The Sevenson siblings were acting strange.
Okay, so that phrase could be applied to almost every situation and be true, but they were acting weirder than usual, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. Kathy was acting more tactile, she would drop a kiss on my temple or my lips at the smallest thing. She sat closer to me next to the fire and in taverns. Her hand was often on my shoulder or waist. She was also pushing Michael on me. Every time Michael had to do something, Kathy volunteered me to help him. Michael was less talkative, and I still thought that he might have a fever because his face looked red at the weirdest times.
I glanced up at Michael from my seat on Tipple. He'd bathed at the last inn and was wearing one of his better shirts. His hair was brushed and tied back. If I didn't know better, I'd think that he was trying to impress someone. Michael caught me looking and his face went red again. I scowled at him. He wasn't showing any other symptom of illness, but this fever was really persistent.
I turned to Kathy, hoping to restart our conversation about bringing Michael to a healer, though she'd been oddly resistant to my concerns the past few days, just another example of how strange she was acting since I could usually depend on her with matters of Michael's health. Before I could say anything I realized that she was smirking at me. I blinked at her and tried not to scowl.
"What?" I asked.
"Oh, nothing." She snickered. I had to actively stop myself from pulling my hair out. I slumped forward against Tipple's neck. She was the only one making sense anyway. She quite sensibly did not appreciate this and shook her head to get me off.
"Are you alright?" Michael sounded more concerned than the situation warranted. I grunted noncommittally and forced myself upright in the saddle in time to catch Michael toss a worried glance at Kathy who offered him an amused one back.
"By the two moons, I'm fine, Michael!" I articulated, rolling my eyes. "You are the one I'm worried about." Michael reddened again and Kathy outright laughed. "What is wrong with you two?!" I demanded, finally snapping. Kathy angled her mare closer to Tipple and reached out with a delicate hand to stroke my arm.
"'Tis nothing, love. At least... nothing yet." And on that cryptic note, she urged her horse ahead of mine. I groaned in frustration and shot a glance at the unusually silent Michael.
"I swear, Michael. She's just as crazy as you are, she's just better at hiding it." I told him. Michael looked uncharacteristically uncertain.
"'Tis a bad thing?" He asked.
"Of course not." I scoffed. "Life would be pretty dull without either of you, and you wouldn't be you if you weren't a lunatic." I wasn't prepared for Michael's face to go scarlet or for the blindingly brilliant smile that accompanied it. "Are you sure you don't need a healer?" I asked, thinking that the fever had reached some kind of delirium stage.
The oddity continued in the next town we reached. We had left the horses at the inn so that we could go to the marketplace. Kathy and I decided to get a few new inks for the printer. This area was known for producing brilliant purple dyes, if we could get some ink in the same shade, it would really help business.
We were in luck. There had just been an influx of material needed for the color. Prices were low, and with my haggling, they were soon lower. When Kathy suggested a regular delivery to our shop in Slowbend I managed to negotiate an even more reasonable price. We set off to find Michael. I spotted him first. He was predictably next to the horses, inspecting some kind of tool that was probably for something related to hooves or manes... or... something. Kathy pulled the bundle I held away from me as we approached him. I shot her a questioning look. She smiled at me sweetly, distracting me enough that I tripped over my own feet and fell head first. I expected to hit my head, for the second time in a week, but instead I crashed into Michael's chest. His arms came up around me and gripped me tightly, though as gentle as ever.
I stood and he let me go, almost reluctantly. "Thanks." I brushed myself off, and glanced up at him. But he wasn't looking at me. He was busy giving my wife what I could only describe as a brotherly expression of disappointment. When I looked back I saw that Kathy was smirking smugly at him. That's when I realized it. She tripped me!
"Are you alright?" Michael's attention returned to me. I found myself the focus of his intense scrutiny. Concerned hands probed my head, feeling for my wound. "I think there's a healer around the corner if you think-"
"I'm fine." I growled. I was getting a little sick of the constant mothering. I mentally added it to the growing list of strangeness that the siblings were exhibiting.
The next inn, two nights later, was where I started to feel like I was missing something obvious.
"I'm sorry." The clerk apologized to us. "But the only room we have is a single master."
"That will be fine." Kathy nodded. The clerk blinked and stared at us uncertainly.
"There is- only one bed." He reiterated.
"It's fine." Kathy rolled her eyes. "Michael's my brother. We used to sleep together all the time, and it's better than one of us taking the floor." The clerk seemed placated by this response. I didn't mind much. Michael and I had shared a bed more than once during our travels. But it still plagued me as I lie in bed. Why had Kathy accepted this so easily? And why was I the one lying in the middle? Michael's mumbled explanation that I always got cold and Kathy's agreement did not ring true. It kept me awake for awhile. But when I did fall asleep it was quite possibly the most restful relaxing night I had ever spent.
It still didn't explain why Kathy started getting us rooms with only one bed from then on. She said that it was to save money, and while it was true the single bed was cheaper and we probably needed to save all the money that we could with Evan (Michael's new squire) running the shop, it didn't sound right. She didn't think enough about money for that.
I was missing something. I racked my brain trying to figure it out. In the end, I never worked it out... It was revealed to me.
I woke up that day to find Michael with an arm wrapped around my torso, and Kathy on my other side, curled up against me with one hand clutching my shirt just below her brother's arm. This wouldn't have been as strange if we had been in an inn. But we were camping... and both of them must have moved their bedrolls to sleep beside me. I tried to get up. But the arms held me in place. Kathy burrowed closer to me, and Michael pulled me closer to him.
I was stuck.
"Michael." I muttered, trying to pull away. "Get off." Michael's arms tightened as he felt me pulling away. Not totally surprising. Michael could be pretty tactile. I sighed and relaxed slightly. At least it was warm. "Michael," I said wearily again. "What is wrong with you?"
"I'm in love with you." Michael mumbled. I tensed. Michael sounded mostly asleep. He'd... fallen in love with someone? I scowled. Whoever she was, she had better be good enough for him. Michael was likely to have fallen for some woman who would just take advantage of him. I silently vowed to find out who this woman was and determine if she was a threat to him. I nudged him, hoping to keep him in this barely awake state.
"Who is it?" I asked. I heard a slight sound of protest from my other side. Kathy had woken up and was staring at me wide eyed. I smiled at her, before I returned my attention to her brother. "Who did you fall for, Michael?" I urged. Kathy was shaking her head urgently and pulling my shirt. I shot her a quick frown. Wasn't she worried about her brother being taken advantage of? Surely she wanted to know who this harlot was as much as me. Michael's arm tightened around me as he turned his face into my neck.
"With you, Fisk." I stiffened. Kathy groaned and covered her face with her hands.
"This was not how you were supposed to find out." She groaned as I turned my attention to her. "I was trying so hard to build up to this moment. To start small until you were more amenable."
Usually I think I'm pretty fast at picking things up, but this time I was absolutely flummoxed. "You're okay with this?" I gaped at her. I can genuinely say that the Sevenson siblings never stopped surprising me.
The look on Kathy's face was almost heart breaking. "I have to be okay with it." She brushed my hair out of my eyes. "I only have to imagine how I would feel if I couldn't have you." Her face twisted. "I can't let him go through that..." She looked at her brother, a sad smile on her face. "It's too cruel."
"But..." I tried to sit up. Michael was jostled enough to wake up more fully. He yawned, and rubbed at his eyes. Then he seemed to realize something. He froze.
"Please tell me that was a dream." He said, the dread in his voice making it clear that he knew it wasn't.
I wasn't sure what to say. Kathy was. "It doesn't change anything." She said with certainty. "It just means that things will happen a little sooner." What was she talking about? I glanced at her. She was looking at us intensely. I realized that Michael still had one arm around me and I hadn't made any attempt to remove it.
I swallowed. Michael's arm fell down until he was holding my hand. "You... didn't mean that, did you?" I asked him. He hesitated. I was giving him a way out. But in that moment Michael Sevenson proved himself to be the bravest man I know because he took a shuddering breath and nodded.
"I did." His hand tightened around mine. "Every word and more." He brought his other hand on top of the first so that they were encircling mine entirely. I stared at him. I did love him. I hadn't ever really considered it to be anything romantic, but it wasn't hard to imagine my feelings shifting that way. But... I was married. And I loved Kathy just as much as her brother. I couldn't hurt her. I looked at my wife. She saw the conflict in my eyes and took my other hand in both of hers.
"We love you, Fisk." She said. "And we care enough about each other to make this work." I opened my mouth and closed it. Michael's thumb started moving in gentle distracting circles on top of my hand. I glanced up at him. He lifted my hand and kissed the top of my fingers. My breath caught.
"We love you, Fisk." He echoed Kathy's words. "We can make this work... If you're willing..." I could see every emotion on his open sincere face: the hope, the dread, the fear, and the love. I swallowed and looked between the two of them.
"How, by the two moons, did I get the two best people in the realm to fall in love with me?" I asked. I was actually bewildered. Kathy and Michael knew exactly who I was. Why would they fall for me? The siblings exchanged a glance and actually laughed.
"Just by being you." Michael assured me. I swallowed again. Michael glanced at Kathy, she nodded as if giving permission. Michael leaned forward.
He was going to kiss me. I could have pulled away... I didn't.
Every time Kathy and I kissed it started quickly and was passionate. Michael was different. I was acutely aware of every move he made. Time almost slowed as he leaned in and kissed me. It was gentle. More gentle than anything else I had ever felt before. It was different than kissing my wife. But in a strange way, it was just as wonderful. I could tell he only meant it to be a brief brush of the lips... but he lingered. All of the love he had for me was trying to be conveyed in the gentle gesture. I'm not sure when I started kissing him back, but we were both engaged. Our lips moving against each other, though it didn't go any farther. After a moment, he reluctantly pulled away and I let him. My head was still spinning.
Before I could regain my bearing, a delicate finger turned my chin away and kissed me soundly on the lips. It grounded me, unlike Michael's kiss which dazed me. Kathy smiled as she sat back, still holding my hand in one of her's. She lifted my hand and kissed the fingers the way Michael had before. They both stared at me. The most honorable, kind, worthy people I knew, waiting for my answer. They had proven that they could handle it. Could I?
"You're... both okay with this?" I verified. Still a little breathless. Their hands tightened on mine and they nodded together. "Alright." I breathed. Then cleared my throat. "I... I love you both too." Michael smiled brilliantly and Kathy grinned at him then me. "After all, I never could say no to the Sevenson lunacy before." Abruptly I was tackled backwards, both Sevensons wrapping themselves around my chest and pinning me to my bedroll. Yeah, this could work. I laughed weakly. Only the Sevenson siblings were crazy enough to try this... And only the Sevenson siblings and I were crazy enough to pull it off.
I loved these lunatics. I was lucky that they were crazy enough to love me too.
A bit fast, but it was my goal. Please let me know what you think!
Oh, and for the record. Kathy and Michael never do anything together, and anytime it starts to get beyond first base the other one will make themselves scarce.
I have named Michael's new squire! His name is actually planned for my head cannon sequel that I may or may not write.
Yeah, I may do the other thing soon-ish, it's related to my issues with the Lady's Pursuit, which in my opinion really just came down to one thing. I felt like Ms. Bell wasn't confident on how to portray Michael and Fisk when Fisk was in love. I'm hoping that the fanfic I have an idea for will rectify that. ^_^ Let me know if you'd like to see that. Or maybe she did and I just disagreed with it. (I don't think that you pull away from your friends just because you are in love.)