I pulled away, breathless.
Schwint’s eyes sparkled, and he pulled me into him once more. As his lips covered mine, the taste of the wine on his tongue still shifted its essence inside our mouths.
We separated, breathless once more. “I feel like I’m in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Only a trillion times better.” From the corner of my eye, a copulating foursome caught my attention. “And maybe a little less G-rated.”
Schwint gave me a curious look but didn’t ask questions. Maybe if fairies didn’t drive, they didn’t watch movies either. Why would you? With stuff like this around, what did movies have to offer?
“I’m glad you like it. Part of me thought it would be too much for you, but I figured you could handle it.”
“Yeah, since I’m now an old back room whore?”
His eyes twinkled, letting me know he was teasing. “Not only that. Despite you having a rough patch here and there and being in a dark place, there’s an aura of love of life around you. And if anything, new moon celebrations are just that, celebrating life, being alive!”
“And a chance to have an orgy.”
He looked around, as if just noticing all the copulation occurring. “Yeah, I guess so. I know I said no orgy, but I honestly didn’t think about this.” His gaze traveled over the differing combinations on the ground and in the trees. “I don’t know… I guess I don’t think about it like that here. It doesn’t feel the same.”
I followed his gaze, letting the erotic scenes wash over me. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was different. Not the same level of desperation as in the back rooms of the Square. Not as dark. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I can feel it. Now that you labeled it, it does feel more like a celebration. Kinda the same as enjoying food or drinks or anything else. However, I can see why your parents aren’t here. I guess once you’re married, this kind of thing goes away.”
His head flinched back a little. “Who said my parents don’t come to this? And why wouldn’t married people attend?”
“Well, because, all of—”
“Oh, of course. All the sex. Sometimes I forget.” He shook his head in a pitying manner. “You puritanical witches and all your pious ways.” He grinned at me. “And yes, I know what Puritans are. Kinda strange how the rebels of one age become the prudes of another, huh?”
I was hung up on the first part of his statement, not able to get my own parents out of my mind, try as I might. “So, your parents come to this?”
“Well, no. Not very much, actually.” He held up a finger. “But not for the reason you’re thinking. Like I said, they don’t really measure up in the social standing of things.”
“I thought you said that kind of stuff doesn’t matter here.”
He paused, his face taking on a distant expression once more. “Technically, it doesn’t, but being shit on your whole life doesn’t really make you all that excited to come celebrate life once a month with the ones who make your existence miserable. But I talk them into it every once in a while. It’s good to shove all that crap aside for a night and just breathe, you know?”
I nodded in agreement. In essence, I lied. I didn’t know. Couldn’t comprehend one part of what he was talking about, besides seeing the pain on his face and knowing that his growing up experience wasn’t nearly as white-picket-fence as my own. But the thought of Schwint here with his parents. Where he might see… I couldn’t suppress a shudder.
He slipped an arm around me. “Are you okay? You cold?”
I shook my head and redirected my question so I wouldn’t think about his parents here any longer while trying to keep my own parents out of my mind. “So it’s okay with married fairies to come here and partake in… everything?”
He kissed me loudly on the cheek, in a teasing, bratty kind of way. “I’ve eaten your load, man. I’ve seen you doing your own share of fucking. You can’t saysexto me?”
That earned him a dirty look. “Fine, it’s okay for couples to come here and have sex? They don’t mind their partner being with someone else?”
His eyes darted back and forth momentarily, as if searching for the right words. “You know, I’ve heard about the rules of marriage for humans and witches and stuff. The whole… monogamy thing. Monogamy? Is that what you call it?”
I nodded.
“Yeah, that. I guess I don’t get it. It’s not an issue to fairies. We take a mate. For life. Once you choose to share your life with another, you keep that commitment. You want to.” He gave another shrug. “I mean, sure, it happens every so often a couple splits, one of them choosing to leave, but it’s rare. And when they do, the one who broke the promise is no longer welcome in the circle.”
“That’s stricter than witches and most humans, from what I know.”
“Yeah, I guess. I don’t get what having sex with someone else has to do with it, though. It’s just sex. Like eating, breathing, laughing, any of that stuff. It’s part of life, being alive. It has nothing to do with commitment to your other half or anything to do with loving them less. If I were married, I wouldn’t expect my mate to never dine with someone else or hug them or share tears with them. Why would sex be any different?”
Again, his logic, fairy logic, was so foreign to me and how I saw love, I couldn’t even gather words to disagree or try to understand. Then a thought hit me. “So, if we were dating or got mated or whatever, you’d still have sex with other people? You’d be okay with me having sex with other people?”
He shook his head, like I’d asked him if he’d be okay with me taking an afternoon nap. I’d expected him to tease me about asking about us dating. He didn’t. I wasn’t sure which freaked me out more—that he took me seriously when he answered and took my hand, or his response. “Yeah. If we were mated, you wouldn’t become my servant or possession. You’re still you. I’m still me. We walk through this life together. We choose each other.”
I didn’t see how he separated those things in his mind, but as much as I recoiled at the thought of us being in a relationship and him fucking someone else, I couldn’t help but long for the level of commitment he spoke about. I looked around nervously and spotted a lime-green shroom less than two feet away. I broke away from him, ripped out a chunk, and took a huge bite. A buttery pepper flavor filled my mouth as it crunched between my teeth.
