Page 11 of Misfit (Starshine)

S ummer crept on, and as the weeks passed, the heat outside drove Bridgette down into the dungeon with Arlon and Garrett more and more often.

Her company was welcome, and not just because she was happy to refill their water jugs or fetch towels when they sweated through their clothes.

Her presence changed the whole tone of their sparring matches from strenuous lessons to something far more fun.

“C’mon Arlon, you let him have that one!”

Arlon chuckled breathlessly as he lay sprawled on the mat, trying to cool off after the most recent bout. “You want to try and do better?”

Bridgette grinned as she tossed a towel onto his face. “I would, but Garrett doesn’t like how I spar.”

“That’s because your version of ‘sparring’ usually involves putting a finger in me,” Garrett snorted. “And we’re fighting down here, not fucking.”

“Shame,” Bridgette tsked. “Don’t get me wrong, I like watching you two spar, but it would be far more exciting if more fingers went into Garrett. ”

Arlon laughed as he rolled onto his front to give his back a chance to cool off. And if it had the added bonus of hiding how his cock had perked up at that idea, he kept that to himself.

Between the three of them, they fell into an easy routine. They’d wake up, get breakfast in the mess hall, and head down to the dungeon together. But that routine was interrupted when they arrived at Fawn’s office one morning and found the door locked.

“Oh, hell,” Arlon muttered. “I forgot Fawn said she would be using the dungeon today.”

“For what?”

“It’s for—uh.” Arlon paused, wracking his memory for the Maeve wizard’s name. “Ivarrian’s mastery petition. I think they’re going for transmutation.”

Garrett’s lips quirked into a grin. “Good for them.”

“So long as Fawn leaves them in one piece, that is,” Bridgette pointed out.

Garrett chuckled. “Less good for us.”

Arlon rubbed his neck. “We could always go back to the evocation yard?”

Garrett made a face at that as Bridgette said, “What if I had a better idea?”

“Yeah?” Arlon asked.

“Dmitry invited me to go into town today with Edrei and Magda, but I turned him down,” Bridgette said. “Since the dungeon’s occupied, why don’t we go join them?”

Arlon crossed his arms over his chest, falling quiet. Beside him, Garrett sighed and said, “I don’t know, Bri. After last night, I was sort of hoping for… less people.”

Bridgette tsked before she turned to Arlon. “What about you?”

Arlon blinked. “What about me?”

She rolled her eyes before saying, “Do you want to come? ”

For some reason, the idea that Bridgette might want him to join without Garrett there surprised him. Maybe that’s why he fumbled out an uncertain, “I—yeah, I guess.”

Bridgette beamed at him, and the sight made heat creep up his neck. “Then go get changed. I’ll make sure they haven’t left yet. We’ll wait for you out in the courtyard.”

She hurried off down the hall, and all at once, Arlon realized what he’d agreed to.

“You alright?” Garrett asked.

Arlon’s hands had suddenly gone clammy. “I don’t…”

Garrett looked him over. He seemed to read Arlon’s unease just as easily as he read his movements on the sparring mat. “Is it the going into town part or the going with others part that’s freaking you out?”

The frankness of the question made him straighten. His voice emerged tight and clipped. “I’m not freaked out.”

Garrett gave him an unamused look. “Arlon.”

He blinked. There was no real threat, but he’d gone on the defensive without thought. He forced out an annoyed breath. “Both?”

Garrett hummed as he pushed away from the wall. “What if I came with?”

Arlon scowled. “You said you wanted less people.”

“When I said ‘less people,’ I meant I was hoping to just spend the day with you and Bri,” Garrett chuckled.

Something warm pooled in Arlon’s chest at that declaration. It helped soothe the knot of his uncertainty. “Oh.”

“So, what do you say? I’ll go if you do.”

Any other time, Arlon would have tapped out, but Garrett was a fortifying presence. Besides, spending time with him and Bridgette was the only thing Arlon had wanted out of today, too .

“Alright,” Arlon said before he could talk himself out of it. “Let’s go.”

They hurried up to their rooms to change into something more substantial than sparring clothes before they went to the courtyard.

Bridgette was there to meet them, though she had donned a sun hat to go with the airy summer dress she wore.

With her was a small group of three wizards that Arlon knew by face, if not by name.

A Kenitkan man with a strong jaw stood beside Magda and Bridgette, his smile bright against his dark brown skin.

They were talking to a willowy Lenear man, but as Arlon and Garrett approached, all eyes turned to look their way.

It made Arlon’s skin prickle, and he followed a half step behind Garrett as they approached.

Bridgette raised an eyebrow at her husband, but Garrett just grinned. “Changed my mind.”

Bridgette hummed, amusement tilting her lips. “Arlon, this is Edrei, Magda, and Dmitry.”

“We’ve met,” Magda said with a smile. “It’s good to see you again, Arlon.”

“Likewise,” Arlon said. After the cold reception he had given her the last time they talked, he assumed the woman wouldn’t want anything more to do with him.

“I’m glad Bridgette finally lured the recluse out,” Dmitry said before he swept forward to offer a hand. “It’s good to officially meet you, Arlon.”

Arlon wasn’t sure he liked being thrust into the middle of such attention, but after only a moment’s hesitation, he took the Lenear man’s hand.

His head barely reached Arlon’s shoulder, and his hand felt so delicate that Arlon was afraid he’d break it.

Yet when Dmitry turned that bright smile up at him, Arlon was struck by how beautiful the man was.

Golden- brown hair curled around his ears, matching his skin that seemed to glow like shined copper.

“Dmitry’s been dying for an introduction,” Bridgette teased.

Dmitry’s pretty face flushed dark, and his smile turned sheepish. “When the handsome staff member starts wrestling Garrett in the evocation yard, it’s hard not to take notice.” He cleared his throat as he released Arlon’s hand. “Like I said, it’s good to officially meet you.”

Arlon blinked down at the slender man in surprise and didn’t know what else to say but, “Good to meet you, too.”

Edrei put a hand on Magda’s shoulder and said, “Are we ready?”

“Let’s go,” Bridgette said and led the way out of the courtyard, twining her arm around Dmitry’s.

Garrett nudged Arlon’s ribs before nodding towards Dmitry. “I think you’ve got an admirer.”

Arlon gave a noncommittal grunt, but as they headed down the road towards town, he noticed Dmitry cast a few glances back his way. When Arlon caught his gaze during one such look, Dmitry’s eyes went wide, his cheeks flushing before he quickly turned away.

Arlon’s lips quirked into a grin. Garrett’s hunch didn’t appear to be wrong, and it was a bit of a thrill to realize he could fluster the man with little more than a look.

“How are you feeling after last night, Garrett?” Edrei asked, pulling Arlon from his thoughts.

“You should be asking Bridgette, not me,” Garrett chuckled.

Edrei’s grin turned sly as he and Magda fell into step beside them. “We heard plenty of how Bridgette felt about it. Just wondered how it was to watch.”

Garrett smirked and said, “Whenever Bri’s having a good time, I’m having a good time. And you two definitely showed her a good time.”

Edrei laughed as Magda said, “If you ever want in on the fun, all you have to do is say the word.”

Garrett’s cheeks flushed dark, his grin crooked. “I know it. Maybe someday.”

It was no secret that Garrett often watched when Bridgette cast or conduited with others, but as Arlon stared resolutely at the back of Bridgette’s head, he imagined himself in Edrei’s or Magda’s place.

His loose trousers hid how much his cock took interest in the idea, but he was so lost in the thought that he didn’t realize Magda had come to walk beside him until she slid her arm through his.

The sudden, unexpected touch jolted him out of his fantasy.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” she said, and there was an uncertainty in her voice that surprised Arlon. “I wanted to apologize.”

Of all the things Arlon had expected her to say, that was not it. “For what?”

“For coming onto you so strongly,” she said with a wry grin. “I was afraid I’d scared you off the last time we talked.”

“Oh,” Arlon said, surprised for a second time.

“I’m used to dealing with other bloodline wizards,” she admitted. “Being forward with our interest is… routine for us, but talking to Bridgette and Garrett has opened my eyes a bit to how jarring the Crux must be for someone who’s new to magic.”

Arlon couldn’t help a small laugh, though hearing her address it made it feel like an invisible weight had just lifted. “Jarring is one way to put it.”

“And how would you put it?” Magda asked.

Arlon clicked his teeth, remembering the hungry look she’d first given him. “It feels like being prey.”

Magda winced as her arm tightened around his. The longer she held onto him, the more he found that he enjoyed the warmth of the innocent touch.

“I’m sorry if I contributed to that feeling,” she said sincerely. “That wasn’t my intention.”

Arlon glanced down at her curiously. He’d always felt a rift between him and the greater population of the Crux, but this seemed like a chance to bridge it. “Let’s clear the air, then. What was your intention?”

Magda chuckled, brushing one twisted coil of hair behind her ear. “To let you know that I think you’re very handsome? And I’m curious to know more about you. Inside and outside of a casting room.”

The answer surprised him with its simplicity, and all at once, Arlon realized exactly what the rift he’d felt was. It wasn’t due to the disparity of his station or the shadow of his past. It was his willingness to let other people get close.

Arlon’s walls still stood, but it felt like his time at the Crux had loosened the mortar holding them all together. It left him feeling a little unsteady, a little off-balance with the realization that… it was just that easy, wasn’t it?

Dmitry’s voice pulled him from his thoughts as the man called out, “Jot me down as also curious.”

“And by ‘curious,’ they mean they’ll ride you like the fastest horse in the stables if you let them,” Bridgette said.

Arlon couldn’t stop a bark of a laugh, his face flushing hot. “Fucking wizards,” he muttered even as the thought of Garrett and Bridgette floated back into his head. “I’ll think about it.”