For all his few many talents, Nero was unfortunately not able to read minds. Sometimes he was grateful for that because he likely didn't want to know what others thought about him, but at times like this when it seemed to be a more pressing matter coupled with a reluctance to talk, there was nothing he could do. If Nazonal even had something else that was the matter, she was not currently available for discussing it. He supposed that was just the end of it for now, then.

They said something that was difficult to follow and Nero blinked, trying to play it back and decipher what they'd said. "That was probably the most confusing thing you've ever said, but I understand. I think. Maybe." He wasn't exactly Albert Einstein. "Well, you know you can't break a promise to me because it's illegal, so I'll take your word on it." Nero smiled, happily accepting her touch and rasping his tongue across her nape.

Maybe he could distract them with some drama that didn't directly involve them. Even though it kind of did, he guessed. "I talked with Ghys again." The lion thought about pausing for dramatic effect but then thought twice, realizing it might come across as a negative outcome. "She said she's willing to try, Naz. I.. honestly can't believe it. I was prepared for it to be goodbye." Sometimes he still felt like it had been a fever dream. "I mean, I guess that's still a possibility, but.. it means a lot to me that she'd try." Would that upset Naz at all? That Ghyslaine would still be there? He wasn't sure..

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That makes one of us that understands it then. They had tried, and failed, to find the clearest, least winding, path away from Alexander. They stumbled into a self feeding loop, it was surprisingly easy in the moment to stage her exit. That ease made it feel all the more like she had used the other lion. And that fact was hard to stomach. If it was easy to deny that, it was hard to leave him. And around and around their mind went. Occasionally spiraling off to wonder if she was using Nero and Sparrow too, all souls just to feed her and keep her from starving of loneliness. The only thing she'd come out of it knowing to be true- she was terrified of being alone.

They were surprised to hear his news about Ghyslaine. She was... going to try? Was it because now the option was either try or lose Nero? What had changed in her heart to at least give things a chance? Nazonal was not adverse to the idea, Nero had been open about wanting both of them still in his life if he could, but immediately they wondered why now? I know I'm okay with living a polyamorous life but that's something I had to figure out. She doesn't know what it's like yet. We've got to make sure it's the best experience it can be. You especially have to make sure of that okay? Give everything the best shot that it could be given.... how exactly to be sure of that though? Naz didn't have a fucking clue. It was not like her own experiences had been particularly successful and a model to follow.

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Nero's ears wilted into his mane as Nazonal confessed she didn't understand it either. That concerned him. It felt like there was something churning inside of Naz, a storm, that he couldn't help her fight. What kind of partner did it make him if he just stood there and let her suffer, though? He pulled her in a bit closer, trying to place a kiss on her forehead. "If you want to talk about it, ever, I'm here. Sparrow's here. You don't have to go through it alone." And he hoped they took that to heart, too. Nero was going to be there for them as much as physically possible and he knew that whenever he was not, Sparrow would be and vice versa.

His ears then splayed out to the sides of his head. "But I don't even have experience with being in a polyamorous relationship, Naz. How am I supposed to make sure she likes it?" Nero didn't even know how to navigate most of what he would be forced to navigate in the coming months. "I think she's afraid she'll feel neglected." The lion frowned, shifting his weight. "I'm just not sure how to fix that besides not neglecting her, which I don't plan on doing anyway. I don't know. I'm just shocked she'd even try." Even if it wasn't for long..

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I know. Not entirely a lie. Naz knew either of them would listen to her night and day. They'd let them cry upon their shoulders and hold her the entire time. Offering whatever they could for her. She knew they would and that was what kept her from saying anything more. At least for the time being her mind struggled to split apart what was looking for help and what was using, what was real, sincere, and what was just taking emotional strength. I'm not ready to talk about it all. They felt particularly guilty wanted to rip Nero away from his family and his wife for even this evening, he had his own goings on to navigate...

They reach over to place a few reassuring strokes of her tongue against his mane, unburying herself from being entirely in his embrace to groom and comfort where they could reach of him. Love is infinite. A sentiment that felt less true to her now... My heart feels bigger when I have you and Sparrow both on my mind, and it's like I can love you more because I love Sparrow too. And vice versa. Her heart had not become divided when she foun each of them, when she found her children. It grew because she let it and was open to it. I wish I knew exactly what you could do- But like he was, Naz was surprised there was even a chance. -listen to her, be patient with it. There might be moments she is less okay with it than others. Let her see just how much love you still have for her. It felt weird, everything she said, every bit of advice left Naz feeling confused and wondering what right she had to speak on such things.

I will expect a full update on our wedding night. Naz suddenly teased, one of her gentle grooming strokes became instead a lightly pressured bite aimed for the side of his neck.

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Nazonal's response made him nauseous. Anxiety swelled up in his gut, rolling around like it was the god of the sea himself. If he was being honest, their reluctance to tell him stung. It wasn't like Naz to keep something from him in any capacity, not like that. They'd always been so open with one another that to feel it potentially close off was frightening. He couldn't stand the thought of her keeping things from him when they were upsetting her, but what could he do? He couldn't force them to talk about it. The only thing he could do was swallow hard and nod, acknowledging that they weren't ready to talk about it. At all. Maybe they never would be and he had to tell himself that was okay, that Naz didn't have to tell him everything even if it was eating them up inside enough to send them careening across the map..

He could only wait.

Love is infinite. Was it? He seemed to recall there were a lot of times when he felt otherwise; love had a tendency to be conditional around those he cared for. It was only a miracle Saga had died before Nero had turned his back on Vellen, but then again, would she be upset with him for hating a god that had taken her from him? Probably, actually. She'd probably be furious. Thankfully, he didn't have to worry about crushing her with the revelation he no longer considered himself Sigrún.

"It'll either work or it won't, I guess," he sighed. Of course he wanted it to work. "I guess I'll just keep trying to woo her." Like they'd never stopped dating. Surprises, dates out, romantic rendezvous. Maybe he could make her feel so loved that she didn't even think twice about his heart partially belonging to another. He wanted to think optimistically, so that was the lie he fed himself.

The mention of their wedding night had him sweating. "O-oh?" It was the first Nazonal had ever said about actually getting married that wasn't simply going along with Nero's fantasies. It seemed to catch him off guard and leave him a little dumbfounded, but he shook it off and leaned forward to trail his teeth along their ear. "You are the only thing that will be on my mind that night." He didn't mean it as overtly sexual, but of course there was a little bit of that folded in. Nero had spent his wedding night with Ghyslaine worshiping her and he had every intention of doing the same thing with Nazonal.

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It'll work or it won't. Yes or no. Almost laughably simple but yes, one of those two would be the outcome. I'll do what I can to help make it work. Well almost anything. Nazonal had once told Ghyslaine to go get Nero, to have him and make him happy. Naz decided then and there, that wasn't an option this time. And if it doesn't I will be here for you still, always. But yes, woo. Come home with flowers or a snack. They said with a little bit of a grin, nudging him gently. Having Nero's mind on her while she was with him was Naz's preference but if on the way home he thought about how to treat Ghyslaine? Hey, sounded like a good enough idea to help.

The actions which bordered the line between sensual and just a bit dangerous, painful, were absolutely the best distraction. She trusted him fully to never truly do her any harm, and exercising that trust within their close embrace was a balm to her conflicted emotions. Her ear twitched just slightly against his teeth and Naz shifted from her light bite upon him to biting at the inside of their lip, her face overtaken with a big grin and red flush where her skin was visible, along her speckled nose, around her brown eyes, and tracing the scars upon her face. I actually do have one request of you for that night. Well, one that might not be epected.

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As a man, he often boiled things down to black and white. It would work or it would not work. Naturally, he was also a unique man that had been raised around so many strong women that he understood how taxing it was on everyone involved to see it the same way. Maybe the reality of the situation was that he just kind of didn't want to think about it when he was with Naz, the same way he didn't think about Naz when he was with Ghys. He couldn't multitask, sure, but it was also important for him to give each of them the attention they deserved. When he was with one or the other, he gave them everything he had. He could only hope and pray that it would be enough, that he would be enough - or that Ghyslaine would find another partner as well. She was so full of love; it was one of the reasons he had fallen for her in the first place. He just had to keep wooing her, that was all. "Snacks. Got it. I can do that." He was already thinking up some grand gesture to surprise her. God, he was such a lovesick fool.

His heart skipped a beat when Nazonal mentioned him doing something on their wedding night. Something specific. Nero's brain flooded with a thousand possibilities, but nothing would ever happen unless he asked, right? "Yeah? And what might that be?" he said with an arched brow, equal parts curious and worried.

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Snacks. Who didn't like snacks? Naz wished there was a way to see into the future, to know how this might all turn out for him. But she finds a moment of relief of solice. This time she did not hope Ghyslaine broke Nero's heart. With all of Naz's self and soul she did not. It was something Naz could cling to as being different, small evidence that this wasn't fate on repeat and she was heading for distaster and her own pain.

They lean their head lightly back against him, taking the time and a moment to feel him breathing and to try and memorize exactly how she felt right now with him there, a life ahead of them. A snapshot of what had to be sincere love right? Now that I brought it up, I want flowers too. Something fragrant, lovely and beautiful. She's already pictured a night with him many different ways, different places, all easy and effortless because no matter what he was there. But Naz decided it should have some flowers, Nero did not have to woo or impress her in the slightest but just something about mentioning flowers made Naz want them all of a sudden. He need not worry, her request was a simple one. They did not need much more than him.

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Nero wondered what life would have been like if he hadn't chosen to live a life with Ghyslaine. If he had stayed with Nazonal, how different would things have been? Would she still have found Sparrow? Not that he minded her - of course not, she was darling. He just couldn't help but wonder what-if, what-if and sometimes wished there was a way he could take a quick peek into that life. Just to see what it would have been like.

Their story was not a beautiful one, but it was theirs. Childhood friends to lovers, lovers to agonizing heartbreak and then the rebirth of something new, something stronger. Now that they knew what it meant to live without the other, he felt his connection to the lion strengthen. It was not a life he wanted to live.

Nero lifted a paw to gently brush against their cheek, smiling softly at her request. Flowers? "You'll have every flower I can find, lítið tungl. Every flower I can find." Or at least as many as he could carry without sneezing himself to death from an allergic reaction. The taste of his mother's language felt strange on his tongue after so long, but it felt right. She was, after all, his moon.

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The what ifs could drive someone mad. Gods knew Nazonal had thought of them plenty of times until she was dizzy and wanted to throw up. At least a life with Nero didn't have to be a total question mark anymore. There were still undoubtedly going to be wonderings and wanderings of minds but she had him. She had him and Naz wasn't letting him get away from them again.... alone alone Her mind whispered. What if you were alone Naz? Entirely and utterly....

She inhales a little sharply when her cheek is touched. She's surprised despite the gentleness of the contact but it's almost immediately that she's turning her face to him and leaning against him while he brushes against his cheek. She rumbled a sound of contentment, acceptance, and appreciation for the small gesture of affection. Yasha liked flowers. Hopefully Nero would not mind if Naz shared a few with her daughter. Lítið tungl? She repeats the unknown phrase back his way with the lilt of a question tagged on.

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