When up in the room, Cass and Edgar set about getting undressed and heading for the bathroom. Neither of the men thought this was strange or weird since both of them had bathed together semi-frequently.
Gideon, however, was rigid in the middle of the room. He hadn’t really been welcomed into this space before, so he was quite uncomfortable with what he could do. Byron stood by inside of the room instead of his usual spot outside of the door. Cass had a feeling that was a request from Sam, but it could have just been Byron’s own personality shining through as well.
"Gideon, do you want to bathe by yourself?" Cass asked, wanting to give the man some options. Gideon flushed, his hands fisted at his side, his toe slightly tapping. It was clear he was uncomfortable, and Cass couldn’t understand why.
Until he took a step back mentally and realised what was going on.
Edgar stood before Cass, after Cass had headed into the bathroom to turn on the tub and let it fill. After he had come out, Edgar had stepped forward without prompting and began to undress Cass. It had become a habit in the time that Sam had been absent from his side, and it wasn’t as if Cass didn’t help Edgar out in the same way.
It was a mutual undressing situation, while Edgar had exclusively helped Cass get dressed for the day.
Gideon had never seen this before. Had never been privy to what was happening in Cass’ bedroom, and essentially, Edgar and Lucian’s bedroom as well. Cass blushed, his face warming as Edgar continued moving his fingers, his gaze focused on his work.
"You are more than welcome to bathe with us, Gideon. We’ll have to be rather quick. I think Ser Hune’s family are rather unlike her when it comes to respecting personal boundaries." Edgar said and Cass nearly burst into laughter. Gideon looked like he was fighting god at the moment, the veins on his neck in stark contrast against his pale skin. His green eyes were wide, giant in his ghostly pale face.
"I don’t think that would be appropriate." He whispered stiffly. Even Byron had to turn his head and cough, hiding his laughter. Cass glanced at Edgar, who hadn’t even spared the man a glance so far. Somehow, Cass knew that Edgar was aware of how the man was handling this stimulating image, and he wasn’t going to take pity on him.
"Why? We’re just men, aren’t we?" Edgar’s words sounded pointed, like they came from an argument that the two had had in the past. From the way that Gideon stiffened, Cass was right in his guess. While he did love the drama, Edgar was right about worrying about Ser Hune’s family.
"We are just men." Cass added, and Byron, who knew better, turned completely away from where Gideon could see him so that he could laugh silently. Gideon looked even more stricken, evoking a rather striking image as Cass and Edgar continued to undress each other.
Only the sound of the tub filling could be heard.
"Um, uh, yes." Gideon eventually agreed. The man looked so uncomfortable, so confused and stressed that Cass took pity on the man.
"You could go first?" Cass suggested and Gideon bolted for the bathroom.
"I will do that." He said quickly, rushing into the room and Cass couldn’t help but laugh as the door closed behind him resoundly. Edgar was frowning, deeply and Cass smiled at him.
"What? Did I say something wrong?" Cass asked and Edgar tsked.
"You let him weasel out of it too easily. He got away." Edgar muttered quietly, and Cass chuckled. Cass stared at Edgar, his lips slightly pouting, and Cass couldn’t help himself. He leaned in, pressing a kiss to his lips. He pulled back, watching as Edgar’s face slowly turned red. His cheeks flushed, and Cass was a little proud that he could make this handsome man look this well.
Hell, he was glad that he had two men he could do that with.
"Did I?" Cass asked and Edgar sucked in. Then, he pouted more. He tugged on Cass’ clothes, pulling him closer.
"Don’t you dare seduce me. We have too much work we need to do before we can go to bed." Edgar scolded and Cass gave him a grin.
"I wasn’t aware that I was seducing you. Do you find what I’m doing that attractive?" Cass asked. Edgar glared at him.
"One of these days, you’re going to do this and I am going to snap. I know for a fact you don’t do this to Lucy because he doesn’t care like I do." Cass grinned at Edgar’s words. The man was right. Cass was intentionally teasing Edgar for those reasons.
Edgar gave better reactions than Lucian. Cass knew it, and he also knew that Lucian was wising up to it too. It was nice not to be the only one getting teased.
"Well, that’s a bed I’ll have made, right?" Cass said, and Edgar’s eyes flared.
"Be careful, Cass. I’ll make sure to get you for this." He warned, however he didn’t stop helping Cass undress. So when Gideon was done in the bath, a record breaking time, both Cass and Edgar were naked, quietly waiting their turn.
Gideon, when he came out of the bathroom, nearly stumbled and fell at the sight of the two, smaller, naked men. Cass didn’t look emaciated anymore, but he was still small, while Edgar was lean. He was just built small, not that he was starving, like Cass had been.
Gideon’s face was such a ruddy red that Cass almost felt bad for him. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, his clothes folded and tucked under his free arm. His broad chest, covered in scars from fights and the gods knew what else, and water.
Beads of water rolled from his hair, down his neck and slid over the planes of his chest and stomach. Cass felt like a pervert watching the trails, but Edgar wasn’t much better beside him.
"W-Why are you naked?" Gideon practically shouted, and Edgar shrugged.
"Why would we keep dirty clothes on when we’re going to bathe?" He asked. Gideon couldn’t argue, too damn tongue-tied to be able to do so. Cass grabbed Edgar’s arm, tugging him towards the bathroom. Gideon shuffled out of the way. Like if he touched them, he would go up in smoke or something.
Cass could feel the moment that both Edgar and Cass decided, as a unit, they were going to destroy that man. He wasn’t going to know what had happened to him once Lucian came back.
"Ask Byron to help you find some clothes here, but you’re also more than welcome to walk down the halls like that too." Cass said, giving a pointed look to where the towel was slightly tenting. Gideon looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him.
"Uh, yes, thank you." He muttered and Cass gave him a small smile before Edgar and Cass were behind closed doors.
Despite what they had implied, the two truly just bathed and washed themselves before getting out. They were the two that understood politics and politeness more than the others in the group, and they knew letting guests arrive and wait for too long, even if they had just come back from clearing a dungeon, would look bad.
So, they hustled.
When they came out of the bath, hair damp and clean and refreshed, they quickly began getting dressed. They helped each other, Gideon still in the room and stiffly sitting on one of the couches. Byron remained inside, watching, waiting, until Cass and the others were ready to leave.
Then, he led the way. He didn’t need to ask anyone where the fairies were, Cass could feel the energy in the house shift as they got closer to where they were. It was a good thing to Cass since it felt like the house was more alive.
They got to the main floor and found that a few of the more hidden helpers were more visible. It was clear that these fairies were happy to have others like them around. They even smiled when they passed them. Cass adored the sudden shift in their behaviour.
It was nice to see.
When they rounded the corner and were only a few steps away from where Cass and Byron could feel the other fairies were, Sam came out of the room, his face flushed.
He caught sight of Cass and Byron, and seemed conflicted as to who he should go to. That told Cass that they had been harassing him about Byron. Cass grinned.
"Were they scary?" He asked Sam, being sincere. Sam’s eyes began to water and he went to Cass.
"They were, my Lord! Anything I said was used against me. They kept asking me about intimate details of Byron and I’s life and I-well, I’m not a sex demon." Sam admitted. He looked shocked, horrified. Edgar let out a soft gasp, clearly thinking that Sam’s words were an insult of some kind, but Cass didn’t think the man ever would. Instead, he asked a clarifying question.
"Are sex demons normally open about that?" He asked and Sam nodded.
"Very. From what I know, you’re the first one who is rather reserved." Sam told him. Byron snorted.
"Yeah, reserved." Cass knew the brat was referring to his behaviour upstairs and Cass leaned over and smacked his shoulder in warning. It wouldn’t hurt him, but it would get the message across.
"Shut up, Byron." Cass said coolly. Sam glanced between them, looking a little confused and shocked.
"I...I don’t get-" Sam started and Byron scooped up Sam, taking him into his arms and covering his mouth.
"He meant nothing by it. It was a warning tap. No, he will not do the same to you, and no you didn’t do anything wrong." Byron’s words were quick, and soft. He was practised in calming Sam down, it appeared. Cass was fascinated to witness it. "My Lord, I’m going to go spend some time with Sam for a moment. We’ll be back shortly. With Sir Sanders, Lord Ridgewood, and my mom inside, you should be well taken care of." The last revelation was huge.
Byron’s Mom was in the delegation that had arrived? If so, who? Cass looked to Sam and was relieved to find that this wasn’t the first time he was hearing of this. Good job Byron.