reviews_and_ramblings | Facets by Rob Knight

Rough Cut (Facets 1) by Rob Knight

Six and Jules are a perfect couple of idler... well, not true, Six has a work as tattoo artist in a parlor, but in the 12.700 words (33 pages) of this short story, we don't have the chance to know what Jules does, apart loving Six. Yes since Six and Jules are in love and it's pretty obvious, they kiss and cuddle every chance they have, but don't get me wrong, they are not two tender sweetheart, they are two hot gay men full of piercings and tattoos, and sometime they "adopt" a boy, and yes, with all the worst intention, to play with them. But this time they bring home something new... a virgin!

Paul is just out of college and he wants a tattoo to mark his rites of passage. It's not only the passage from young to adult, from college to work, but also a promise to himself that he will follow his heart desire as out of the closet gay man. And when he sees Six and Jules together it's almost too much for him, it's an overload of physical sensation, he is like a child in a candy shop, he wants to touch and taste everything.

But the funny thing of this book is that Paul has the chance to see and try a lot, but at the end of the book he is still virgin! Six and Jules play with him, they teach him one thing or two, but all the hard stuff they do together, letting Paul be an eager spectator... I like it, since in this way, Paul could see and understand what he wants and what he likes, but Six and Jules remain faithful to each other. True this is only the first book in a series of three, and I don't know what it will happen next, but to me feel right that, at their first encounter with Paul, Six and Jules "limit" themself, for me it means that they are not real players, they don't put at risk their relationship for a sweet face. If Paul will remain around enough time to be judge worthy, only then they will let him inside their circle, inside their relationship.

Polishing (Facets 2) by Rob Knight

Six and Jules have almost adopted Paul. The life of the long-term couple is not changed much, but during the weekends and holidays they make space in their life and bed for young Paul; but it's Paul that molds his lifestyle on Six and Jules and not the way around. Six is still mostly a nightlife being and he is not at all a morning person; Jules is more or less a day per day man, not planning ahead what he will do. And so Paul, even if grateful with the couple for admitting him, sometime finds himself edgy and nervous, wanting to straighten the day to day life of a couple that is all other than straight.

The menages moves to another level: now it's a full relationship in all the possible combination, Paul is no more an eager spectator of the love between Six and Jules, but all this is only on a sex level; when it arrives to living outside the bedroom, Six and Jules have still their routine and Paul is still trying to have a normal life, with a day job, and meals at normal hours. Between the three is not yet a real relationship, Paul is still the "intruder", a nice and sweet intruder, but still almost an alien.

In the second chapter of this series, Paul looses his innocence, he is no more a new toy for the exclusive couple who were Six and Jules in the first chapter, but as I said, I still don't consider this a threesome. Six and Jules are still a steady duo, and Paul instead is a nice third party element who nicely fit when he is there, but could be gone the day after without unbalancing Six and Jules' relationship.

Setting (Facets 3) by Rob Knight

The last in the Facets series is, like the title says, the story of how Jules, Six and Paul set down a life for all of them. Paul is now a young suit and he needs to find a place to live outside the dorm, Jules and Six need to find a new place since they "forgot" to pay the rent (due date are not on top of their list of important things...): it seems only right that they find something together since Six and Jules adopted Paul and now he is an important element in their relationship.

The last chapter of the series only strengthen the idea I had in the previous books: Six and Jules like Paul, they are gentle with him, but the real love relationship is between them, Paul is like a pet, but not since they treat him like a Master / pet relationship; Paul is young and bouncy, he is a burst of energy, probably he reminds to Six a younger Jules. They are more than willing to welcome him in their bed, and they really try to be a bit more normal to give Paul an appearance of a steady life, but I believe that, if Paul should ever decide to move on and leave them, they will return to live on a day-to-day basis, an easy going attitude, having each other more than enough to make them happy.

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