Welcome to Gaia! ::

A trial, he couldn’t help but smile when she said that. He was always thought they had entirely different ideas when it came to love but here she was admitting to the very thing he’d asked Ian for. A trial, a test run, no pressure to do anything but see how things went. A way to protect his fragile heart in case anything happened, a wall to hide behind. All walls came down eventually, either in peace or in pieces, but he had no intention of telling Maebe that, preferring not to feed her already ample cynicism on the subject.

“I promise,” he said, for once without any added teasing, because he understood. More than anything he understood.

He waited in anticipation for her to continue, staring at her closely and with a scrutiny only Shiloh could muster, a scrutiny that practically was screaming, ‘tell me, tell me, tell me!’

And then she did. His first expression was thoughtful, he knew Otto, or at least knew of him, and though he seemed a bit grumpy (an understatement) he was a capable hunter and seemed otherwise okay. Somehow, he wasn’t surprised Maebe had chosen such a sullen conquest, he was sure the challenge must have been very rewarding. That line of thinking led to curiosity, as he wondered just what magic Otto possessed to tame Maebe’s heart, if even by only a fraction.

Then came the second name.

It took Shiloh a second to parse that there were two people in this situation, to understand that Maebe was telling him she was in love with two people. “Cami?” he asked, the name familiar but only in a passing sense. He wasn’t sure he’d ever actually met her; at least, he assumed by the name they were a her. “At the same time?”

Even having been exposed to Rep and his arrangement, Shiloh was having a hard time putting it all together. Maebe was dating two people. Maebe was in love with two people. One of them was probably a girl. Maebe was in love with a girl.

Maebe was like him?

He stared at her, looking very much like a confused duck.

“Okay, you’re going to need to start at the beginning, and walk me through this.”

That’s true, he did know about Otto and that part definitely wasn’t what had his jaw practically hitting the ground. The fact that she had seen him a second time, and then a third and then continued was a miracle for Maebe in and of itself, but he’d gotten sort of used to the idea by now, their gab sessions having filled him in quite well on the subject. Cami though, had only ever been mentioned in passed and Shiloh would have never dreamed in this capacity.

“Don’t try to change the subject,” he warned her, but he didn’t have to as she continued. He listened with rapt attention, taking it all in, eyes as wide as saucers and a steady glow of red creeping up his cheeks as he realized just exactly what she was saying.

Leave it to Maebe not to mince words.

He backed up a little bit, using the same tactic Maebe had of hiding his face behind Thaw’s wing, as though he had any hope of hiding from Maebe and saving himself from further torture.

“It’s not nice to call the people you love a fungus, Maebe,” he teased her, peeking out from over Thaw’s wing. “But if you love them and they love you, then that is what ‘s really important. I can’t say that I understand it myself but… You’ve been really happy lately, and don’t deny it, it’s obvious you have been and if they’re the reason for it, I wish you guys nothing but the best. I’m so glad for you Maebe, love’s a great thing.”

Without warning, he moved forward, wrapping her and Thaw both up in a tight squeeze of a hug. He rested his head on her shoulder, determined not to let her go. “I mean it, Maebe, no matter what, you have my full support, okay? We should all hang out sometime, so you can introduce them properly.”

Then he finally relented in letting go, sure what he was about to say next necessitated he be able to make a quick getaway.

“As for moving in, I never asked you because one, you’re literally like two doors down and two hangouts are better than one, Maebe, c’mon. Two, there are things I like to do without having an audience and I know you’d be right there with popcorn and a soda.”

He grinned at her.

Sharing had never crossed Shiloh’s mind. Of course, the idea of doing it with another man held no problems for him, but multiple partners was a place his mind had never ventured to. What he’d learned in kindergarten about sharing had certainly never prepared him for this.

Even out in the big wide world, he still managed to be ridiculously sheltered.

He wasn’t really sure what exactly he didn’t understand, and he chewed over his next words carefully, wanting to express to Maebe fully that he had no intentions of judging her or examining her romantic life under that sort of scope… To put it simply, she was his best friend and he cared about her incredibly, and so when she found something interesting (and it wasn’t much that ever interested Maebe) he couldn’t help but be interested too, curious. He wanted to understand why it worked, how it worked, even if he was a bit too shy to voice it directly.

“You are too, you’re just really good a pretending you’re not. Or at least you like to think you are but clearly I’m not the only one who thinks you’re nice.”

He grinned at her, leaving one arm wrapped around her in a friendly embrace.

“I mean, I get that there are three of you, I do have basic math skill, Maebe! I just… I had never considered it that way before. I guess too… I tried to think of myself in that situation and I, well, I think I’m a bit selfish, that way. And don’t say when, if you assume you make an a** out of you and me all that and you don’t know how things will go, Maebs, so you better enjoy it while it lasts. And for your sake, and just to piss you off, I hope it lasts a really really really long time.”

Then again, Shiloh hadn’t exactly had or opened himself to the opportunity of such a thing ever happening. Most of his life had been spent as a relationship recluse and when he did finally find himself in a place where it might be possible, it’d only been a few short months before he’d found himself attached to a certain boyfriend.

“Is it like a timeshare?” he asked suddenly, unable to stop from blurting it out. He giggled a little, nudging her with his hip. “Or you know all three of you equally… At the same time…”

He laughed as he shoved her, and called him selfish. On some level he was, seeing her so happy, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, made him happy in return, and it was an addictive feeling. It was the best feeling, and he revelled in it, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her into a sort of half-hug half headlock, grinning all the while.

“Me? Selfish? Maebe, then what does that make you?”

Teasing her was even better, though when all was said and done, Shiloh was no match for Maebe. And as she kept explaining, his jaw kept hanging a little lower, his eyes getting a little wider. Maebe liked to kiss and tell, their ‘girls’ nights being a testament to that fact, but this was another story entirely. Shiloh, as it was, was not so keen on sharing details, no matter how much Maebe pried,.

The smack came, and it was swift.

“Maebe Grace Bertrand, I’m going to wash your mouth out with soap. Or something. Right now!”

Arms still wrapped around her, he attempted to drag her in the direction of the dorms, squeezing her around her middle.

“It’s not punishment if you like it, Maebe. And no, I’m going to stop you now, I’m not going to spank you.”

Shiloh wasn’t really going to wash her mouth out with soap, but he was sure he could think of something as he trekked her back to the dorms. Or maybe he’d just sit on her.

He loved his bestie.