Cadence pursed her lips as she stared at nothing in particular, hands fidgeting in her lap. Right now, Sun had her in his lap, and Sun was sitting on Moon's lap. Andromeda was also sitting on the couch, Lunelle sitting on her lap as she gently combed her fingers over his nightcap appendage, smoothing out the lumpy surface only for it to return to a very slightly less lumpy form than before.
It was late in the evening, her being left on the couch by Andromeda maybe 2 hours prior. They were all catching up, Eclipse and Andromeda doing most of the talking while Sun contented himself to brushing Cadence's hair, Moon doing calculations on his tablet with his right hand as his left arm was wrapped around Sun's waist.
"I have a bounty coming up, an easy one too, so it should only take a couple days," Eclipse had been saying, cleaning an intimidating knife, "Just a little rich brat who ran off from home, poor wretch fell in love with a dashing young knight in another part of the kingdom and they decided to elope."
Cadence started tuning out the conversation, looking down at her phone as she went to Ao3. She smiled slightly, going to her bookmarks and reading Do It All The Time by ShinyHyacinth, a story she read years ago and loves to come back to sometimes.
She could vaguely sense them all conversing in the background, sometimes Sun and Moon joined in on the conversation, but she didn't bother to listen. After a while, when she got to the beginning of the third chapter, she suddenly felt a hand rubbing her head, and she zoned into the conversation to realize that Andromeda was patting her head and talking about her.
"Oh, don't worry, I wouldn't dream of it," Eclipse was saying with a lecherous smile, "I visit my doctor frequently and never be with infected partners."
Cadence was cursing in her mind, mentally pulling at her hair as she wished she had been listening.
"What are you talking about?" Cadence asked softly, and Eclipse's eyes lit up.
"Oh look, the little book leech joins the conversation," Eclipse teased with a chuckle, "Well, I was just talking about my latest hook-up with a dashing Shevika after finishing a bounty. Thankfully, while visiting my mother, I found a nice and easy bounty that only took a couple hours, so I went to celebrate."
Cadence looked surprised, her eyebrows raising in shock at how casually he spoke about hooking up with someone else. Oh, if only she could be that confident.
"And I always ensure my partners don't carry any sex curses, and get checked by my doctor every time," Eclipse boasted, grinning, "So when the time comes, you won't have to worry about any curses."
Cadence's eyebrows raised further in surprise at his words, her jaw dropping in surprise. That was so forward, even she got the hint.
She huffed heavily, looking back at her phone as she felt her face heating up.
The mention of a Shevika sounded familiar, tickling her brain and making her aware she vaguely knew about it, but she brushed it off as she continued reading her story.
"I'm so proud of you, Soileil, so responsible," Andromeda praised, looking at Eclipse proudly.
"Thank you, Mother," Eclipse replied with a grin her way, and he sheathed the knife again with a sigh. "It's always surprised me how some could be so careless. Sometimes, I have had partners who didn't ask if I was cursed. Could you imagine!" Eclipse's eyebrows were raised as he spoke.
Cadence listened this time, not tuning out the conversation but still reading her nice story.
"Even more shocking is the fact that some care more about body count than health," Eclipse added, rolling his eyes, "I couldn't fathom how ridiculous such a question was every time I heard it."
"Some people care more about how many partners you had rather than if you aren't cursed?" Moon asked in surprise, looking up from his tablet.
"Exactly," Eclipse replied, rolling his eyes yet again, "It's as if some people don't even care for themselves or their partners. I once had a partner who dismissed me when I asked about their curse status. Dismissed me! They didn't even care." Eclipse shook his head with a sigh, "Of course, seeing as they were so careless, I obviously did not participate in any copulation with them."
Eclipse sighed, rolling his eyes. "Though, I wasn't too surprised, seeing as they were a human male. A lot of human males I've had the pleasure of fucking are more dismissive of sexual health than a good portion of any female I've met."
Cadence resisted the urge to look up in shock, gritting her teeth slightly to prevent her jaw from dropping. She couldn't even understand how he was so nonchalant about such a topic, she would never be able to have that sort of confidence.
Eclipse sighed again, shaking his head as he said, "I apologize for ranting, lack of care for sexual health pisses me off."
Andromeda leaned forward and gently took Eclipse's lower right hand, her thumb rubbing his thumb knuckle. "Aw, my sweet baby boy, you don't need to apologize, your feelings are always valid," She cooed.
Eclipse smiled wryly as he said, "I'm 150."
Andromeda ruffled the frills on the top of Eclipse's head as she cooed, "You'll always be my baby boy!"
Cadence watched the happy family bond they had, a slightly envious pang snapping her in the chest, quickly looking back at her phone and resuming reading to try and drown the jealousy welling in her chest.
"Well, I'll put Lunelle to bed now," Andromeda said softly, cradling Lunelle in her arms as he was curled up, hugging his lumpy nightcap appendage. "I'll be turning in for the night as well. Lunelle's school lessons begin earlier than usual," Andromeda added, kissing Eclipse on the forehead as she said, "Goodnight, Soleil."
Eclipse smiled, kissing his mother on the cheek as he said, "Goodnight, Mother."
Eclipse went and kissed Sun and Moon on their foreheads, saying softly, "Goodnight Blaze and Lune." Both brothers kissed both of Andromeda's cheeks at the same time with their utterances of goodnight.
Andromeda then leaned down and gently kissed Cadence's forehead, saying softly, "Good night, Cadence."
Andromeda straightened before turning and leaving the living room, going to Eclipse's room to sleep.
Cadence was confused as hell, blinking slowly and remaining silent.
"We'll turn in too," Sun said, standing while still holding Cadence in his arms, "Have a good night, Eclipse!"
Eclipse chuckled as Sun and Moon headed to their room, Eclipse saying, "Goodnight... freak-bird."
Sun groaned loudly, glaring at his elder brother and snapping, "That was ONE time!" He huffed in offense, entering his room with Cadence in his arms and Moon at his sides.
Moon got onto the bed first, laying on his back while Sun climbed on with Cadence. Sun laid directly on top of Moon while keeping Cadence to his right, her partially sandwiched between the two brothers as they closed their eyes.
Cadence blinked in confusion before saying, "I can't go to bed yet, I need to put on pajamas."
Sun peeked an amused blue eye at her, and he sat up, essentially straddling Moon's waist as he slipped his simple orange-yellow t-shirt off and held it out to Cadence.
"Here, wear this," He said cheerfully.
She blinked, staring at him blankly for a moment before saying, "Oh, the shirt isn't the problem, I just don't sleep wearing my bra."
Moon's eyes peeked open, sharp pupils focusing on her as they both asked at the same time, "You don't?"
A sharp grin grew on Sun's face as he leaned in eagerly, pupils dilating. "Then take it off," he said softly, his tone lower than moments prior.
"That's what I plan to do," She said, grabbing the offered shirt and trying to get up, but Sun didn't relent his grip around her waist. She looked at him her expression blank while his was excited and predatory. "I need to get up," She said seriously.
"Why?" He asked softly, his frills seeming to vibrate imperceptibly.
"So I can go change in the bathroom," She replied, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Why not out here?" He asked, smiling sweetly as he tilted his head, that predatory look still in his eyes.
She scoffed, rolling her eyes as she felt her face warm. "Because then I would be changing in front of you two," She said.
"You've changed in front of Eclipse, before," Moon rumbled, eyes lidded as he just lay there with Sun sitting on top of him.
She huffed heavily through her nose before saying, "He covered his eyes."
"We'll cover our eyes," Both brothers said in unison.
She quirked a brow dubiously, looking between them as she asked, "Oh yeah?"
Sun nodded eagerly, saying softly, "We promise. We would never disrespect your autonomy."
She blinked in surprise, then made a small hum sound in her throat, getting up when Sun pulled his arm back. She took a couple steps away from them, turning her back to them as she pulled off her shirt. She cracked her neck side to side, arms reaching back to easily undo the clasp keeping her bra on.
She heard deep rumbling behind her, looking back and seeing Sun and Moon both covering their eyes, Sun's back to her as he was leaning to block Moon's view. Aw, how sweet.
She slipped her bra off, fingers feeling the slightly worn purple lace. She had bought it years ago, when she was maybe 15. She looked at the tag hidden inside, long ago laminated to preserve its signage.
She pursed her lips, eyes lingering on the size. 34DD. She could never quite wrap her head around the fact that her size was bigger than average, since she's been used to it for most of her mature life. Her shoulders sagged slightly, darkness seeping into her thoughts as she started to spiral down a depressing train of thought.
She unconsciously folded the bra in half, hiding it in her shirt before starting to put on Sun's shirt. It smelt nice, the cheerful scent drawing her out of that sudden bout of depressed thinking. She shook her head, putting the little bundle on the nightstand as she sat on the bed, fighting the suddenly very depressed thoughts that had long plagued her mind.
She misses her sister. Maybe she should visit sometime.
As she lay back on the bed, Sun and Moon both looked at her, Sun grinning as he laid back down on Moon, pulling Cadence close. "Feeling better?" He breathed, grinning.
She looked at him inquisitively as she answered, "Uh, yeah. I don't sleep with a bra on at night because it is rather restricting." Her eyes wandered down to Sun's bare chest, this being the first time she's seen him shirtless.
Technically, it could be considered she saw Eclipse shirtless before, but he had been wearing nothing but a towel, and she didn't really look at him, so it didn't really count-
"Do you not have nipples?" She asked curiously, tilting her head as she looked at where Sun would have pecs if he were a human. Though he was lean, there was certainly some musculature, hints of abs and pecs that she would consider mini man tiddies. But where there would be nipples on a guy, there just... wasn't. It was as smooth as the rest of his skin.
Sun's head tilted, Moon opening his mouth to say something but silenced when seeing what Sun was thinking. "What's that?" Sun asked curiously, almost innocently.
Cadence blinked in surprise, answering, "Oh, well, nipples are small areas on a person's chest that... have no use on a man but are there because all humans start out female. Nipples have a use on women because women can produce milk via special organs located in the breast tissue." She motioned to her own chest, Sun licking his lips as he drooled a little, staring intently at her chest with a hungry gaze as he suppressed the click of his fangs.
"What do nipples look like?" He asked innocently.
"Oh, they're like, round spots that have a different color," She said, making a circle with her pointer finger and thumb, holding it over her left breast to demonstrate where it would be located.
"Can I... see?" He whispered breathlessly, grinning widely, his fangs on full display as they slowly secreted his venom.
"Well, there are plenty of medical diagrams online," She said thoughtfully, pulling out her phone and searching up Zoogle. She thought the name was fucking ridiculous, but that was the Google of the wider universe.
"Not medical," Sun growled, his rays almost vibrating in place as he set a hand on her wrist, pausing her motions, "Yours."
She paused, processing what she just heard before her eyes widened, impulsive thoughts flooding her mind with her helpless to stop them.
"Alrighty then, I think I'm getting a tad tired," She laughed nervously, quickly laying back on the bed, laying flat on her stomach.
Moments later, Sun was lying on top of her, breathing close to her ear as he whispered huskily, "Please? You don't have to. But we would love to see it." His right hand traveled down her arm and went under her stomach, gently kneading her belly.
She huffed heavily, trying to roll onto her back, and Sun lifted himself so she could. She looked to her left, where neither of them were. Her hands fiddled with the hem of the borrowed shirt before she shyly flipped it up before almost immediately covering herself again.
Sun growled softly, head lunging forward, face bumping against the middle of her chest, licking his lips and swallowing some of the emotionally induced venom collecting in his mouth.
His eyes were wide, replaying the moment in his head on loop, a low groan escaping him as his form quivered. He chuckled lowly, nuzzling her chest as his hands lightly dug into the blankets. Moon huffed, rolling his eyes before closing them so he could doze off.
Sun went to sleep like that, and Cadence soon enough went to sleep as well.
It was hell to sleep on her back because of her left rib, but she didn't want to be rude and make him move or wake him up. So she went to sleep on her back, a thing she's never done before. And for good reason, too, she felt like her ribs were trying to steamroll her organs, how the fuck do people sleep like this?