Shopping and a guided tour.

Author's note: I notice I swap between 's Hertogenbosh and Den Bosh. They are names for the same place. I believe they are both legally the name of the place. It is just that you can find one on the signage, and the other is the common vernacular. People say Den Bosh more than 's Hertogenbosh, and Grammarly doesn't like it. I might keep swapping depending on what I am thinking about. Just leaving this as clarification.

We arrive early. Not that I mind, but I wonder where we will meet. We didn't plan it originally, but now we can set the place. We picked a park-and-ride place on the side of Den Bosh. We suggest meeting at the central station, as we'll be getting on a bus towards the city centre.

Arriving there, we meet up with Katrien and Chantal. I introduce myself to Katrien, and Katrien is introduced to both of us. She hadn't been introduced to Robin yet, as they didn't have a car, and Chantal hated their parents too much. "You two look wonderful. Where did you two get those clothes?" Chantal asks.

"You two know where my dress came from. You watch my stream, but even I don't know where the vest and shirt came from. Pieter?" Robin replies.

"Same place as your dress, just measured at an earlier stage. I think I made this when I was 17, evading my parents at Roos's and her mom gave me 'leftover' fabric and as long as what I made matched or surpassed her standards, I got to keep it. She basically kept me dressed. She demanded I make a vest to pair with the shirt. She was more of a mom to me than the woman that birth me." I say with a shrug, as a matter of fact.

"Dark..." Katrien notes.

"Does that woman know you are dating a dude, or for that matter, Roos?" Chantal asked.

"Yep and nope. We are planning on telling Roos tomorrow. But knowing her and the rest of our friends, they will be elated to see us having a partner. Antionette will be less bothered about me being in a relationship with a person assigned male at birth than me not ending up with Roos. She has been wanting us together since forever. I don't know..." I admit to both myself and the rest.

"Could still happen with your sister's plan." Robin jokes.

That was a thing they didn't have to say. Chantal asks: "What plan?"

"She has been talking as if she wants me to be in a polygamous relationship. I have no idea how to deal with it."

"Do you need to? Do you hate the idea? Go with the flow." Chantal responds.

"You slease," Katrien says, jabbing her elbow into Chantal's side with a grin. "But yeah, you don't need to act on it as long as she admits to it and tells the people involved that it is a poly relationship. That is, if you are comfortable with it, if you aren't, you should tell her." That isn't something I wanted to admit. It is true. She was making a good point.

"I will take this into account," I say, letting myself ruminate on it.

"You can't be serious! Can you?" Robin protests.

"That alone means it isn't worth it," I say, kissing their cheek.

"No... Don't let me stop you. But you know what Madelon wants. It doesn't stop at having a bunch of sisters and brothers-in-law." She whispers in my ear. I nod in response. "I need to get used to the idea of sharing you with others. I can see you sharing with a limited group. Roos and Anne.... I can see myself sharing you with I hate to say."

"Do you guys even have the space for two more women?" Katrien asks us.

"We have two more rooms in our apartment," I admit with a nod from Robin.

"That is tomorrow," I say with a smile and take the lead, heading into town. "Want to shop first or do something else? I have a few museums we can head to, mini-golf, or a whisper-tour through the underground canals." I suggest with a wave.

"Shopping first. Has your arm recovered?" Chantal says.

"As much as it will in less than a week, but I can carry some weight. You have a budget in mind?" I ask.

"Nahh, mostly window shopping and seeing Robin like this, maybe advise Robin on some things."

I raise an eyebrow and roll my eyes. "I can front some expenses if you need me to. I also still need new furniture, a new PC and sooo much more. Last we met, Chantal, I was assaulted, right?" A nod follows in response. "I was planning on moving my stuff over from my old apartment at the time. Sadly for me, during the dinner that night, an asshole burned my place down. The cops don't know who, but the suspect is clear. The insurance money came in yesterday evening. Enough to refurbish everything I lost. So that is stuff we need to get." Katrien and Chantal try to console me about the fire. Not that I am distraught. "Well, we already were moving out. I just got a payout to furnish my house. The worst thing is all the physical memorabilia. I can get copies for some from Roos and her mother. So if you want to stop at some furniture stores, it would be great. I hope we can also get me something slightly wider than my current old clothes." I say holding a block of emotion back, I didn't know I had.

"They look great on you. Don't be too bothered by them. Sure, we can look for some things." Katrien responds.

The girls started doing more of the guiding after that conversation. The first course of action was getting Robin stockings, which they quickly put on afterwards. Afterwards, they duck into many different stores, almost leaving me behind. This isn't as much of a date as a girl's shopping trip. Not that I mind, Robin is happy, a much more honest happiness than I had seen from them in the past. Then they head into a lingerie store I wait outside. Check my phone. No messages from others. I can hand a new quest to Robin of some sort.

Robin will receive the following unaware quest:

• Talk about the polyrelationship Madelon has in mind.
• Make an effort to understand Madelon's perspective.
• Try to understand Madelon's position in wanting to be romantic with Pieter.

Select reward:

• Full acceptance of Madelon's plan.
• Rejection of Madelon's plan by those you talk to.
• Madelon will be removed from the apartment and move out.

The only reasonable one, and to be honest, the one I wanted is the first one. Let's hope I don't need to give them unaware quests all the time. This one should help moderate the situation at home. Afterwards, I wait for another 20 minutes scrolling on my phone. As they come out, Katrien asks: "Did we just do our thing and forget you?"

"Yeah, but I haven't lost my ability to speak. I could have said anything at any point. Robin seemed to need this more than I think we need this double date. The stores are likely to close before we want to stop the date. We can go grab dinner after they close."

Robin pulls my collar close to them and kisses me. "Well, furniture stores are sadly most of the time outside of town, and a PC is outside of our scope. We should have dolled you up more." They admit.

"You all have been complimenting me so much. I can live with these clothes, and we have a decent amount of fabric. So I can make new outfits without too much of an issue. Shop for what you like." I try to deflect. It seems to work as we head into a non-clothing store.... a sex shop, cool, weird but cool. I stick with the three of them as they start talking about douches, anallube, dildos, buttplugs and chastity belts. "Wow, that is a lot of information. We need to do a lot, I hear, before ever having sex. Well, better we understand and prep now."

"You never looked into this?" Katrien asks in shock.

"I am an idiot, blind to his emotions. I might be horny, but I was safe to assume hetronormativity instead of being pansexual or bisexual or whatever category people want to slot me in. I do not know any of this shit. Not that I mind safety first, but damm." A chuckle comes from the three. My honest shock seemed to have resonated and made them glad. "Well, let's grab this," I said, grabbing a trainer set of buttplugs, a douche, some lubricant injectors and anal lube. "Any other stuff you want or need?" I say, looking Robin in the eyes.

"Can you leave for a bit? I have some things I want to grab but want to surprise you with later, okay?" I nod and leave after paying for the things I picked up. They leave the door a decent amount of time afterwards. We look at the time. "Dinner?" I ask as I get a call. "Let me take this."

"Pieter, sorry but I can't make it to your and Robin's housewarming/D&D tomorrow...." He said with a heavy voice, not fully wanting to keep speaking. "My grandmother is in the hospital. This might be the last day I see her. We don't know you know, but at this age, anytime they end up in a hospital, it can be the last." Bart tells me.

"Any time you end up in the hospital can be the last." I joke in response.

"Yeah." He responds with a small chuckle. "But anyway, I won't be able to make it tomorrow."

"D&D and other things like this will come and go. We can always play a few weeks later."

"Thanks, see you later," Bart says. I stand contemplating, let it sink in for a moment. Calming my emotions, not letting them slip out. I write a text in the D&D group chat. 'No D&D, just drinks and hangout tomorrow. Come if you want. Don't feel obligated. I didn't have the time to prepare.'

I return to them. "So, have we decided where we will go for dinner?"

"Yeah, a nearby restaurant that is cheap. Did you really have nothing prepared for tomorrow?" Robin replies.

"I have enough prepared, but Bart called, and I needed to give him an out. He couldn't come, but I didn't want to say, 'Hey, we aren't going to play because of Bart.' He didn't call or message you, so... I think it is not my place to share the details." That seems to quell the question.

"I won't be able to come out to him tomorrow, but we can wait a week with it, right?" I give a small nod as we head to the restaurant. "You are super chill with it."

"It is not an issue for me. Bart hardly calls, or if there is an issue, or he wants to hang out, which is rarely. He will show up when he does. He doesn't need my help, nor a shoulder to cry on. He might later plan on visiting. I have no idea whether he will need a shoulder when he does, but he will visit eventually. But I should shut up. He is safe, don't worry." There is a pregnant pause before ending up at the restaurant. We get a table, I sit across from Robin and next to Katrien.

Chantal asks, "How do you plan to break it to those who do show up?"

I look at Robin, who will have a higher stake in this than I do. Leading to them reacting. "Pieter and I were planning on just telling them. We don't need to sit them down. Roos and Anne will have a bigger issue with Pieter being in a relationship than with the gender of the person he is with." I react in genuine shock. "I am not blind to this, Pieter is... or deliberately ignores it as long as he doesn't realise his emotions. Safer to pretend you don't know if you don't want to hurt anyone's feelings."

"Polygamy as a response is another option if Pieter can do the emotional work for it." Katrien blurts out.

"I can definitely see the benefit of it. I can't justify it without Robin's permission." I respond.

"I understand that this is one way to avoid the conflict. I also know that Pieter is likely to be able to give love to all of us. I just want him to have a night with me before that." Robin says, looking away shyly.

"We can have that tonight," I say confidently. Robin blushes at the suggestion as I say this.

"Sounds like a plan," Chantal says with a chuckle. Other conversations start to happen, but my mind is racing, and I am mentally lost, as is Robin. We try to participate, but are planning on heading home as soon as possible. Everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves, but we grabbed the first trip back to the Park and Ride and, by proxy, home.