Dragon Harem Quest - Or: Saying You Were Gay Wasn't The Conversation-Ender You Hoped For

Who do you trust the least? Now that's just mean. There's no winning when someone asks you who you're most negative about. It's so much simpler to just go 'oh I like X the most' and leave everyone else in the comfortable unstated medium. But noooo Belial has to go and try to make you get all Real about things, the big... dumb... stupid person, look it's hard to think around Belial at the best of times and this is decidedly not the best of times. You need an answer that sounds good, something safe and constructive and just a touch Wise.

"... myself," you reply, and it comes off a lot less sage and self-aware than you intended it to. You regret it the moment you say it, angrily biting off the very tail end of the soft, almost mournful word. Grimacing as you await Belial's reaction.

It's his turn to grimace. Not a lot, mind, but enough. You wince, he winces as he notices your reaction, it's just a great big feedback loop of terribleness.

"It's- look I'm-" he gestures vaguely, grasping at the air as if hoping to physically catch hold of something to anchor everything. He sighs. "I'm frustrated and I'm sorry about that but I can't help it. Either you're just fishing for points with the 'right' answer - which I don't really believe and sincerely hope you aren't - or you sincerely do already trust everyone more than you which is quite frankly just asinine."

"I-I'm sorry?" you stammer, mostly confused because it feels like there's a third option in there somewhere but you don't know the shape of it so trying to grab at it mostly just feels like trying to snag a ball of lard in a pitch-black room, blindfolded, one-handed. Belial approaches again, click-click-click, and rests his hands on your biceps.

"Let's... try to take this one thing at a time," he says, squeezing your arms to try and calm you down as he sorts through his thoughts in kind. "Based on what I've heard from Abzu, the map isn't some guarantee. You can't just sit on your laurels and expect everyone it pings to just work out with you sight unseen - it doesn't work like that, nothing worth doing does. What, d'you think you're the only one in this whole big equation that can make a mistake?"

"I don't know!" you exclaim. "That's why we're having this conversation!"

"Okay! Good!" he replies. "I'm just trying to say that it's better to be realistic about your expectations in all this and try to see everyone here for who they really are, flaws and all. There's- there's always going to be an element of deliberately making yourself vulnerable and hoping that it all works out, I get that, but there's a limit to that too. Ultimately you have to be in charge of you, y'know? If a relationship starts to turn sour and starts to hurt you you need the confidence to be able to cut it off, decisively, so that you can keep going and recover from whatever damage it already managed to do. You get me?"

You grimace and look away. You found yourself thinking about Mother for some reason and the visceral reaction's left you feeling unwell to the pit of your stomach. Belial's experienced in his own field, you won't disparage him in that regard, but he clearly doesn't know much about some relationships. He gets to vanish back to the infernal plane when things run their course, but nobody else does. Sometimes you people up in the material world are just stuck with each other and have to live with it, no matter how it grates like a handful of gravel down your trousers. If it were that easy you wouldn't even be in this situation. There'd be no Jun-ho, no Makram, no Issachar, not even him. Just you alone in your spire again, with some peace and godsdamned quiet.

"Eldingar?" Belial prods you.

"Yes, yes I get you," you half-snap, irritable and anxious and on-edge like there's ants crawling all over you. Or under your scales you suppose. Which is even worse and also more accurate.

"I know... I know this isn't the fun part," he says. "But I'm worried about you, Eldingar. Ever since the Takara thing."

The bottom drops out of your stomach. It's not really an improvement on the previous sour, curdling feeling. You try not to stare at the raised claw-marks still visible slashing across the shallow valley between his pecs but you can't help it. Sometimes it's hard enough for you to empathise with how fragile mortals are, but if Belial has trouble standing beds then... well.

Belial gently cradles your chin in his claws, lifting your gaze to meet his. You let him. There's a slight smile on his face, warm and sympathetic.

"Hey," he says softly. "You're too cute to look so sad."

"(Shut up)," you mumblewhine, averting your gaze. You turn your head a few degrees off-course but Belial patiently tugs you back into position. You let him, again.

"There's a lot in this world that you have to worry about," he goes on, "and as a partner I'm kind of... limited in what I can help you with. Just ask the others what an indomitable beast I am in a fight, hah. This is what I know, and I want to help you as much as I can. So just try to understand that's where I'm coming from, okay?"

"... okay," you say eventually, as if pulling teeth.

He plants a kiss on the tip of your snout, little more than a peck. You make a startled 'gnhk?' sort of noise and he can't help but snort, his smile only spreading wider.

"I am a fearsome dragon and I will not be disrespected in this manner," you protest with a frown.

"Yeah you aaaaare~" he singsongs in a low, husky tone, tickling you beneath the chin with his talons. You squirm uncomfortably, torn between remaining outwardly grumpy and admitting that that feels really good. At last he ceases his cold-blooded torture, instead resting his tar-armoured palm against your sternum as he holds your gaze.

"I think this can work," he says. "I think it'll be hard, and I think you'll have a lot of work on your plate, but I think I can help and I think it'll all work out in the end. And then it'll be the fun part. So what d'you say? Willing to give it a shot?"

You think about it. On the one hand, surely it's the most dragony thing in the world to amass a hoard of such high-quality boyfriends and other, right? Oh sure, show you a dragon who says they've never had a fling or seven with mortals around their domain and you'll point out a liar, but ones of this calibre? Rare. Very rare. In fact you're pretty sure your father was one in his day. Albeit you're equally sure Mother ate him at some point but that's beside the point. The point being... you've gotten a little sidetracked, the point being that once this whole situation does invariably come out to Mother's attention, you can't really see it doing anything but improving your standing in the family. Really, just imagine it! Swanning into Nana Illvithri's birthday celebration with seven boyfriends hanging off your various appendages, what a sight you'd be!

And... if spending the night in Belial's arms felt like that, the greediest part of you really wants to know how much better it'd be with even more people in the mix. That's not unreasonable, is it?

"Yeah," you say at last, before Belial feels the need to prod you again. "Yeah I- yes I will. I would settle for no less than maximum effort in fact!" Your voice raises in volume and strength, only to hitch and drop back down just as quickly. "So, uh... how should I start?"

"Let's try something easy," Belial replies. "Me, for example."

" 'eyyyyy."

" 'eyyyyy." The two of you point at each other. Belial drops his hand, but leaves the other resting on your sternum. "So, starting out nice and simple. We've talked about plenty of stuff but there's a lot of gaps I'm sure you'd love to know. So, now's your chance. If there's anything at all you want to know about me, go ahead and ask."

[ ] Ask him about his previous partners. How many has he had? Which ones was he really not a fan of and why? Which ones did he really like and why?
[ ] Ask for more details about the life of an incubus in the infernal plane. Is it hard? Easy? Fun? Work? Do incubi hang out with other incubi after their shift ends? Is there some kind of ultimate goal or 'promotion' to look forward to?
[ ] Ask about incubi themselves. How are they created? How does ageing work if at all? In all your (ahem) research you never found evidence of one that looked older than twentysomething, so Belial's appearance kind of begs some questions.
[ ] Ask about the previous relationship he pretty clearly dodged the question about. He did say relationships are about trust and communication and stuff, and in the context of 'longer relationships' it's kind of immediately relevant.
[ ] Ask about the implications of succeeding or failing at drawing him into a polyamorous web of relationships. What happens to the contract that sent him here and trapped him in the material plane? Is there a risk of him bamfing away back to hell at some point?
[ ] Ask him more about the extent and limitations of his powers. A bit on the lighter side but you're honestly (and not-so-innocently) just curious. Plus it's still a bit relevant since using them consumes the resource he needs to live.
[ ] Ask how things have been going with the others so far. Since interpersonal relationships with demons are understandably going to get complicated, and you're sure Makram and Issachar will have had Opinions if not Jun-ho and Abzu too.
[ ] Ask how you can make him comfortable here. What sort of fabrics you can have his room furnished with so he can be properly comfortable, what sort of decorations he might like for it - he did mention having his own space being pretty new to him.