"So... is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" I asked. I sat next to Cleo as Tara seemed uncomfortable across from me and Komi seemed a little excited about something. After a quick discussion with Boomerang (which consisted of him asking me how many times Cleo and I had done it for the most part, to which the answer was tragically zero due to the wall between us at most times and the various guards watching.) I had him and Abner sit somewhere else for the time being.
"So yesterday Tara and I were talking." Cleo began.
"Yeah, I was there for that."
"She told me about everything that happened in Russia between the three of you. And how you all got pretty close."
"If close is how you describe I want to take him to my home planet and make him the actual king of my world sure let's go with that." Komi said. "Before I met you I totally forgot what real connection was. Any sense of any form of tolerance or enjoyment of someone else's existence was totally wiped away after my parents tried to replace me with Starfire. But now thanks to you I acknowledge that I can be a..."
"Cunt?"
"Thank you Tara." Komi said sarcastically through gritted teeth. "And I'm trying to be better. For you. Key word is try. But I wouldn't even try to improve myself if it wasn't for you."
"You already know how I feel. I'm not gonna spill my guts out in front of everyone." Tara simply stated.
"After talking with Tara I realized how much these two really care about you and how much you mean to them. They feel the same way about you as I do and honestly I think you may also feel the same way about them, especially after what you and Tara apparently did the night you went out to drink."
"You told her about that?" I asked Tara kinda embarrassed. Tara nodded meekly. "What happened to it was a one time thing?"
"You kept being the best person I ever met, asshole! That's what happened!" She said with a red face.
"So on the ride back to the US, when Tara and I officially reconciled we came up with an agreement... that was then sidetracked when we realized that you two had a thing going on." Komi pointed at me and Cleo with two fingers.
"How did you figure that out, again?" Cleo asked.
"Well between hearing about saving you nonstop from him, and the fact you're the only one that had the guts to go talk to his Ghost Thing despite being warned about how he would try to cut you in half-"
"And you got him to stop without hitting him or being cut in half." Tara added to Komi's list.
"It was kinda obvious. And if it wasn't then it was obvious the way you kept laying in his bed with him and playing with his hair and talking to him trying to wake him—"
"Okay okay we don't need to go into all those specifics he gets the point!" Cleo blurted out throwing her hands up. "Can you just tell him about the deal?"
"The deal?" I repeated.
"Look, it's obvious that despite all of our own personal issues and tragic backstories and trust problems and bullshit, we all really like you." Tara finally started getting to the point. "And we realize how much over the course of a few days you've completely changed our lives for the better. And I really can't imagine my life without you, and neither can the others, and I know I would be completely shattered if we couldn't be close and I don't want anyone to feel the pain I imagine it would feel like except for you know who."
"And the same goes for me. The fact that Tara and I were almost killing each other and trying to start fights the last day in Russia were because we were admittedly scared of losing you to the other. So while you were unconscious I came up with an idea but it only works if you admit that you feel something for all of us first."
"I think the fact that you-know-who kept threatening you guys proves that I like you which honestly is why I've been slightly conflicted about being with Cleo the past couple days."
"Well hotshot you don't gotta be conflicted anymore." Tara said. "We're all here with unbelievably long prison sentences that will get shortened overtime. So for the time being... I am... open to sharing." She said the last part through gritted teeth and my eyes almost popped out of my head.
"I'm not open to sharing for the record I just want to make you happy and make up for almost getting you killed in Russia." Komi added. "But it's temporary. If none of us break up, the first person to get out of here after you do or if you personally choose you like one of us more than the others—"
"Like an asshole." Tara added once again.
"Like an asshole, that's your girlfriend girlfriend and we won't spend the rest of our lives trying to kill her and take her place."
"Like a yandere?" I asked.
"A what?" All three of them asked. Alien and Girl that lived on the streets of Portugal all her life I understood, honestly surprised Tara never saw anime even with the Teen Titans.
"Could you be serious a fucking second? This is kinda a big thing." Tara said agitated. "Moments like this to stop the other two from going into a ballistic rage, you can't be giving hickeys and shit to any of us, flirting in public we can live with. Komi gets a pass when you two are with me because I owe her for making out with you in front of her that one night. But if you're alone with any of us we can do whatever we want." After she said that Komi reached out and held my hand, caressing the back of it with her thumb.
"Anything~." She said with a seductive hint before Tara grabbed her hand and pulled it away.
"What the fuck did I just say!?"
"That was light flirting!"
"Maybe this was a bad idea." Cleo said.
"Are you sure you're okay with this?" I whispered to her.
"I couldn't stand to hurt anyone the same way it would hurt me if you were taken from me but still wanted to be with me, if that makes sense." Cleo said. Note to self: She's currently in the front running for girl I take out of here with me.
"Also," Komi spoke up after she finished her argument with Tara. "We've all heard the story of fucked up friends or whatever and I think that at least the three of us can agree that having friends isn't the worst thing to happen to us. And the fact you're doing this therapy thing I'm sure you'll be talking to a bunch of hot nut jobs and if we fell for you over the course of two and a half days, I'm sure that girls spending more time with you in these sessions will have a thing for you. So we will consider expanding the circle to more girls if you like them back. Just run it by us first."
"...I'm so confused what's the catch here?" I asked.
"All of the girls you don't pick are going to hate you for the rest of your life." Tara said with crossed arms and a deadpan stare. "And I'm going to be honest, considering the last time a girl you once like hated you you ended up in prison after turning into a nut case, I don't think you take being disliked all that well."
"And you're sure you're okay with this?" I asked Cleo again.
"As long as you're happy I'm happy."
"I'm starting to regret not making my move when I had the chance and not cutting her out entirely." Komi stated for the record.
"Then he would've just cheated on us with her obviously." Tara said.
"And what if I die on a mission?" I asked. The three of them all gave me a seriously angry look like they were about to squish my head like a grape.
"Don't. Joke like that. Ever. Again." Komi said. "So is that a yes or a no?"
"Let's see, 20 year old guy gets to date an alien princess, a European princess, and—" I stopped myself from saying "the most wonderful girl I've ever met" to stop Komi and Tara from rioting right there on the spot. "...A girl that can control his favorite animal at the same time, and any girl he also wants to if he gets approval from the first three after spending the better part of two years slipping into a rage filled psychosis by a voice in his head that he once considered his only friend. I don't think I'm that crazy that I'd reject that offer."
"Thank fucking Christ holy shit! I didn't think there was an actual chance you'd say no until we started pitching it holy fuck!" Tara let out in relief.
"Speaking of The Ghost, you've seem a lot happier and like you haven't been fighting with him. He doesn't have anything to say about this at all?" Komi asked.
"I haven't heard from him since the first time Cleo and I kissed."
"I KNEW IT! I KNEW I SHOULD'VE KISSED HIM!" Komi shouted slamming her fist on the table. "IT COULD'VE BEEN ME THAT YOU WERE ALL OVER BECAUSE I SAVED YOUR LIFE!"
"Well wait, how come she kisses you and he goes away but when I kiss you he fucks with you and me all day and I get nightmares?" Tara asked.
"Because those weren't kisses, those were two drunk people making out that 'didn't mean anything' and it was honestly triggered by me acknowledging I could have a friend, which to be fair, he started to take over right before the kiss after Cleo tried to convince me she was my friend."
"Alright well now that that's all taken care of, there's a serious problem I'd like to bring up." Komi said. "I'm the only one here that hasn't kissed him and I think I should be allowed the opportunity to fix that right now."
"What rules did we just establish!?" Tara protested.
"Everyone else has kissed him in front of someone it's not fair!"
The two of them continued to argue Cleo let out a small laugh and laid her head on my shoulder. I thought about the situation that now presented itself to me. Today was the start of something potentially dangerous. There's so many ways that this could potentially go wrong but what mattered was the right now, the today.
And today was a good day.