Chapter Thirty-One
Trill
The next few days were full of laughter, sex, and affection, as they tried collectively to both prepare and distract themselves.
Trill, Molun, and Arvus took on the task of ensuring that Yannoma had all the sex energy that she needed.
Cormal had volunteered, too, looking a little ill, but Yannoma had said it wasn’t wise for her to be feeding near the Prince.
(Trill liked to think that she felt a little bad about what she’d done to Cormal and was kindly excluding him now.)
Learning to heal without touch was harder than Trill expected. At fifteen, he’d learned based on what Yannoma and his father had taught him. Touch was the first and most crucial step.
Except for how it apparently wasn’t necessary, only Trill didn’t know how to proceed without that first step. When he tried to push the energy out without touching someone, it either didn’t come at all or it emerged only to wisp away into nothing.
Still, Trill reminded himself that he hadn’t actually been healing for that long. And unlike his mother and grandmother, this group of people didn’t berate him for not doing something fast enough.
Perian squeezed his shoulder. “Don’t worry if you don’t get it right away. We’re both making this up as we go along.”
Yannoma had sat in on one of the lessons when it became apparent that Trill wasn’t immediately grasping it.
“Energy that is no longer contained by a being is ready to be consumed,” Yannoma said as she considered them.
“Demons pull it out of a human in order to consume it. Lesser demons can only capture it once its host has been killed. Wraiths, too, can’t absorb ambient energy.
They always rip it out of the host, which is part of what makes them dangerous.
Nightmares, carnalions, and children of two worlds can absorb it during that brief period when it’s been released from the being that created it but before it dissipates.
With the exception of your prince, energy does not just… exist outside of a host indefinitely.”
Perian was nodding. “So you consider energy that you see around you food.”
She nodded.
Gazing at Trill consideringly, Perian said, “I wonder if that’s what you’re doing without meaning to.
Carnalions taught you what is true for them: energy outside of a body is food, and so children of two worlds conduct healing energy skin to skin, from their body to the person they want to heal, and it’s never exposed where it could be… stolen. Consumed.”
Trill nodded. That actually made a lot of sense. “So it might be a defense mechanism to protect the energy, and it might simply be that it didn’t occur to us to teach or learn it any other way.”
“Exactly,” Perian said with a smile. “But I didn’t have anyone to teach me, plus I didn’t even know I was doing it.
And so my magic responded to the need that it perceived, and it just skipped the niceties.
” He huffed a laugh. “My energy and I didn’t know we couldn’t do it, and so when I needed to give energy to Kee, I just did. ”
Trill was nodding. “That makes sense.”
“At least insofar as any of this makes sense,” Yannoma muttered.
Which was fair enough. This was definitely not what Trill had been expecting.
Molun had agreed to be their test subject, insisting that the last of his healing could be done once they figured out how to do it without touching.
“How else are we going to test this?” he’d wanted to know. “We can’t do it on the Prince. Who’s going to let anyone else here injure themselves so they can heal it?”
They’d all exchanged glances, and couldn’t argue. No one wanted their loved one to be hurt.
“That’s what I thought,” Molun had said smugly. “My leg feels so much better already. I can definitely wait a little bit longer and have a viable way for you to test what you’re learning. It’s the most sensible solution.”
Arvus and Brannal insisted on being there, too, to support—and probably to put a stop to things if needed.
Perian explained in more detail what he’d been thinking and feeling as he’d tried to heal the Prince the first time. There’d been nothing logical about it. It had all been emotion-based.
He had, Trill realized, built his own connection between them. Not one of touch but one of feelings, that directed the energy where it was supposed to go.
Trill didn’t know the Prince that well, which was a different issue, but Molun? Trill had so many feelings for Molun.
He’d been thinking before about the process, bogged down in wanting to get the energy to the right place but not knowing how. His focus had been wrong. He’d been trying to send the energy with thoughts, not feeling the emotions that would allow the connection to form.
So he refocused on Molun and thought about all the things that Molun wanted to be able to do again.
He thought about Molun being pain-free. He thought about all the activities that he and Molun and Arvus could do together when that happened.
He thought about how amazing it would be when one of the men he cared so much about was healed.
He hadn’t even realized he’d closed his eyes. But he could hear the smile in Perian’s voice as he said, “Yes, exactly like that.”
“This really is amazing.” That was Molun, and Trill’s eyes popped open to look down at Molun’s leg.
They’d agreed it would be easier to see the scarring and be able to watch its progress, and of course Molun hadn’t minded being half naked in front of them.
(He’d volunteered to take everything off, but Trill and Perian had agreed that there were some distractions that wouldn’t help with their healing.
Molun had pouted but kept his underclothes on.)
Focusing on the scars, Trill could feel the connection, just like when he healed by touch, his energy responding to his request to make the man in front of him whole again.
It would probably have made more sense to pace themselves, but Perian was a force of nature, and Trill was happy to be pulled along in his wake. After seeing what Perian had done for Yannoma, Trill was entirely certain that together, they could definitely heal what was left of Molun’s injuries.
Sure enough, as they watched, those ropy scars—already so much better than they had been when Trill first met Molun—grew less and less pronounced, until they began to fade back into smooth skin.
A few moments later, Trill was filled with the sense that the healing was completed, but he realized that Perian was still sending energy.
This was the step he wasn’t always good at, Trill remembered.
He committed so fully to sharing his energy, put so much emotion into it, that maybe he didn’t know how to stop.
Rather than tugging on the energy like Trill had done last time, he tried to do some teaching of his own.
“You’ll never stop loving Molun,” he said.
“So the feelings don’t stop. But the need to express those feelings in this way has diminished.
Do you feel it? You did exactly what you said you would.
You loved him to full health. Now can you let this part of the connection fade, no more energy needed between you? ”
Molun pouted, clearly wanting to make a joke, but he evidently realized the seriousness of the moment because he didn’t actually say anything. Fortunately, Perian had his eyes closed and didn’t notice.
“Oh,” he said, brow furrowing a little. “Yes, I see. Um…” There was silence for a long moment, Brannal hovering anxiously like he was ready to interpose a shield between them at any moment.
Trill felt when Perian figured out how to pull back.
Perian blew out a breath and opened his eyes.
He looked down at Molun and the leg that looked as good as new, and then he flung himself at the man, who wrapped his arms around him and held him close.
Arvus wrapped his arms around both of them, and then Brannal came to hug Perian from behind as well.
One of Molun’s hands—just about all that Trill could see in the cuddle pile—beckoned at Trill, so he came to latch on to them as well.
Yannoma said, “You’re all ridiculous,” and wandered out of the room.
The hug went on for rather a long time, but it seemed to be exactly what all of them needed.
And then, of course, Molun wanted to prove that his leg worked, and Trill couldn’t help but point out the best way for him and Perian to recover.
This was definitely a group that was happy to have sex at all times of the day and night.
Molun ran up and down the stairs three times just because he could, the expression on his face one of such joy that neither Arvus nor Trill tried to stop him.
After the fourth time coming up the stairs, Arvus held out his hand. “Come on, baby, we need to feed Trill.”
Molun’s eyes flew to Trill. “Oh, I’m sorry! Of course! Let’s go!”
Trill was not about to expire because they weren’t instantly having sex, but maybe there really were better things that Molun could be doing with his healed body.
Suddenly, Molun was the one tugging them to the bedroom, like they were the ones who were holding everything up. Trill couldn’t help but smile, exchanging an amused glance with Arvus.
The door was barely closed before Molun was sinking to his knees in front of Trill.
“Oh,” Trill breathed.
“Do you not like this?” Molun asked, hands pausing on Trill’s trousers.
“Of course I like it,” Trill assured him, quite entranced by the vision of Molun on his knees for him, even as he realized this was a position Molun hadn’t been able to take before. “Who wouldn’t like your mouth on them?”
Molun grinned and resumed freeing Trill’s cock. Arvus came up behind Molun and leaned over him to kiss Trill, who responded hungrily, noises only getting happier as Molun dived onto his cock like he was starving for it.
Arvus pulled back to squeeze Molun’s shoulder, and Trill looked down to enjoy the sight of Molun bobbing on his cock.