The Drow Queen of Glaley [Very NSFW]

[Lux]

"Oh. That kind of..." Lux smiles weakly, then, seizing his own courage, leans in and kisses her on the cheek. "I get that kind of fear. If... I'm guessing, umm, your wife never told you how she, umm, picked us?"

[Coquette Blacquin]

Coquette shakes her head. 

[Lux]

He nods, having expected that reaction. He's quiet for another moment, collecting his thoughts. "My brother and I are orphans," he finally starts with, which is something of a shock. While he and Nox have never denied their relation, they also never speak of it directly; especially given that it's very clear they're lovers even without Coquette-- or Varisia-- in the picture. "We share a mother, obviously, but different fathers. Our mother was a whore, who was hired by a Seeker researching Outbloods. Specifically, their creation. He... He somehow summed a pavitra and a sceleratis into a single form, then... set it upon our mother." He shudders a little. "She had taken his money, yes, but she did not-- He had not truly explained what was to occur. Not well enough. Neither of us remember her well, as she died when we were very, very young. After that, we were raised, such as it was, in an orphanage."

[Coquette Blacquin]

Coquette reaches for his hand, taking it and squeezing tightly. How horrible... 

[Lux]

He takes it, gratefully, tension easing out of him at her gesture of acceptance and support. "Thank you," he whispers, then simply holds and is held for a few moments. "As soon as we could, we left the orphanage. It was... It was not bad, we were not abused or even mistreated by the staff but..." He laughs bitterly. "Even then, even as children, we were inseparable-- and they very much wanted to seperate us. I was considered to be an unsuited influence on my brother. More, it was explained, gently, carefully but often, that it was only his insistence that we were a package deal that prevented him from having loving parents and a new family. It... gods, we were two undereducated, unskilled teens alone in the world. It is no surprise, I am sure, that it was not long before we had little choice but to follow in our mother's footsteps."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"I'm sorry," she says quietly. "That must have been so hard, to bring yourself to a place where you could do what you needed to to survive."

[Lux]

"It... It got easier, in many ways." He's less convincing than he'd like to be, even to his own ears. "But that's just-- background. I was speaking of how we came to be here, with you. I got sick," he says simply. "And Nox... he stopped caring about anything but getting me better. By the time... Varisia paid a great deal for our, ah, company when she was... doing whatever it was she was doing in Nyra. But it wasn't enough, not to pay back the sort of debts he'd accumulated to save my life. So when she offered to pay it all back for him in exchange for moving to a new city and being her permanent whore, I didn't hesitate to convince Nox into agreeing."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"I was framed," she says quietly. "A maid of mine framed me, made my mother believe that I was engaged in sinful sexual acts. Well. It was Glaley, after all, the definition of sinful was different back then. My father had me declared mentally incompetent and wed to Varisia as punishment. Neither of us had much of a choice in being here, I suppose. I guess my wife has a thing for... rescuing the lost."

[Lux]

He pulls away, just enough to be able to study her face more clearly. "Do you... 'Rescuing the lost' is no-- What you said earlier, about how she punishes you, that does not sound like rescue."

[Coquette Blacquin]

She is quiet for a long moment. "I love my wife," she says, after a time. "And yet... there is part of me that will never love her. That cannot forgive her for the way she treats me. She doesn't know any better. She doesn't know any other way to treat someone. We will never be equal partners. I think... I think she is learning, slowly. Maybe she needs to learn a little faster. Maybe I should try to talk to her about this."

[Lux]

"It... Gods, I would never have wished for this, never have wanted--" He breaks off, needing a second or two to gather himself. "But... But grief... it can help pull people together, sometimes. If they work for it."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Teach me how?" she begs. "I just... I want us to work. All four of us. I want us to be a family."

[Lux]

How the fuck would I know how to-- "Of course," he squeaks, then blushes furiously. Coughs. "I would-- I would like that as well."

[Coquette Blacquin]

She stares at him a moment before her tear-stricken face cracks a smile. "Did you just... squeak?" she asks, swallowing back further tears. "That's... that's the cutest thing I've heard in years."

[Lux]

"Noooooo?"