After a moment of evident confusion, Regi smiled. “Ah. By breathing the same air, you mean we are physically close enough to literally exchange atoms through respiration without those atoms first going through a filtration system.”
“Exactly,” Dante said, although the way Regi had said it, that didn’t sound like a metaphor.
“Huuumans use language so creatively,” Regi said. The way he drawled the species name was getting more and more exaggerated. “I do not mean to offend you; however, I lack information about huuman customs. To engage in a lessprofessional manner would be unwise, and I fear my common sense will not survive any prolonged exposure where we breathe the same air exclusive of filtration.” He made the rejection sound inevitable and logical, but his gaze darted from one part of the room to another, never landing anywhere for more than a second.
Dante had never been so frustrated. “I am not a victim. You do not have to protect me from my own feelings or from the consequences of liking someone. You do not have to be so damn professional.”
“We are not the same species. We would need to negotiate commonalities or arrange a schedule of mutual pleasures that would allow both of us to be satisfied.” Regi eyed the door and even inched toward it.
Dante eased closer so he could cut Regi off if he tried to escape. “Are you telling me I'm not strong enough to have a relationship or that you are too embarrassed to negotiate one?”
“The obstacles are significant.” When Dante moved, Regi retreated, putting him near the back wall where Peaches was making tiny grunting, snoring noises.
“Every gay man has faced those obstacles with every relationship. Gay sex is not as simple as Tab A into Slot B, although from what I've heard in locker rooms, it's possible that heterosexual people also have to negotiate sex. I don't give much thought to heterosexual sex, but I am an expert in negotiation. A frikkin’ expert.” Dante was grinning, but Regi’s absolute lack of reaction made a new fear show its head. “Are you bothered that I've had multiple partners? Are Kowri monogamous?”
Dante sank onto the foot of his bed, nauseated at the thought he’d been shamelessly throwing himself at someone who was revolted. “Oh God. You can't have sex with me and I keep pushing. I apologize. I will make sure not to breathe the same air as you unless we have multiple individuals in that air.” Dantescooted along the edge of the bed, retreating from the door to give Regi a clear retreat.
Stepping forward, Regi reached out for a scant second before letting his arm fall to his side. “No. That is not an issue. Kowri often have a period where they explore partners while deciding how to arrange their personal lives. My fathers committed to each other before they decided that their love for my mother could overcome my mother's love for her goddess. Monogamy is not an issue. However, I seek to respect you.”
For the second time, reality shifted around Dante. He was getting whiplash. “Ironically you are disrespecting me,” he snapped.
“How?”
“By refusing to have an honest conversation, you are implying that I don't know myself and that I have no right to control my body or who I choose to be intimate with.”
Regi’s mouth fell open. “I am not seeking to control your choice.”
“Aren't you?”
Regi’s gaze skittered to the side of the room. “I don't even know whether a relationship will biochemically change you or if I will cause you harm unintentionally. That fear is exacerbated by the dire politics.”
“I am in those meetings with you most of the time. I might not talk often, but I am well aware of how dire our situation is and how much more difficult Ter has made it. And I don't think humans are biochemically changed by relationships.”
Regi tilted his head to the side. “You sound unsure. I would not have you compromised. Vk’s people rarely leave the planet because once they join an adult family, they chemically shift to become dependent on each other. If they lose enough family members that they are chemically unbalanced, it functions much like an addiction.”
Dante winced. “Addicted to marriage? That feels awkward.” Either that or it felt like the plot of the universe’s most horrific horror movie. Dante liked to think that had his mother not been murdered, she would have realized she’d married a user and gotten divorced. That comforted him when strangers tried to tell him his father was a great man.
“I fear that whether it is a biological or religious or cultural difference, I will create awkwardness,” Regi confessed.
“You are already creating awkwardness. Significant awkwardness. So if your goal is to avoid that, you've already failed, so you might as well have a little fun while you're failing.” Dante offered a rakish grin.
“That is not comforting.”
“I wasn't trying for ‘comforting’. I was trying for emotionally manipulative so that I would get my way.” Dante pursed his lips and studied Regi.
For long seconds Regi stared at him. Dante stared back. About the time Dante decided he had made a serious tactical error, Regi huffed with humor. “Then you might be enjoying some success.”
“Good to hear it. Now, can we possibly start negotiating what it might look like if we were to breathe the same air for a significant period of time?”
Regi sat on the far end of Dante’s bed. “And you will not feel taken advantage of?”
Dante wanted to scream. “You have a one-track mind. I am hoping you will be equally obsessive once you get over this weird overprotectiveness. But for now, Regi, would it be okay with you if we touched?”
Regi studied him. “It would,” he said. “May I touch in return?”
“I wish you would,” said Dante. He held his hand out, palm up, and Regi put his own on Dante’s. Dante shivered as the heat and velvet fur tickled.
“Is that a positive or negative reaction to stimulus?”
