The ride home was awkward as could be expected. Astrid kept trying to talk to me, but I chose to ignore her or give one-word answers that didn’t answer anything she asked. Erik stayed silent, which I assumed was because he wanted to stay out of the fight. 

As soon as we pulled up to the dorm, I saw someone I hadn’t expected to see. 

Freyja.  

She stood near the entrance, hands on her hips with a nervous look once she saw us pull up near the entrance to a parking space near the front of the dorm. Most likely thinking he wouldn’t want any part of the storm that was brewing, Erik quickly excused himself and went into the dorm alone. This left me, a frustrated Astrid and a confused Freyja outside under the cool winter sun. 

Freyja looked between the two of us before clearing her throat. 

“Hilda did say that you were sequestered with your other mate, but I hadn’t expected her to be so...advanced in her years,” Freyja said, her other pair of arms crossing themselves under her bust as she looked at Astrid with contempt.  

Astrid on the other hand was not in the mood to argue with her and instead said hello respectfully before turning her attention back to me. Seeing that something was wrong, Freyja approached us but I brushed past her and told them to come inside, or they’d get locked out. 

Surprised by my cold greeting, she said nothing, and I could hear the two whisper frantically to one another in Bevusian. What they were saying, I didn’t care.  

After we got into my dorm, I sat on the bed and took several deep breaths as they knelt in front of me waiting for me to say something. When I felt somewhat composed, I finally addressed them. 

“It’s good to see you again, Freyja, I was worried you wanted nothing to do with me after our fight.” She smiled softly at that. 

“I-I have a lot to say if you’d be willing to hear me out?” I told her that I would be happy to, but that all of us needed to talk about something first. 

“Before that, Astrid, this is Freyja. My first, and also a princess to The House of Diplomacy. Since you’re a part of this Bond, might as well tell you now.” Astrid’s jaw dropped and she turned to look at the younger Bevu woman who relished in having her status be recognized. 

“Seriously!? You didn’t tell me you were courting a princess! Er, it’s a pleasure to meet you, your highness.” Astrid bowed her head slightly. 

“Hmm, I didn’t have a great first impression of you. However, it appears you can recognize your place in this relationship.” Freyja said with a haughty tone. I rolled my eyes. 

“Just ignore her, Astrid. She’s half commoner, so, not as impressive as you might think.” I said, scraping the pride off of Freyja’s face, causing her to look at me with apprehension. 

“W-Why would you say it like that, Dean? It was rather...curt of you.” True, I was being a bit of a jerk, but I couldn’t help it. I ignored her question and continued with the introductions as I wanted to hurry things along to more pressing matters. 

“Freyja, Astrid is a veteran of dozens of conquests and is an excellent cook, as I’ve mentioned before.” Even while upset, I was willing to give credit where credit was due. It was Astrid’s turn to delight in praise much to Freyja’s chagrin. “Now that we’re all somewhat acquainted with each other, I have some things to say, and I don’t want to be interrupted, is that clear?” The two of them looked towards one another, then at me, and then nodded simultaneously, although I doubted that they would listen.

“Good, thank you.” I took another breath to try and steady myself. “Since the beginning of our relationship, I’ve noticed that both of you have treated me like I was...this pathetic person who needed you to survive. For example, Freyja, while I know you want me to be safe, wanting me to be attached to you all the time and acting like I can’t fend for myself is emasculating as hell.”  

“I told you I’m not trying to coddle you, by the Gods why is it that men think they can do anything without consequence? Not only would you be swept up by some Bevu woman without me, which has almost happened before by the way! Someone is threatening you, and you just won’t let me take care of it! I can take care of you!” I stood up and pointed an angry finger at her. 

“That’s what I’m talking about! And low blow to talk about what happened to me! You have no idea how badly that fucked me up in the head, do you? And I thought I told you not to interrupt me!” Stunned by my outburst, she apologized for the comment about my incident and went silent. “And Astrid, I was perfectly capable of defending myself today at the store. Even though I was up against a Bevu, I was confident in myself thanks to the gear and training that Erik has been putting me through.” Astrid frowned and asked if she could say something. Honestly, since she was being polite about it, I let her talk.

“Dean, if that woman seriously wanted to take you away, she very well could have. You are only lucky that she didn’t realize she needed to try harder. Gear or not, training included, you are not a match for us. That’s why-”  

“Oh, fuck off!” I cut her off, and my anger reignited, “This isn’t about me winning a full-on fight to the death here! You think I wasn’t aware she’d kick my ass if things went on long enough?” I laughed as my voice started to shake, “I just wanted one...one hit to show you and to prove to myself that I could handle my own problems. I’m done running away and you took that from me! Do you have any idea how small you both have made me feel? I’ve been trying so hard to be accommodating of your culture...but if what you want is a subservient man, then both of you can just fuck right off because that’ll never be me.”  

“I didn’t know you felt so strongly about all of this...nor did I believe we had put you through so much,” Freyja said softly. 

“Of course you wouldn’t. It was these little things here and there that rubbed me the wrong way. It’s just...I’ve lived my whole life under the thumb of someone who wanted me to be something that I’m not and I refuse to let you two do that to me, so I’m trying to nip it in the bud right away.” Saying what I had to say, I stopped talking and said they could say what they wanted. 

“I’m sure Freyja understands as much as I do that we don’t ever want you to feel like this,” Astrid said carefully. 

“Quite right, your happiness is our utmost priority.” Huh, I didn’t expect them to come around so easily. “However,” or so I thought, “It just so happens to be the case that you are not able to appreciate the dangers that your world, and the universe for that matter has to offer. We simply wish to protect you from danger at all costs. That is why it appears that we are infringing on your individuality. All Bevusian women are taught similar things since childhood.” Astrid nodded at this, and I laughed. 

“Well, I guess that’s your answer then. If you want someone like that, then go get them. I’m done.” I made my way towards the door despite their protests and started calling for Erik, who quickly came out of his room as Astrid and Freyja clamored out into the hall, asking me to reconsider. “Let’s go train, Erik. Maybe get some food after.”  

“W-We are not done talking yet, Dean. Please, reconsider! Our positions are just as valid as yours, allow us to explain further. I haven't seen you in days and you're already shutting me out, please, t-this is a hasty decision on your part, don't go.” Freyja begged. 

“Yeah! We didn’t do a good job at, um, conveying our feelings.” Astrid added. However, instead of telling them off again, it was Erik who stepped in. 

“Ladies, Dean has made his intentions known. Any further talk on the matter is forbidden until he decides to continue the matter or lets you know that he is done with the relationship completely. Until then, anything more will constitute harassment under the law. Clear?” Damn, he pulled out the legal card there, I thought he was joking at first but judging by the duo’s panicked reactions, what he said was true.  

I then went into my dorm and grabbed my bag, phone and some extra clothes while Erik ensured that the ladies stayed away and kept quiet. Once I had my things, the two of us were off without saying goodbye to Astrid and Freyja. As we walked away, I could hear them go back into my dorm room and once the door closed, proceeded to yell and hiss at one another. 

“What are they saying?” I asked Erik with a nudge. 

“Aside from...a litany of curse words. They’re blaming each other for the potential break-up.” I shook my head. 

“Welp, let them stew in that for a while. I said my piece, now please teach me how to beat the breaks off a rampaging Bevu please.”