#fom landen

[sillygooseofmistria]

This game is hilarious 10/10 dialog

I'm just imaging Landen talking to Merri about how one of the pieces looks JUST LIKE something he made once but it couldn't possibly be his. Ryis is just in the background looking at her with pleading eyes practically begging her to play along so Merri's just standing there nodding along like "absolutely not can you imagine? crazy coincidence huh?"

[kiiitasticgames]

[broomballkraken]

Title: Like Fine Wine

Fandom: Fields of Mistria

Pairing(s): Terithia/Landen/Errol

Word count: 3377

Warnings: Implied Sexual Content

Summary: Terithia didn’t know how it happened, but she somehow managed to fall in love with both of her best friends at the same time. As she struggles to come to terms with her conflicting feelings, she meets Landen and Errol for dinner and drinks, where the tension finally reaches a breaking point…between all three of them.

It had been an average spring day in Mistria for Terithia. Up before the sun, she scarfed down a quick breakfast of canned sardines before heading off to do some river fishing until noon. She stopped by the inn for a hearty lunch and made her way to the beach in the afternoon to hopefully fish up something special for dinner tonight, for she would not be dining alone.

Meeting with Errol and Landen for dinner on a regular basis was nothing new for Terithia. They were best friends after all, and had been ever since she moved to town and they all hit it off right away. Theirs was a treasured relationship that she’d never had with anyone else before.

Terithia’s ocean fishing turned out to be a rousing success, and she quickly made her way home with a basket full of fresh mackerel. Errol liked them grilled, she knew for a fact, and Landen also happened to be a fan. She breezed through the messy cleaning part of the process, and in no time at all, she had three mackerel fillets grilling to perfection, filling her house with a delicious aroma.

Normally she wouldn’t bother cooking her own fish, preferring to take her catch to the inn and have it cooked up there. Her company tonight, however, made her want to pull out all the stops herself, and it wasn’t just because Errol and Landen were her best friends…

It was also because she was in love...with both of them.

Terithia winced as the knife she was using to cut up vegetables slipped from her grasp, coming dangerously close to slicing her fingers open. Biting her lip, she took in a calming breath, letting it out slowly before resuming her dinner preparations. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly when she had fallen in love with Errol and Landen, but what she did know was that it was getting harder and harder to keep her feelings to herself as time went on.

Hiding them seemed like her only option, however. Terithia was held back by the fact that she had no damn clue if either man saw her in a romantic way, and she sure as hell didn’t want to potentially jeopardize their friendship by expressing feelings that wouldn’t be reciprocated; Terithia knew that would make things incredibly awkward, for her at least.

So for now, Terithia had to bite her tongue and endure Landen’s suave and playful teasing, or Errol’s endearing lectures about any new museum donations and his heaping praise whenever Terithia told him about her successful fishing ventures. That was far easier said than done...

When she had finished cooking and set three places at her dinner table, a broad smile crossed Terithia’s face when she heard a loud series of knocks. She made her way to the door, slow enough so that she could fluff up her hair and push her bangs out of her face, and she opened it to find her favorite people in the world.

“Evening, Terithia!” Landen said, winking as he stepped inside with Errol just behind him. “Whew, I’m glad we made it before the storm started back up!”

Errol nodded in agreement. “We were rather lucky. The rain stopped just long enough for us to get here.”

“Heh, that is lucky!” Terithia beamed as she shut the door, trying and failing to calm her rapidly-beating heart as the three went over to the dining table. “But, it did allow me to fish up tonight’s dinner, so I can’t say the rain’s all bad, kya ha ha!”

The way Landen was smiling at her gave Terithia pause, and she could only hope that she looked away in time to hide the flush in her cheeks. Errol chuckled, which was an incredibly pleasant sound that never failed to make Terithia’s heart skip a beat. He set the bag he had been carrying on the table and reached inside.

“I baked up a hefty helping of sweetroot. That new farmer’s got quite a knack for finding them,” Errol said, and Landen laughed and slapped a hand to his back.

“Ha! That really takes me back!” he said, slapping his other hand to Terithia’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze. “Remember when we used to roast up the sweetroot that Errol brought back from the mines? Those were some great times.”

“They sure were.” Terithia couldn’t help but smile when the memories came flooding back to her, but she frowned when Landen removed his hand from her shoulder.

Setting his own bag on the table next to Errol’s, Landen pulled two large bottles out of it. “This wine is my contribution tonight. Balor got a hold of a nice vintage, and at a discount too!”

“Nice! Sometimes I wonder how Balor can afford to do that kinda thing.”

“You’re not the only one. Nora’s been trying to get him to spill his secret for ages now,” Errol said, causing Terithia to bark out a laugh.

“Kya ha ha! She’d have an easier time trying to get Holt to quit it with the puns, or getting March to be nice to the new farmer.”

Errol and Landen laughed along with her, and they all settled into their routine dinner. The mackerel was good, but Terithia new that Jo or Reina would have done a better job cooking it. That fact didn’t stop Landen and Errol from gushing about how delicious it was, and Terithia hoped that the blush that rose upon her cheeks wasn’t too obvious.

As they ate, the trio fell into a familiar pattern of pleasant conversation. Terithia regaled the men with how her day of fishing went, while Landen showed off some new furniture concept sketches, which he quickly confirmed to be strictly for fun and Ryis’ training when Terithia reminded him that he was supposed to be retired.

Errol proudly talked about how well the museum was doing, especially since the new farmer started donating the various specimens and artifacts that they came across. It warmed Terithia’s heart to see how happy they both were, but a pit of longing formed deep inside her gut; she wished that they could do this kind of thing every single night.

After they had finished their dinner and dessert, Terithia found herself lounging on the couch in between Errol and Landen, and the latter smiled as he held up a half empty bottle of wine.

“Another glass?”

Terithia gave him a vigorous nod. “Well, sure!”

“Yes, please,” Errol said, and Landen was quick to fill all three of their glasses.

“Cheers, to treasured friends,” Landen said as he held up his glass.

“To treasured friends!”

The word ‘friends’ hung heavy in the air, and Terithia couldn’t stop a slight frown from crossing her lips as she took a sip of her wine. Sure, she wouldn’t trade her friendship with Landen and Errol for the world, but that didn’t stop her from hoping that it would grow into something more...

Terithia was glad that the wine was so good, as that helped to distract her from her negative thoughts. Letting out a content sigh and licking her lips, she said, “Ah, delicious! And aged to perfection, as the fancy folk would day, kya ha ha!”

“If you’ll let me be so bold,” Landen said, a mischievous glint appearing in his eyes as he swirled his glass, “you’ve sure aged like fine wine, Terithia.”

“I wholeheartedly agree,” Errol was quick to add, and Terithia barely managed to keep herself from choking on her drink. Damn it, it was comments like that that made it so hard for Terithia to keep her mouth shut about her feelings. If they kept this up...

Terithia cleared her throat before letting out a half-hearted chuckle. “Well, that goes double for you two then.” They both offered up some light laughter as well, but when it faded a heavy, awkward tension settled upon the room, like fog suddenly rolling in from the sea in the wee hours of the morning.

Swallowing thickly, Terithia cast a sidelong glance at Landen, who was staring so intensely at his glass that she thought he might burn a hole in it. She then looked at Errol, who had gone a bit pale in the face; she hoped that her dinner hadn’t made him sick...

Terithia stared down at her hands, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. What if Landen and Errol had figured out that she loved them? Maybe they were so quiet because they were thinking about how to let her down easy? The very thought made Terithia’s heart sink into her stomach, but she gave her head a quick shake and grit her teeth. No, that couldn’t be it...but she would never know if she never asked. She knew what she needed to do now.

“Is something wrong, Terithia?”

Landen’s concerned voice snapped Terithia from her thoughts, and she chewed on her bottom lip and leaned back against the couch. “No, it’s just...got a lot on my mind.”

Errol crossed his arms over his chest, his dark eyes locking with hers. “Do you need to talk about it? We’re all ears.”

‘Here we go...It’s now or never.’

Downing the rest of her wine and setting the empty glass onto the coffee table, Terithia took a deep breath, steeling herself for whatever happened after she asked the two men seated next to her a question:

“So...this might be - ah, no, it is - a weird question, but...” She felt her face heat up when both Errol and Landen turned to face her fully with eyebrows raised.

“Have either of you ever...been in love with more than one person, at the same time?” She winced, preparing herself for their inevitable laughter at such a ridiculous notion, but it did not come.

Instead, Landen shot up straight as an arrow, and Errol choked a bit as he spit out the wine that he had been trying to drink. Terithia blinked, confused, as she gave Errol a few firm smacks on the back to clear his airway.

“Er, ahem...” Landen said when Errol had recovered, and he averted his gaze as he rubbed at the back of his neck. “Funny you should ask, because my answer...is yes.”

“...M-Mine too, actually.” Errol’s cheeks had gone pink, and Terithia had to pick her jaw up off of the floor as she looked between the two as if they both had grown a second head.

“You...oh, u-uh...” Terithia fumbled over her words, and it took a moment for her to force out a coherent sentence. “I-I see, and do any of those feelings still...linger?”

To her immense surprise, both men nodded in response, Errol’s face flushing red while Landen cleared his throat, and Terithia swallowed thickly before asking her next - and most important - question:

“...and are either of those people in this room right now?”

“Yeah, both of them.”

“It’s the same for me.”

Terithia smacked her hands against her thighs and squeezed hard to keep herself from squealing like an infatuated schoolgirl whose crush had just asked her to attend the Spring Festival with them (she would have never lived that down.) The wave of relief that swept over her threatened to knock her right off the couch, but she managed to collapse against the back instead.

“So, you two are telling me that you’ve been in love with me - and each other - and me with you, and we’ve all been keeping it to ourselves because...?”

“I wasn’t sure if either of you felt the same way, and I didn’t want to muck up our friendship if I was wrong,” Landen said as he tugged at his collar with a rare, shy smile on his face.

Errol averted his gaze and scratched at his beard. “I...was just really nervous.”

Looking between the two of them, Terithia barely managed to hold back a laugh. Well, she felt incredibly foolish now for keeping her feelings all bottled up like that, but the overwhelming happiness that swept over her entire being in this moment was quick to eclipse anything else.

Terithia sighed and dragged her hand down her face. “Well, don’t do that again. I’m too damn old to be fretting that much.” She decided to pretend that she hadn’t also put off confessing her feelings for way too damn long.

That mischievous glint reappeared in Landen’s eyes, and he reached out to take Terithia’s hand. “I don’t know about that. Like we said before, you’ve aged quite well, right Errol?”

Errol smiled and shared a knowing glance with Landen, before they both leaned over to place a kiss on Terithia’s cheeks, causing her heart to race and face to flush with heat.

“Mmm, like fine wine indeed...” Landen whispered, his lips brushing against Terithia’s skin as he spoke, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

Errol chuckled, and the deep, rumbling vibration made his lips tickle her skin, and he managed to coax a light laugh out of her.

“The finest.”

Well, this was certainly going to take some getting used to, and Terithia could barely hear herself think over the roaring of her heartbeat in her ears. Her face felt hot and stayed that way, even when Landen and Errol finally pulled away.

“You two sure are laying it on thick,” Terithia said with a chuckle, and she gasped when Landen’s hand cupped her cheek, making her turn her head to look at him.

“Not thick enough for me, I’m afraid.” Landen’s voice had dropped low, and his face had moved dangerously close to hers. Terithia’s breath caught in her throat at the intense look in his pretty brown eyes, and she thought her heart was going to burst from her chest when he leaned in to press their lips together in a soft, tender kiss.

Terithia had her fair share of first kisses in her life, but none could hold a candle to just how right this one felt...but she had a feeling that her next one would be just as unforgettable.

Landen pulled away first, and he lifted her hand to his face to place a kiss on the back of it, causing Terithia’s heart to skip a beat. His gaze moved to the man sitting at her other side, and she turned around to face Errol, who was watching her and Landen with a deep fondness in his eyes, as if he was looking at the most precious of treasures. Terithia smiled and reached up to cup his face, her fingers settling in his soft beard. She wasted no time and pulled him close, causing him to let out a startled ‘oh!’

“Your turn,” Terithia whispered, her lips lightly grazing his as she spoke, and she kissed him before giving him a chance to respond. He seemed a bit stunned, but he made a swift recovery and cupped Terithia’s face, tilting her head so that he could deepen the kiss. Oh yes, she was very right; this kiss was just as incredible.

When they parted, Terithia felt light-headed in the best way possible. She had finally kissed the men that she had harbored so much love for, and it was a moment that she would never, ever forget.

A cheeky smile crossed her face and she leaned against the couch again, looking back and forth between Landen and Errol, who were suddenly acting quite bashful. Rolling her eyes, Terithia leaned back further against the couch and reached out to grab both of their hands.

“C’mon, don’t be shy now. You two still have to seal the deal,” she teased, tugging them towards each other. She laughed when Errol’s face somehow flushed a darker shade of red and Landen sputtered; Terithia didn’t think she’d ever seen the latter look so flustered.

Landen smiled fondly and reached out with his free hand to take Errol’s. “Heh, sorry Errol. I thought I could keep my cool for a bit longer, but...finding out I’m loved by not one but two incredible people is a bit overwhelming, even for me.”

Errol averted his gaze for a moment, and he gave Landen’s hand a gentle squeeze when he looked back at him. “I...feel the same way. It is quite a...surreal feeling, actually.”

“Yeah.”

“Y-Yeah...”

“Get on with it!” Terithia said, rolling her eyes and giving both of their hands a few quick squeezes each.

“You’re a bit too excited for thi-” Landen started, but he found it hard to continue speaking with Errol’s lips pressed against his. His startled noise was muffled by the kiss, and Terithia watched the intimate moment with an overwhelming look of adoration in her eyes. She never imagined that this routine dinner of theirs would turn out quite like this, but Terithia was so glad it did.

When Errol and Landen pulled away from each other, both breathless and with a sparkle in their eyes, Terithia slipped her arms behind both of their backs and pulled them flush against her. Landen chuckled and wrapped his arm around her waist as he nuzzled his cheek against hers, while Errol leaned down to place a kiss against her temple.

“Errol, Landen…I love you,” Terithia said as her arms tightened around them, “and I’m really damn happy that I can finally say that out loud.” All three of them chuckled at that, and Landen brushed his lips against Terithia’s cheek before lifting Errol’s hand to his face and kissing his knuckles.

“I love you both too,” Landen said with a wink. “Can’t say that I’ve ever felt this strongly about anyone else before either.”

Errol wrapped his arms around both of them, pulling them even closer together before he placed a kiss onto both of their foreheads. “And I love you two as well, with all that I am.”

There was no trace of the awkward tension that had filled the room before, and all that was left in its wake was a comfortable, secure feeling that could only come from being cuddled up to the two men that Terithia loved more than anyone else. She let out a content sigh, feeling herself practically melt into their embrace, until she was startled by a loud crack of thunder.

“Oh my,” Errol said, rubbing his chin as he looked out the window. “It seems that the storm has returned, and with a vengeance.”

“Ah, listen to that pattering rain on the roof!” Landen said, closing his eyes as he leaned his head against Terithia’s shoulder. “Like music you could dance to!”

Terithia laughed at that, and she hummed thoughtfully as a sly grin crossed her face. “Looks like it might storm all night long. You two better stay here tonight.”

Landen raised an eyebrow at her, before throwing his arm over her shoulder and gently traced her jawline with his finger. “You say that as if we weren’t already planning on staying.”

“I agree.”

Terithia felt a heat begin to stir within her gut, and she twisted herself so that her legs were thrown over Landen’s lap, while she leaned back and rest her head on Errol’s thighs.

“You know…it’s pretty rude to just assume that you can stay overnight at someone’s place,” she said, and she shivered when Landen ran a languid hand over her thigh and chuckled.

“Hmm, well, I’m sure Errol and I can find some way to make it up to you, right?” Landen shared a sultry glance with the larger man, who brought a hand to his face and cleared his throat.

“Yes, I’m sure we can think of something that would be quite beneficial…for all of us,” Errol said, his voice dropping low enough to almost resemble a growl, and that sent another shiver down Terithia’s spine.

“Let’s get on with it then.” Terithia didn’t have to ask twice, and it didn’t take long at all for the three best friends turned lovers to lose themselves completely in each other…

When Terithia woke up the next morning - blissfully happy, sore in all the right places, and wedged rather snugly between Landen and Errol - one thought and one thought alone crossed her mind:

‘I need to get a bigger bed...’

[bug4bee]

assorted Mistria doodles from a magma w pals. I didn’t notice March at ALL in the bridge repair committee so I was not expecting the thanks to be sincere. I hat(lov)e him