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Promethei could agree that it was an odd situation. It was especially odd for the reasons that the breakup had happened. It wasn't a deescalation, either; they hadn't agreed to backup and maybe reanalyze. He had just run away from both of them entirely.

If it ended up him remaining with just Cryolite, he still thought that Nectaris and Fulgurite needed to have a lot of relationship repair to do. Not every meta needed to associate, but these two likely should–

Oh! He had answers for this!

“It depends on the situation, actually.” Promethei chuckled. “Polyamory is often about being more free with affection and love, being able to pursue whatever your heart may desire with whoever you may. But you may still wish to be able to consult one person to make decisions with, or combine finances with, or to live with. Or ask if you can pursue or keep different relationships.”

Maybe he could help by taking the gaze off her, in this case… “Imhotep and I were like that initially, actually. Amoris entered into our arrangement perfectly alright with that. He just liked the affection we were able to provide him – was understanding that we'd be leaning on each other for the biggest decisions, but we made sure he didn't feel like we loved him less. Just … had to approach him with different priorities.” Sheepishly, he added, “And Emain Ablach by default had to be lower on that, since he was, well, a Vatican-aligned priest. He just wasn’t as available. He honestly didn't even know how to take how close he had gotten to us, so he was very fine with it. Gave him the distance he needed to process.”

Promethei snickered as he took a moment to glance up. “To be honest, it sounds silly now. Amoris and Emain Ablach are our husbands. We're non-hierarchical. But like. Someone getting a boyfriend if they're married could be another good example, too. Likely also a hierarchical arrangement.”

It honestly worked out great for some people! “There's some arrangements where it just really clicks.” For those that had the bigger networks, or for those who tended to be solo polyamourous, it was beautiful. It wasn't necessarily Promethei's style, specifically, but he had seen it work for several people even within his own spheres.

Including Amoris and Emain Ablach, admittedly, but he liked it even more now that they had all been elevated to the same level of the quartet. Felt correct.

When she circled back to their relationship working out, though, and not just them becoming a quartet, his expression softened, too. He knew why she was bringing that up. He knew that she probably felt like her relationship status was a mess.

And it was messy. She wouldn't be wrong in that presumption.

But it wasn't unfixable, either. “Hey, there can be advantages to being able to lean on someone who's going through the same s**t as you but–,” he set down the popcorn so he could supportively clap her on the shoulder, “I'm glad it all worked out between us too. And you'll eventually figure out where to land with your chaos boys I'm sure.”

Hopefully with them as order boys, but they'd work on that one.

“That's what we're here for, right? Don't gotta figure this out alone.”

Promethei grinned in turn when she nudged his shoulder with her own, and might've returned the gesture–gently, of course, not intending to nudge her too far–”Yeah, of course! Look, I always love tea,” he snorted, “but this is also serious. Got your back.”

And she had his. It was nice now that he clarified the whole… flogging thing.

He snickered to himself.

Dr. Flogs People– “Ah, of course! I'll have to see the next time all of our schedules sync up well,” and they didn't have something else planned already. Shouldn't be too hard, really. Just don't pick a Sunday was usually the best move. Or a Wednesday … Idly, Promethei fished around in his overcrowded subspace and pulled out the civilian phone he still kept on him when powered up. He never knew when he might be needed, after all, or how…

Maybe he could ping their group chat a message about it, actually. Might get him some answers faster. He knew Amoris would push everything else aside to say yes to Nectaris without a doubt. Emain Ablach might too, actually. Except for church.

“I honestly think they'd like to hear the tea too, but also, absolutely. We'd love to introduce you to one of our favourite places.” Promethei winked, teasingly adding, “Promise, as long as you don't go to the basement, it is a perfectly normal bar.”

And the owners had done a lot to make sure it stayed that way! Admirable, really.

“Oh, I can absolutely do that!” There was a pause, before he snorted with a laugh, adding, “Yeah, maybe not the selfie though. Maybe once we're done with the kiki. I should start carrying a Polaroid or something. That might have some utility actually…”

Honestly, that would not a bad idea. Be able to take pictures that would immediately disappear to someone else's powered form and not be stuck on anyone's phones. He’d add it to the list of things to throw into his bag of invisible holding that apparently subspace was–

“And you can just talk to him! He gets really hyperfocused about things about science so he might be more chatty about that, and honestly plants. He loves plants. If you want to start opening conversations about things other than science, talk to him about gardens and stuff.” Honestly, if she came by the house enough, she would start to notice things like the greenhouse. That was all Diryas. Promethei got to watch it grow from the smaller thing to what it was now as he gained more access to money. It was actually really nice.

“That being said, don't say I didn't warn you. He can be a bit of a troll as you get to know him.”

Promethei wasn't sure his not knight outfit could necessarily beat this one today, but then again? Maybe it could. “I do have a leopard print button down on today. A bit more manageable than the … fifty coats.” That was a bit of an exaggeration, but it felt like only a minor one in the scheme of things. Why did Mercurians dress so damn heavy?

He didn't really spend enough time on Mercury to flag much beyond the fact that it seemed to be cold, but was it this cold? This seemed a little excessive-

“Look, I'm not a plant person either really, but I could listen to him talk about them for hours.” Now, he would leave out that was partially because he really liked Diryas’ voice. She didn't need that piece. Promethei did like when he got really hyped up about things in general, though– “and honestly, think he could give you a run for your money.”

He winked.

“You won't expect it.”

It was a dumb pun, sure, but it managed to draw a snort from Promethei anyway. Perhaps it was just the professor in him. “Look, can't say I don't love a good pun. I've been considering ones that'll play off my name to really mess with some of the agents. It'll be easy to catch which ones actually read their Greek lit in school.”

He sipped at his Coke, realized he was almost out, and then topped himself off again. If she was interested in chatting more about his men, he was happy to provided a distraction. He would stay sitting there all night as long as he didn't feel any auras. And the moment he did, honestly, he could fight back. They both could. Honestly would be a mistake on any agents that came near them.

Two ******** knights? Good damn luck.

“You still won't be expecting his trolling though–"

“Oh, I can start you with one.” He leaned in. “Tell them that it's really all in the delivery. Sounds simple enough, right? But honestly a bit of a threat to them. Prometheus in Greek literature has his liver eaten by an eagle. So, all in my delivery, yes. But also all in removing their organs.” Honestly, he'd have to look for an opportunity to drop that line. He had been waiting for it. Perhaps he would just use it with a cheeky grin on his face anyway–

His husbands would have their own assorted reactions to it. Promethei would get his own delight out of that.

“Not a lethal one, unfortunately, but,” Promethei summoned his weapon to his hands, showing off the long chain with the clay bowl? jug? beaker? hanging off the end. “Pretty sure if I could intentionally smash this, could cut someone open with this. Torment really. Or choke them out with the chain.” He paused. Did that make him sound like he was thinking about it too much?

Maybe.

His fingers glided along the metal of the chain. “Think I mostly plan on swinging this around my head and using this as a hammer, though. Or I suppose as a choking hazard anyway. Counter weight here with the jug on it.” He grinned. “Not as obvious of a weapon as your staff, but I can make it work.”

Oh, he knew he could.