was? Umu let herself be guided into sitting down and founded herself pressed against Rian's side in a way that was both familiar and different in a way that made her clench. She tore her gaze up from the bedroll they were sitting on to find Rian looking at her, with Riz beyond him…

Umu leaned forward and kissed his cheek, resisting the urge to grab him, to pull him towards her and away from Riz, to have her all to herself. She'd show him she liked him more than Riz and Mikon did, that she liked only him, that—

"Uh, Mikon? What are you doing?"

Umu blinked, pulling herself away from Rian at the words. She found the other weaver lying down on the bed, her head staring straight up at them as she lay with her hands folded under her breasts, feet protruding over the edge of the bed.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm just waiting my turn," Mikon said with a smile. She closed her eyes. "Wake me up then."

They stared awkwardly as the woman began to take a nap…