Cass had thought he had the upper hand. As far as he knew, Gideon was exhausted, Edgar was not doing well himself, and Cass? Cass had energy. He’d been unable to leave his room, he was getting fed regularly, and he was, as Lucian liked to say, ’plumping up’. Cass couldn’t argue that he wasn’t skinny enough to snap between two fingers anymore and if he wandered the halls no one would think a ghost was haunting the manor, but he wasn’t strong yet.
However, he thought he was strong enough.
He was wrong.
They didn’t fight Cass when he told them they needed to rest, but their opinion on how they wanted to spend that rest was completely different from what Cass had in mind. He was going to maybe whisper sweet nothings to them, even if it would make him want to hurl and flee, and he would lay on top of them to force them into obedience.
They had some...different opinions on how this was going to go down.
Cass found himself sandwiched between the two of them, snuggled, half-undressed, with both men shoving their hands into Cass’ clothes to press themselves tighter against Cass’ body. It was warm, it was hot, and it made Cass’ body quiver as he tried to control himself. He had thought having the upper hand would be a good thing.
That was not the case when Gideon had his lips pressed against Cass’ throat on one side, and Edgar had his lips pressed against Cass’ throat on the other side. Cass was truly, completely, surrounded, and it was in that precarious position that the two fools fell asleep.
Edgar’s hands from behind him had slipped up to cup one of his pecs, his other hand sliding down and pressed against Cass’ inner thigh. Gideon’s hands were far more conservative when compared to Edgar’s, but it didn’t make it any better. One arm was wrapped between Edgar and Cass, pressing against Cass’ lower back and the other? The other was on Cass’ ass.
They didn’t do anything else besides that. If they noticed that Cass was hard, they didn’t mention a thing. They didn’t seem to care. In fact, it seemed like both of them were too busy inhaling Cass’ scent to actually care about anything else.
Cass was flushed, warm, and hard, with no way to deal with it. He supposed this was exactly what he had earned himself. He had wanted them to rest, and, well, they were resting.
Grumbling, but resigned to his fate, he just hoped that no one needed them for a while because he didn’t think he could wiggle his way out of this, nor did he want to.
~
Cass wasn’t surprised that he fell asleep. He was surprised by how quickly he did, and how comfy he was, but falling asleep was to be expected. He was on a bed, sandwiched between two people, and he had wanted them to sleep. These things just made sense.
He was upset about why he woke up.
It was a gentle knock at the door. Edgar hadn’t budged, nor had Gideon. There was only one person at this point in the mansion who would even do such a thing, and with a sigh, Cass raised a hand, waved a finger, and unlocked the door. He opened it slightly, hinting that he wanted whoever was knocking to come in.
Sir Forsythe entered slowly, glancing around the room, scanning the area like the knight he was, before his eyes leveled on the sight of what was on the bed. Cass worried that he might be upset, or react oddly, but strangely, the expression on Sir Forsythe’s face softened. He caught Cass’ eye, stuck between the two, and Cass swore the older man smiled.
"My Lord, you appear to be stuck." Sir Forsythe whispered, keeping his voice low. Cass rolled his eyes.
"Yes, stuck." Cass whispered. Sir Forsythe closed the door quietly behind him, moving to the side Gideon was on so that he could make eye contact with Cass. His expression was considerably softer.
"I was going to ask if you would like dinner brought up, but I will tell them to wait." He paused, glancing over the trio. "Is...Lord Lucian going to be gone for long?" He asked and Cass hesitated.
"He didn’t sound like he was going to be gone long." Cass told him quietly. "He did say that Byron’s situation was urgent, but that he would be back soon. I trust him when it comes to matters concerning dragons." Cass told Sir Forsythe. Sir Forsythe was nodding before Cass finished speaking.
"Understood, my lord. Do you have any idea on who you would like to take Sam’s place while he is away?" Sir Forsythe asked. "I understand that asking right now is not the best idea, but I wanted to see if I could do anything while you were indisposed. I have more free time on my hands right now." Sir Forsythe joked softly. Cass felt his own mouth turn up slightly, his gaze drifting to the reason why Sir Forsythe had more time.
Gideon was unconscious, completely knocked out. His eyelashes, which Cass hadn’t paid much mind to before, drew his attention now. They were a light red hue, something that Cass hadn’t bothered to notice before. They were long too, and pretty. He had a small spattering of freckles across his face that Cass hadn’t noticed before. They didn’t look like freckles from a distance, and when Cass was in bed with him, he was normally so flushed that he couldn’t see them.
His skin was pale, and like Cass suspected, he had bags under his eyes. His lips were parted slightly, a gentle, steady breath coming from between them. His hair fell across his forehead, his body lax, and Cass was glad that both men had pulled back and away from his neck. It made speaking to Sir Forsythe easier.
"I’m not quite sure." Cass said softly. "Someone from the mansion, of course." Cass said and Sir Forsythe nodded.
"Might I suggest Lady Ava’s Mother as the replacement? She seems loyal enough, and if you explain it as a curse that you’re managing, she might be understanding." Sir Forsythe’s words were kind, but Cass couldn’t exactly trust it. He wanted to hire her as his temporary personal maid, but given everything...
"It would be better to hire a fairy, I think." Cass said softly. "I understand where you’re coming from, Sir Forsythe, and I would love to hire her too, but she cares for the temple too much. I can’t have a situation on my hands where someone is trying to kill me again." Cass gave an apologetic smile to Sir Forsythe while he bowed his head.
"I respect your wisdom, my Lord. I was too hasty. I considered her loyalty, not her beliefs. I’ll look into the fairies and see if anyone is willing to serve you as your temporary personal maid. I believe I’ll have to fight them off with sticks, but I shall make a short list of the most qualified." Sir Forsythe promised. "Call for me when you would like your dinners brought to you. I’ll make sure it’s done in a timely manner once everyone is awake." He promised quietly, a smile finally cresting his lips.
Cass shook his head, knowing that Sir Forsythe was half teasing, half serious. He was learning how to pick up on his tells. It had taken him this long, but at least he was learning.
"Thank you, Sir Forsythe. I’ll call for you again if we wake up. If you see either of them up and about, send them back to bed." Cass told him. Sir Forsythe grinned.
"As you’ve ordered, my lord, it shall be done." He was definitely teasing him, but he knew it wasn’t just for him. He was going to be teasing Gideon about this for a while after this, Cass could feel it.
Cass watched Sir Forsythe leave, closing the door behind him. Cass then waved his hand, locking the door once more, and settled back into the pile his lovers had made for him. His own soft breaths mingling with theirs.
~
They didn’t wake up in time for dinner, and by the time that morning rolled around, Cass felt like he could eat a whole horse.
His eyes were bleary, not sharp with awareness, as Edgar gently jostled Cass awake. Gideon was sitting up on the other side of the bed, seemingly shocked by how much time had passed, while Edgar had a soft look on his own. He seemed to have rested well, even as his own stomach rumbled.
"Rise and shine, my sweet bunny. It’s time to wake up. We’ve missed a meal and Lucy is going to be pissed about that when he gets back." Edgar said. Cass yawned, covering his mouth with his hand as he did so. Now that he wasn’t wrapped around the others nor were they wrapped around him, he could stretch out.
His toes pointed downwards, his knees cracked and Cass raised his hands above his head while on his back and stretched like a cat. Edgar watched him, his eyes wide. Even Gideon stopped panicking long enough to watch Cass and listen to the sweet little sound that left his lips.
Cass blinked slowly, staring up at Edgar before he yawned again. He slowly pulled himself up, scooting back so that he rested against the pillows there. None of them had used them, instead relying on each other as pillows. Cass’ face felt warm just remembering. They didn’t normally sleep all cuddled up like that. Only Lucian was truly insistent that he needed to be as close to Cass as possible while they slept.
Cass hoped that he didn’t desire cuddling up to them like that in the future. The only place that he could think Lucian could be in their cuddle pile was either on top or underneath. Cass didn’t know which position would be better for the giant.
"He’ll be fine once he hears why." Cass told them. "Neither of you tried to get up while I was asleep?" Cass asked and watched Gideon give him a rather guilty look.
"I uh, tried." Gideon said carefully. "I was sent back to the room with an escort." He sounded embarrassed while Cass laughed. He bet Gideon did get an escort. Sir Forsythe would take Cass’ orders seriously.
"Good. Keep in mind, if you two don’t rest properly in the future, I will be doing this again." Cass warned. He pointed fingers at both of them, meaning it, but the two just gave him soft, sweet looks.
"Are you going to punish us again?" Edgar asked, Gideon slowly turning his body so that he could see them both better. Cass nodded, wiggling his toes.
"Of course I am. Whatever it takes for you two fools to get out of your damn heads. I don’t know who you’re trying to prove yourselves to. I wouldn’t let you into my bed, or get a bigger bed for people I didn’t want there. You wouldn’t even be able to touch me if that was the case. What you’re doing now is enough." Cass told them both, scowling. "It upsets me to see you two hurting yourselves, even if it is for yourselves. You’re distanced from your shitty families, Fiona is gone, you don’t even have to teach Ava anymore, Eddie. You’ve also apologised to me several times and I’ve accepted it. You can take it easy." Cass told them.
He watched as both of them seemed to sigh at the same time. He felt like they were going to say something, but when the two shared a look, they grew silent.
"Let’s get breakfast, Cass." Gideon said softly and Cass wanted to sigh. The damn fools. Wait until Lucian gets back. They wouldn’t be able to flee once he was here.