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Laia was drunk. She was drunk, and she knew it because of the way she was moving her body in what she would call dance and her mother would call demonic possession. She knew it by the way she was belting out the lyrics to “What’s Up?” even when her boyfriends were here to witness her shame.
No matter, since one of them was clearly drunk as fuck too.
Leo had an arm in the air and the other around her shoulders. They were sharing the microphone, which wasn’t supposed to be the case, but his mic vanished around five songs ago. Laia personally thought they sounded, if not good, at least happy, which ought to be what mattered.
Vlad’s pained face said he disagreed, but unfortunately Laia had more pressing matters to deal with just then.
“Okay,” she said, trying to comprehend if the numbers on the screen announced they had hit a new high or unimaginable lows. “My turn to choose. I choose Rasputin.”
“Uh, no,” Leo interrupted. “You chose the last one. It’s my turn now.”
Laia stared at his beautiful, consternated face. He was puffing his cheeks, possibly to denote stubbornness, but honestly, he just looked adorable.
“Fine. Okay. Your turn. Never say I can’t be diplomatic.”
Leo whooped, getting the controller from her hands and browsing until he found what he wanted.
He selected Rasputin.
From the couch, their other lover snorted.
He was too far away, which tended to be the norm, but that did not mean Laia liked it. And more: she had not failed to notice, even after her third (fourth?) glass of wine, that he had not sung yet.
She narrowed her eyes at him, and she thought he got it. They were pros at this by now, knowing exactly when a look meant I love you or Want me to grab some tea? or Hold me, but also when it meant, Come fucking sing Boney M with us please.
Vlad smiled, amused and nonchalant. A no, then.
Well. Suit yourself. She puffed her cheeks and pouted at him, to ensure he saw how displeased she was, but really, he only looked more delighted.
With Leo, she belted out Rasputin. It was impossible not to dance to this song, so the two of them jumped up and down like children let out in the wild — Leo trying to squat dance, Laia whipping her hair in ways priorly unknown to Physics.
Then, as the song drew to a close, she turned to Leo and said, “You’re my greatest love machine.”
Leo made the most adorable face she had ever seen in a human person, clearly trying not to laugh. A losing game, cause he snorted a second later, hands falling to his knees and bright laughter ringing through the huge room of the castle.
“Oh God. Oh God, Laia, love. You’re lucky you’re hot, cause that would never work on anyone.”
She was going to pretend to be offended, but Leo was laughing, so it was impossible not to laugh along with him.
“Why would you even— think that was a good pick-up line, like—” Leo trailed off, wiping a tear off.
“You got any better ones?”
“I mean, it’s not like it’s a high bar to pass.”
“Hey.”
So next thing she knew, she was sitting on the floor with her boys on each side of her and a glass of water in her hand, and somehow it was already her turn again.
“Okay,” she said, taking her time by drinking a little. “Okay, I actually have a good one, here it goes. Are you Aslan? Cause I can see us lion together.”
Leo went oooooh, and even Vlad grudgingly admitted that was excellent. Not that he used that word, but Laia could read between the lines that that was what he meant, she was sure.
“Told you! Told you, I’m great at this!” she said over the noise of music and Leo laughing.
“Alright, okay, so. Major points for creativity,” Leo said, “but the nonsense takes some of that away.”
“Hey!”
They bickered until Laia had finished her glass of water, and Vlad had brought one for Leo. Man, when had he even moved?
“Vlad, come here! You haven’t told us a single pick-up line yet,” she demanded.
“Yeah, man,” Leo joined, “show us your game.”
“Simple,” Vlad said, sitting back down in his place beside them. “I don’t talk to the objects of my affection so there’s no chance of me ruining anything with my words.”
A beat of silence.
“Vlad.” “Dude, no.” She and Leo protested. They had to work on his self-esteem sometime. Seriously, what was it about vampires and self-loathing?!
But then Vlad smiled, his eyes acquiring that spark of mischief that preluded trouble, and Laia braced herself.
“But then again,” he said, “the silent and mysterious act worked on you both, so there’s that.”
“Wow,” Laia drawled. Never mind, his self-esteem was just fine. God, this man.
“Not on me,” Leo announced, and that distracted them both.
“What?” she said. “For real? What did, then?”
Leo made a sly face. Laia thought he might be trying to wink, but instead he closed both his eyes. God, maybe they had drunk more than advised.
“A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell!” Which would have been a fine response, except she could see very well how his ears and cheeks were tinged pink, the way he avoided eye contact with Vlad.
Vlad, in turn, had noticed too, and was as curious as her.
“You know you just signed your own death sentence, right?” Laia told him, “Tell us! We’re not gonna leave you alone otherwise.”
“Consider it a charity act,” Vlad added, “to attempt to better Laia’s flirting techniques.”
“Wow.” Maybe having two boyfriends meant she would forever be doubly bullied for the rest of her life.
But it worked. Leo laughed.
“I don’t know, man, just. Like, obviously you’re hot. But the mysterious thing didn’t work for me, like, at all. I kept thinking you were gonna take Laia from under my nose and take her to another dimension and— I don’t know. Not knowing what was your deal? Drove me insane. Do not recommend. Bad technique.”
Vlad hm-ed noncommittally, eyes slightly narrowed and fixed on Leo still.
“Right,” Laia interjected, “but we asked what did work. Not what didn’t.”
Leo scratched the back of his head, averting his gaze.
“You guys are so fucking annoying.”
“You haven’t even scratched the surface of how annoying I can be. Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!” she started. Even Vlad joined in with muted claps to the rhythm of her chanting, which was so out of place in his elegant figure that Laia paused, trying to commit the scene to memory. My, he really did want to know.
Leo was probably thinking the same thing, cause he smiled softly, giving in.
“Fine. You two jerks. Okay, so. I knew I liked Vlad,” he started, “when he kept trying to take care of everyone. Like, he kept doing all that stuff for us, for the kids in the center, for everyone. And he obviously never expected anything in return. And like, even when he screwed up, he never stopped taking care of us the best ways he could, so, yeah. That’s it, that’s my big secret.”
For a moment, silence.
Then, “Oh my God,” Laia gasped, “you’re a softie.”
Vlad did seem genuinely touched, though. His eyes were soft the way they always were for the people he loved.
On his hands and knees, he got closer to Leo, fine trousers be damned, and kissed him. Not soft, not intense, but affectionate. Vlad was a master in communicating without words, and Laia could see him telling Leo that he loved him through this kiss.
Laia relaxed, finding a more comfortable position on the fluffy rug beneath her, and closed her eyes. The sounds of their lips meeting, of Leo’s soft hm as Vlad did something (probably grabbed his hair a little, if Laia knew her boys — she took a peak, and, yep, Vlad had a hand fisted in Leo’s fire curls) still audible above the music.
It astounded her. This was her life. Insane. Absolutely insane. And not because of seeing her past life through paintings, or of having gone to the actual dark world and back, or because supernatural organizations were hellbent on protecting her from some unimaginable evil, or even the kidnapping thing when she was a baby.
The craziest thing in her life was that she’d found these two people she loved completely. She’d found her two loves.
She must have dozed off, because the next thing she was conscious of was her weight being carried somewhere.
“I’m not that drunk, Leo, I can walk,” she protested, the way her words slurred possibly undermining her point.
He made some incoherent noise, the lack of a good answer an admission that he didn’t have one, as far as she was concerned. Still, she didn’t complain. Honestly, would anyone, if they too were in Leo’s arms, pressed against his chest?
He deposited her carefully onto a bed. Silk sheets, cold air, even as a fire started crackling in the fireplace — Vlad’s room then.
She started toeing off her boots, unbuttoning her jeans and kicking them off the bed too. Vlad didn’t like mess, and this was his space, but she would deal with it tomorrow, when she could actually keep her eyes open.
Once she was comfortable and snuggled up in a blanket, Leo caressed her hair for a while. It was the best thing she’d felt all day. Leo had a gift with his hands, she swore to God.
Laia dozed off again, only waking a little when Leo settled behind her, and Vlad behind him. They were well practiced in this by now. They knew the best positions, the best ways to make sure Vlad didn’t accidentally touch Laia in the middle of the night. He didn’t need sleep, technically, but he liked to rest here, near them. He once said it was like having dreams again.
Leo kissed the back of her shoulder, hands resting on her waist. “Goodnight, Laia.”
“Night, Leo.”
“Goodnight, Laia,” Vlad said. She smiled a little, remembering the courting period when he’d walk her to her room and say that, soft and solemn all at once, because that was Vlad.
“Night, Vlad.”
In the back of her mind, she heard her boys talking a little while longer. Felt Leo moving, probably to hold Vlad’s hand. Heard another kiss. But by then, she was well into sleep, finding joyful dreams that couldn’t even compare to her reality.