"Okay, is this it?" Cass asked, glancing around. He felt like he had seen this area when Mr. Collins had been giving him a tour of the new estate, but he couldn’t exactly recall it in detail. At least, not until Lord Ridgewood had shown it to him.
It was a nice clearing, not as big as the one they had back at their home mansion, but big enough for several knights to practise at once. Lord Ridgewood had been right about the dummies. Four straw creations that were vaguely human shaped were around the clearing so that several people could train at once without hurting each other by accident. A small shed was just off of the main building.
Lord Ridgewood headed there first, with Lucian as his shadow.
"I’ll be right back. I just want to grab a few practise items." Lord Ridgewood said.
They had finished up lunch/dinner, and while Cass was full, he needed to get this pit of rage out of his gut. He had decided to forgo the conversation until after he’d gotten rid of it. After explaining his reasoning to Edgar and Lucian, both men agreed while Lord Ridgewood remained quiet. He was keeping his thoughts to himself on this situation.
Lucian had, however, snuck away at one point and returned with a rather murky looking cup of tea. When Cass asked him what it was, Lucian had given him a slow, dangerous smile and leaned in closer to his ear.
"It’s your favourite meal, Cass." He whispered. Cass had nearly thrown the cup across the room when he realised why it was murky.
Cum. He’d cum in a fucking teacup again. This time he’d also poured tea on top of it. Yuck.
That deluded the flavour. Of the tea, and of the cum!
Cass had to fight with the realisation that he had a fucking preference about cum and how it was served to him. Lucian was all grins as Cass turned the shade of a tomato and Edgar connected the dots.
Edgar had tried not to laugh, but he couldn’t stop the grin that crossed his face. Lord Ridgewood was the only one left out of the loop, and while he was confused, he also seemed to not want to know the whole truth.
While Cass was embarrassed by this situation, he had asked for it. He just had expected it on his terms. Lucian was just...eager. Cass also wasn’t about to waste something that he knew gave him a boost physically, and emotionally. Did he like to know that? No, but it was a truth he couldn’t avoid. Much like what he was going to have to tell the others.
So, he finished the cup, wiped his mouth like the delicate Lord he was, and moved on with his day. He felt better as soon as he finished drinking the strange mixture, and hated that he was built this way.
He also scolded Lucian for giving it to him the way that he did. Next time, don’t try to cover it up. It hurts the tea.
He did not tell him that he hated that he diluted the taste of the cum. If Lucian knew what was best for him, he’d keep his fucking mouth shut instead of peering into his feelings on the matter.
Lucian’s chuckle made Cass’ skin crawl with awareness, but he didn’t say anything and now was a shadow for Lord Ridgewood. Everything was alright with the world.
"Are you sure that you’re okay with Gideon watching over you?" Edgar asked now that the two other men were out of earshot. Cass glanced at Edgar.
He was dressed well, his gaze worried, and he had his large hat on. It wasn’t dark enough out for him to feel comfortable coming outside without some protection. Cass gave a small smile.
"Are you worried about me, or about Gideon?" He asked, feeling a little like a shit disturber. Edgar gave Cass a glare.
"I care about both of you, but obviously I’m more worried about you." Edgar protested and Cass chuckled.
"He signed a contract where he couldn’t really hurt me. He also doesn’t want to do that either right now. While I appreciate the concern, it’s going to be fine. I can’t really hurt him anyways. Not physically, at least." Cass said with a wink and Edgar stared at him. Edgar frowned, hesitated, and then reached out. He cupped Cass’ face quickly, just for a moment with his hand before he dropped his hand. It was a quick moment of affection, but it did wonders on Cass’ mind.
Cass blinked, shocked, as Edgar stared at him, looking genuinely worried.
"I know you want to get rid of your anger, and I agree that this is the more healthy way to do so, but I just..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "I’m worried about you, Cass. I think that’s a fair thing to worry about, don’t you? You’ve never been much for physical labour and this could hurt you quite a bit." Edgar told him. Cass couldn’t exactly argue with his point when he said it like that.
Lord Blackburn, Cassian, was a bookworm through and through. Cass, however, was a forced bookworm. He liked reading, but he’d been doing physical jobs from a young age. He’d been feeling it in his hands, wrists and back when his sister had forced him to go to university. He didn’t even think he’d have the grades to get in, but she’d somehow made sure that he would have enough.
Her affection was loud and bold like the men around him. It was like his. Quiet, thoughtful, watchful. She’d been caring for him in her own little way and fuck, Cass needed to stop thinking about her or he was going to sob like a little baby.
Cass sniffed, letting out a shaky breath and Edgar’s expression grew even more concerned. He took a step towards Cass, reaching out his hand and gripping his upper arm gently.
"Cass? Are you alright?" He asked and Cass nodded.
"Just...something in my eye." Cass muttered. "I’ll be okay, Edgar. I will. I might have some muscle pain tomorrow, but I have the healing tonic and I bet if I ask nicely Lucian will give me a massage." Cass said with a little smile. Edgar stared at him, scanning him in a way that made the hair on the back of Cass’ neck stand on end. He was really making sure that Cass was okay.
"I can also give you one." Edgar said instead of what Cass was worried the man would say. What he would ask. Cass gave a nervous laugh.
"That’s true, but I feel like Lucian has less important things to do than you do, Edgar." Cass said and Edgar gave a soft shrug.
"Well, I don’t have much to do right now since we haven’t accepted any contracts recently. That will have to change soon, but given the bullshit that the King just pulled, I feel like those who know will understand our hesitancy. Once that happens, then I’ll be busy again managing our travel plans." He said and Cass nodded.
"Cassy! The damn ginger wants you to work with a real sword!" Lucian’s bellow filled the courtyard and Cass and Edgar turned towards the angry dragon.
"Uh, yeah?" Cass said. What else was he going to use? A chopstick? A twig? A blade of grass?
Lucian was huffing, smoke pouring out of his nostrils.
"You’re weak still! You can’t handle those kinds of weapons yet!" Okay, if Cass wasn’t feeling relatively okay, he would have taken offense to those words. At the moment, he could tell that there was a little asterisk next to the words Lucian was saying. He meant that there was a chance that Cass could get strong enough, he just wasn’t there right now.
It was a good thing for Lucian that Cass wasn’t as angry as he could be.
"How else am I supposed to learn, Lucian? By watching? If that was the case, I would be a damn pro by now." Cass deadpanned to the face of the other man’s anger. Lucian let out a loud huff, pissed, while Lord Ridgewood exited the small shed, a few wooden weapons in his hands.
Wooden.
Why the fuck was Lucian even throwing a temper tantrum if they were wood? It wasn’t like he was waving around a real sword, but a wooden one. Cass rolled his eyes and gestured at the weapons in Lord Ridgewood’s arms.
"They aren’t even real ones, Lucian. You’re over-reacting." Cass told him and watched the man shiver before a rumble shook the ground. He was getting angry, and Cass just rolled his eyes.
"I’m over-reacting? You’re just a little-" He cut off when he felt how Cass’ gaze sharpened. He huffed, kicking at the ground, clearly pissed he wasn’t getting his way.
"If you aren’t going to be reasonable, you don’t have to stay here. Edgar can stay and you can go have your little temper tantrum somewhere else. The adults will remain behind." Cass dug deep, not wanting to deal with this kind of behavior every time. What if Cass started working with actual weapons? Would he treat him like this every time?
He was not going to let this kind of treatment fly.
Lucian looked like he was going to breathe fire. Maybe he was. His body felt too fucking small for the energy that was coming off of him. He was clearly barely containing himself and Edgar, sensing that this could go poorly, moved towards the other man. He gently placed a hand on Lucian’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
"If you need a moment, you can go, Lucy. It’s okay. I’ll keep an eye on both of them. I can intervene just as quickly as you can." Edgar assured him and Lucian huffed. His chest rising and falling rapidly as Lord Ridgewood continued to move about in the courtyard, not paying them any attention.
Lucian looked between Cass, Edgar and Lord Ridgewood before he closed his eyes. He huffed, another puff of smoke coming out of his nose before he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I’ll leave if Cass gives me a hug." Lucian was adamant. Cass felt his eyes widen in shock.
"A hug? Why?" Cass asked and Lucian glared at him.
"I just want to know you’re safe and whole. A hug will tell me that." Lucian said and Cass wasn’t even sure how to argue against that. He’d never thought hugs could do that, but if it meant that Lucian was going to be an adult about this, it wasn’t much to give up in exchange.
Cass went to Lucian and reluctantly held open his arms. Lucian, with a smug grin, wrapped his arms around him and sighed.
"Mm. Cass." He murmured and Cass had no idea what he was doing but knew he should roll his eyes at his antics. Cass patted his back with a hard pat.
"Now get going and screw your head on properly, alright? I don’t want an angry Lucian to come back." Cass told him and Lucian sighed.
"Alright, bossy pants. Good thing I like you bossy." He teased, sneaking a forehead kiss in before he laughed, taking off from the clearing. Cass watched the dragon disappear into the sky, shaking his head.
Damn dragon.