Retvik yawned as he stretched his arm out, being mindful of the two beings sleeping with him. As the fog lifted from his mind, Retvik took a moment to try and remember what had happened, and why he was sharing a hastily made bed of blankets and pillows, snoozing under the dim, reddish lights of the common room.
Normally, the three Decaylings all had their own rooms. There was very little sharing between them. At least when it came to sleeping. While they spent their work hours together, as soon as it was time to sleep, they’d part their ways and head to bed. But something had happened to change that, and Retvik wasn’t quite sure what.
Something moaned underneath Retvik’s arm. Arkay had been resting to his right, his back pressed against Retvik’s side, rather huddled up.
“Sorry, did I wake you?”
“Eh… nah… it’s fine…”
For a moment, Arkay didn’t move. He slowly stretched, but then snuggled up, closer to Retvik. The complete opposite of what Retvik had expected.
“Are you alright?” Retvik asked with uncertainty, moving his arm so Arkay had more space. “You are… well, we are all rather snuggly right now.”
Arkay responded by turning over, so he could probably see Retvik. “I dunno. I feel more… connected to you and Litvir right now. Almost like… I hate to say the word, but that we’re destined to be together…”
Retvik shrugged in vague agreement. His shrug however seemed to stir Litvir, who yawned and rolled over.
“Oh, we fell asleep.”
“We did, Litvir.”
Just like Arkay, Retvik expected Litvir to move away. But he stayed firmly in place.
“This is very comfortable. We should do this far more often.”
Retvik grunted, pushing himself back and sitting up straight. Litvir followed suit, while Arkay remained snuggled up by Retvik’s side. Was it just him or did the smallest of the Decaylings seem… slightly taller now?
“You two both seem very comfortable, but I feel like something is off. We are not normally this close.”
“I disagree. We work together, play together and eat together, why not sleep together?” Litvir smiled. “We seem fated to be together forever. And I would very much like to explore every avenue of that.”
Retvik frowned. “That is what Arkay said. That we are destined to be together.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Arkay blinked. “I feel like you think that is a bad thing.”
“No…” Retvik hesitated. “I… well, to be fair, I have a history with both of you. But you two do not have a history with each other.”
Litvir tutted, crossing his arms with a hint of anger. “I thought we both agreed to put the dead universe behind us when we started having a more sexual relationship?”
“Yes, but…”
“But what?” Litvir interrupted. “Are you having doubts? Do you not want to be here? Are you still in a position where you want to kill me for past actions?”
“Yes, I am having doubts. Not too long ago, things were very different…” Retvik took a deep breath, taking a moment to calm himself down and work out what he wanted to say. “I apologise, but times like these… I am almost in disbelief with what is happening. In almost no time at all, we have become this curious trio of friends and lovers. And sometimes I cannot help but stop and think about how sudden these changes are and what we have lost.”
Litvir eyed Retvik, then sighed. He then leaned forward and put his arms around Retvik, briefly hugging him before letting go.
“I apologise, Retvik. I was being harsh. I… forget that… well, these things are different for everyone.”
Retvik shrugged, then gave Litvir a small hug. He then put his arms around both Litvir and Arkay.
“It is fine. I was just worried for a moment that maybe not everyone was as comfortable with everything as you are.”
“If anything,” Arkay smiled. “I’m actually way more comfortable now than I was a few days ago. We should cuddle up more often.”
“Yes, we really should…”