“While we have some time on our hands, may I ask you two a question?”
The three Decaylings were sitting in the observatory, mostly minding their own business. Arkay had cooked dinner and they’d decided to eat together. Normally there would be universes exploding into life, but the void seen from this observatory was particularly empty.
Retvik swiftly finished his mouthful of noodles, then licked the sauce off his face before saying a still-hungry yes. Arkay rolled his eyes before answering.
“What’s up, Litvir?”
Litvir had been sitting in the back of the room, pushing his various noodles from side to side. Arkay had been very kind with his cooking and had made two types of noodles, meaty ones and carbohydrate ones, to accommodate for the older diets Litvir and Retvik were more used to.
“Something is on my mind. How does our relationship actually work?”
“Why do you ask?”
Litvir seemed unamused that Arkay had answered a question with another question. “I am not very understanding of normal, monoamorous relationships. Now I am in a polyamorous relationship, well… I have concerns.”
“Understandable!” Retvik smiled, opening up the room to further questions. “I have similar thoughts myself. However, I feel we are all equal in this relationship, yes?”
“Are we?” Litvir grunted. “You and I, Retvik, we have a relationship, we have intercourse together, we comfort each other, but the relationship is not a truly romantic one, outside of those times when we are in heat. Arkay however has an orbital friendly relationship with both of us, which may change if he ever decides he wants more.”
Retvik unintentionally let out a snicker. “Hah, as if that will happen.”
Arkay eyed Retvik, clearly rather annoyed at his statement. “What the fuck do you mean by that?”
Retvik stood his ground, crossing his arms and tutting. “You know what I mean. You wanted a relationship with me but you cannot bring yourself to commit, because you are scared. Meanwhile, Litvir here is worried that I will drop him once you gain the courage to commit. Am I right?”
Both Litvir and Arkay sighed. Retvik was right, but neither of them wanted to admit it out loud.
“Well, Arkay, you can take all the time in the world to decide what you want, and Litvir, I will not abandon you either. After all, we made a blood pact with each other. We are bound.”
“Actually…” Arkay hesitated, twiddling his thumbs. “I… I can remove that, if you two want.”
“What?”
“I, uh… when I…” Arkay started stuttering, he clearly felt bad, his head hanging low and his eyes closed. “When I… borrowed Litvir’s powers, I also worked out to undo a lot of stuff. It’s unhealthy for us to be tied to each other the way we are. Especially if we will be… going our own separate ways for a bit.”
“He has a point…” Litvir muttered.
“Yes, he does…” Retvik shrugged. “Is it a difficult or painful process?”
“No.”
“Is it complicated?”
“No.”
“Is it-”
Arkay looked up at Retvik. “I’ve… already done it.”
Retvik blinked. “You have? When?”
“Just now.”
“… Oh.”
Arkay sighed, returning to his food. “You’re welcome. It’s unfair to be bound to one another. Makes the relationship oddly uneven, and, honestly, you guys really don’t need to be tied to me.”
Retvik and Litvir glanced at each other, then shrugged.
“Well, thank you, I guess…”