“Litvir? Are you awake? I really need to talk to you!”
Retvik could hear movement inside Litvir’s room. He waited somewhat impatiently as a multitude of locks unclicked themselves and the door opened up, revealing a semi-naked and dishevelled vampiric Rethan.
“Hello, Retvik. I have not prepared an apology for snapping at you yet.”
Retvik wasn’t listening. He pushed Litvir back into his room and slammed the door shut behind him.
“I do not care about you snapping at me, you were clearly upset and you needed space. It is I who needs to apologise, because I broke your trust and loyalty!”
Litvir rubbed his eyes. He was still a bit sleepy, he’d literally just woken up. He felt somewhat bad because he and Retvik were the leaders of the Thantir and both of them had been somewhat bunking off and caught up in things. The recent stresses meant Litvir didn’t wake up as snappily as he used to. However, Retvik’s intrusion was odd. Retvik was… not scared, but definitely worried about something. Litvir did want to use his telepathy, but chose to let Retvik explain himself.
“I do not think you can really break my trust in you,” Litvir yawned. “But alright, tell me what happened. After taking a deep breath to calm yourself down.”
“Am I… am I that panicky?”
“Yes.”
Retvik did as he was told. Litvir sat him down on the bed, sat down next to him and waited patiently for Retvik to speak.
“I did something stupid. I cheated on you.”
“Hah, no you did not.”
“I did! I do not know how Tenuk and Elksia managed it, but they both convinced me to get drunk and join them in their bedroom. One thing lead to another and somehow the three of us slept together! Not just… bed sharing… Everything…”
“Huh.” Retvik had expected Litvir to be furious. Or angry. Or even vaguely annoyed. Instead, Litvir just shrugged. “So you and your two life-long friends finally made out. Did you enjoy it?”
“You… you are not… angry?”
More shrugs. “No, not at all. If I was angry, I would be a hypocrite. In fact, I am actually both surprised and somewhat glad.”
“GLAD?” Retvik almost shouted. “How in the name of the Light can you be glad about the fact that I cheated on you, with a Kronospast and a Vrekan?”
“I just said, you did not cheat on me. We are not married, we are technically not even poten-partners.”
“But…” Retvik was definitely struggling. This conversation wasn’t going as Retvik had planned. “But… I… I did something stupid. I slept with someone… with two people who are not you.”
“You did, yes, but it does not bother me. As a polyamorous person who does not like permanently monogamous relationships, I am actually glad that you stretched your wings and tried something new, subjecting yourself to new data. Elkay did that with Teekay and it completely changed him and made him a more open person. Tell me, did you enjoy yourself?”
“Um… admittedly… yes…”
Litvir scooted closer to Retvik. “What was it like?”
“Not only are you not angry at me, but you want to know about my… experiences?”
“Of course!” Litvir smiled. “I have always wondered how sexually compatible Rethans and Vrekans are, since our races have always been close allies. You, someone who was repeatedly touted as one of the hottest Rethans alive BEFORE you gained your fire powers, slept with someone who was arguably one of the most desirable Vrekans alive. That must have been at the very least somewhat interesting.”
Retvik frowned. “You have a point, but…”
“But what? You had a good time. I want to hear about my favourite person having a good time.”
More frowns. “It was… nice, I guess. Oddly exhausting. I have never both given and received at the same time and it was very hard to focus.”
Litvir suddenly snickered. “Hah! You made a Retvik sandwich.”
“… What?”
“A sandwich is what Skyans call threesomes where the person in the middle is both giving and receiving. Elksia and Tenuk squished you between themselves. Sounds fun! Would you do it again?”
“I… maybe… but… I feel so guilty.”
Litvir put a hand on Retvik’s shoulder. “You have no reason to be guilty. I am not angry in the slightest. I am happy for you. And somewhat envious because it must be interesting and a lot of fun sleeping with someone who can make their genitalia perfectly fit yours. Let me make this blatantly clear: I am not angry. Do not feel guilty. Be happy that you got to try something new.”
“Really?” Retvik stuttered.
“Of course…” Litvir paused, then sighed. “I will be honest, Tenuk did… tell me he wanted to try and seduce you. I thought he was insane and would never be able to pull it off and dismissed him. I am surprised that he and Elksia both managed to bed you so quickly.”
“You knew?”
“I thought nothing would come of it and saw no need to tell you. We are all adults after all.”
Retvik frowned. “Yes, but… still… I…”
“Do not say that you cheated!” Litvir suddenly snapped. “You did not! We are not a normal, monogamous couple! Cheating only applies in cases where a couple is monogamous and fully committed!”
“It was wrong…”
“No, it was not wrong, it was different! Everyone consented to what happened, and no one was hurt. I had a nice nap, you had a nice orgasm or two. But also…” Litvir sighed some more. “This is completely unrelated to what happened between you and your friends that you have known your entire life. While you were having fun, I… I was busy being angry and messaging with Arkay. And he said I should be honest and tell you that I do not want to officially marry you, instead of constantly pushing the notion back like I have been doing.”
“I mean, that has been blatantly obvious for a while…” Retvik tutted. “I just do not understand why.”
“I do not want to be chained to you forever. I do not want a monogamous marriage. I want to have options!” Litvir tried to explain. “I want to be able to have a one-off fling with someone else, while also having the choice to sleep with you, while also having the choice to abstain from sex in general if I am not in the mood, and I want you to be able to do the same if you so desire. But I know that bothers you, and I have been putting my desires to one side because of it…
“Sure, during the wedding, you and I both slept with Letharus because we were all drunk and slightly high and weirdly horny, but you know Elkay and Teekay asked me and Eksi to join them the next day? Well, I declined, because it would have angered you. I also declined Thyel’s offers, despite how tempted I was. I put my desires aside because of your damn desires, and that is unfair and is also why I think us getting married and becoming a monogamous couple would be unbalanced.”
Retvik blinked. “You… you have been… denying yourself to make me happy?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that makes me feel even worse about sleeping with Tenuk and Elksia. More Tenuk than Elksia, if I am honest. I did not perform that well, I was too distracted, and, as per Elksia’s ‘Vrekan threesome rules’… Tenuk is far more… masculine than I expected…”
Litvir tutted. “Like I said, I have no problem with you sleeping around. In fact, you are the hottest Rethan in all of existence, you SHOULD be sharing yourself with as many people as possible.”
“You should be able to do the same though…” Retvik grunted.
Litvir grunted too, before very abruptly putting his head in his hands. “Wow, we are so fucking stupid…”
“What? Why?”
“We have just been going around in circles for evs and evs now, when the answer has been two doors down the entire damn time! We should just have the same stupid relationship that Elkay and Teekay have, without the marriage!”
Retvik blinked, grunted, tutted, blinked again, then tutted again. “Wow. You are absolutely right. We are fucking stupid.”
Litvir snickered. “We really, really are. I am so sorry for being a bitch all this time.”
“Ugh. I am sorry too…”
Both Rethans trailed off and fell silent.
“So, uh, Retvik, do you want to… have some fun?”
Retvik hesitated. “Um… normally, I would say yes, but I am still a bit sore and worn out from… my previous fun session…”
“Fair enough. Can we snuggle then?”
This time, Retvik smiled. He put an arm around Litvir, then pulled him into the bed proper. “Yes, of course, dear.”