Forging Ties (Ties, Book 3) | ✓

Chapter 24

Hamish and Duran had tossed the blanket and their clothes into the basket and then walked naked down to the beach. Duran had already brushed the cum off himself using his magic, but Hamish was happy to wade in and let the salty water rinse everything away.

"I used to go skinny dipping in the lake with my friends when I was younger," Hamish said as he sat down in the shallows and let the gentle in and out of the small waves wash over him. "That was how I figured out I was attracted to men. I had to keep quiet about it back then, of course."

Duran sat down next to him and dug his feet into the wet sand under the water. "I was told I would probably be sold to a man, and that seemed more appealing than being sold to a woman, so I suppose that was the moment for me. Not that our own sexual preferences were ever a consideration, of course."

"That's all kinds of fucked up."

"Hopefully the whole slavery thing will be over and done with soon enough. If I'm honest, though, the thought of it exhausts me a bit. Just... the scale of the issue and how many people will need help. And who could actually provide it? Who would know how to help those people? Certainly not me, and I'm probably more qualified than most."

"Sometimes it's just not possible to fix everything. We can take someone away from a bad situation and we can make it so no one else ends up there in the future, but we can't make all the hurt go away. Everything we experience shapes who we become. You can't erase the past."

"Maybe that's okay," Duran said as he scooped sand up in his hand under the water and let it slip down between his fingers to pile onto Hamish's leg until a wave washed it away. "I used to think that my life was just ruined. That I was ruined. That even if my life instantly became perfect in every way, it wouldn't matter, because it was too late for me."

"And now?"

"Now I don't think it's that black and white. I can have trauma and still be a person who has value, who has the ability to love and be loved. Someone who can find joy in life despite the depths of the sorrow he's felt. I'm damaged, but I'm not completely broken."

"Maybe this trip has been more than just a holiday. The world I've seen while we were out here is one with a lot of room for different kinds of people. Maybe it's time for mages to take their place among everyone else."

"That human dick, though," Duran said, flicking a glance to Hamish's where it bobbed around, flaccid, moved by the motion of the water. "And vagina, I guess, for those who prefer it."

"Well, we've met humans out here as well. I've noticed that on this side of the mountains, nobody cares nearly as much that I'm human. The more I see of the world, the more I realise just how little of it I have seen."

Duran leant his head back and shut his eyes as he basked in the sunshine. "I suppose my worrying about it won't help anything, anyway. I'll do what I can, and I doubt anyone will expect more of me. That's the beauty and burden of being a Companion. Sex is the only thing we're expected to be good at, and out here nobody cares about that."

"Hey, that's not true," Hamish said. "I care about that."

Duran dropped his head back down and shot Hamish a smile. "Thanks. I see that you're starting to understand me."

"You don't need me to tell you that you have value beyond that. You already know it. You're just annoyed that it's all other people see when they look at you."

"Exactly. I still haven't quite worked out how to deal with groups of people I don't know very well."

"Do you want my opinion?"