Bird of a Flock (Bow 2) - Chapter 9: Chapter 9

"So, are you sleeping with us in the nest room tonight or in your room?" Nel'os asked with very little tact, fluttering his eyes at Ryraso as he dried off.
"My room," Ryraso said without hesitation, wrapping a robe around himself. "I'm exhausted and would like to sleep on my own tonight," he said dryly, not missing how Eyeri's face fell slightly at that. "Or did you forget humans don't normally sleep in large nests?" he added, rubbing his shoulders.
"Not like we can do anything to you," Dyn'ad commented, having joined them in the bath shortly after they had entered. "Rule is no sex until after the ceremony."
Both Aw'endo and Eyeri looked uncomfortable at that, flushing slightly red at the idea of the Royals having sex with Ryraso. "Babies," Nel'os grinned at them. "Sex is a wonderful thing." Eyeri blushed more but Aw'endo just scowled and threw his wet towel at Nel'os.
"Sorry if we don't want to hear about your sex life," Aw'endo grumbled. Nel'os and Dyn'ad just laughed, Ryraso smiling himself.
Tai'ray chuckled, wrapping an arm around Aw'endo's shoulders and ruffling his hair roughly, making the youngling complain. "Going to have to learn to put up with it Aw'en," he commented. "You know Nel'os' a noble. They aren't ones to skip details."
"Still, are you sure you don't want to sleep with us tonight?" Nel'os asked, looking at Ryraso again with his yellow eyes wide and innocent. "We won't do anything and I can give you a massage if your shoulders are giving you a bother," he offered. Noble, Nel'os was indeed, but he had also been groomed to be a good submissive partner which included knowing how to relax his partner after a long day of work.
"Not tonight, Nel," Ryraso smiled, trying not to let any feelings of unease move over his face. His eyes instead flashed over to Eyeri who was returning to his normal colour but was looking a little nervous. "I would like to sleep in a bed tonight."
Nel'os followed his eyes and nodded slowly. 'Don't want to leave your boy alone tonight?' Nel'os asked over the link while outwardly pouting unhappily at this statement.
'Not with just Aw'endo tonight at least,' Ryraso said softly. 'First night here... with everything which has been going on, I'm worried he'll have nightmares.' Dyn'ad and Tai'ray sent their acceptance of this reasoning.
"Ry..." Nel'os moaned, though over the link he sent the feeling of understanding to Ryraso. This was all for show.
"Stop complaining. Without me there, you three can have all the sex you want. Burn off some of your frustration," Ryraso said dryly, hooking an arm around Nel'os waist and pulling him in to kiss him on the cheek. "You can live without me for a night."
"So you'll join us tomorrow?" Nel'os said hopefully.
Ryraso's stomach twisted unhappily and Ryraso saw Tai'ray and Dyn'ad frown in response. "We'll see," He smiled, trying not to show any unhappiness on his face, trying to cover up his unease.
Tai'ray frowned as he felt Ryraso's stomach twist but let it go. There were so many reasons why the human could be nervous, it was hard to keep track of at the moment. So much was going on at the moment. "We'll see you tomorrow morning then," he nodded slowly, walking over to Ryraso and wrapping him in a tight hug. Ryraso hugged back with a noise of complaint but his grip was strong and warm. Tai'ray kissed his cheek and Ryraso smiled back at him warmly.
"I'm basically next door Tai'ray. I'm hardly far," Ryraso teased in k'nairi. "Stop looking worried."
"That means nothing with you and you know it," Tai'ray muttered darkly, kissing Ryraso again, this time on the lips. "Love you Ryraso. Sleep well and you are always welcome to crawl into our nest if you wish."
"Goodnight," Ryraso said rolling his eyes and moving over to hug and kiss Dyn'ad and Nel'os. The pair having given their own hugs to the boys. Ryraso wrapped his arm around Eyeri's shoulders and led him back to the consort quarters. The quarters which had been kept had been for the favourite consorts and hence were very close to the Royal nest room. There was actually a passage which linked the nest room to the communal area but it was sealed currently. Ryraso wondered if they would open it up again now that the Royals had an actual lover in the rooms again or if they were hoping Ryraso would move into their room quick enough it wouldn't be a problem.
"Da?" Eyeri murmured as they reached the room. "Do you really want to sleep alone tonight?" Eyeri and Aw'endo both looked at Ryraso nervously.
Ryraso blinked owlishly before laughing and hugging his boy close, dragging Aw'endo in for good measure as the youngling squawked unhappily. "You are welcome to sleep with me, boys. I just need a night away from the Royals," he admitted, ruffling Eyeri's hair and kissing Aw'endo's forehead. "Nel'os really needs to have some fun with his mates and I'm not ready for that, even if I would just been watching."
"Oh... Oh!" Eyeri blushed red. "They would ..."
"Have sex," Aw'endo said bluntly, though there was a blush on his cheeks too. "Better just to say it straight. Most k'nairi do," he muttered, eyes on the fire in the middle of the room. Ryraso smirked. Aw'endo was at the very short period of time when even the k'nairi were a little embarrassed to talk about these kinds of things. Old enough to know what sex meant and that humans his age were already doing it even if k'nairi younglings had no drive until after their Nadvia.
"They would have sex... with you there not ... joining in?" Eyeri said, practically forcing the words out and his face seemingly growing redder with each word.
"Of course," Ryraso sighed with a bemused smile. "Nests tend to be voyeurs. Not everyone is always in the mood but that doesn't stop the ones who are from having fun together. It's why hatchlings and younglings have their own side nest," he explained yawning. "I'm going to go pass out I think," he smiled. "It's been a long day and we have a long week ahead. We can talk about k'nairi nests and sex tomorrow."
"We don't have to," Eyeri muttered, following Ryraso into his room and flopping on the big bed.
Ryraso grinned and took off his robe, leaving him in his sleeping ware. "Kind of goes hand in hand with k'nairi courting and nests I'm afraid," he commented, trying not to think about it too closely himself.
"Everything seems to," Eyeri commented sleepily, curling against Aw'endo as the youngling crawled into the bed next to him. Ryraso smiled to himself at that comment, looking at himself in a mirror which was hung over the drawers in the room. Eyeri wasn't entirely wrong in that statement.
Naked and flesh sticking together, the Royal triad were reluctant to move apart despite the stickiness. Dyn'ad had already cleaned his mates down from their activities and thrown a sheet over them but none were inclined to go get sleeping ware at that moment. There was something very comforting about having flesh press against flesh in the nest.
"So... Any clues why Ryraso is scared of coming into our nest at the moment?" Dyn'ad asked, breaking the peace and silence.
Nel'os moaned unhappily. "Couldn't just enjoy the afterglow, could you?" Nel'os muttered darkly, shifting so he was looking up at the ceiling. Tai'ray shifted too, but he was still curled in the centre of them. "He's got a lot to be nervous about," Nel'os shrugged with a hint of sadness. They were the cause of most of that nervousness. Them and the nobles who were like predators looking for weak prey.
"He was fine being naked with us in the baths," Tai'ray mused. "But the boys were there and I think Ryraso was more distracted by making sure Eyeri was comfortable than his own feelings."
"Should have gotten there sooner, Dyn'ad. Tai got a naked snuggle while we were cleaning his wings," Nel'os teased.
"Shut up," Tai'ray grumbled as Dyn'ad chuckled, pressing his face into Tai'ray's hair.
"Enjoy it?" Dyn'ad asked, kissing behind Tai'ray's ear.
"Yes but not too much," Tai'ray said, rolling his eyes as Nel'os snickered at the idea of Tai'ray getting too excited with Ryraso on his lap. "Quiet you," he ordered mock seriously, poking Nel'os ribs and making him laugh.
"But Taiiiii," Nel'os laughed. "He let you hold him. He's not scared of us," he said firmly, seriousness entering his voice again. "We would know if he was scared of us," Nel'os stated, mostly confidently but there was a waver at the end of his words that both his mates heard.
"Nel?" Dyn'ad asked softly.
"I might have scared him..." Nel'os said softly, not quite sure.
"Ry's used to you teasing about sex. You didn't scare him," Tai'ray reassured, tightening his hold on Nel'os briefly. "He was teasing and flirting back. You were fine."
"Not in the bath," Nel'os commented. "I suggested he move straight in with us. He got defensive. Maybe he thought we were going to force the issue?"
"No, Nel'os. That might have triggered this but I think something else may be his concern. He knows we wouldn't rape him. He knows we know what counts as rape to humans. He may be scared by what sleeping in this room means," Tai'ray commented, rubbing Nel'os stomach gently, feeling his mate tense and unhappy as he thought back over the interaction and let his mates see it, at least from Nel'os perspective.
"I mean. He's had sex with us before but never in here," Dyn'ad said thoughtfully. "Means something different in here." Sex with friends was not unheard of for the k'nairi. Especially with the nobles sleeping with anyone who took their fancy. The royal triad had dragged Ryraso into their beds a few times when Ryraso had lived with them. Sleeping with a nest in their main sleeping den meant something however. It meant the nest wanted that person for their own.
"It means we claim him as our own," Nel'os agreed strongly.
"Maybe we should have dragged him up here when we had the chance," Tai'ray sighed, thinking about the last time they had slept with Ryraso. It had been in one of the guest rooms. At the time it had felt safe not to openly say to Ryraso that they wanted to claim him, but to assume he knew and plan how best to do it. A few days later, Loror had arrived at the door.
"That is the past. Another thing which might be worrying him now, how many partners has he actually had since leaving Navat?" Dyn'ad pointed out. "I can count three off the top of my head. None recently. He might be a little rusty."
"Three?" Tai'ray frowned. "Wiljam, Tiew ... Did he sleep with Inai?" Tai'ray asked, looking over at Dyn'ad.
The infamously clumsy but clever engineer Wiljam, had been Ryraso's most common lover on the warship. The triad would have been concerned but the two only slept together when drunk and Wiljam had never shown any signs of being possessive over Ryraso. At least, no more than as a friend. Nel'os really wanted to know how that partnership had formed because from all reports and stories from the Namya warship Ryraso had spent a ridiculous amount of time healing and berating Wiljam for being so careless in his experiments. That being said, they hadn't smelt Wiljam, or anyone else, on Ryraso which suggested it had been a while since the last time he had been intimate with someone.
"At least once," Dyn'ad mused. "Loror had a rant about it..." he trailed off. That was a different issue altogether. The High Priest's relationship with their Warlord was unstable at best.
"So he might be nervous because it's been a long time," Nel'os conceded. He sighed.
"Nothing we can do at the moment. He knows we can't have sex with him until after he is branded. I guess all we can do is be patient with him."
"True," Tai'ray nodded. "Speaking of lovers. When are you two going to tell him about Cai'ress?"
Both flinched. "Soon," Dyn'ad offered. "Has to be soon before the nobles tell him," he exhaled. "Cai'ress had promised to keep his distance until after Ryraso is branded however. He understands why we are worried."
"Kind of him," Tai'ray smiled, pleased Cai'ress was willing to wait for his own ambitions. "I'll have to thank him next time I see him," he yawned.
Nel'os and Dyn'ad smiled and cuddled against Tai'ray tighter. The three drifted off. Tai'ray feeling slightly strange without Ryraso but warm and content between his older mates. Nel'os and Dyn'ad dreaming of five bodies in their bed but more than happy just to keep the mate they had between them snug and safe.