Rising Shards

I watched as the pot of chili started to bubble. The whole kitchen smelled delicious, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Nothing with the food in front of me, and really nothing in general was too out of sorts, but I had something on my mind that made me feel like things were off.

"Hey, Stel?" Evy asked.

"Uh huh," I said.

"Mind letting go of the hug for just a sec so I can pour our bowls?" Evy asked. "Don't want to splatter hot chili on you."

"Oh!" I said, barely registering that I had my arms wrapped firmly around Evy's waist as she cooked.. "Sorry. I'm a bit clingy today, huh."

"Maybe just a bit clingy," Evy said.

I tried to not speed through dinner, because I wanted to hug Evy even more. The food was delicious, but I was craving the physical touch. After we ate, I went right back to holding onto Evy, the two of us debating what to watch or if we should get some game time in on our sleek new console, proudly displayed in the living room.

"Let me guess," Evy said. "That trip got you clingy, too?"

I buried my face in her sweater. It was embarrassing to be called out so directly. "It was like two weeks ago already, but I'm still like..." It was probably better to say what I felt out loud. "It's totally fine if you say otherwise, but did all that talk about polycules and stuff have you like..."

"Like putting the topic out into our universe, so to speak?" Evy said. "I guess I didn't have it too directly during the trip, Mahina said Alix asked her for a threesome, she danced around it with me but I think if she got drunk enough she would've asked me. She was asking me polycule questions at work too...I was preparing for her to ask me."

"Yeah, that's it too, we see them at work, so!" I said.

"So it's the trip and continued on at work," Evy said.

"Like, OK," I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry if you're not into this, but I just wanna say...I'm not into that. I mean, I don't mean like. I'm not into them doing it."

"Obviously, you're not a judgmental person," Evy said.

"I have no judgment whatsoever for any group thing Pippi gets up to, hell I encourage it for her, I think she could really use a polycule, but for me?" I said. "It had me thinking about it a lot."

I climbed on Evy's lap, linking my hands together at the back of her neck.

"I just want you. Forever. You're amazing, you're more than enough, and I love you. And I know it's selfish, but I don't want anyone else to have you. And I know it's totally silly to have my best friend be angling for a polycule and to get all like sensitive and clingy to you about it, but I can't help how I feel, and it's just making me feel...like I should clear the air with you about that. I don't think Pippi and Alix would ask to add us, and while I love Pippi I'm not into her that way, but it's on my mind, and I like telling you things that are on my mind."

Evy smiled. "I think that's a more eloquent way of saying what I wanted to say too."

I sighed in relief, hugging her. "Really thought I was gonna piss you off with this."

"Pfft, come on," Evy said, gently rubbing my back before I leaned back, wanting to see her pretty face more. "I'm glad you're telling me." She gave me a peck on the cheek for my worries.

"Like! Again, nothing against it, and if we did meet someone that matched our freak so well we wanted to put them in..." I said.

"'Match our freak'?" Evy laughed.

"You know what I mean! But like, even if we did, I don't know if I have the right temperament for it," I said. "And I just wanted to let you know that. I think we have a delicious fruit cake going here, and I don't want to put a chocolate and peanut butter bar on top of that."

"Ooh, that's a good one," Evy said. "God, that makes me want cake."

"If you can believe it, I stole it from Zeta," I said.

"Hey, she's smart," Evy said.

"She is! I was talking about poly stuff with Pips and Zeta snuck up on me," I said. "She had a similar conclusion. I dunno if it runs in the family or what, but sorry."

Evy laughed more. "What are you apologizing for, for wanting to be monogamous?"

"Yeah! While our friends are off on cool, sexy poly adventures I'm just...a clingy monogamous dork." I said.

"Nothing wrong with being a dork," Evy said. "And nothing wrong with how we're doing it, or how they're doing it. We're responsible for how we wanna be."

"Kay...sorry..." I said.

"You know, we can have plenty of cool, sexy adventures of our own," Evy said. "I mean, we can be pretty daring for monogamous dorks, remember the museum escapade?"

"Obviously," I said.

Evy grabbed me around my back, pulling me to the side to pin me down to the couch. She kissed at my neck.

"Honestly?" She said, breathy voice hot against my skin. "I'd lose my fucking mind if anyone else had you."

I whimpered. "I don't want anyone else to be with me, just you."

"Mmhm," Evy said. Her fangs looked sharp as she licked her teeth, like a vampire staring down prey. "And I think our friends are awesome, but you're my favorite person in all of existence. So forgive me if I get clingy too."

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