With the stage now set

Rina: But on a more serious note, are there any specific rules we need to talk about? We should probably get around to figuring that out.

Emery: You’re right, I suppose we should get down to brass tacks.

Nia: Even Rina can be surprisingly business minded sometimes, huh?

Emery: Careful of glass houses hun.

Nia: Oh shush, hehe.

Rina: Naahh nah, haha, it’s nothing like that. You're the one who initiated this whole convo in the first place, Nia. Being real, I would’ve just eaten breakfast and hung with you guys without thinking much about it. So it’s more like…y’know, I’m excited, and I wanna make sure…

Rina cleared her throat as the mood sobered up somewhat, slowly coming down from the novel high my proposal had set.

Rina: I want… I mean, I wanna make sure we’re all on the same page, you get me? I’m hyped, but I feel like I’m out of my depth here. Like we were saying earlier I can sorta just guess what you want based on your reactions. With this though? If we’re going harder then I don’t want to risk that approach.

She fiddled with a stray lock of hair as she continued.

Rina: Heh, I’m kinda rambling aren’t I? Lemme back up. You’re giving me too much credit; it's less that I’m “business minded” and more like I’m throwing responsibility to you two, haha.

Emery: Not at all Rina, I’d say you aren’t giving yourself enough credit. It’s important that we establish solid ground rules, especially if we’re dabbling in some emotionally charged roleplay.

Nia: Not to mention, you don't have much experience with this.

Emery: Exactly. Meanwhile, Nia and I have experimented with this play pretty extensively over the last year. Even if you like this stuff too — and again, please say anything if you don't — I feel your approach of "throwing” it our way is hardly unfair.

That being said, I was a tad skeptical. Not that Rina was lying, more that it struck me once again how skittish she was acting this semester. Between that, what she said earlier, and the relationship drama she’d hinted at… It was hard to pin down, all I could say was things seemed to be more complicated than Rina let on.

Not that it was my place to dig into that, of course. Or to comment on at all really. In all likelihood, I was simply indulging in more of the dreaded overthinking the girls just gave me grief for.

Nia: Em’s got a point, Rina. It’s for sure better that you’re taking this seriously, we appreciate it. I didn’t mean to imply earlier that you weren’t, my b if that’s what it sounded like. I was just messin’ around.

Rina: …Hehe well aight, if you guys insist. Sor- ah, right… I was just gonna say I sounded kinda…forget it, doesn’t matter. I was thinking out loud as I talked, that’s all. Let’s move on and figure out our gameplan.

Blatantly eager to move on from her fumbling pseudo-apology, Rina stretched her posture upright and eased closer to us. Nia and I followed her lead; it was more polite than trying to dwell on whatever Rina kept to herself.

Rina: So what next? I’ll do my part to make sure Em is “involved and present”, and we agreed you'll help me with the direction, but what else?

For a brief moment we all sat in silence, concentrating on any fringe factors that we may have overlooked.

Nia: Em being involved right now is really the biggest one for me. As long as that's covered I'm gucci…

Nia paused and raised a finger before finishing her thought.

Nia: Though…I guess we should add a little more affection to our cooling off sessions. Em and I always do that when we get nastier — don’t want any hurt feelings afterwards ‘n all that.

Rina: That tracks. I could see it being necessary, for sure. No offense Nia, hehe, but you are totally the type to go wild in these situations.

Nia cocked a brow and smirked at Rina’s jab.

Nia: What? Still sore from being put in your place last night?

I failed to contain a snort as Rina groaned sheepishly, no doubt recalling the memory of their competitive spat late into the night. Apparently Nia had thought Rina was getting a little too comfortable in the dom role, what with the snarky attitude and ass slapping, and decided she would show Rina how it was done. The image of Nia gripping the much larger girl’s ankles and hoisting them into the air was still burned into my mind. I got the impression that was doubly true for Rina.

Rina: No! I felt better after showering this mor- actually, I… A-anyway, we need to focus! We don’t have a ton of time before you guys have to get going.

Nia laughed and grappled the now crimson Rina, holding her captive against her breasts.

Nia: How convenient for you, eh? I’ll let you off the hook this time, hehehe, but remember what Em said about glass houses and all that jazz.

Barely weathering her shame, Rina pulled away and fixed the loose strands of hair Nia had frizzed up while fooling around.

Emery: Hehe, she got you there Rina. You’re not wrong though; as fun as it is to mess around, we can’t keep going on tangents like this. The last topic you two were touching on segued rather neatly into a point I wanted to make, so let’s roll back to that.

Emery: First and foremost, I want everyone to take care of themselves. I know that sounds simple on the face of it — we’re all adults here and we can define our own limits, after all — but it can get complicated. To that end, I don’t want us hiding anything about how we feel.

Rina and Nia both shifted slightly at this — the former’s eyes shifting away, and the latter crossing and uncrossing her legs.

Emery: Well, maybe I worded that a bit strongly. Obviously I’m not saying we should pester each other about every little thing. Everybody has boundaries, and asking for details incessantly can also be a buzzkill. Let’s just try our best to rely on each other. Even if it’s just between you and whomever you’re comfortable sharing it with, saying something can save a headache down the line. Does that sound reasonable?

After a moment of thought, a heavy sigh escaped both Rina and Nia in near tandem. They looked at each other in surprise as they overlapped, before chuckling airily at the coincidence.

Rina: …Yeah Em, that’s fair. Clearly I’m a little, uh, stiff, when it comes to sharing my feelings, but I’ll try my best.

Nia patted Rina on the back and nodded in telegraphed solidarity.

Nia: It’s not just you, sis. I need to work on this too. It’s hard sometimes, even with a year of practice hahaha. So, let’s work on it together?

Rina: Yeah, for sure. Just try to be patient with me if I fuck up.

Nia: That goes for us too, y’know. We’re only human at the end of the day.

Rina placed her hand on Nia’s and met her eyes, an invigorated smile spreading quickly across her face.

Rina: That’s damn true Nia, I like how you put that. We’ll get through this together “sis”, hahaha. For our sakes, and for the pervert we’re catering to!

Nia: Hehehe, amen to that!

Emery: Hey now, haha, easy! I’m not that bad. Don’t make me out as the villain!

The girls shot a pair of condescending smirks toward my defense, leaning against each other and covering their mouths as they snickered.

Nia: Sorry hun, you are totally the villain here.

Rina: An absolutely wretched man, if I’m being honest.

Nia: Terrible, really. It’s sad he doesn’t realize how warped he is, hehehe!

I huffed and crossed my arms as heat rushed back to my face, flailing to spin my reignited arousal as indignity.

Emery: Talk smack all you want, you guys aren’t any better. You two were practically drooling when I proposed this idea!

Rina seemed to blank at that, but Nia took it in stride; undeterred by my flimsy repartee.

Nia: Yeah, and? Why would I apologize for my appetite? You’re the one who waved this delicacy in my face, so don’t act surprised when I want a bite~.

Rina: Hahaha, she’s right Em. You’re totally the guilty party here!

I sputtered, utterly unable to find a biting response. It wasn’t exactly my strong suit at the best of times, let alone when horny and outnumbered. Nia giggled knowingly at my silence, pinching my cheek before returning to her resting position beside Rina.

Nia: Alright perv~, was there anything else we needed to talk about? I don’t want to rush, but it is getting close to that time.

I glanced at the clock and sighed.

Emery: Dang, we ought to wrap this up…

I had meant to try and leave earlier, but time flies when you’re having fun. And it really had been flying. If we didn’t leave soon, Nia and I wouldn’t even be able to walk together.

Suddenly Nia pulled me into a strong hug, nuzzling the top of my head as I leaned against her chest.

Nia: Aw Em, don’t make that face. We had fun, didn’t we?

Whoops, my sullen feelings must have made themselves obvious. I’d better assure her I was fine, I didn’t want to bring the mood down before we left.

Emery: Yeah, it was a good time. Just wishing it would last a little longer.

Nia: I getcha hun.

The silence sat for a moment as we processed things, before Rina interjected with a hopeful tone.

Rina: Well hey, we have the group chat for a reason. Sure we can’t hang more today, but there’s no reason we can’t hit each other up after you’re done. Or hell, even during class.

Nia: Hah! You know how Em is, Rina. There’s no way he’s gonna goof off during class.

Rina: Heheheh, not without a couple bad influences he wouldn’t~♪.

Rina: But being real, I think it would be a good option. We haven’t touched it much outside planning and small talk, but if we’re trying to communicate as much as possible then this is the way to do it.

Nia: True! I think that’s a great idea Rina.

Rina: Naah, I’m hardly being creative.

Nia: No, furreal. I’m always telling Em he needs to text his friends more anyway, hehe. Maybe this will help him get in the habit.

Emery: Look it’s not like I don’t want to, I just prefer talking to people in person.

Nia: Okay old ass, hehe, you sound like my dad.

Emery: Oof, take it easy on me hun.

Nia: No way sweetie, you’re the one who asked for it.

Rina: Hahaha, you might’ve bit off more than you can chew here Em.

Nia: Oh don’t worry, he likes it.

Well, she wasn’t wrong…

Nia tussled my hair before standing, still snickering at her own teasing as she rose. I followed her up, stretching to alleviate some of the stiffness our long talk had instilled. Or perhaps it was a holdover from last night? We had been at it for a while…

Rina stopped at the precipice of the kitchen as we slowly collected our things.

Rina: Are either of you going home soon? Or just somewhere with a fridge?

Emery: Yeah, I’m stopping by my place before I go to class. Why?

Rina: Here then, let me grab you guys some goods for the road.

Nia: Girl you paid for it, you don’t need to share all the leftovers with us.

Rina: Please, it’s just me here. If you leave me with all of the food then it’ll just go bad.

Judging from the lack of options in her refrigerator last night, it was hard to believe that was truly the case… Still, it wasn’t worth debating; her dietary choices weren’t our business as long as they weren’t overtly harmful. The reason could be as simple as her having other meal plans tonight. It wasn’t good to assume anything too complicated.

In the end, we accepted her offer with grace, shared some warm goodbye hugs, and began our late start to the day.