#adesina x braden x declan

[eirenical]

Because @kingesstropolis was kind enough to ask me several questions from the character solidifying meme, and I decided to answer all of them for all four of my central characters, I thought I’d break them up.  Otherwise, these would be very VERY long posts.  XD

If anyone else would like to ask me questions, I welcome them!  Adesina, Braden, and Declan are a poly trio (FxMxM), and Lehana is a younger woman who comes to them for help.

And… here’s the second question!

23. What do they want from a partner? What do they think and feel of sex?

OHOHOHOHO.  This is a fun one.  ;D

So… a bit of a preemptive explanation.  Because of certain aspects of this world (some of which I've figured out, some of which I'm still working on), if a person doesn't marry by the time they're 25 years old, they become kind of a ward of their family or their town or the state.  Same deal if they lose their spouse and are unable to remarry.  These laws originally came about for somewhat nefarious purposes and essentially remained in place because they were advantageous to this world's 1%/nobility and no one with power wanted to change it.

Adesina: So, we come to Adesina.  She is a bit of an unusual character for this world.  When Braden and Declan first meet her, she is older than 25 and still unwed. (They're in their very early 20s at the time.)  Her family is well aware of this and supports it.  She wants to see the world and doesn't want to settle on someone just because her age has forced the situation.  She wants to marry for love.  She wants to marry the right person, not just the nearest available one. She's looking for someone who will support her the way her family has, who will let her be herself and who will take on their share of the work.  She wants someone kind, someone gentle, and who appreciates a good story and even an intellectual pursuit here and there.  Between Braden and Declan, she finds everything she wants.  

As for sex, she's definitely a sex-positive character.  She's into it and she experienced enough to know what she likes, but she's also a little adventurous and willing to try new things. As long as everyone is happy and feeling good, she's down for it.  If I were trying to pin down her sexuality, I'd say she's bisexual but with a bit of a preference for men.  (…probably a good thing, since she ends up with two of them.  ;D)

Lehana: Lehana is aromantic and asexual.  She does not want a partner.  She does not need a partner.  She is just not at all interested in romance or sex or ANY of that.  She's never understood it and she doesn't want to. She doesn't understand how it seems to turn even the most sensible people around her into hormonal idiots.  And she resents like WHOA the fact that she'll have to marry by the time she's 25 (probably earlier, because alliance marriage) or risk losing her position, especially as she has designs on her mother's throne.  (Don't worry, her elder brother ALSO has designs to put Lehana on their mother's throne.  He has no desire to be heir, but he has even less desire to see Lehana put in the position of having to have a child when he knows she doesn't ever want to have sex.  It's… complicated.  But they're working on it.  :P)

Braden: Braden is… complicated.  And a bit spoilery.  So, I think I'll put his and Declan’s answers behind a cut, because they’re both related…

So, Braden is… ironically generally… pretty much straight?  Or at the very least, he's bisexual but with a strong preference for women.  Then thing is, though, that that hardly matters.  Because Braden has had a firm, solid crush on his best friend (Declan) since he was old enough to know what a crush WAS… and probably before then, too. So, his 'type' is pretty much soft and intellectual with a dry, occasionally biting wit, willing to let themself be taken care of (by Braden, of course), willing to let themselves be pampered (again, by Braden)… you get the idea.  ;D So, when he meets Adesina and starts to fall for her a little, too (and Declan, lord help all of us, does HIS level best to push them together when he figures out it's mutual OTZ), he kind of panics.  Because he loves Declan and he's only EVER loved Declan and now he thinks he might love Adesina and what is he supposed to DO.  Fortunately, Adesina has the brain cell that day and knows that there are loopholes in the marriage laws that allow three people to marry and once she gets Declan on board, everything works out to everyone's advantage.  ^_^

As for sex… gender kind of complicates things, so let’s talk about that, shall we?

Braden was born Kiera and AFAB.  Braden had known he was a man since he was pretty young.  And it didn't help that he never really fit into the gender role he was expected to fit, either, nor did he fit into the familial role as heir to a wealthy merchant family.  He was always more interested in physical pursuits than mental ones, and if he weren't his family's heir, he'd have taken himself off to sign up for the Guard the second he was legally allowed to do so.  The Captain of the Guard and her wife were always more mothers to him than his biological mother was, and they encouraged him where they could, but there was only so much they could do.  And he probably would have found a way to live and be true to himself as best he could, but Declan had a better idea.  The long and the short of it is that Declan found a way to use his magic to turn Braden into the man Braden always knew he was.  Before that transition sex was… not something that really appealed to Braden. There were a few experiments pre-transition that involved Declan and strap-ons, but there was so much concern about getting caught that neither was ever able to fully enjoy it as much as they could have.  Post transition, OTOH?  Oh.  Oh, Braden is INTO IT.  No more rushed adrenaline-laced couplings, no more dysphoria, and he is ready to make up for lost time.  ^_~

Declan: Declan… isn't looking for a partner.  It's the last thing on earth he wants, actually. Because of the way magic works on this world, he knows he's going to die young, younger than most, if he keeps pushing himself the way he's been doing.  He'll be lucky to see 35, much less 40.  So, because of the way the marriage laws are set up, the absolute LAST thing he wants is to put someone he loves in a position to become a ward of whatever government rules the place they end up settling in.  He's more willing to put himself in that position than anyone else.  To him, it's just not worth the risk.  BUT, if he had to pick someone… it would be Braden.  Hands down. Because…

Declan is demiromantic and asexual as FUCK.  Part of it is that he just honestly never really has the energy or opportunity to be attracted to anyone.  Part of it is natural inclination.  He just… doesn't really feel sexual attraction.  Towards the end of Braden's time as Kiera, he's willing to experiment with him a little, but that's really more because he knows Braden wants it and can't really go to (…nor does he WANT to go to) anyone else.  Which isn't to say that he doesn't enjoy the sex; he does! But left to his own devices, he would never have sought out that kind of relationship, nor does he ever really initiate sex on his own.  He ends up in a similar kind of arrangement with Adesina once they become a triad, but they're both careful not to overwhelm him with attention that he may not have the energy or desire for.