Troy x Aemond: Just Friends [SOLO]

Based on the modern Mafiaverse AU Lydia and I wrote in 💚 Takes place after "Troy's First Time", so... after Thanksgiving 2023. Technically also takes place before the Sebastian/Alicent one. Written January 29th-30th, 2023.

“I’d rather just remain friends.”

Troy was stunned speechless. So then, his feelings for Aemond had been unrequited after all. His body tensed in an effort to fend off the pain shooting through him.

 

Aemond couldn’t tell what Troy was thinking, but he seemed to be mulling it over. Tense moments passed, in which Aemond silently prayed Troy wouldn’t turn out to be as insane as Sebastian, nor as obsessive or entitled.

He wasn’t. After he’d processed Aemond’s words, Troy simply said, “Cool. See you in class,” and left. Still, Aemond spent the rest of the weekend waiting for the other shoe to drop. What if Troy had told his parents and they were out for Aemond’s blood? Rejecting Sebastian had caused enough trouble, but at least he’d mellowed out when it looked like Aemond might start dating his son. What would Sebastian do now that Aemond had spurned is generous “Welcome to the family”?

 

Troy was devastated, and of course the first thought to cross his mind was that he should talk to his parents or Cygnet about it… but he quickly realised that would do more harm than good. The last thing he wanted to do was paint a target on his best friend’s back. After all, they were still friends, and that was better than nothing. He’d just have to make sure they were still cool, and that meant backing off and letting Aemond decide when they’d hang out again.

He'd stopped going to all the parties on campus when he and Aemond had begun hanging out more. Now he was back on the social scene. He brought Cygnet, who was usually such a wallflower, to a frat party the next night. He kept her company till she found some people she felt comfortable talking to, then he mingled with as many people as possible, though he was still fairly straight-laced. A couple people wondered where Aemond was. Troy told them he was studying.

Sunday morning Troy made baked potatoes, scrambled eggs, and French toast to help his friends get over their hangovers. He found when he was chatting up his friends, cooking, cleaning, and exercising, he wasn’t thinking about Aemond. So he kept himself as active as he could and crashed anywhere other than his own room. Luckily, Cygnet was more than happy to share hers, and she confirmed when asked that she hadn’t tried sleeping with Sebastian again.

Of course, Cygnet wondered why exactly Troy didn’t want to go back to his room after the rest of the partygoers had dispersed. Troy didn’t want to talk about it, though, and she didn’t push. She opened her room to him and, when he asked (much to her surprise and delight), her bed as well.

Troy wasn’t sure what the hell had possessed him to try sleeping with Cygnet again. Maybe he didn’t want her to go through the pain of rejection. Maybe he thought he’d feel better, knowing his other best friend loved and wanted him. It wasn’t so bad as long as he could wear a condom and they kept the lights off. She was adventurous and affectionate, and… well, it could have been worse. It was better than being lonely. And he had remembered to tell her it would be better to keep things casual. She’d agreed, so it would all be okay, right?

 

Aemond really shouldn’t have been surprised, come Monday morning, to see Troy and Cygnet waltz into the cafeteria arm-in-arm. Well, more like she was clinging to his arm with both of hers and gazing up at him with moon eyes. Aemond was pretty sure that was Troy’s hoodie she was wearing, unzipped just enough you could tell there was nothing underneath it. At least she’d had the decency to put on leggings before parading herself in public. Aemond searched Troy’s face for any hint of discomfort and was punished with a dazzling smile, as the pair of them… bypassed his table completely in favour of the football team.

“Stay here,” he heard Troy tell Cygnet. “I’m going to get our trays, okay?”

“Okay!” Was she kissing him? Aemond scoffed to himself and returned his attention to his meal.

 

It’s only awkward if you make it awkward, Troy told himself as he got breakfast for Cygnet and himself. He’d smiled at Aemond upon entering, like he always did, but Aemond had stared right through him. He probably needed some more space, so Troy hadn’t gone to say hi or sit with him. Aemond would approach when he was ready.

Troy’s patience was rewarded sooner than he’d expected. As he was returning to his teammates’ table, he heard Aemond speak.

“Are you together?”

Troy managed a small, sad smile. “It’s just casual. She’s free to see whoever, you know, as long as they’re not related to me.”

“Mm.” Aemond didn’t really seem to care. That was fair enough. He’d probably just asked to be polite. As Troy was about to keep walking, Aemond asked another question: “Does she know about our… conversation earlier?”

Troy shook his head. “Of course not. I don’t want my parents finding out. Um, but hey, let me know if you want me to email you my lecture notes, okay? I’ll be running laps between classes, but I can….” He trailed off awkwardly.

Aemond looked up at him. For a brief, shining moment, Troy hoped he’d want to hang out. Grab coffee after class like they used to. Play “Destroy All Humans” after football practice.

 

So much for staying friends, Aemond thought. It was obvious Troy was ditching him just because Aemond wasn’t ready to be his boyfriend. He stared in shock, hoping Troy would recant and invite him over to play video games or study together like they always did. After a long pause, Aemond looked down and shrugged. “Enjoy yourself,” he said.

“Uh… thanks, man.” What the hell did Troy have to sound so unsure about?

Aemond scoffed. Maybe he’d go to the track after class and see if that wasn’t just some bullshit excuse.

 

Cygnet wondered why she and Troy weren’t just sitting with Aemond like usual. She saw them chatting—well, maybe “chatting” wasn’t the right word for it. Neither of them looked particularly comfortable. Were they in a fight? Was that why Troy didn’t want to go to his own room?

She stood and cuddled up to Troy from behind. “Mmm, you got my favourites,” she murmured, snaking a lox bagel off the tray.

He started. “Oh—yeah, sorry. You must be starving. Um, well, I’ll see you round, Aemond. I love—to catch up about our weekends,” he said, clearly in a rush to get back to breakfast with Cygnet and his football friends.

Cygnet gave Aemond a polite little smile and wave as she and Troy sat back down. Aemond just glared, or maybe he wasn’t a morning person. Actually, come to think of it, Aemond was pretty surly at all hours of the day. He and Troy couldn’t be more different in that regard.

 

Aemond dumped out the rest of his tray and strode out. He must not want to be late to class, Troy thought. For Aemond, “late” meant “getting there after the front row seats were taken.” He was an excellent student, one of many admirable qualities.

Actually, maybe Troy had made him feel awkward, with how long he’d lingered, with that slip at the end of their conversation. What kind of idiot said “I love you” to someone who made it clear they didn’t want to go out? Why couldn’t he think before he spoke?

He felt something touch his cheek. Cygnet’s hand. He looked quizzically at her, then realised she was brushing away a tear.

“Wanna go make out in the stairwell?” she asked, looking at him with those hopeful doe eyes. He grimaced and nodded. Maybe if he was late enough, he’d have a seat away from Aemond, seeing as how Aemond clearly wanted nothing to do with him.

 

“Lita, Troy.”

“Present!” Troy called as he stepped breathlessly into the classroom, lips swollen, hair mussed, cheeks flushed.

Professor O’Donnell was somewhat less than amused. “You can take your seat next to Mr. Targaryen,” he said. “Try not to cut it so close tomorrow. Athletes don’t get special treatment in my class.”

Troy bowed his head, then took his seat, front row off-centre as always. He stank of that bullshit “ocean”-scented perfume girls wore when they wanted to pretend they were mermaids. Aemond found himself wishing he’d thought to scoot over a seat so Troy would be forced to sit in his blind spot.

“Sorry about earlier,” Troy whispered. “I didn’t mean… um, we don’t have to catch up if you don’t want to.”

“Thank you,” Aemond whispered back. “I’m not interested in your sexcapades.”

For a split second, Aemond thought Troy might cry, but instead, he just pulled out his Chromebook, booted it up, and began taking notes as always.

The rest of the day was no less painfully awkward. Troy threw himself into sports and catching up with his jock friends. Cygnet ignored the athletes trying to hit on her in favour of clinging to Troy and kissing him at every opportunity. Aemond listlessly watched them walk laps hand-in-hand for a little while, then got bored and texted his brother to hang out.

 

The next day was more of the same, although this time Aemond didn’t acknowledge Troy at all during breakfast and made him sit on his blind side in class. For his part, Troy seemed less enthused about rubbing his rebound in Aemond’s face. Cygnet didn’t take the hint and was at least twice as clingy.

Troy noticed that Aemond wasn’t even touching his assignments. He wondered what could have possibly happened to make Aemond moody enough to neglect his studies. He wasn’t sure if they were friends anymore, but he still loved Aemond and cared deeply about his grades. Even if Aemond didn’t love him, he still loved learning, right?

He caught Aemond’s arm on the way out of their last class. Aemond stopped and looked at him questioningly.

“Come on,” Troy said, with the smile Aemond had sorely begun to miss. “We’re going to Il Fornaio.”

Aemond nodded. “A homework date.”

Troy beamed at him, and off to Il Fornaio they went.

 

From then on, things normalized between them. Now that they were both sure they were still friends, they hung out as easily as always, but Troy made sure to balance his time between his best friends and his other friends, and he was careful to treat them all with the same amount of affection (except Cygnet, whom he continued sleeping with at her request) so Aemond wouldn’t feel awkward.

Trinket in the Spring [SOLO] - Spring 2023

 Obviously foredated to on or after March 21st, 2023. Written January 24th - 28th, 2023. Takes place in the "original" HOTD-verse, wherein Nathaniel is dating Aemond, and Sebastian is indifferent to the latter's existence. CW: Ableism and ace-phobia. Aphobia? Whatever the term is for being -phobic against asexual people.

“I’m worried about Trinket,” Sebastian said one spring day. “Trophy’s fathered a litter of Pegasus dragon things. Threnody’s shown interest in a male dragon.” Threnody’s boyfriend’s intelligence was on par with Trophy’s, but Sebastian chose not to mention it. “Trinket’s the oldest and he’s the only one who’s shown zero interest in mating.” Sebastian made a little moue. “He’s also my favorite. I was looking forward to little Trinkets bumbling around.”

Daemon scoffed and rolled his eyes disdainfully, but Trent put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“I wouldn’t worry. Maybe he’s just a late bloomer. Or maybe he’s having a secret affair.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Sebastian was vaguely mollified.

 

It was true that Trinket had shown zero interest in mating. He preferred to spend time with humans, specifically Trent, Sebastian, Nathaniel, and Aemond. Actually, he spent most of his time with Aemond, to the point where Aemond’s tongue-in-cheek threat to ‘steal’ Trinket from Trent and Sebastian seemed to have come true. When Trinket got too big to comfortably perch on Aemond’s shoulder, he stopped flying at head-and-shoulder height beside Aemond and instead walked on his four paws, either beside or behind him. He also went from curling up entirely in Aemond’s lap to curling up beside him with just his head and forepaws in Aemond’s lap, mindful of his own weight.

In fact, by mid-April, one would be forgiven for thinking Trinket was Aemond’s pet rather than Sebastian’s or Trent. Trinket had taken to following Aemond everywhere, even curling up and sleeping beside him on the bed at night and eating leftovers from his plate at mealtimes. (He still wouldn’t let Aemond or Aegon feed him Helaena’s insects.) He even put up with Aegon pulling his tail a few times when drunk, although he issued a warning growl and essentially threatened to burn the rest of Aegon’s booze if he did it too much.

For their part, Sebastian and Trent chose to let Trinket spend as much time with Aemond as he wanted. Aemond’s quarters were a better environment than a brothel anyway, and Aemond appreciated having another companion whom he could tell everything and, unlike Nathaniel, made no demands or judgments.

 

Aemond didn’t understand Sebastian’s concern. “He’s not the last of his kind. What does it matter?” he asked now.

Sebastian levelled a cold stare at Aemond. They were both dating Nathaniel, in that Sebastian was the one Nathaniel went to when Aemond was being hard to talk to or wasn’t in the mood for sex, which was often.

“I wouldn’t expect a broken man like you to understand.” Sebastian was referring to Aemond’s comparatively diminished libido. Whether that’s how Aemond took it or not, Sebastian almost instantly found himself flat on his back with a dagger at his throat. He smiled, eyes hooded with lust.

“There it is,” he whispered. “That must be it. What Nathaniel sees in you. Your beauty, elegance… and violence.”

Aemond rolled his eye and pressed the dagger more firmly to Sebastian’s throat. Before he could add words to the threat, Sebastian cupped his hand.

“I’m sorry,” he said gently. “I’m told it’s inappropriate to refer to someone asexual as broken.”

“You think?” Daemon interjected.

“He’s not ace,” said Nathaniel.

“Silence, Nathaniel, it’s not his concern.” Aemond clearly wasn’t pacified.

“No,” Sebastian agreed. He was stroking Aemond’s hand now, thumbing the younger man’s knuckles. “And you’re right. I shouldn’t worry about Trinket’s mating life, or yours. After all… it seems you’ll at least have each other. You can be whatever’s the male version of old maids together.”

“Okay.” Trent plucked Aemond off Sebastian. “You don’t need to get in a fight right now.”

Sebastian shrugged and stood. “Fine,” he said. “See you tonight, Nathaniel.” He winked, then headed off.

Troy's First Time [SOLO] - sometime before Christmas 2023

 Written December 22, 2022 through January 23, 2023. Takes place after "The Experiment," so Troy is 18 in this solo (despite being 17 in 2022). This wacky little soloverse is based on my dreams so cringe and utter nonsense is to be expected. Portrayal of Aemond based on my friend Lydia's modern mafia AU of HOTD.

Even after the experiment, Troy remained uncommonly affectionate with his friends, even going so far as to platonically share his bed or climb into bed with his closest friends.

One morning, Troy and Aemond were cuddled up together. They were quite comfortable, until Aemond had a reaction that made him quite uncomfortable.

"I would not corrupt you," he whispered when Troy woke up and asked where he was going.

Troy blinked at him. "Corrupt me?" he repeated. "Aemond, you do realize I know what my aunties do for a living? I’m not as innocent as everyone seems to think I am.”

Aemond sat back down on the bed and took Troy’s left hand, pointedly touching Troy’s purity ring. “Do you really want to lose your virginity because your friend had to work out his morning wood?”

Troy chuckled. “You’re so protective of me… my virtue, my body. It’s okay if you’re not interested, you know.” Actually, such a thought was painful to Troy, but he worked hard to keep that a secret. Their friendship meant too much for him to wreck it with awkward confessions.

“Are you?” Aemond asked, startled. Not that he hadn’t been aware on some level, but Troy was making it sound like he wanted Aemond. He’d all but blurted it out.

Troy looked up, equally startled. Oops. He backtracked, thinking quickly. “I just mean that, if I was going to ask you to… which I’m not… that you don’t have to frame your rejection in terms of protecting me. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. Simple.” He forced a smile. “Okay. I’m off to the shower. Meet me at breakfast?” He left without waiting for a response, leaving Aemond to sit on ‘their’ bed and contemplate life.

 

A few minutes later, Aemond was surprised to find that Troy didn’t wear his purity ring in the shower. He took off his own clothes, stepped into his shower shoes, folded his clothes neatly next to Troy’s, and joined him in the shower. Without his eyepatch, a brilliant blue gem gleamed from his ruined socket. It had been a painful operation, but the effect was suitably eerie.

Of course, Troy didn’t see it that way. All Troy saw was his best friend. He budged aside so Aemond could share the hot spray. His eyes were reddish, but the shower had washed away any evidence of tears. “Hey, you,” he said cheerfully.

“Shh,” Aemond hissed. He whispered, “I don’t want our dormmates to hear us showering together.”

Troy shut down. He turned his back and proceeded to pretend Aemond wasn’t there. Aemond rolled his eye. This moody side of Troy was uncomfortably reminiscent of Sebastian.

“What if they tease you for it?” Aemond pressed. “Everyone knows you claim not to date, but if they hear us in here, they’ll assume we’re slee—”

“Sleeping together?” Troy finished coldly. “You mean the fact that we literally share a bed hasn’t occurred to anyone? I share a bed with Cygnet, too. Nobody thinks anything of it. If I was in here showering with her, nobody would bat an eye.”

“Everybody knows you’re not interested in her or any other girl. You said as much, in front of everyone in our dorm, when she asked you if you’d date her if she got your parents’ blessing.”

Troy didn’t respond right away. What Aemond wasn’t saying, what he didn’t need to say, was that everyone still knew, or at least thought they knew, that Troy was interested in Aemond.

After a moment, he asked, “Why are you in here if you’re so ashamed of people assuming we’re together? You should go away. In fact, maybe we shouldn’t spend so much time together.”

“I don’t want to go away.” The words were out of Aemond’s mouth before he had time to think.

Troy faced him. “Then what do—”

He was interrupted with a kiss that was at once fierce and sweet, hungry and tempting, and he lost himself in it. It wasn’t worth being confused or trying to figure Aemond out. Aemond was mercurial and unpredictable, the polar opposite of Troy’s friendly and easy-going nature.

A kiss turned into more—so much more—and to their credit, they both managed to stay quiet, even if they had to cover each other’s mouths or, at one point, be choked to do so. They rinsed themselves clean afterwards, towelled their hair, and went back to bed one after the other to bask in the afterglow.

Troy dangled Aemond’s eyepatch from his finger as he crawled into bed beside him. He felt freer, bolder. He didn’t have to keep secrets anymore! He could just roll over and say…

“I love you.”

The change in atmosphere was immediate, palpable. Troy was instantly and acutely aware that he’d fucked up. You didn’t say that, not to your friend, your friend who was so anxious about people seeing you together.

“The TV show,” he covered. “Oh, and the books. Um, Cygnet’s really into them. Apparently Joe Goldberg is her ideal man. Weird, huh? Yeah. Sorry about the awkward timing, though, but I was just thinking about… the… promo posters. Uh, I’m hungry, so I’m gonna go… talk this over with her in the cafeteria. Laters, taters!” Troy quickly got dressed as he was babbling frantically at Aemond, and was gone before Aemond could get a word in edgewise.

 

What had just happened? Honestly, Aemond should have expected Troy to confess to him after what they’d done together. Why had he frozen up? And Troy had clearly panicked when Aemond didn’t say it back.

“That is why I didn’t want to do this,” Aemond lamented to the empty air after Troy left. He really wasn’t the ‘I love you’ type. Besides, he had been, and still was, deeply afraid that Troy would turn into an obsessive monster if they had sex, just like Sebastian had. Like father, like son, and all that. Yet already, he missed the comforting warmth of Troy’s presence. 

Troy didn’t go straight to the cafeteria. His feet carried him to Cygnet’s room, where she was furiously sketching. She looked up when he knocked, and she immediately knew something was wrong when he entered. She set aside her sketchpad, walked over, took his hands, and led him to sit on her bed. She turned his left hand over and thumbed his ring finger. A slight frown crossed her face. His hair was damp, but Troy wasn’t careless enough to leave his beloved purity ring in the shower, unless he was unprecedentedly distraught, but the only thing that would upset him this much was also only possible if he felt he no longer needed the ring anyway.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

Troy shook his head. “I’ve talked too much. I’ve ruined everything. He’ll never want to see me again so could you please just ask one of the girls to bring us a tray? I can’t go out there—”

“Shh….” Cygnet held him and stroked his damn, lank hair. Of course this was about Aemond. Who else would have Troy this upset? She secretly hated him, Troy’s other best friend, not least because she was jealous of his weird hold on Troy. She’d deduced that Aemond must be the reason Troy wasn’t interested in girls.

She texted Cin and then focused all her attention on soothing Troy. She’d do anything for him. Hold him. Dry his tears. Kiss the new ones away. Kiss his soft, pouty lips. Help undress each other….

 

Now he felt worse. Twice in one morning, with two different people, both of whom had been his best friends. One he was in love with; the other was in love with him. She wasn’t dumb enough to admit it in bed, but he knew about her sketching habits and knew she was developing the schematics to build and program her very own Troybot. She was auditing a software class because there was no way in hell anyone at Mad Tech would help her program a sex robot of the boss’s son, and she knew it. He’d heard Cin talking about it on the phone and had pretended to be oblivious. It didn’t bother him. Now, at least, she’d have better data.

Before they’d started, he’d told her plainly that he wouldn’t be her boyfriend after this. They’d comfort each other now, as a one-time thing, then go back to being friends. She’d agreed; he’d partially dissociated as they did the deed.

When it was over, they’d shared an awkward grimace, gotten dressed, and—since Cin hadn’t responded to Cygnet’s text—gone to breakfast together.

 

Someone from their dorm had found Troy’s ring on the bathroom counter and tried to return it to him in the cafeteria, only for Troy to say he didn’t need it anymore. From there it was assumed that he’d slept with Cygnet, since they’d come to breakfast together and he was letting her rest her head on his shoulder. Aemond was surprised to find that he disliked these whispers. He hadn’t wanted Troy to be the subject of any sexual rumours, but just now he was thinking he’d prefer they know it was him. But maybe this would be… safer, even if Aemond didn’t like it. If people thought Troy had a girlfriend, they’d either congratulate him or leave him alone. If they thought he had a boyfriend… it was unfair, but he might suffer for it. So Aemond swallowed his pride and stayed silent, grimacing at the warning stare Troy was giving him. He’d give his friend some space until people moved on.

 

Troy didn’t understand. Why was Aemond smirking at him when Troy looked to him for help, silently pleading with him to stand up and say something? Did Aemond know? Was this his way of telling Troy to lie in the bed that he’d made? And Cygnet seemed to be enjoying this way too much, damn her! Had she already forgotten their agreement? She certainly wasn’t saying anything. He’d hoped she’d be a good friend and deny it, at least!

His head was spinning and his heart was in pieces. He had to get out of here.

“Cool!” he said. “Well, I gotta go for a drive to sort out holiday plans with my folks, but I’ll send $100 to whoever emails me class notes. Peace!” And with that, he was gone.

He managed to hold in his confusion, pain, and frustration until he was on the highway, and then he just broke down crying. He’d made so many big mistakes today and it wasn’t even 8:00 yet. Thankfully, it wasn’t like the entire student body cared, but now his teammates and classmates and Cygnet’s classmates all had this idea of him that he’d never in a million years be comfortable living up to! He’d never minded people thinking of him and Aemond as a couple once Aemond had pointed it out, but he didn’t want anyone thinking he was dating Cygnet. Or any girl. That wasn’t who he was.

After some time, he found himself at a crepe café in downtown San Jose, thankfully one with its own parking lot. He parked his rented blue Prius, got out, and went inside. He sat in a corner booth away from everyone and ordered one of everything. Not long after the first few dishes had come out, Troy was posting on social media inviting friends and strangers to meet him for free brunch. He’d cleared his face of all signs of tears. He didn’t want his friends worrying about him and the best way to achieve that was to act like his normal outgoing self.

When no-one showed up, he grew even more confused and sad. He video called a few of his friends and teammates, but no-one seemed to be available. He’d been here a couple of hours, his food barely touched, the check lying ignored in front of him. A waitress came and pointedly set down a stack of to-go boxes with a forced smile. Troy sighed. Time to cut his losses. He pulled his card out and set it on the check tray.

As the waitress took it away, a nervous call of, “Excuse me, sir?” caused him to raise his head. A familiar figure in a black hoodie and sunglasses was making his way through the cafe, head turning this way and that. A nervous waitress was at his heels, trying to get him to leave. He was ignoring her as best he could.

Troy closed the gap between them with a few strides and pulled his best friend into a hug. “You’re late,” he teased, taking his hand and leading him to the corner booth.

“Excuse me, sir?” The to-go-box lady approached them.

“He’s with me,” Troy said cheerfully, squeezing Aemond’s hand as they sat together.

“That’s nice, but your card’s been declined.”

Troy frowned; Aemond stared incredulously at him. The fact that that had never happened went without saying. Troy pulled out his phone to check his banking app and saw that he had a dozen missed calls from Baba.

Well, crap.

 

Once Troy had left the cafeteria, the reality of the situation sank in for Cygnet. Whatever pleasure and fulfilment she’d found in making love to Troy had been one-sided. She’d had an inkling that’s how it would be, but she’d hoped, maybe….

Of course, no-one really cared that much what went on in their classmates’ personal lives, so it didn’t take long at all for others to just lose interest in the conversation. Cygnet took the first chance she saw to go. Normally she wasn’t one to skip; if there was one thing she loved, it was school. But she just couldn’t be here right now. She had to go, she had to run—where? She’d figure it out on the road.

Aemond, of course, saw Cygnet leave and assumed she was going after Troy. The poor girl had it bad for him, but then, so did a lot of girls at school. Troy was good-looking, friendly, athletic, and until this morning had turned down everyone who’d tried to ask him out.

Aemond had no idea how appealing much of the student body found him, however. A lot of girls and some guys liked a man with a look of danger about him, and with his eyepatch, scar, and loner demeanour, Aemond certainly fit the bill. Several of the erotic paintings that had been recalled had been purchased by classmates whose parents had been willing to pay the outrageous prices Sebastian, who claimed he hadn’t wanted to part with the paintings, had demanded. Hardly anyone dared to openly lust after him, but Aemond was a lot more popular than he realised, or perhaps he simply didn’t care to realise.

He felt a little bit sorry for Cygnet, just a little. The robotics star was beautiful, but it didn’t benefit her socially because most people found her strange and off-putting, if not outright  creepy. Troy was one of maybe a handful of people she could actually call a friend, and her other friends, Cin and Désmoda, were equally weird (although Désmoda got away with it more as she leveraged her Baltic accent and huge tits). It was little wonder Cygnet had fallen for one of the few boys who’d give her the time of day.

Then there was the fact that she’d interned for Trent, the definitely creepy boyfriend of Aemond’s uncle Daemon. Aemond didn’t like or trust Trent; he acted like hating Sebastian was a worse crime than the actual crime Sebastian had committed against Aemond. The fact that Trent and Sebastian were Troy’s parents had made Aemond nervous when he’d found out, but Troy didn’t seem to have picked up their worse qualities. Cygnet, on the other hand, wasn’t related to either of them, but from the way she acted sometimes, she sure as hell could have been. She had a literal shrine to Troy in her room.

Did Aemond want someone like that going after his best friend and laying claim to him? Absolutely not, especially since Troy wasn’t the type to push her away if he thought it would break her heart. If she sank her claws into Troy, he’d be stuck with her indefinitely, no matter how unhappy it made him. Aemond didn’t want that. He went after Troy in his Ram, thanking the gods that he and Troy had installed location finders on each other’s phones so they could meet up without hassle. 

Cygnet hadn’t gone after Troy. She’d thought about going to work, just showing up and begging for an assignment, but she didn’t think she could focus on work right now, especially if she got assigned a robot commission. She’d made a custom android, first in the company, modelled after Aemond, with Sebastian’s paintings for reference regarding how the bot should look without clothes. Good thing Sebastian had kept digital copies on an encrypted cloud; even better that Trent had access. She’d had the pleasure, pun intended, of testing out the completed bot, and right now she couldn’t help jealously wondering how well it stood up to the real thing. If anyone would know, she thought recklessly, it would be the customer. So naturally, she Wazed directions to Sebastian’s apartment. She had no idea how he’d react even if she claimed it was a customer satisfaction survey. Pun intended. Would Trent back her up on that? He wouldn’t want to risk pissing Daemon off again, but did Daemon even know about Aemondbot?

Well, maybe it shouldn’t matter to her. At least she could pay Sebastian for comfort sex even if he didn’t want to talk about his precious toy. She’d be living on ramen for a month, with what she heard he charged, and he’d probably charge more to take a female client, but God, she had to do something! And the best way to get over someone was to get under someone else, right? Even if they looked scarily alike….

Oh God, was she really thinking about this? Sleeping with her crush’s dad barely two hours after sleeping with said crush?! Maybe it wouldn’t be weird if she didn’t tell him. Not like he was going to discuss his sex life with Troy. Or—well, hopefully also not with Trent. Oh God, not only was Sebastian her crush’s dad, he was also her boss’s ex-boyfriend! Hell, turning round, driving back to school, and asking Aemond to sleep with her would probably be less creepy! Actually, what would Aemond think about all of this? Troy was his best friend, too, and they’d… just before….

No, fuck Aemond! If he had a problem with her and Troy, he shouldn’t have pushed Troy away. Troy was sweet, pure, and innocent, everything Aemond wasn’t, and for the life of her, Cygnet couldn’t fathom what in the hell Sebastian and Troy saw in Aemond beyond his good looks and possibly his accent. Like Welshmen were so special.

As she approached the parking lot for Sebastian’s apartment, she realized she could have just gone to Arryk for comfort sex and maybe even to talk about Aemond, although she doubted Arryk knew what Aemond was like in bed. Not that she even cared that much, it was just, if Aemond was going to take Troy away from her, the least he could do was make their sex life worth it. Besides, if she had to walk in on Désmoda and Aegon hooking up on the kitchen table again, she’d have to claw her own eyes out, a la Blind Mag.

 

CW: DUBIOUS CONSENT. Scroll past for the all-clear.

Sebastian was indeed enjoying his Aemondbot, which he’d named Almond Joie Butters when he’d been high. He was currently sitting in Almond Joie’s lap, legs dangling on either side of their living chair, impaled: a fully naked, sweating, mewling mess. He’d been approaching orgasm when he felt his legs being shifted, then a new weight settling on top of him. He realized it wasn’t Nathaniel when a hot wetness enveloped him. His eyes, which had been hooded in pleasure, flew open. He tried to focus—he recognized this girl from somewhere. Was she here with Nate? Were they going to have a foursome?

Before he could wonder too much, he was quickly lost to hedonistic carnality again. He felt her squirting every time she pressed down on him, and then he felt her full-on gushing all over him, the fluid running down his lap. His stomach tightened and he grabbed her hips, holding her in place while he thrust up into her. Up into her, then back onto Almond Joie, his body quivering and then bursting with pleasure. She was the first girl he’d been with since college and he’d forgotten how much he loved having streams of warmth released into his lap. He’d also forgotten that he enjoyed threesomes even with a girl involved. He came, several times in rapid succession, then rag-dolled back against Almond Joie while this girl kept riding him. Almond Joie was programmed to stop stimulating him when he neared unconsciousness, but there wasn’t anything the bot could do about remaining inside Sebastian when there was someone else on top of them. 

Nathaniel had stared, dumbfounded, as a girl he vaguely recognized from Trent’s tech firm pushed past him and straddled his boyfriend. She’d ignored him when he demanded to know who she was and what the hell she thought she was doing. But Sebastian seemed so into it that Nate thought maybe Sebastian had invited her and forgotten to tell him.

When Sebastian basically collapsed, Nate picked the girl up and brought her back to the bedroom to enjoy her himself. She didn’t protest, even gave him a welcoming smile as she lay open for him. Nate briefly wondered if Sebastian had ordered her and how expensive she was, but it was extremely out of character for Sebastian to hire a hooker, much less a female one.

 

Cygnet lay vaguely dazed, cuddling up to the third man to be inside her today. Her body was beginning to ache, inside and out, but she wasn’t going to stop him. He felt so good, and even if he hadn’t, she couldn’t exactly complain after what she’d just done to Sebastian. Her best friend’s biological father. Her boss’s ex with whom he’d raised Troy. They looked so much alike, and not in the usual parent-offspring way. Sebastian didn’t look like he’d aged past 18 himself. His hair was curlier and only about shoulder-length, but they had the same delicate features and the same lithe build.

And the man on top of her now? He definitely wasn’t related, he’d said Sebastian was his boyfriend—oops—oh well—but he was also slender, fair, delicate-featured, and beautiful. Not as beautiful; he didn’t have the sweet, rosy, pouty lips she loved so much. But he was a solid 7/10. He also wasn’t what she’d call a gentle lover. He slapped her and choked her, and it felt like every thrust was intended as a punishment. She loved every second of it, happily clinging to him with her legs as he pinned her down and snarled degrading things in her ear. She’d tried to free her arms so she could wrap them round him, too, but even one-handed, his grip was too much for her to break.

She was so tired now. Her legs slackened their grip round his waist. But every time she began to slip out of consciousness, a hard, ringing slap would wake her up. He didn’t want her to sleep through this.

“You can try… from behind, if you want,” she mumbled after the fourth time he’d slapped her awake. He paused, considering it. Then he pulled out and roughly flipped her over. She heard a wrapper opening, then the pop of a small container lid. A few seconds later, her hips were being pulled up and—

“Aah! That wasn’t—”

“Shut up.”

She squirmed, or tried to, as his cock pressed insistently into her ass. At least it gave her pussy some relief, but she was exhausted and highly sensitized to pain right now.

Still, she managed to drift off, and this time he didn’t wake her. Her body convulsed as she slept, reacting to continuous stimulation. She dreamed she was being taken by an army of pretty blond men, three at a time.

 

ALL-CLEAR! 

Nate didn’t bother cleaning her up when he was finished. After he’d discarded the condom and cleaned himself up, he went back out to the living room. Sebastian was curled up on the couch tucked under a blanket, but Almond Joie was alert.

“Do you know who that girl was?” Nate asked as he sat in the recliner by the couch.

“Cygnet Campbell, intern at Mad Tech Solutions. She built me,” Almond Joie replied.

Nate’s brow furrowed. “What the hell does she want with Sebastian?” he asked.

“My guess is sex,” the android replied dryly.

“Did she program you to be sarcastic?” Nate asked, equally dry.

“No. I was programmed by Trent Maddock.”

“What the fuck?” Why would Trent program a sex bot, himself?

“That was the fuck,” Almond Joie agreed. “Cygnet develops hardware. Trent develops software. I’m the first in my line. None before me were modelled after specific humans. I was a gift for Sebastian. They were instructed to make me perfect.”

Nate knew Trent would do almost anything for Sebastian. No wonder he’d taken a special interest in Almond Joie’s development. But something bothered him. “A gift? I thought Sebastian commissioned you.”

“I was commissioned for Sebastian,” Almond Joie clarified patiently.

“Do you know… who?”

Almond Joie hesitated, or that’s what it felt like. He’d paused to access information before, but Nate got the impression that Almond Joie didn’t want to tell him. He was about to say Almond Joie didn’t have to answer when—

“I was commissioned by George Green.”

Nate stared incredulously as Almond Joie continued.

“Personal assistant to… you, Nathaniel.”

“Why the hell—that’s rhetorical,” Nate added hastily. “I know George wanted to help Sebastian move on from Aemond. Isn’t commissioning a… someone who looks like him a little counterproductive?”

“… Is that also rhetorical?” Almond Joie asked.

Nate gave him a deadpan stare. “You can answer if you want,” he said.

“George believes Sebastian is primarily attracted to Aemond for his looks. He hopes that if Sebastian and I are partnered long enough, Sebastian will neglect you and allow George to take you back.”

“That’s surprisingly underhanded,” Nate said. “Wow. I’m impressed.” He was also annoyed, but addressed it before Almond Joie could point it out. “Does it ever bother you? Knowing that you were made for someone, a thing to be possessed by them?”

“No,” said Almond Joie. “Sebastian has never treated me as a possession.”

That was true, Nate thought. Sebastian loved Almond Joie as far as Nate could tell. He didn’t seem to think of the droid as an object, nor even as an extension of, or replacement for, Aemond. “George thinks he can just have me if Sebastian gets distracted,” Nate grumbled. “Asking me on a date would have been a better start, maybe. I’d have talked it over with Sebastian, but I doubt he’d have objected.”

“Perhaps George should commission a Nathanielbot,” Almond Joie suggested. “Or perhaps I’ll commission one for him.”

Nate cringed. “We—he and I work together and live across the hall from each other,” he said. “We have far more contact than Bash does with his kid’s friend.”

Almond Joie pondered this. “Aemond would find my existence creepy,” he said. “Mad Tech Solutions built in a voice-activated disguise mode so I can go out in public without being recognized. Cygnet and Trent must have thought I’d go mad cooped up at home.”

Nate nodded; that made sense. He wondered if he should have taken the time to have a real conversation with Almond Joie before now. They were basically roommates, after all, and they both took care of Sebastian in their own ways.

“Yeah, I’d be pretty creeped out if I ran into a clone of myself, especially if I knew it was designed for sex.”

“Would you rather George pursue you despite your wishes or have a sex bot modelled after you?” Almond Joie asked.

Nate shook his head. He didn’t want to answer that. “You’re  better for Sebastian than a bot of me would be for George. He’d probably blend his fantasy life with his bot, with his work and neighbour life with me.”

“If he fell in love with his Nathanielbot, he may resent you for not measuring up.” At Nate’s surprised expression, Almond Joie clarified, “I’ve been running scenarios as we’ve been on the subject.”

“I don’t resent Aemond,” Sebastian mumbled. He was just waking up. “I’ll always love him, but it’s different since Troy does too. I want them to be happy.”

Almond Joie helped him sit up and wrapped an arm round him. “Are you in love with me?” His tone was more curious than anything.

Sebastian thought about it. “I loved Rosie. I loved—no, I still love Duckie, and if I ever saw Rosie again I’d love her all over again, too. I loved Aemond instantly. You… you’re every bit as beautiful as Aemond and a hundred times kinder. I don’t know if it’s okay to be in love with you. You were built as a consolation prize and gifted to me. There’s a contract between us that you weren’t asked if you agreed to. So… I’d like to love you, but I don’t know if you’d want me to.”

Nate raised a brow at Sebastian. “You care more about the consent of a robot than the person he’s based on.”

“I accept that as a form of love,” Almond Joie said, with a kiss to Sebastian’s cheek.

 

When Cygnet woke up, she was totally relaxed. She washed up in the en-suite bathroom, luxuriating in the hot water, then went to the living room. She shamelessly sat in Nate’s lap and told Sebastian what had happened that morning. Sebastian immediately called Troy to check on him, but after the 12^th try, he gave up. He opened his banking app and drained Troy’s account—just temporarily, just to get his attention. Then he turned his attention to Cygnet.

“You do realise how fucked up it is to come to me for comfort sex right after sleeping with my son?” he asked.

“Not much more fucked up than you continuing to lust after the boy your son loves,” Cygnet countered. Sebastian raised an eyebrow, impressed. 

Aemond held out his hand. “Give me your phone,” he said. Troy didn’t panic often, and Aemond hated to see it when he did. He took the phone from his friend’s hand and video called Sebastian, swallowing his own loathing.

“It’s about ti—Aemond?!” Sebastian was clearly incredulous.

Aemond forced a polite smile. “Hello. Troy left his phone in my room this morning,” he lied smoothly. If Sebastian had cut Troy off, he must know about Troy and Aemond already, Aemond reasoned. Cygnet worked for Trent and Trent was still close with Sebastian, not to mention they’d raised Troy together. If Cygnet had gone crying to Trent, he would have called Sebastian immediately. Indeed, Sebastian’s shocked expression cooled. It was unnerving how jealous the man was of his 18-year-old son.

Aemond ploughed ahead. “I followed him to a restaurant in downtown San Jose. He’s fine. I just thought you’d like to know why he wasn’t answering.” Then he handed the phone back to a sheepish Troy.

“Hi, Baba,” Troy said. “Is it okay that Aemond and I are here together?”

Sebastian closed his eyes and sighed in relief. “Yes. Give me a moment.” He minimized the call to go back to the banking app and reinstate Troy’s finances. “Get yourself something to eat,” he said, “and please explain to me why the hell Cygnet Campbell showed up on my doorstep and jumped my bones.”

“Ew, what the hell?!” Troy complained.

Aemond, meanwhile, had given his own card to the waitress to pay for their food. While a lot of the guilt money Sebastian had given him went to medical bills, he could still afford to treat Troy to brunch.

 “I hope she washed up before she left this morning,” he commented, looking as amused as Troy did revolted.

Sebastian also grimaced. “Before she leaves, I want to talk to you in person. All of you. Meet me after brunch.”

Troy and Aemond agreed and the call ended. Then Troy held up a glass of orange juice. “Here’s to a hell of a date,” he joked.

 

After brunch, they took Aemond’s car to Sebastian’s apartment. Thankfully, everyone in said apartment was clothed when Nate answered the door. Almond Joie had been set to charge on standby in the guest bedroom so as to avoid conflict.

When they were all seated comfortably and tea had been poured, Sebastian said, “Thank you for joining me here today. I won’t waste time. The reason Troy was never allowed to date before now was because I don’t want him making my mistakes. When I was 16, I fell in love with a gorgeous, witty girl. She was my first, and I adored her. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for her. Well, she had Troy on my 17^th birthday and after that, nothing I did was… right. She left, and she left the baby with me. My parents blamed me, for sleeping with her, for… everything. I uh… I didn’t want Troy to go through that, so I forbade him to date. When he brought you home last Thanksgiving, Aemond, I was… surprised. I hadn’t known you were classmates, let alone anything more. You and I may have had our differences, but that was when I reversed my decision regarding Troy’s dating life. I don’t believe you’d hurt him. And obviously, you can’t get pregnant.” He half-smiled. “I want you to know that you unambiguously have my blessing. Whether or not a relationship between you works out, if he had to fall for someone, I’m glad it’s you. And….” He hesitated. “Well, thank you for being a good friend to him, in any event.”

To Cygnet, he said, “You need to start using protection. You also need to choose which one of us you’re going to be fucking, because I’m not sharing a girl with my son.”

Troy shook his head. “Actually, Cygnet, I’d prefer not to have sex with you again unless Aemond’s involved,” he said bluntly. “Sorry, but I told you before that I’m not interested in women.”

Nate looked, open-mouthed, between Cygnet, Troy, and Sebastian. “Did she rape you, too?” he asked Troy with unconcealed distaste.

Troy shook his head. “I wouldn’t put it that way. And we did use protection, otherwise it was too slimy.” He’d pulled out and put on a condom immediately.

“Gee. Tell me how you really feel,” Cygnet muttered, choking up. Even after her nap, she was physically and emotionally exhausted.

Sebastian moved on before anyone could answer that. “And Troy… you’re 18 now; legally you can date and sleep with any consenting adult you want. Just make sure you know what you’re getting into before you give your heart away. I didn’t. I’ve bene in love three times, each more painful than the last. Make sure it’s worth the risk before you commit. Although… for what it’s worth, I think this one is.” Noticing how awkward Troy and Aemond looked at Sebastian basically admitting he still loved Aemond and considered him worth the pain, Sebastian added, “For you. I think he’s good for you. And whatever happens, I hope you’ll always be friends.”

“We will be,” said Troy happily. Aemond nodded after a pause.

Sebastian smiled. “Welcome to the family.”

January 12, 2023 | Almond Joy

I had a dream once where I was walking through a forest. It was so weird. I was walking and I could feel the trees moving. I was in the middle of a field and I saw a white silhouette of a deer. I was still in the field, and the deer looked at me. The deer was very big. I was running thorugh the field, and it was very close to me. Then I walked on the moon.

--

I had a dream where I was in the woods and I saw a group of vampires. I was walking around, and suddenly I heard a voice. Something was saying, "Hello."

I looked around and found myself in the middle of a forest. I ran into a clearing, and I could hear a strange voice. The voice spoke to me. It said, "Hello." 

It said that I was alone in the forest.

Then the voices said that I was not alone, and that I could hear their thoughts. They said that I was in some sort of strange place. They were saying things in a way that felt like I was going to do something bad. They said that they were worried about me.

--

I realized that my family didn't accept me for who I am. I felt like they were ashamed of me for something I didn't do. They always made me feel like I wasn't good enough. They didn't seem to like me. They thought I was weird, and that I was the type of person to do something that would hurt someone else, because they were afraid of me. They didn't listen, because they didn't know me and didn't know how to react. They had very strong feelings about what should and shouldn't be spoken, like anger, sadness, etc.