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Post by Mallory Van Rockeghem on Dec 14, 2013 16:48:44 GMT -5
"I have a penis," Mallory said, cutting to the chase. "I can't father children, the penis is as far as my male biology took things, but I have a full set of female reproductive parts, all in working order. I was raised male and told that my testicles would drop at some age, and all might have been well and good if I hadn't begun to develop as a female.
"My parents attempted some potions, some spells, and some other magic to stunt things, but as you see they had little success. They sent me off to distant family and disowned me. Disowning is no more legal than basic friendship, however, and I still appear in genealogies under my birth name. I've gone about as Mallory since I was seventeen and made my own way. I consider myself successful, living comfortably in Diagon Alley.
"As you might imagine, accepting lovers are hard to come by. Mano is quite a prize." She gave the man a sly, somewhat teasing look and sipped her drink.
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Post by Mano Berwyn on Dec 14, 2013 16:54:19 GMT -5
Mano simply ignored the brief look from Eros. He was fully aware that it was best he slow down on his intake, and he intended to do so. Still, Mallory's frank words tested his determination to let his body work some of the alcohol out of his system. At being called a prize he could do little except chuckle a little. This was so very surreal.
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Post by Eros d'Avonderre on Dec 14, 2013 17:00:20 GMT -5
Eros's masque of polite interest and fashionable boredom was well in place. He didn't so much as blink at Mallory's declaration, though he was shocked and scrambling to get himself together. He looked at Mano again. If there was anyone in the world who would not only accept but embrace such a thing, it was his friend. And perhaps he could see why the man hadn't gotten bored. A year of meetings with the woman before they'd slept together and his reward was something utterly unique.
"Pardon me for speaking so frankly, Mano, but I believe all of us know the possibilities here and it all needs said: I don't intend to step quietly away if Mano marries. Some year and a half ago I would have considered marriage from either of us an end, but things have changed. Would this be an issue for you?"
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Post by Mallory Van Rockeghem on Dec 14, 2013 17:09:03 GMT -5
"No," Mallory said simply. "I've enough experience in the intricacies of people's preferences. To many I'm little more than a curiosity and once is enough. To most I'm, well, a freak. True appreciation is something I hadn't come across." Mallory looked at Mano, so silent and so obviously uncomfortable.
"I hate to speak for Mano, but as it seems you're fine with the two of us working things out, you'll simply have to forgive me." She looked back at Eros. "I don't have issues with polyamory. Humanity isn't a narrow set of categories. If I get what I want and need, and so does he, then we're both happy."
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Post by Eros d'Avonderre on Dec 14, 2013 17:15:57 GMT -5
"Polyamory," Eros repeated. He hadn't heard the term before, but it was easy enough to figure out by the parts of the word itself. "That makes quite a bit of sense, really. You know, when Mano and I finally settled things between us, no part of me wished to force monogamy on him. It simply didn't make sense. I'd worried that I might be jealous as well but, as you said, if we all get what we want and need, it truly doesn't make a difference to me.
"I'm sorry Mano, but you're going to have to say something at this point. I believe Mallory and I have come to an agreement, unless I'm much mistaken." He wasn't. "As strange as it all is, this works." Only sharing Mano with a potential wife was quite a bit more than he'd expected.
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Post by Mallory Van Rockeghem on Dec 14, 2013 17:18:51 GMT -5
Mallory had nodded lightly at what Eros said, and now she spoke to Mano as well. "I won't demand a proposal," she said, clarifying. "But if you wanted things to go that way, I'd say yes." Hell, she'd propose herself if he didn't look like a frightened rabbit. "Is this moving too quickly?" She'd never have expected to get along with Eros d'Avonderre so readily.
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Post by Mano Berwyn on Dec 14, 2013 17:24:11 GMT -5
"It does," Mano agreed in response to Eros, nodding. Then he shifted his gaze to Mallory. "It took a year to get things going with you. No, it isn't moving too fast. You both seem content, I get to keep you both. Mallory and I get to turn Society on its head a bit." His lips curved, though how close things had gotten to the things he didn't want to say did provide a little discomfort. "Of course, if either of you want to have other partners, it's only fair, isn't it?" It would be even more selfish to expect the two to remain monogamous when he wasn't.
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Post by Eros d'Avonderre on Dec 14, 2013 17:30:11 GMT -5
"I've had few," Eros said, though that was likely no secret. "I don't know that I'm capable of polyamory, as much as I accept it in you, Mano. I've considered simply finding a woman of good breeding who might approve of things and taking the traditional route." Marriages arranged for politics and business were common, if not expected in most circles, nor were extramarital affairs. It wasn't at all what Eros had wanted, but he wanted Mano more, and wanted to keep his place in Society.
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Post by Mallory Van Rockeghem on Dec 14, 2013 17:32:56 GMT -5
"Shall we get married, then?" Mallory asked. "We want the same things, our comforts, enough of Society to play the games and enough freedom not to worry about them. We have our shops, it could be fun actually." She sipped at her brandy, then set the glass down. She wasn't in a hurry, but she was a woman of action. Waiting for life to happen had never been her style.
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Post by Mano Berwyn on Dec 14, 2013 17:37:32 GMT -5
"Do I get a diamond ring?" Mano teased. He supposed it made sense that if he fell in love, it would be with the man who knew more about him than anyone else and with the most interesting woman he'd ever met. Just thinking the word triggered chills. Even so, he grinned, finally relaxing some now that life was falling into place. "I thought people proposed on bended knee."
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Post by Mallory Van Rockeghem on Dec 14, 2013 23:47:46 GMT -5
"In this dress?" Mallory teased. "Your friend—May I call you Eros?—Eros would get something of an eyeful." She wore the appropriate undergarments, but wasn't about to go down on one knee. Her lips curved into a sweet smile. "I'll buy you a ring, though. One with a huge, gaudy diamond, just dripping with diamonds."
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Post by Eros d'Avonderre on Dec 14, 2013 23:50:49 GMT -5
Eros's lips quirked at the back-and-forth between the two, and he decided that he quite approved. He'd thought for years that Carolynn was the one for Mano, and each of them had fallen for another. Mallory would keep Mano on his toes, and that was precisely what the man needed.
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Post by Mano Berwyn on Dec 15, 2013 12:46:08 GMT -5
"I'll buy one for you, too, so we can have matching gaudy diamonds," Mano said, then glanced over at Eros. "Do you want a gaudy diamond? Three's a charm, right?" He couldn't imagine Eros with one, but it was an amusing thought, at least, the three of them showing up at some ball with oversized, ugly rings.
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Post by Eros d'Avonderre on Dec 15, 2013 12:53:47 GMT -5
Eros laughed lightly. "Thank you, but no, I believe I'll pass," he said. "I've got a gaudy amethyst if I change my mind." And no one to wear it. It was hard to believe, but Mano would be married, and before him! He'd wondered now and then if the man wouldn't simply leave Society at some point and thumb his nose at the lot of them from a seat of freedom.
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