Holier Than Thou

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smirked at Atul's comment, meeting his sapphire eyes. "To be fair, she did ask for it," he scoffed quietly. "This was a good idea," his gaze spread out to take in the beach cottage, the sea, and the starry night sky. "Thank you."

[Emora Deen]

Atul smiled. "Your welcome. I'm glad we came here. The weather has been nice, the beach lovely. Tomorrow is going to be nice, if Tenele can manage to make it out of bed. I feel a little bad," he admitted with a chuckle. "I think tomorrow is a full moon and I know... Well, I know that you two were considering calling Knight on the next one." He brushed his fingers through her silver hair.

Atul hadn't quite figured out what he should think about the two of them having a child, especially if that child was a part of him, as much as it was a part of Vlad. He knew he had no right to get in that matter with them, at least he didn't think he did.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's gaze flared slightly with anticipation as he instinctively looked up to the full moon. He knew he shouldn't hope for anything too hard. "It should be alright. As far as I'm aware, babies are not made using that part of the anatomy," he smirked. The fact that Atul had brought it up caught him a bit off guard. Tenele had agreed to be the one to talk to him about their plans, and with Vlad's talent for putting off important conversations, this was actually the first time the vampire and the king had discussed the topic man to man. Vlad's mind stretched out along their connection searchingly. "Atul...I don't know if you understand..." he drifted. "I'm not sure you know what you mean to us."

[Emora Deen]

Atul sat up, bracing his body on an elbow. He stroked fingers through Tenele's tangled silver hair, watching the beautiful peaceful expression on her face. "I love you Vlad," Atul admitted, casting his gaze up to Vlad. "Never thought I'd say that to a man before..." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Tenele's temple. "And I'm in love with your wife. Since the moment I met her I thought she has to be the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. There are days when I am envious of you, where I wish I had what you have... and then I realize that in some way I do, but infinitely more special. I also have you. I learned to love you, through her. No, I don't think I entirely understand what I am to you... But, now you know what you both mean to me. I'm just not sure where I belong with you in your future... I didn't expect to be taken in like this. I didn't expect to fall so deep. I thought it would only be temporary. Now, I don't know if I can drag myself back out."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad blinked at the king. Emotion squeezed around his throat. He wasn't quite prepared to hear Atul so eloquently touch on nearly every question, every growing thought that had been budding his his mind over the past month. He wasn't used to expressing such things, so he'd let them slowly build up, unspoken but too important too deny or ignore.

It had been 5 weeks since they'd come to reside with Atul. In that time, they almost always shared a bed. On nights where one of them was out late, the room had come to feel emptier. When two of them bickered, the third made peace. When the need arose for this vacation, all three had gone. It hadn't even been a question.

Vlad watched the king mature every day in his confidence and poise with leading his court and his people. He watched a prodigal son slowly grow into a true leader and powerful ruler. Sometimes the vampire almost didn't recognize him. But in the bedroom, after the day's work, he was always Atul. And in that intimate setting, even now, he sometimes sensed a sort of insecurity in the man, a caution that he might not be welcome.

He was, of course. He was always welcome. But what did that mean? He was a king. They were eventually to return to Ighten. Weren't they? It was like their lives fit together just fine emotionally, but the ergonomics didn't level out. Despite that, the thought of being separated left a hollowness in the vampire's gut. They'd put their friend, and themselves, in a very odd situation.

He didn't want to acknowledge it. Talking about it meant he had to stop ignoring the complications. But he wasn't about to leave Atul hanging there with his heart out in his hand. And he wasn't about to let anything hurt the man he shared his bed with, the person he loved as surely as he loved Tenele.

"I don't share your talent with words," Vlad said in quiet frustration, his eyes gleaming as he looked up at the near-full spotlight of the moon. How could he express what he was feeling? "You are my best friend, Atul. You are my -only- Friend. I trust you. I turn to you. Moreso, I think, than my own queen, even after hundreds of years of service. I also thought, when this started, that this arrangement was a plot to protect Tenele. Something necessary. Something temporary,

"I-..." he cut off. It had taken him so long to say it to Tenele. Don't tell me it was going to be just as hard with him? Perhaps he didn't need to say it. Perhaps it was just obvious.

[Emora Deen]

Atul smirked, and leaned across over Tenele to place a kiss on Vlad's lips, and then on his forehead. He felt that was all the vampire needed to know that he understood. "I don't know where we go from here, or where we go after tomorrow... I guess all we can do is play this by ear. That's all I know to do." He slid down behind Tenele, resting his head on the pillows there.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's heart tremored at his friend's compassionate kiss. The sensation melted him, and worried him. "Atul, if this crazy plan works, I will be a father." It was clear from the way he pronounced the words that they still felt foreign, meant for someone else's life.

[Emora Deen]

Atul chuckled. "Yes," he admitted. "You will be a fine father, I think. I suspect you'll be insufferable and overprotective as always." Atul frowned as he pressed a kiss to the back of Tenele's head. "Is that what you want? Do you really want to be a father, Vlad?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad thought of the tender, needful look on Tenele's face when she'd described her mental image of him as a parent. Even in memory, it drew out pride and restless agitation in him. "I think I am afraid to want it," he said, measuring his words. His ruby eyes rose to meet Atul's. "And you?"

[Emora Deen]

Atul blinked at him. "Me?" he asked, looking up at the stars. "I'd like to think that one day I will be a good father. I'll have to be. If he is to be king one day, I want him to be a good man. Maybe I can show him... or her how to be that sort of person."

He thought for a moment. "Are you worried?" He sat up slowly. "I mean, Knight isn't exactly human and he's very powerful. Are you even the least bit worried that it might not be healthy for her?" All Atul could think about was his own mother, who had perished because she hadn't the strength to birth the child pushed on her by a forced act.

"You know the king you met when you first arrived? The one that claimed to be my father? He was actually my brother in most ways. Verin was twisted in his ruling. Each son married, and the first wife on the wedding night was offered to Verin as a sacrifice. Each one, on down the history of this land gave birth to a son and died. The king remarried, and raised the child as their own, knowing it would one day be their successor. My mother's body couldn't handle it... But, Tenele is different, I'll admit that. Her mother isn't human... She'll be fine."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad tensed. He'd never thought of such a thing before. The king tended to be more calculating than Vlad was, but the vampire could run with an idea quickly once it was sown. His thoughts raced at Atul's question.

What's more, it was suddenly clear that Atul was looking forward to bearing his own children. Raising them as royalty. His thoughts of rearing Tenele's child together suddenly seemed half-formed and naive. Of course, he would want his own family. Who would want a half-life of ghosting in another couple's relationship? That was fun for a while, but the king would grow tired of it eventually.

The thought hurt. Vlad's fingers curled a little deeper into Atul's skin, claiming his warmth against the ache in his mind. Oh, this would be hard. This could become very, very hard. What if he didn't want to give the half-god up? What if he liked being in too deep? He'd never had anything like this, and suddenly he didn't know which parts he could keep and which parts he would lose. What am I doing? he struggled to pack away these feelings.

[Emora Deen]

Atul glanced at Vlad's tightly curled and and then to his wife. The idea of her carrying a child, a child that was also his as much as it was Vlad's, made his heart swell. He wanted to claim it too, but he was afraid. He was afraid of overstepping his bounds with them. His child. Their child.

"What will I be to the child?" he asked Vlad, glancing up at him. "What am I allowed to be?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad raised himself up on his arm and looked at Atul with quiet, molten eyes. Pain and hope radiated through their link, as if the vampire hadn't chosen one yet. The question left him burning, and he told himself to say it, just say it, even if it was foolish or impossible, just say it or regret it forever.

"A guardian. Caretaker. Teacher. Hero. Friend. Teller of stories, slayer of monsters, planter of dreams. Me, when I cannot be me. Tenele, when she cannot be Tenele."

The words poured out in a rush of nervous embarrassment. "A father. I'd thought... her father, of course. My partner. My lover."

[Emora Deen]

Atul smiled, lost in the idea of that. He saw them, the three of them and the child. It was a beautiful imagery that nearly brought the king to tears. "Her?" Atul finally muttered with a soft chuckle, as if he were trying to change the subject to something that wouldn't emasculate him more. "Do you secretly want a girl, Vladimir Dracul?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad narrowed his eyes on the king. "You don't?" he demanded, as if Atul's disagreement was the only foreseeable obstacle to the gender he'd come to assume in his mind. The child might as well be five weeks old already, for all the memories he'd made of her in advance.