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"Now, most of you will have known about the crash of '14 and what caused it, but in modern days we are doing our best-" The professor was droning on as Lance attempted to listen with all the interest that he could muster.

The topic was boring, the sound of the man's voice was boring, the room was too warm, he had an itch on his flank he wanted to scratch and he was thinking about how good it had felt to sink into his best friend he night before. It was the latter that occupied his mind the most, pulling his attention away from the discussion and made him want to squirm in place with embarrassment. He was almost certain that his best friend felt the same way. Neither one of them had wanted to look the other in the eye as they had left for school, he was pretty sure that he would have woken up to Ben gone if it hadn't been for the simple fact he had spent the night half sleeping on top of the other stallion and kept him pinned in place.

In all of his days he had never imagined being put into this situation, but now that he was in it, he found it hard to figure out how it had happened in the first place. It was a blur now, but the blur wasn't without an amount of interest to him, his nostrils flaring delicately as he recalled just how delightful it had felt to be pushed up and over his friend, the feel of the body rocking and shuddering. He had even felt a strange sense of pride in seeing his best friend limping along the next morning, a hitch in his step that made Lance's neck arch rather proudly. He had tried to stop it, but somehow seeing the lesser stallion walk like that made him feel more in control, proud of himself, smug. He could almost believe he was an awful person for what he'd done if it weren't for the fact there were other emotions attached to that.

The tension that had been pulled between them had been melted away, though it was being replaced with a new tension, it was one he could better deal with. He dragged his eyes from his friend to the professor and tried not to think about how good it had felt to have the lad beneath him, the warmth and weight, the way the body had shivered and bucked for him. Just thinking of it made a shiver trickle down his spine, his ears twitch backwards as he felt thankful for the desk. He could have thought about it longer, but doing so would only end up in public embarrassment as he was already well aware of the fact that certain parts of him were more than happy to recall the entire night with Ben. In detail. And repeat it.

_Emily. _ He thought and sobered a bit, like cold water trickling down his spine. _I cheated on Emily. _

It was an awful thought that made him still his passionate thoughts and look down at his recorder that was blinking red as it took in the lesson. He had always promised that she would be his first, they would come together, both of them, but there was no denying he had broken it. It didn't matter that he had been half out of his mind at the time, he couldn't ignore the fact that he had done it and enjoyed it. He couldn't just pretend it hadn't happened, after all that she had done with and for him, he couldn't lie to her face. She would find out and then he would have to admit defeat, he had gone back on his word. He had promised her that they would be together forever, but now he had to somehow explain his attraction to his best friend.

He had started his life knowing what he wanted out of it, who he wanted to be, but this new life was changing him in more than just his body. His entire outlook was shifting, his control over what he perceived as his instincts was still incomplete, he didn't know how to keep himself from doing what he had done to Ben again. He wanted the other stallion near him, not in a romantic way, but almost as if he were afraid something would happen if the other colt left his side. It was nonsense, but it was still there, and wrapped up in it all was the knowledge that he would have to try and explain something he himself didn't understand to Emily. She couldn't possibly understand what was driving him, it wasn't possible.

It took some of the wind from his sails and made him focus on his class, the idea of telling his girlfriend what had happened, any of it, was not going to make his future any easier. He should talk to someone that would be able to work it out with him, which meant Ben was out of the running. He didn't want to talk to Ulysses, and the priest was certainly not going to want to hear about how he had rutted his roommate silly because he had felt annoyed. Both of his ears tipped far back on his head and he sighed. How had he managed to mess things up so much? He would have to talk someone, at some point, he'd have to explain it all to someone, but that only left Ulysses. The stallion had made vague warnings about them fighting, but he hadn't said it would turn into anything other than aggression.

~ ~ * ~ ~

Ben swallowed nervously as he jumped off the last bus and tried not to think about what he was about to do. He wanted to run the moment he'd left the house, but stubbornness and a certain amount of accountability had made him leave. Lance certainly hadn't tried to stop him, in fact, the other stallion had seemed almost relieved to be left alone. The other night had done a number on both of them, they were both confused, but he had the nagging feeling they were only reacting this way for one reason alone. Guilt. He twitched his long tail and felt relief that he wasn't aching as badly as he had the past two days, the lack of pain made him able to concentrate more clearly on what they had done.

He felt so much better now being in the house, he no longer felt angry or possessive, he felt relieved. It was like something had settled between them, reminding him irresistibly of a game he had played when he was younger and bored. He would watch his father play golf and stand on one of the balls, putting pressure on it to see if he could make it crack. It always hurt his foot as he pushed down harder and harder, the pressure building, but in the end it would shoot out from under his toes and skip across the yard. It never broke, he wasn't broke, Lance wasn't broke, the pressure that had been building between them had finally come to a head and been released. It just hadn't been released in a way either of them was prepared for.

_I don't want a relationship with him, at least.. not that way. I know he feels the same. _ He puffed a little and gave his head a toss as he tried to look for some road signs.

He wasn't gay, what had happened didn't make him gay, it had just been a moment that seemed so natural between them that he couldn't regret it. Even now, he was more relaxed around his best friend, he didn't feel like they were going to explode at any moment. He felt easy and had stopped watching Lance's ears go back when he came into the room at the wrong moment. It was better, things were better, at least emotionally, but he had noticed that Lance was less than pleased with what had happened. They hadn't done it again, certainly they hadn't really talked about it, though Ben continued to sleep in his roommate's bedroom, they simply slept. He felt safe there, protected, good.

While Lance had said he didn't want to discuss it, Ben had wanted to talk about it, and the only person he really know who to talk with had been Ulysses. He hadn't been comfortable with the older stallion's knowing look, but the conversation hadn't been as bad as he thought. It was simple, two stallions couldn't live together and expect to have things remain safe. A herd, a group, they were fine, but one on one created a tension that would either end in outright violence as one male finally fought the other, or end as it had with himself and Lance. There had even been a list of books about studies on the subject, human and unicorn both had examined the complex relationships that formed. It wasn't unnatural, it wasn't cheating, they hadn't even had a choice in the matter.

_Emily will understand, or at least she can try to understand, but if he tells her he will just say he cheated on her. _ Ben thought. Lance had already said as much, that he would tell his girlfriend he was unfaithful, when that wasn't exactly true. _It's not unfaithful if you can't control yourself. She'll have to understand. _

_ _

The young stallion tossed his head as he stared at the numbers on the buildings, trying to get his bearings, he had never come down town since the Change and it was all quite different and strange. Eventually he figured out where he wanted to go and swung around to move at an easy going trot, his tail flicking out lightly behind him while he held his ears up. Emily worked at a small book store near the campus, he had sorted that much out at least, with luck he would catch her while at work and try to explain everything that happened. He even had the books with him, hoping that the young woman would be a little more receptive to seeing it in print instead of just hearing it from him.

He glanced over at the signs until he saw the one marked for campus book and coffee house, his ears snapping up high on his head. He was going to find a way to straighten things out, he just had to, he was fully half to blame for all of this. He wasn't about to see his best friend having his girlfriend leave him just because they had been doomed to fail.

~ ~ * ~ ~

-SNORT- The loud equine snort made Emily jump from her book and nearly squeak. <Oh I am sorry! I was just trying to get your attention.>

She turned around to see the young stallion standing at the other side of the table with a distinctly embarrassed look on his face. She had never been able to see expressions before now on unicorns, but she was getting adept at knowing certain looks and tilts of the ears. It took more longer than she cared to admit to realize that the unicorn looking at her was someone that she knew, his refined features were slightly softer and his stance more nervous than Lance's or any of the normal unicorns that showed up.

"Ben! What are you doing on this end of campus?" She set her book down and offered a smile to the nervous boy. "Is Lance with you?"

<No, no, he's back at the apartment, I just thought I should come and see you.> Ben's eyes were blinking a bit faster, almost as swiftly as a butterflies wings. <You're not busy?>

"Not hardly, no one comes here on weekend nights, we're not really in the business of entertainment." She tried to give him a comforting smile, watching as he attempted to scramble up into the seat.

He was graceful in his own way, but it was graceful in the way of a large dog that didn't know his own size or weight. Father Blanchard was always quite delicate with how he moved and what he did, almost dainty, like a big cat. She was constantly amazed at how dexterous he was when it came to getting things accomplished, but Ben hauled himself up with a grunt and nearly tumbled forward. His nose bumped the table, upsetting it to one side so she had to grab her mug so it didn't end up overset. She did her best not to laugh at him, truly she did, she covered her mouth by taking a sip of coffee. He wasn't even as graceful as Lance, though he had a ways to go before he became used to his body, he was still very adept in what he managed to do.

<Sorry.> Ben gave her a woebegone look as he remained lying on his stomach on the other end of the booth. <I know we don't know each other well.>

"Not for lack of trying." She offered, steering her thoughts away from just how well she knew the young man, after all, she had certainly seen enough of him the first time he'd met her. "I keep trying to invite you out to eat with us or to go..somewhere."

<I know, it's mostly because things are tense.> Ben puffed out a little bit of a sigh, almost sweet sounding. <I know you've noticed it, that Lance and I are a bit on edge? It's not like it's easy to hide it.>

Emily grimaced a bit in sympathy. There was no denying that she had sensed things weren't going according to plan between them. From all that she had heard they were supposed to be great friends, certainly Lance was excited to have another unicorn that could understand what he was going through, but when they were together she felt awkward. The other night it had been obvious that neither one of them was watching the movie, she caught them giving short glares at one another, the aggression was thick enough to cut with a knife until she had given up and decided to offer to take Lance out on a walk. She hadn't said anything, there was already enough going on in their lives to deal with, why should she poke at an obviously open sore between them?

"It's probably strange living together, you really just met." She offered sympathetically. "Did you want me to help talk to Lance? He didn't used to be so... well, I don't know what to call it, but he used to be less volatile."

<Sort of.> Ben looked like an oversized dog at the kitchen table, his head peeping over the edge. <I really wanted to talk to you though, to try and explain. I think Lance will want to talk to you too, but he's going to make it sound much worse than it is between us.>

"Are you planning on moving out?" She asked softly, and took another sip of her drink, finding it harder to understand the unicorn's mind voice when compared to Lance's. His thoughts were skipping over emotions strangely so that she had to struggle to truly hear what he was saying and what he meant.

<No, nothing like that. I mean, at least I hope not.> Ben sat up, making himself look taller and then reared so his two forehooves rested on the table in a nearly human pose.< I... I like you a great deal, you've stuck next to him, and to hear him talk about you, I just know you're both made for each other. I had a girlfriend, things didn't really go the way they should have. I guess that's why I latched onto Lance, I needed someone to talk to, even though I can admit being jealous that you stayed with him.>

"If she didn't stay with you, or at least try, then perhaps there's something out there waiting for you." She allowed herself a slight smile. "You'd be surprised, having a girl isn't the end all be all of being a unicorn."

She couldn't help but think of Father Blanchard. The fatherly unicorn seemed happy with his life, even though it wasn't what he had original wanted, he certainly enjoyed himself. Perhaps that was what Ben was here for, perhaps he was hoping she could offer him some advice about how to get back together with his girlfriend . Or how to meet one? She truthfully didn't know much about him, during her meetings with him her mind was nearly always sliding back to the fact that the first time she had met him. It had been less than comforting to see a unicorn that way, startling and even frightening, and certainly disturbing to someone she had first met. Since that day, he was careful around her, always polite and making sure that she wasn't given a flash of the pink shaft hanging down again.

<I suppose.> Ben kept staring at her oddly, his bright eyes fixating on her and then suddenly jerked away as if he realized what he was doing. <I didn't really want to talk about that though, I wanted to talk about why Lance and I were so... strained.>

"I'm all ears, do you want a drink? Something to eat? " She smiled reassuringly at him. "There's no one here so I think I can afford to sneak you something good to eat from the kitchen before they close."

<Oh, no no, it's fine.> Ben swallowed and glanced behind her. <You get off of work soon, right? Not that I'm stalking or anything, just I know that you normally call Lance later on in the evening is all, and I wanted to talk with you kinda quietly.>

"It's pretty quiet now." She pressed and looked around, there was another unicorn in the room, he was one of the older ones that came here to read when it was slow at night, her other coworker was behind the counter watching her phone and whatever movie was on it.

<I suppose.> Ben's mind voice was filled with unease, as if he were bracing himself for something. <I had sex with Lance.>

The world went slow and stopped, even her breathing stopped as she looked at the other stallion and waited for him to burst out laughing, the laughter never came.

~ ~ * ~ ~

Jonathan sat across from Lance, while he struggled to keep himself from fidgeting in absolute shame at his slow confession to the older man. He had always been kind, in fact, he was one of the nicest people that he had met on Ulysses' compound, it made him want to trust the older man with his secrets. He had wanted to talk to Ulysses, certainly the stallion had enough experience to explain things to him, but the stallion had opted to send his lover. How could a human understand what had happened to him and why? How could they possibly conceive of just what he had been through!? Not that it made him feel any better as he fidgeted and tried to maintain some semblance of calm while talking to the man in front of him.

"You don't have to be nervous, I assumed that something like this would occur, you were warned after all." Jonathan spoke up after several moments, the older man's smile sympathetic.

<You said we would fight not fu... other things.> He stammered over the last word and pulled his ears back flat to his head. <I had thought we'd just fight a bit.>

"Well, that typically is what happened, but it's not all together uncommon for things to turn into a stranger dominance between them. Most stallions prefer to stay to themselves once they come to terms with their new bodies." The older man crossed his legs and seemed unruffled. "The fact it turned to sexual intercourse isn't a bad thing, truly, it means that you can still live together if you care to."

<I.. I don't even know what to do about it! I have a girlfriend, one that I love, one that I want to marry. I'm not gay!> The last words were flung out loudly enough he saw the older man wince.

"No, you're not, but some part of you wanted to make sure Ben acknowledged you as the one in charge. There are typically two outcomes to that mind set, one is to beat and drive the offending male out of your territory, and the other is to make him submit. The fact you chose to make him submit is a testament to your friendship." Jonathan murmured softly. "It has little to do with being gay or straight, or even if you're in love, it has everything to do with the instincts we have talked about. In the past, even older stallions that have attempted to live together have gotten into fights, hard fights; even ones that have led to deaths. It's a testament to your control that it didn't end that way."

<I wasn't going to kill him, I just didn't like how he smelled.> He answered sharply and then twitched his ears back, realizing just how inhuman that sounded. <I don't know what to do now, will it happen again? Or is this it? Now we both figured things out and we can go back to normal. I have to know what to tell Emily, even if it is hard, she deserves to know.>

"Was it so distasteful for you?" The man tilted his head to one side. "Do you feel the urge to repeat what was done?"

It hadn't been distasteful to him, he had loved every moment of it, even afterwards he looked back at it with a fondness that surprised and horrified him both. There was no denying that he had enjoyed himself and would likely do so again if he were given the chance, but that wasn't the issue. The issue was he had cheated on Emily, and he had done so without truly intending to do it. If he had made the choice to mount Ben he could have handled it, he would have felt even worse then he did now, but he could tell her outright what he had done and why he had done it. Even if the 'why' had been because he was pent up and wanted relief, as of now, he had no why except he had been staring at his best friends haunches and felt the need to pull him beneath his body. How could she be alright with that?

<It wasn't bad.> He managed, blood running up to his ears so they flushed a hot red with embarrassment.

"But do you feel the urge to do it again? That's really the question, Lance. If you feel urges towards him, then it might be difficult living with him from now on and certainly it could affect your relationship with your girlfriend." Jonathan answered and raised a brow. "You are not human, Lance, I know you want to behave and have the morals of a human, but you are setting yourself up for a failure if you do."

<What's that supposed to-> He started to ask, but froze when the front door opened, he hadn't heard anyone coming up the steps.

Ben came into the room and made the conversation freeze, but his eyes weren't focused on the young stallion, his eyes were on the girl that came behind him. Emily's face was a mask and blank, nervous looking as Ben cast a guilty look towards him as his girlfriend shut the door behind them. He swallowed, trying to keep his expression neutral, struggling to maintain that look as she glanced over at Jonathan and seemed shocked, her eyes widen a touch, but she slipped into the seat without a single word. The entire room fell silent, the weight of it was crushing as Lance shrank back against his seat and watched her, heart leaping in his throat.

_What did he do? _He thought, dragging his eyes away to glare at Ben, but his best friend wasn't paying attention to him. The colt was warily staring at Jonathan.

"Is the elephant in the room?" Jonathan spoke up with a hint of humor. "It is good to see you again, young lady."

"What are you doing here?" Emily's voice was slightly angry and hurt, soft enough that it made Lance's chest tighten. Did she think that he was here to have a go with Lance? "I mean.. I apologize, I didn't mean to sound that way."

"Quite alright, I'm here on behalf of Ulysses, apparently the boys are having trouble adjusting to being roommates." The man sounded so easy going and relaxed, as if it were quite normal. "Lance wanted some advice, though it is fortuitous that you've arrived here so we can all talk and perhaps work things out."

<I told her.> Ben's mind voice was slightly guilty sounding as he spoke up. Lance shot him a look, an angry one. <I'm sorry, I just didn't want you to make it sound like it was... I don't know, like we were in love or something.>

Just the way it was worded made the blood rush to his face in embarrassment, his ears twitched flat back to his head, he wanted to crawl away and hide, but there it was, out in the open. He barely looked at Emily who sat there, her expression hard to read, her body tense as if she weren't quite sure she could trust herself. He had never felt so guilty in his life, guilt warred with anger at Ben, and even at Jonathan, he just wanted to crawl into a hole, but instead he was left hunched up and staring at the floor studiously.

<I cheated on her.> He spoke flatly, refusing to look in her direction. <There's no excusing what I did, I cheated on her.>

"That's one way to look at it, but more incorrectly than you can imagine." Jonathan's tone was chiding. "When you were both being taught and released you were told that it wasn't the best idea for you to room together. Correct?"

<We should have listened.> Lance glanced up and saw his girlfriend's lips pursed slightly as she remained looking at the other human. <I just thought it meant we would be tense, that he'd try and steal Emily away.>

<I wouldn't do that!> Ben countered, his ears dropping down flat to his head at the insinuation. <I would never do that. It hadn't even occurred to me.>

"You are thinking more on a human level, both of you, when neither one of you are human any longer." Jonathan rested his hands on one knee lightly. "Most of the PR is done up front about your kind and showing you as humans simply on all fours, the odder quirks we can't hide, but some we can. Such as exactly how changed you are mentally and instinctively. Emily was simply the catalyst to the entire issue."

"I didn't mean to be." She spoke up softly, but was listening, it was better than he'd hoped, better than her bolting out the front door. "I'd noticed they were tense."

"They were behaving as colts around their first mare. You are a very beautiful young woman, one that either of them would be proud to have in his life. Even if Ben didn't think about seducing you, having you around and paying exclusive attention to Lance would start an undercurrent of tension." Jonathan looked towards Lance. "Which is hardly helpful when you consider that Lance would naturally feel protective of you and want to keep Ben away. Most of the times these sorts of situations turn violent, there are even deaths, as I told Lance earlier."

<It was violent, at first. I wanted to kill him.> Lance felt a touch on his side and nearly jumped out of his skin at the gentle caress, but then froze as he realized Emily was resting her hand on his back.

_Does she understand? Or is she just trying to understand? I can't see how she can possibly forgive me for what I've done. _ He thought wildly as he felt her finger tips just touching him.

"But you didn't. You had to dominate him. If you were older, such as Ulysses age, you would have simply had a brief spat and parted ways once the winner was figured out. It's easier to control the stranger urges when you're older, we're no longer flushed with the vitality and need of the young." The man stopped and offered a sly smile towards them all, one that made Lance flush. "But you didn't, you became wrapped up in the moment and you had to prove you were better. You wouldn't kill him, after all, seeing as you live together and seem quite affectionate, I assume that there is a level of caring between you both."

~ ~ * ~ ~

Love, caring, Emily's mind was tumbled all over with what was being discussed. She had wanted to storm out of the coffee shop earlier when Ben had started talking, first because she had thought he was nothing more than a liar and then because she could hardly believe that her boyfriend would betray her so deeply. Not only had he gone against his word to wait for her, he had done so with another male. Was he gay? Did he prefer males? She had no idea, she had been upset to the point she had left Ben scrambling to catch her, the younger stallion desperate to try and tell her how it had all happened. She hadn't wanted to know what had happened or why, she had wanted to talk to Lance. If she had been able to pick up the phone she would have called him and demanded answers, but phones were no longer an option for them.

She knew the man sitting across from him, the distinguished sweep of grey hair and the way that he spoke brought her visit to the compound to mind and from there she recognized him. He didn't seem ashamed or embarrassed or even particularly bothered by the subject matter, not like she was. But his calm influence helped ease back her angry words and stilled them on her tongue. It was hard to want to yell when he gave her the sense that she was sitting formally in someone's living room. The more he spoke, the more she relaxed, letting some of the tension slide from her shoulders.

<He's my best friend.> Lance answered, his voice quite soft as he did so.

"Which is a rare instance among stallions." Jonathan's eyes slipped up towards her and turned almost pitying. "I'm afraid that is one thing that you might have misunderstood. Relationships between unicorns are strained at best, most of the time it is limited to distant greetings and brief meetings. They are rivals, not companions to one another, so when Lance changed, so did his future."

"I'm aware of that." She answered after several moments, her hand light on Lance's back. The sense of betrayal and anger didn't leave her, not at all.

"I don't think you are aware of what that means." Jonathan's eyes furrowed slightly. "Do you know, I met Ulysses when I was a young man, his estate was next to my family farm? I was very young at the time, brash in my own way, and enthralled with him, which is how we became to be together, though I will admit his preference tends to be towards his wives. Unicorns surround themselves with many lovers, do you never wonder why?"

<Custom and demand.> Ben ventured and flinched a bit. <Or simply because they have a high drive?>

"No, that would be silly once they grew older. They constantly take new lovers because they try to forget what each of you will learn one day." Jonathan leaned forward and she found him looking right in her eyes. "Unicorns do not age as people do, Ulysses has watched me go from a young lad to an older man, he will watch me one day die. Your lovely Emily will age beside you, Lance, a year, ten years, thirty, fifty, you will see her grow old beside you and lose the blush of her youth."

<And I will love her still.> Lance answered, the force of the words resounding in her mind before he added afterwards. <Even if she no longer cares for me>

"Of course you will, my stallion loves me still. What I mean is, if you vow to only have Emily as your lover, you set yourself up for a long and lonely path. You will give all your heart to her, she will be your world, and when she dies you will be left alone." Jonathan sounded sad as he spoke. "There will be no others in your life, no distractions from the pain, nothing but the emptiness she has left behind. For an old man losing his wife it is devastating, but he carries with him the knowledge that they will be reunited soon, for you... you know that you have many years ahead of you without her."

"You want me to let him take other lovers?" Emily spoke up, disbelieving as the man continued to watch them all. "I.. I can't, I don't think I could ever be okay with that."

<There is no one but you, I promise.> Lance turned to look at her, she could barely meet the golden eyes. <I would want no one else but you.>

"Only a few stallions ever hold onto one partner for a life time, and only for that life time. The ones that do often end up strange, depressed and half severed from the one they loved. Others... Others find their way to other comforts." The man made an expression. "Drugs are not unknown for the Changed, and suicide has been another option to them. Some few are healthy, they find solace in their children, but they rarely take another partner. They learn the hurt is to great and spend their lives in solitude."

<I am not like that. I will live my life with her if she will have me.> Lance spoke firmly, but Emily was staring at the man as he continued on.

She had always imagined their life together, one of warmth and fulfillment, growing old together, having children and raising them, but the man wasn't talking about her ideal fantasy. She had believed that her only real obstacle would be learning to accept his body, his entire body, she had thought that it meant once she accepted that they would be normal. There was no normal here, not the way she knew it, there would never really be a normal. She had known in the back of her mind that he would age differently than she would, she had even accepted it, but now she was being given a glimpse into what that would mean.

He would outlive her. Barring an accident or disease (rare in his kind), he would outlive her by many years and when she was gone, she would be gone. The idea of unicorn's with a harem made her think of them as oversexed children, not real partners, but the man was giving her a glimpse into a reason for them that she had neve considered. Her mind closed down, she felt her throat got tight. No, she could not, would not, be able to look at another woman and know that Lance had been with her. She couldn't be okay with it, it was too much, this was already far too much for her to deal with and now this man was telling her she should be okay becoming one of many?

"Not everyone can, but you have a unique relationship and situation, one that many unicorns could never face as Ben and Lance have." He drew in a breath. "You cannot share him with another woman, you cannot allow him to have that relief, that companionship in the knowledge of how this will end, but could you share him with another stallion? One like himself."

"WHAT?!"

<WHAT?!>

<THE HELL?!>

All three chimed in at once, but Emily could barely register the other two as she gaped at the older man who let out a soft laugh. It wasn't anything more than amusement on his part as he leaned back into the chair and gestured with his hands.

"I am not saying you must, but if Ben is comfortable with Lance as his.. hmm... oh herd stallion will do, embarrassing as the term might be, he will have a companion beside him." Jonathan's eyes slipped away from her as she felt Lance go tense. "He wouldn't' be left alone at the end, he would share a relationship with you."

<We nearly killed each other just because he thought I might, now you want me to..> Ben started and then stopped, making her glance over to see the smaller stallion turning his head to one side in embarrassment.

"I'm not asking you to do anything, I'm simply saying, before the young lady becomes angry, perhaps she might see this as an unlooked for gift." Jonathan sounded entirely reasonable to her, even though her mind was fluttering this way and that wildly. "She would never have to deal with female lovers and there would be a partnership there. I don't mean that Ben should become a slave to Lance or forced into anything, but as long as Ben remained submissive, you might find yourselves forming a neat little triumvirate together if you only could open your minds to the idea."

<You want us to have a threesome?> Lance asked, his voice strange in her mind. <I.. that's not fair! That's not fair to anyone.>

"The world is very unfair and I'm not speaking of a threesome between you. I'm speaking of a relationship. Life will be hard enough, why take something that is a rare gift and throw it away simply because it is not what you expected it to be?" The man murmured, leaving Emily feeling tense and strange. "With Ben joining you, Lance would remain the head stallion and see whatever you three might do with one another as bonding instead of a thief trying to take his female."

She glanced over at Ben and didn't know even how to react, the young stallion wasn't looking at either of him, he was looking at the floor as if he were in the midst of wishing he were somewhere else. She barely knew him, she had done little more than just talk to him and now this man was trying to suggest that she bed them both? That they invite him to be something more than a friend? The thought made her mind rebel, it went against her faith, it went against her reality, it was absurd in the extreme to expect this of her. She didn't know if she could handle even Lance, how could she expect to be alright with two of them?

"Just because something is strange and frightening, does not mean that it is something you should avoid." The man stood up and looked at them. "You have been given an unlooked for gift, perhaps you might at least try and see if it was meant to be. After all, the world is a strange place, and there are more things between heaven and earth.."

Lance wanted to say something, a vehement denial of even thinking of taking Ben on as a lover, a promise to Emily that he would neve do such a thing, but he couldn't move as Jonathan showed himself out. Ben didn't look at him, neither did Emily, they sat there in silence as the door closed with none of them knowing what to say to one another. There was some visceral part of him that was pleased to have him near him, proud they were close by, the sensations of possessive pride were still there for Ben, there was no anger that Emily sat between them or rage that she was close enough to touch the rival male. Ben wasn't a rival, not any longer, but he didn't know what the other stallion was now.

"If I saw you with Ben.. maybe I could at least know what to expect without having to touch the first time" Emily's soft voice broke the silence, it sounded absurdly loud. "I.. could see if I am alright with it."