4. Curiosity Isn't A Bad Thing

Quill was able to slip into Lilly's space with the same ease he'd gained from years of sneaking around his Father's house. He'd never been inside her business before. No one had. She had managed to keep it a secret for nearly three weeks, only dropping cryptic hints that made him and Hawk even more curious each time.

He was starting to realize that was on purpose. 

Stacks of unopened boxes cluttered the space. Quill glanced around until an outline of something stopped him in his tracks. It was a silhouette, intimate and unmistakably erotic, projected onto the wall from one of the unfinished corners of the room.

"What do you think?" Lilly remarked as she walked into the room with him. Quill flinched, cursing himself for not noticing her sooner. 

Few people had the ability to sneak up on him.

She paused in the doorway, and it felt like she was sizing him up. 

She wasn't angry. She almost seemed amused when he looked up at her.

"I...uh... I was just curious," he muttered, backing up a step from the projection.

"Curiosity is a good thing. Most people don't embrace it enough." She walked further into the room and noticed how he avoided looking at the art. "What do you think it is?"

Quill didn't know how to answer. The image was clearly suggestive, but that wasn't what had thrown him. It was the feeling that crept up on him, the discomfort and confusion it stirred. "I'm not sure," he lied.

Lilly smirked. "It's part of what I'm working on. You'll understand soon enough."

Before Quill could ask for more information, Hawk stormed into the room with his pistol in hand. "What are you doing in here?" he demanded. It was like Quill had broken into his gym, not Lilly's space. He was acting odd.

So odd. 

It made Lilly smile.

Quill tensed. "I wasn't doing anything that concerns you. Just checking things out."

Hawk scoffed as he holstered the weapon. "Right. Checking things out, huh? That's what we're calling it now? She's never in here this late, asshole. I thought you were actually someone breaking in."

Hawk didn't care that he just clarified that he knew her patterns already. He knew everyone's routines. It was no big secret. This building sat on the edge of his Father's territory.

It was his job to know these types of things. 

But Lily was human. How would that look to her? 

Like he was obsessed or something. All Quill could do was roll his eyes. 

Lilly stepped between them. "You both need to relax. He wasn't doing anything wrong."

"Yeah? Then why sneak in like some kind of thief?" Hawk didn't back down.

Quill bristled at the accusation. "I wasn't sneaking. I just didn't feel the need to announce my plans to the building guard."

"Sure, keep telling yourself that." Hawk moved toward the shadow on the wall, eyeing it warily. "Seriously, what the hell is this place supposed to be? I'm starting to get a little worried here, Lilly."

Lilly smiled and stepped closer to the wall. She ran her fingers across the surface where the projection was and paused neer a more intimate part of the image. "It's a space for discovery through artistic expression. Not just physically but mentally, emotionally, spiritually even. However the artist or audience desires."

Hawk wanted to hide his curiosity but failed. "Discovery of what?"

She tilted her head, watching him with that same playful curiosity she'd shown Quill. "Attraction, for one thing. But also the freedom to explore who you are without judgment. It's more than just art. Whatever is needed to express those impulses, really."

Impulses.

Quill blinked, feeling the apprehension between him and Hawk shift. This conversation was hitting dangerously close to one they avoided having at all costs. 

He hadn't expected her to be so blunt. He sure as hell hadn't expected to find himself in the middle of this conversation. 

"So this is a... Sex lounge? That's why you wouldn't tell us?" Hawk spat. 

Lilly laughed as she traced the outline of a more intimate part of the projection. 

"No, not a sex lounge. This place will be for people who want to explore themselves through artistic expression. That type of expression could lead to sex, of course. But that isn't the plan or the goal. The goal is expression." 

Quill was intrigued. Hawk was also, but he was doing a far better job at hiding it now. Or at least he thought he was until he looked over at Quill, who was eyeing him with that same damn expression.

"So, you want a lounge where artists can express themselves. What, openly? Through what kind of mediums?" Quill asked as he started tracing the same lines on the wall as Lilly. 

That made her grin. "I feel like the ability to express desire comes in many forms. I'm open to any medium someone desires. Within ethical limits, of course." 

"So you're open to..." Quill whispered as his eyes met hers. He paused tracing the lines near an intimate spot, just like she had before.

He was flirting, blatantly flirting with her, and it was driving Hawk insane. She wasn't sure if that was on purpose or not.

Even still, she decided to run with it. 

To play their little game with them. 

"I'm open to many things. Mentally, emotionally, sexually. Like with art, the medium doesn't matter. Not to me. It's not about labels, but that's how some people categorize it. Polysexual and demisexual are terms people might use for me. But I don't feel tied to them. I'm more fluid than any label could suggest, really. That is why I like to just go with open-minded. Open-minded is a label I can live with."

Hawk frowned. "Polysexual? What the hell does that even mean?"

Lilly turned and smiled at him despite the misplaced hostility in his voice. "It means I'm attracted to more than one gender. It's not just about men or women, but anyone I connect with. Demisexual means I need an emotional bond or a connection that runs deeper than surface level to feel that attraction. It's more complicated than just physical chemistry or what traditional values dictate. It's about connection. It's about attraction. It's about desire." She watched both carefully.

Both shifted uncomfortably. These new terms and ideas didn't fit into the narrow views they'd been taught, which had been drilled into their heads for as long as they could remember.

Their fathers believed in tradition. Most of the older Alphas did.

Relationships were between a man and a woman, full stop. 

There was no room for deviation. No room for questions. No room for desire outside of those strict rules.