The Blue Orchid Years

Chapter 10: Don't Leave Anybody Behind

September 1st 2626

The trees around campus had turned bright orange, which was a welcomed change, yet for the past few days the weather had been frightful. When I realized the sky was gray, I almost did not want to get up until my alarm rang obnoxiously loud and I was forced to accept that I couldn't just pretend the world outside didn't exist. Rainy days were exciting when I was little, but now those just made me lethargic. It's hard to believe that there was a time when my siblings and I would dance in the rain and I would try to catch the raindrops on my tongue.

"Gloomy morning we have today." Alex greeted me ruefully in the dining hall as I grabbed a piece of pancake and mini sausage with scrambled egg white on the side. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day or so health aficionados have always said. I couldn't say I completely agree with them—I prefer brunch but Blue Orchid dining hall has never provided any.

"Yeah, it's ruining my mood." I replied to Alex as I lazily stabbed the sausage. "Are we still meeting with Hamza and Vannie? They have something to discuss about our Kulambas project, right? What exactly are they researching again?"

"Yeah, they told me they've reserved a room in the library for later this afternoon. Hamza has an idea about exploring how the educational outreach about the Kulambas in Amethyst archipelago could be improved to be more accessible to the blind community while Vannie is helping him figure out what medium of story-telling works best across a broad spectrum of disabilities."

"So, where does that leave us? What can we help them with?"

"Well, I've been made the accountant for this project so I suppose they just want to check with me if their ideas are feasible. As for what they need from you, I guess they want your opinion."

"Shouldn't they ask Moira too? This whole thing was her initiative to begin with."

"They surely will, Nardho. My guess is that since you're the spokesman of this project they want you to give them insights on how to make sure their ideas are marketable and then you can brainstorm with our spokeswoman Izumi. By the way, you and Izumi are cool, right? I don't want what she did the other day affect how you work with her."

"Why wouldn't we be cool? There's nothing romantic going on between Izumi and I, honest to God. I already turned her down and she said she respects my wishes to be committed to Moira."

"Eh, I wouldn't be surprised if she's still secretly harboring feelings for you but chooses to repress them." Alex stopped eating. "Maybe she just doesn't want to make it weirder. I'm glad she's sensible enough to respect your commitment to Moira, though. I almost feel bad that she got rejected by both of us."

"Yeah, but she's fine now, isn't she? I must say I'm not sure what it's like for both you and her to date Hamza, though. I mean, I know you like Hamza but he wasn't Izumi's first choice, was he? So, my question is, what if Izumi is simply just using him as a sort of 'consolation prize'?"

"I don't think she's that mean and what matters is that Hamza cares about her as much as he cares about me, so this non-monogamous three-way set up makes sense for the three of us."

"If you say so, Alex. As a person who has never been in anything that isn't a monogamy, I'm still wrapping my head around it but if everyone's happy I'm happy. So, by the way, what really is the difference between polyamory and an open relationship? It seems to me that both arrangement allows you to have multiple partners simultaneously."

"Well, an open relationship, in which an established couple seeks to bring another person into their relationship, is a form of polyamory. Not every polyamorous relationship is open, though, it depends on whether you and your partner have set specific number of people allowed to be romantically or sexually involved with each of you. If you and your partner do not have a limit on how many people can be in a given relationship, it can grow unmanageable. Sometimes each partner can have their own partners and their additional partners have different partners. Then there is also a form of polyamory in which a person has a primary partner and a secondary partner—it can get hierarchical. With Hamza, Izumi, and I, however, we practice egalitarianism so there is no hierarchy—Hamza tries to spend as much time with me as he does with Izumi."