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Before he met Mel Medarda, Viktor wasn’t sure that he was even attracted to women.
He still isn’t certain, actually. As she steps forward he feels himself lean back a little, only to make contact with Jayce’s solid chest. Trapped. Poor little mouse. Mel is like a green eyed panther, advancing slowly and deliberately toward him and he feels strongly all of a sudden that he isn’t worth this, that it barely makes sense that Mel would touch him, could touch him, that she should by all logic pass through him, like he were a ghost. He’s not sure what that means.
He’d noticed right away that Counselor Medarda– what she’d been to him back then– had been beautiful; it was impossible not to. Looking at her was like staring into the sun, like biting into a cake that was impossibly rich, and only being able to bear to swallow a single mouthful. He’d known that, experienced it, and still hadn’t known what to call the feeling until she’d opened her mouth and laughed, and the sound had twinkled like fine-crafted silver bells, that he’d felt something twist in his stomach, and thought, Oh. Alright.
Presently, Jayce makes a comforting noise in his ear, and Viktor’s skin is gooseflesh up and down his arms. Mel comes to a stop between his knees. Viktor can feel the warmth of her skin even without contact. He can’t seem to bring himself to look in her eyes, but then his gaze is at her chest, which is worse, then the curve of her waist, her thighs, how her white gown’s slit skirt comes up to reveal her deep brown skin, and he isn’t worthy of this, of either of them. He wants to shrink. It would be easier not to be seen now, to sit in the shadows and watch as Jayce and Mel fell into each other, beauty for beauty, a perfectly balanced match. Not that he hadn’t done it before.
He’d wondered if it was her proximity to Jayce that sparked his interest. Jayce, who was exactly his type, who he’d never had to examine his feelings for. They’d met, and Viktor had felt his blood grow hot every time the other man’s earnest hazel gaze fell to him. Always wanting something, always searching. Viktor’s little crush on Jayce had been no surprise, just a fact. An annoyance, really— something much more happily packed up in a box and set aside to deal with later. Of course, that isn’t how these things worked, no matter how Viktor tried. There were only so many brushes of the hand one could stomach, his chest pressed against Viktor’s back to look over his shoulder, warm breath against his ear– there was only so much one could take before the feeling swallowed them whole. And then there was Mel.
Viktor had watched the two embrance once and the emotion it elicited was so visceral he’d had to get up, leave, and get himself a glass of water. Jayce’s hands, massive and sturdy, perched on her waist, the quiet sviss! of his calloused fingertips against the silk of her dress. Mel’s eyes, deep green, fluttering closed, her eyelashes softly kissing her own cheek. Her fingers at the nape of Jayce’s neck, nails through his dark hair. Viktor stared into the drained cup in his hands and wondered why it hadn’t melted back into glowing molten glass, the undrunk drops of water at the bottom flash boiling and evaporating. He was bursting at the seams with jealousy. He was shriveling into a pile of ash with … well. There was certainly something else there, but Viktor had neither the time nor the patience to unpack it. Instead he went back to the lab, and pretended like nothing had happened. Like there was nothing slowly eating its way out of him.
He shivers when Mel’s fingers find his knee. Her hands are small, about the same size as his, but slender and elegant like the rest of her. Nothing like Viktor. Nothing like– her other hand was on his chin, tilting his face up, and she was leaning down toward him, and he wasn’t breathing, he couldn’t.
“Look at me.”
The ambient light of the room caught the soft coils of her updo and struck them gold, painting a halo around her head. Her thumb on his chin. Warm. He’s surprised, in some far off part of his mind, that her fingers are lightly calloused in places. The place where they meet feels too hot– yes, his skin is burning up. He’s going to have a heart attack, he thinks, he’s going to fall off the bed, except Jayce’s arms, strong as stone pillars, have snaked around his waist and hold him fast.
“Okay,” he replies, voice hoarse.
Mel tilts her head to the side, and Viktor immediately feels he’s done something wrong. He isn’t good at this, isn’t good, period . He wants to shrink. He wants to run.
“I want to try ma’am . Does that sound like something you'd be amiable to?” Jayce makes a strange noise behind him as Viktor stares blankly. Try ma’am? Her hand is still on his chin. He feels like he can’t think. The lack of understanding must have shown on his face because Mel continued, ever patient. “As in, I say look at me , and you say, yes, ma’am. Does that sound alright?”
His mouth goes very dry. Jayce hums behind him, big strong hands sliding up slowly until they clasp Viktor’s waist. He almost wishes he wouldn’t– things are happening very quickly, and for some reason he can’t quite wrap his head about anything right now. Jayce’s fingers brush across his stringy obliques and his breath catches in his throat, so the next words that come out of his mouth are strangled.
“Yes, ma’am,” he manages. Mel’s eyes narrow as she smiles.
Jayce was the sort of person who took pity on the needy, so it shouldn’t have surprised Viktor so much when he’d first kissed him. Still, though. He’d frozen completely, a congratulations dying half-formed in his mouth as his partner, his best friend, cupped Viktor’s face in his strong, perfect hands and drew it up to meet his. They’d just won a city-wide competition, Viktor was wearing a suit for once. He hadn’t been able to move. Jayce pulled himself away when Viktor wouldn’t kiss him back.
“ Sorry ,” he said, and forced a laugh. “Sorry, I … that was out of line. I got carried away. That was … congratulations, Vik, really, we did it, we–” And only then had Viktor been able to shove himself forward, grasp Jayce by his collar and pull him back down.
He’d put the pity thing together later, when they’d lain in bed, Jayce passed out beside him, Viktor unable to sleep, his leg annoyed at him and thrumming pain up his side with every beat of his heart. Not that Jayce showed it, no, Jayce was a fantastic sport about … everything. It was simply the only way that any of this all made sense. They were mismatched, two different gears that shouldn’t slot together, a mistake that would eventually jam the inner workings of whatever machine they were a part of. He could understand his relationship with Jayce. What he couldn’t wrap his head around was Mel.
“Lay him down, please.”
“I can lay down on my-“ But Jayce responds immediately, and Viktor breathes in sharp as he’s collected in the other man’s arms. The bed is large enough for the three of them to lie comfortably side by side, but the two of them are crowded around him all of a sudden, and he wants to curl into a ball, hide his face, hide his body. Mel reached forward again and she’s stroking his cheek a moment later, slow and deliberate. The look in her eyes isn’t something Viktor can name, but it isn’t pitying. It sort of scares him.
“I’ll tell you a secret,” Her voice is quiet and low. Viktor can only blink at her. His breath is coming in quick little bursts. “That’s not about you. It’s about him. Obeying.” He glances to Jayce, who smiles a little sheepishly. “Does that turn you on?”
“It’s alright, Vik.” Jayce, on his other side. He leans down to plant a slow, warm kiss to Viktor’s throat. A sigh works it way out of his mouth, and Jayce beams. “You look good like this.”
“He’s not wrong. You’re very handsome, you know.” Mel, with her silken voice and dark devouring eyes. Mel, with no reason at all to lie to him. And he just doesn’t know what to do with that. “Are you going to say thank you?”
“Th—“ his tongue feels stuck to the top of his mouth. “Thank you. Ma’am.”
Mel hums, her smile spreading wide across her face. “I like how that sounds in your mouth. Not groveling , no. That’s what I have Jayce for.” At that, she sneaks the other man a sly-eyed glance and draws her left hand across his cheek. Jayce leans into it, as easy as a dog being scratched behind the ear. “Just … clear and respectful. We understand each other, don’t we.” Viktor isn’t sure they do. He feels his pulse hammering in his lower stomach and isn’t sure if he likes it or not.
“I’d like to kiss you, Viktor,” Mel says softly.
“Please,” he rasps.
Jayce had brought up the idea. Obviously. Not that Viktor had never thought about it before, but good God, were those thoughts he’d never planned on sharing. It was another post-coital big idea of his, a phenomenon that Viktor was quietly fond of— Jayce’s head tucked into his neck, peaceful, then his breath quickening, then the feeling of his eyes springing open, then Viktor, have we ever tried recalibrating the—?
“Mel’s curious about you, you know.” He was not as enthusiastic as usual— it wasn’t the voice of someone about to launch himself from bed, still naked, to find a notebook and scribble something down. Jayce sounded— well, he sounded nervous . Viktor blinked at him owlishly. And then he turned the idea over in his head.
“Mel Medarda … is interested in me. ”
Jayce laughed softly. “You say that like it’s hard to believe.”
“Yes. Because it is .”
“She said something about … oh, man. I forgot how she phrased it.”
“What?”
Jayce was blushing. “She said she wanted to … meet her boytoy’s boytoy. ”
“I am not your boytoy,” Viktor said indignantly.
“I know, I clarified.”
“If anything, you’re my – ah, semantics.”
“I think it would be nice.” Viktor raised an eyebrow, but Jayce was giving him that look again, earnest and hopeful, entirely unsullied by the storm of worry currently gripping Viktor. “Just to … meet. And talk. Nothing else if you didn’t want to.”
If he didn’t want to. Viktor was about to say something else, but what came out was, “I’ve never … been with a woman before, actually.”
“I’d never been with a man before you,” Jayce answers evenly.
“I fear I’ve set a … nonstandard precedent for you.”
“You have,” Jayce murmured into the side of his neck, and Viktor felt himself growing warm and hazy again. “You’re the best. It isn’t fair to everyone else.”
She’s soft. She’s very soft. Her skin, the very air— everything smells like sandalwood and manketti oil and Viktor feels like he’s floating, painless for once. One of Mel’s hands strokes a slow path across his sensitive scalp, her long nails scratching deliciously at his skin. Her other rests on his chest, thumb brushing a small circle on his collarbone. Another pair of lips at his throat then, stubble tickling his skin, wet tongue against his skin and he’s moaning into Mel’s mouth without meaning to, high and needy. She pulls away, laughing her tinsley laughs, and Viktor realizes he’s clinging to her blouse, fingers gnarled in the fabric. Jayce’s hands are at his waist now, slipping under his shirt, and he can’t stop making little choked noises– he draws back from Mel, presses his wrist to his mouth, but no sooner does he make contact with his lips then she’s caught it in one hand, surprisingly strong, and pinned it up above his head.
“You sound very sweet, Viktor. I’d like to hear.” He licks his lips nervously– his mouth tastes like raspberry lip oil– it’s all embarrassing, it’s all a lot, and he can’t bite back another whine as Jayce’s hands find one of his breasts under his shirt. “Give him a moment to breathe, puppy,” Mel says, and Jayce backs off, placing an apologetic kiss on Viktor’s cheekbone. Viktor glances between the two of them, feeling the world rotating under him. He’s loose and warm, almost gooey, like he’s been made of wax all his life and has just now been allowed to warm up. It wasn’t an entirely unfamiliar feeling– when he’d been with Jayce there were times it had crept into the edges. The time they’d fucked in a restroom at an award show, Jayce’s needy hands all over him. The time he’d gripped a fistfull of Viktor’s hair for better leverage. But Jayce needed direction, needing assurance. He’d apologized profusely for the hair pulling, even after Viktor confessed that he’d liked it. Viktor had never let himself slip too far into the feeling. Mel, though … Mel looked at him and Viktor felt like he could give her his entire brain for safekeeping.
Mel brings her fingers up to eye level and snaps, and Viktor’s eyes fly open. “Don’t space out on me, now.”
He scrambles to defend himself, even though Mel doesn’t look in the slightest bit angry. “I won’t. I mean, I wasn’t. Yes, ma’am.”
“That’s it. That’s the one. Sit up for a moment.” He props himself up on his elbows, not sure what to expect, but that Mel is sitting down on the bed, right where his head had been a moment ago. He cranes his neck to stare at her, and she looks back expectantly. Jayce is twitching impatiently beside them– Mel pays him no mind.
“I– shouldn’t.”
“I want you to.” Swallowing again, Viktor slowly lowers his head onto Mel’s lap. Her legs are warm, and very soft. He can feel muscle beneath the fat on her thighs, and then he can’t focus on much of anything anymore, because Mel is stroking his scalp again, this time with both hands. “Not so bad, is it?”
“No, it’s … you– your dress is nice, and I don’t want to–”
“If it’s my dress you’re worried about, I can certainly be rid of it.”
“If, oh no, that’s– you, that’s not what I–”
She laughs again, stroking the sides of his face. Viktor covers his burning face with his hands, only to have them yanked away again. Mel’s eyes are stern this time, though she’s still smiling. “Now, what did I say about covering your face?”
“It’s– I don’t–” he swallows hard, gasps. “Sorry, I’m s-sorry–” She cuts him off with a kiss, her leaning upside down over him, her chin brushing his nose, her breasts pressed against his head. What if I never go back to normal after this? The thought somehow only builds the white hot pressure in his stomach. Mel sucks his bottom lip into her mouth, and then nips at it. She breaks away then, just to say softly, “Jayce, you can resume,” before leaning back into Viktor.
Dark. Warm. The room full of sounds– Jayce’s labored breathing, their cloths rustling against each other, Mel and his lips connecting and reconnecting, Viktor’s own embarrassing little hitches and moans. Hands on him– Jayce’s calloused palms pushing his shirt up above his chest, clasping him– Gods above, his hands could almost meet where they gripped Viktor’s thin waist — Mel’s fingers trailing from his cheek to his throat to his chest as they kissed, only breaking to breathe, “Is this alright …?” as her hand hovers over one of Viktor’s breasts. He kisses an emphatic yes into her mouth, not wanting their point of contact to break. Jayce is there then, Jayce, sweet and perfect, pressing his mouth against the two of theirs and what should be strange or even funny draws a shameless groan out of Viktor, both his partners kissing him at once, both their lips and tongues and hands all over him. So much. So much. He can’t think, can only experience , so he clings to Jayce’s arms as the other man grasps his tit in one hand and squeezes it. Mel is drawing circles around his nipple with one nail, only offering it the lightest of brushes with the fingertip. She migrates left then, kissing a path to his cheek, and then to a spot on his neck that makes his jaw drop. Jayce’s lips crush his, and Viktor holds on for dear life, suddenly desperate to kiss him back, to show him how grateful he is for all this. One of Viktor’s hands can slip down, down, and he finds Jayce’s erection, grasping it through his pants. The lightest of touches has Jayce’s whole body stiffening, his breath hitching against Viktor’s cheek. Then his hand is being gently lifted away, again , and Viktor breaks the embrace to glare at Mel, whose eyes are twinkling with amusement.
“He gets it last,” she tells him.
“Why?”
“He likes it that way.” Viktor turns to Jayce, who’s turned his face away. “You didn’t tell him?” Mel’s focus shifts and Viktor can suddenly think just a little clearer, “Are you embarrassed ?” She takes his chin in her hand and turns his face to hers, not rough, but certainly firm. Jayce is flushed, like he’s been caught in a lie. Viktor feels hot all over again, and he can’t tell if the heat is shame, or jealousy, or arousal, or some awful cocktail of the three. Jayce didn’t tell him. But Jayce liked being useful, liked being strong. And their messy, quick escapades had had so little room for discussion, or deconstruction afterward. It’s like she can read his mind– Mel’s eyes flicker toward him for a second, and then she’s planting another kiss just under Viktor’s ear, and giggling softly when his whole body shivers. “He’s got a big strong man image to maintain, doesn’t he. Poor thing.” And then she’s sliding off the bed, Viktor’s hand in hers. “Come, now. We’re all wearing far too many clothes.”
He can’t stop staring at the two of them. Jayce’s bare chest, perfectly sculpted olive muscle pressed up against his pale skeletal frame as he cradles Viktor’s head on one massive bicep, fingers stroking his hair. Mel’s bare chest, deep brown breasts and darker nipples, the way her soft flesh presses against his, her two perfect breasts framing one of his tiny puffy ones. As he stares, Jayce lowers his lips and latches onto one of his tits. Viktor gives an aborted shout, but they’re both holding his arms down to the mattress (Mel’s orders), and he can only whine and squirm at the feeling, legs kicking feebly in frustration. His partner’s tongue flickers over him, sucking greedily. “Jayce,” Viktor gasps, “Damn it, I’m sensitive .”
“Why do you think he’s doing it?” Mel’s nose brushes his ear as she speaks– Viktor shivers, she laughs, a common routine now. “Isn’t he good? Look at him go.” Viktor almost doesn’t want to; it’s easier to screw his eyes closed or stare at the wall, but he does anyway, because Mel asked him to. Jayce’s eyes are half massed, his thick dark lashes almost entirely obscuring his pupils. His hair is mussed, his cheeks pink. There’s drool running down his chin as he opens his mouth, only to lean in and offer Viktor’s tit a sloppy open-mouthed kiss. Viktor’s head is so quiet right now– only the red hot thrum of his pulse and the understanding of his body remain. He shifts his leg and feels Jayce’s erection against his knee, and he’s too blissfully empty to question why Jayce wants him this bad, why any of this is happening. He’s almost too far gone to notice as Mel’s fingers find their way down his stomach. But the relentless arousal with no relief has been torture, and when her deft fingers finally slide in between his legs, he jolts like he’s been shocked.
“Oh,” Mel purrs as he gasps, green eyes narrow and enraptured. “Oh, you look almost betrayed . You’re so pretty. Isn’t it a pretty look, Jayce?”
“You’re so gorgeous, Vik.” Jayce’s voice is husky and broken. Viktor is going to die. He’s going to die. They’re both still holding his hands down and he can only cry out wordlessly as Mel’s fingers drag agonizingly slow circles around his engorged clit, the wet sound of his sex deeply embarrassing for how little he’s been touched. She flicks at the over-sensitive tip of his clit and he yelps, squirms. “Viktor. Fuck, Viktor.” Jayce’s hand slides down his hip and finds Mel’s, and then both of them are playing with him at once and Viktor makes a sound like a dry sob, bucking his hips up to no avail. The two murmur sweetly to him, Jayce raggedly complimenting while Mel coos softly in his other ear. They spread his cunt open, they dip their fingers painfully close to his entrance, they jerk off his clit impossibly slowly. Viktor has tears in his eyes by the time Mel slides down him, and stares down at him, at his body, at his cunt, Mel, the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen, and–
“You’re gorgeous ,” she murmurs, and leans down to meet his cunt with her lips.
The tears spill while she’s eating him out, still impossibly slow, still with no sign of relief. Jayce holds Viktor to his chest, wipes his face, asks if he wants to stop but looks relieved when Viktor loudly begs Mel not to. “You’re so perfect,” he murmurs, voice raspy with a want that Viktor hasn’t known was in him. “Fuck, I wanna watch you forever.” Mel sucks his clit into her mouth, tongue washing over him, lapping at the entrance of him, and Viktor weeps in earnest, moaning turning to pleading turning to a meaningless babble of please, please, please’ s that never have any effect on her. Only when his voice begins to crack does she slow, face and neck drenched in him as she rises from between his legs. She leans into him, then changes direction and kisses Jayce, who moans hungrily into her mouth.
“Do you like how he tastes?” Mel asks. Jayce nods, eyes ravenous. Viktor feels himself inadvertently clench around nothing. They both turn to Mel, who smiles innocently. “Well, what do you two want to do?”
“Remember, you’re not allowed to finish until both of us do.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Jayce’s eyes keep flickering between the two of them, Viktor seated on his lap, Mel perched primly beside his head on the pillows. Despite how put together she was in comparison to the two of them, her inner thighs glistened with wetness; the sight only compounded inside Viktor, the heat in his core at a boiling point.
“I want it inside,” he hisses out. “Please.”
“Slow.” He nods– he’d have to regardless. Jayce is big, and even with how wet he was, even after Mel had spit on Jayce’s cock to slicken it, it would be a stretch. It always was. Viktor always loved it. On shaking knees, he lifts himself up, and guides Jayce toward his entrance. They both shudder at the feeling; Mel reaches out and runs a hand down Viktor’s side, coming to rest at the crook of his hip. She applies no pressure, only watches ravenously as Viktor slowly begins to lower himself down. “Slow,” she repeats, warning in her voice as Viktor’s knees wobble and he takes half the length all at once, gasping, trembling.
“Apologies, I, I can’t exactly–” She stares at his quivering, carnivorously, “... sorry, I, it’s so–!” He slips another inch and Jayce makes a broken little noise at the back of his throat. “Jayce, it’s, I’m, hah–! ”
“You’re so good.” Mel’s voice is like a lightning rod straight to his clit– Viktor whimpers, still lowering, still, his knees trembling as the stretch in his gut borders on painful. “You’re both so good for me.” Underneath him, Jayce’s pupils are blown wide, his hands grasping onto Viktor’s thighs with a ferocity that’ll result in bruises. With barely an inch to go, Mel suddenly grasps Viktor’s hips and pushes him the rest of the way down.
The sound he makes is equal parts pain and pleasure, clawing out of him like a cough, like a bark, an inadvertent breathless thing. His thighs clamp down on Jayce’s torso, eyes rolling for a moment, tears collecting in their corners. They’re still for a moment, all breathing heavily. When Jayce begins to move his hips, slow and deliberate, Viktor only responds with a cracked little “uh, uh, uh” that sets Mel’s eyes absolutely alight.
“You hear that?” She whispers to Jayce. “I think we’ve broken him.” One look at him and she knows he won’t last; his eyes locked onto Viktor as he bounces him on his cock, his pretty lips are set in a firm line, sweat beading on his brow. “Oh, look how hard you’re trying. I think you’d benefit from a little redirection.”
Viktor watches Mel swing her leg across Jayce’s chest, her cunt seated right over his face. A deep ravenous noise rumbles out of Jayce, and all of a sudden Mel’s holding Viktor’s shoulders for support, her whole frame twitching. The look on her face– he knows what she means now, the look close to betrayal. She regains her grasp on Jayce’s torso, letting Viktor’s shoulders go free, though their faces are still so close that he can feel her quickening breaths on his cheek. Mel’s ever-composed face is cracking, lips pressed thin, shoulders quivering, eyes … she’s looking at him. Again. Her gaze flicks between his flushed trembling face and the place where he and Jayce meet, watching him ride her partner’s cock. Mel was looking at him, again . At him , when she could have anyone she wanted. At– she was grabbing at him suddenly, a desperation to her movements that hadn’t been there before– her hand grasped a handful of Viktor’s hair, and her lips swallowed the yelp that the sudden pain elicited. He kisses back as best he can, the movement already hard on his shaking legs. Her breasts are pressed into his. Her lips are trembling. Crushed against Viktor, he feels her motions become erratic, uncontrolled, then stop all together for one perfect moment. Then Mel promptly comes apart at the seams; she breaks their kiss to cry out once, then twice, then catches her as she falls forward, sliding off Jayce’s mouth to settle her weight on his collarbone.
“I didn’t … take you for a quick shot, Miss Medarda,” Viktor breathes. Mel mutters something that sounds like a reprimand, and then her hand is sliding in between Viktor’s legs again. He feels the slight tremble in her fingers as she feels for him, then can’t focus on anything in specific she finds his clit. Face still buried in his neck, Mel purrs contently as Viktor twitches under her. Over her shoulder, he meets Jayce’s eyes. His jaw gleams, and his eyes are glassy and happy. His fingers tighten on Viktor’s thighs again.
“Go on,” Mel murmurs.
It’s quick and sharp, the way he hasn’t been all this time. Viktor’s jaws snap as the first upstroke hits him, an inhuman noise leaving his lips. Mel’s fingers quicken, matching Jayce’s pace. “Oh–!” There is no respite. The two hold him in place, and Viktor is too weak now to do anything but lean into them, to weep with pleasure as Jayce pounds into him. His nails dig into Victor’s thighs. Mel sinks her teeth into the side of his neck. The burning hot wave of his orgasm rises up to meet him, and he can do nothing to prepare for its onslaught. “Jayce, oh God, I– Mel, pleaseletme, please–! ”
“Cum for us, Viktor,” Mel hisses. “There you go.”
“ Fuck ,” Jayce breaths.
It hits him like a train. It hits him like a car driving into a brick wall. Victor yells, then grabs at Mel for support, then spasms so hard he nearly throws her off balance. He feels his body clench down on Jayce, His ears ring so loudly that he can barely hear her as she murmurs to him, can barely feel as she strokes his hair. There’s wetness all over Jayce’s stomach and Mel’s thighs, Jayce’s and his cum.
Which orgasm occurred first would be a hotly debated topic later. Later, when Mel drags them all into her bathroom where she’s already found a shower seat for Viktor, where she and Jayce wash each other’s backs and Viktor washes her hair. Later, when they all helped strip the bed and replace the sheets. Later, when Viktor’s leg flares and Jayce is there to help him up, and Mel is there with water and medicine. Later, when they are in bed again, and Viktor still, still , thinks he is unworthy of the people lying next to him.
Now, though, they are dirty and sticky and lie happily tangled in each other's limbs. Viktor curls into Mel’s neck as Jayce holds his waist, all of them exhausted and shakey. Now they are painted in each other, all of them vibrating as a single twelve legged animal. It’s peaceful, and very quiet. Not a single one of them is thinking a single thing.