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Jaedana and Flynn aren’t sleeping together, despite Mathias’ open invitation to do so. They all know it’s her saying no. Not out of discomfort or a lack of desire, but rather a fear of what will happen if she does. If they become something more than two people in love with the same flawed, wonderful man.
Jaedana keeps to herself when she’s not with Mathias, not wanting to be underfoot or feel anymore like she’s forcing her way into their life than she already does. Her room, the spare room that had once been Mathias’ office before he moved his desk into the living area, feels a lot like the caves she hid in when the Burning Legion was hunting her down. Safe, dark, and all hers. Her grimoire is taking up an entire shelf by itself. A few unpowered soul stones are resting on the bedside table. Fzuughon, her felhunter, naps under the window in a pile of leather scrapes she’d acquired from a very confused trader. She’d have a fire, if it weren’t for the fact Mathias would throw a fit.
None of it stops her thinking about Flynn’s hands at the most inopportune moment.
Flynn’s hands are large, calloused things that make Jaedana shiver whenever their hands brush at the breakfast table, or the few times that he’s had to help her out her armour after an adventure gone wrong.
She fantasizes about Mathias when he’s with Flynn, of course. She thinks about him when she sees something on an adventure she should bring to his attention or sees something she knows he’d want. But now those thoughts have expanded to include Flynn. A new type of alcohol? She should get some for Flynn to try. A Kul Tiran accent? Flynn. A new great coat, or some gloves, or whatever piece of the ex-pirate’s clothing Mathias has deemed too worn to be taking up closet space? Flynn. It almost difficult to keep focused when said ex-pirate is away for near on a month at the behest of the Lord Admiral. Jaina owed her a fancy robe or something, after all this.
A hand skims across the back of her neck in greeting, where she’s hunched over the table in the kitchen, her grimoire spread before her. She jumps out of her skin, her spell blade in hand and held to the intruder’s throat in seconds.
“Hey now!” Flynn exclaims, but he raises his hands to show he’s unarmed. His eyebrows are raised, but his eyes are gentle as he waits for her fight or flight instincts to calm. He’s used to it, between her and Mathias.
Jaedana swallows and lowers the blade, letting it fall from her fingers to the table top. “Sorry. I was…” she waves a hand dismissively, ducking her head. She hates that she’s so jumpy still. She shouldn’t have lost track of what was going on around her. His presence seemed to register, and she grinned up at him. “You’re home early!”
“Indeed, I am!” Flynn lowers his arms slowly, as if he’s still wary of her lunging for her knife. When she makes no move to do so, he reaches into his coat, rifling through the pockets before withdrawing a wrapped bundle secured with one of the leather straps he uses to tie his hair. “Here, for you. I have something for Mathias too,” he interjects. He must have noticed the furrow on her brow. “Open it.”
Jaedana searches his face but accepts the gift. Part of her thinks she should be wary of a pirate giving her his loot. She leans her hip against the table and tugs at the leather, setting it aside when it comes free. She opens the bundle of fabric and stares at the collection of rings before her eyes. They’re enchanted, of course, she can feel the magic dripping off them. “This is too much!”
Flynn’s rattling around in the kitchen, canvassing the food that she’d brought into the house earlier that day. He’s found some grapes from the cold box and is filching jerky from the cupboard when she looks up at him. “Don’t get all twisted up. Took a mage on the trip, she found them on a corpse after the battle, but they were no good for her. Asked if they’d suit a warlock, she said yes. So, I claimed them as Captain.”
“Flynn!”
He looks at her as he comes back over to the table, dragging a chair out with his foot before dropping down into it. “What? Perks of bein’ Captain. If they’re no good, trade ‘em or sell ‘em, I don’t mind. She was just going to disenchant them. What a waste of gold.”
Jaedana bites the inside of her cheek, contemplating what to do. The sharing of equipment wasn’t unheard of in their relationship. They’d both acquired additional daggers for Mathias after he'd lost them on a mission. Mathias has gotten her a new grimoire from items confiscated from a traitorous noble. She’d gotten Flynn a new cutlass after a rough job where his had been shattered.
Eventually, she moves to sit back down, the cloth laid over her grimoire so she can examine each ring when compared to those that already adorn her fingers. “Thank you,” she says, somewhat absently, turning an intricately filigreed band over in her hand. The jewel is black as the night sky, but it is the etchings in the band that catch her attention.
“This one, you keep it.” She holds it out to him, waiting for him to wipe his hands on his jacket before taking it. “It’s enchanted for agility and speed. Mathias has one like it.” Their fingers brush when he takes it, and she swallows the breathy sound that burbles in her chest.
They share a look, and she can feel the heat behind it. It’s been growing since Flynn walked in on her Mathias in an intimate moment earlier in their cohabitation of Mathias’ flat. She offers him a small smile and turns her attention back to the rings before her. Two replace her own. One is set aside to be examined by SI:7 and another is set aside to be decursed by Elder Thornweave, her Kul Tiran druid ally. A few are useless to her but should catch a few gold pieces at the Auction House.
She ties them back up in the cloth before standing and putting them in her satchel to be listed at the auction house the next day. On her way back, she fetches herself a glass of water and, after a second of hesitation, she leans down to kiss Flynn on the cheek. “Thank you again. They’ll be a significant benefit.”
“You’re welcome.” Flynn sounds a little stunned and when she looks at him, sure enough his eyes are wider than normal, his face showing surprise. At first, she didn’t know why. Then she realised she hadn’t shown affection to him with a kiss before.
A warm flush heated her cheeks. She sets the glass down to have some reason to look away from him for a moment. “Sorry, I just meant to show my appreciation for the thoughtful gift.”
Flynn blinks at her, then his face splits into a massive grin and she can hear the cogs turning in his mind as the smart comment forms. “Oh love, you can show your appreciation however you like.” He winks, reaching out to grab her wrist. In a single movement he pulls her into his lap, making her catch herself on his chest and shoulder. “Another kiss wouldn’t go astray.”
His flirting is nothing new, but it lands differently after such a thoughtful gift and his absence. Her gaze dips to his lips, partially obscured by a scruffy moustache. She can smell the faint hint of whiskey on his breath mixed with the spice of Mathias’ preferred jerky. His chest is solid under her hands and his hands are warm where they rest on her hips, feeling as if they’re burning her through the thin fabric of her casual robe.
“Oh?” Jaedana questions, dragging her gaze back up to his face. “And what do I get out of it?”
Flynn scoffs, but his grin doesn’t fade. “Kissing a charming rogue isn’t good enough?’
“Mathias is a charming rogue.” Jaedana points out, a grin starting to curve her lips. “And I kiss him plenty.”
“Aye, you do.” Flynn shifts a little, and she can feel him against her thigh. Her mouth seems dry compared to only moments before, “But you could kiss two charming rogues whenever you liked.”
Jaedana wets her lips at the thought. It’s not the first time she’d imagined sharing herself with the two of them, individually or together. She catches his eyes on her lips and before she can think herself out of it, she leans down and kisses him softly. She means to keep it quick, she really does, but then his fingers sink into her hair and pull her closer. His arm is a warm line up her spine, and his tongue scorches her as it sweeps into her mouth. A quiet moan is smothered between them.
They break apart, briefly, for a breath of air then his mouth is on hers once again. He picks her up, with one arm, and seats her on the kitchen table as he brushes her legs apart to stand between them. He makes no move to touch her more intimately than resting his free hand on her thigh as the other tilts her head so he can kiss down her neck. She appreciates that, more than he’ll ever know. His stubble scratches at her skin in a way she knows she’ll feel for a few hours after… whatever this is, is over.
Somewhere along the line, between his teeth worrying the skin under her jaw, and his hands pulling at the fastenings of her robe, she’s pushed his jacket from his shoulders and tugged his shirt free of where it was haphazardly tucked into his trousers. Her hand tugs at it, wanting off, even as she uses the other to pull his lips back to hers.
Briefly, she wonders why she ever said no the first time Flynn propositioned her, Mathias on an overnight mission for the King and both missing him dearly. His hands dwarfed her wherever he placed them, but his touch was gentle and reassuring. One day, she’d like to see him fired up, but she’d save that quiet demand for next time.
She pulls back with a cut off whimper, his hands sliding along her scarred torso. It makes her skin crawl. Not his touch, but rather the reminders of her failures, the pain she caused Mathias. “Flynn, I can’t…” she doesn’t explain further, doesn’t have to. The way his face falls breaks her heart, so she cups his face and presses a soft kiss to his lips. “I don’t regret this. I would very much like to continue as far as we have. I just need some time.”
Flynn leans into her touch and he offers her a small smile. “Aye, we have nothing but time. You, me and Mattie.” He tips his forehead against hers and closes his eyes to savour the closeness. Jaedana closes her eyes as well, her hands slipping around his waist to hug him to her.
It wasn’t perfect, she wasn’t able to give him what they both wanted, but it was enough. It was progress, and her heart warmed with the knowledge that eventually, she could have her two charming rogues and they could have her.