The Maiden's Dragon

Love Languages

Vivienne smiled as Anson curled up against her again, his chin on her thigh and a content look on his face as she pet him.  She hesitated for a moment when she caught Red watching them, but his easy smile loosened the tension out of her limbs.  They concluded their game and Red took Tommy to bed.  She waited patiently, slowly cleaning up dominos until Red came back.

"Are you headed home this evening or staying here for the night?"

Vivienne looked up at Red, her fingers buried in Anson's fur.  "Are all of you supernatural creatures so delightfully non-jealous and possessive or is it just Dragons or did I get lucky when I found you?"

Red grinned, a laugh slipping out of him as he came back to sit down, folding his legs and leaning his elbows on his knees.  "You have met Katty and her husbands, correct?  You wanna talk about possessive, I don't think there's a better example than those three."

She frowned, confused.  "They're polyamorous though."

"Yes, and if anyone were to come onto one they would end up with the full wrath of the other two.  I mean, I don't know the full story but I believe Max got kidnapped once.  Katty and Jason had him tracked down within three days and broke the neck of the one that had taken him.  And the last time Katty got kidnapped, Max and Jason were only barely talked out of doing the same and leaving the rescue to her sisters."

He shrugged.  "Which is not to say any one of the three is trapped in their relationship.  Vampires tend to be possessive of their lovers but it's not some sort of domestic abuse where they're unable to ever leave.  It depends a lot on the species."  He cocked his head.  "Why do you ask?"

She ruffled between Anson's ears, drawing Red's gaze there for a moment.  "You're just...never upset about any of this.  I've had a couple boyfriends get mad because they thought I had a wandering eye but I have literally crawled into bed with Anson and you didn't even flinch."

Red was quiet for a minute, watching them with something soft in his eyes.  "How much do you remember of Anson?  Before?"

"I remember riding a horse with him.  I think...  I don't think he quite knew what to do with me at first.  And when we became friends he was a steady companion in all things."

Red nodded.  "And when we were all living together?"

Vivienne looked down at the large wolf in her lap, quiet and gentle.  Nothing like the monster Esther feared.  Not a slavering beast with a taste for blood.  She lightly stroked across his head and face, smiling when he sighed in contentment.

"I remember the three of us having dinners together.  Long nights talking in front of the fire.  Or laying out in the grass, looking up at the stars.  But there were times when you weren't there.  When you had to be a Dragon, instead of a Human.  When it was just the two of us.  Just Anson and me, and I wasn't as lonely as I thought I would be."

She cocked her head, looking up at Red again, brow furrowed.  "He would share my bed.  Wolf or man.  Just, staying close.  Always good for a friendly touch.  But none of it ever bothered you."

Red shook his head.  He shifted a little closer, laying his hand on top of Vivienne's in Anson's fur.  "I couldn't steal that from either of you.  Viveka and Anson were both so touch-starved then, it would have been cruel to keep that sort of affection from you.  Viveka lost her family to a fire when she was young.  I think you know that.  And when she was taken in by the church it was a fairly hands-off environment even before they suspected demon possession and witchcraft.  You might not be starved for love now, but you're just as family oriented.  Still like physical affection.

"Anson never told me his full story but I got enough.  He was well loved by his parents.  But when the knight took him to be trained as a soldier when he was only a little older than Tommy...  Sure they fed him, clothed him and sheltered him.  But they turned him into a weapon.  A tool to be used at his master's whim.  Punished for questions instead of blind obedience."

Anson whined.  Red smiled fondly and stroked across his fur.

"It took some time before he could make a mistake and trust I wouldn't blow up at him about it.  Before he would speak his mind freely.  I couldn't withhold the sort of love you both craved, especially when I wasn't around to give it myself.  Anson was a pack animal even before becoming Wolf.  And you might think his Change was the biggest turning point in his life but I disagree."

Vivienne looked up, meeting Red's eyes.

"I think, the biggest turning point in his life was the moment he decided to betray his master.  To turn his back on the cruel man who would force him to kill his own men.  The decision to come to the rescue of a maiden who was to be executed for loving a monster.  To save the first person to ever show him unconditional kindness with no ulterior motive."

Vivienne swallowed.  Memory came back.  Most of it fuzzy but for the pieces in blinding clarity.  The snow stinging her cheek.  An anguished Dragon roar.  The fear in her chest and the tears in her eyes.  A ringing clash of steel right above her head.

"Run my lady!"  

The warm hand on her face and the cold nose beneath her chin had her blinking.  Red smiled, leaning across the distance to kiss her.  Soft lips on hers.  Warm breath and hot tongues.  Strong fingers pressed into her nape and laced through her own fingers, settled on top of course black fur.  Red pressed kisses to her mouth and cheeks and forehead before resting his brow against hers.

"I trust you, my little one.  I trust him.  I want what makes you both happy, and I'm secure enough to be comfortable with the fact that your love language is physical.  Just like Anson's language is physical."

"Yours isn't?" Vivienne asked.

"Mine is gifts.  I show you how much I love you by taking care of you.  By taking you on vacation and spoiling Tommy rotten.  By promising Anson a horse."  He grinned when Vivienne snorted.  "But the three of us share the language of time, which is why this works as well as it does.  Besides, I know you can love someone without getting sexual.  I love Anson.  He loves me.  You will never find us having sex."

Anson sneezed and growled.  Red scrubbed into his fur to scratch between his shoulders and he grumbled.  Vivienne laughed, hugging Anson's head to her chest and kissing the top of his head.

"It's just weird," she said.  "I love the easy atmosphere and the freedom to be myself.  Show affection like I want.  I guess I've just learned a knee-jerk reaction to expect disapproval for it."

"I will never disapprove of you being yourself."

She grinned when she caught the soft thrumming in Red's chest.  "I love you too."  He chuckled, the thrumming getting a little louder.

"You never answered my question.  Are you staying tonight?  We can play another game, keep talking, go outside and look at the stars?  Or just bed.  Whatever you like."

"As long as we're together?"

"As long as we're together," Red agreed.