Sexual relationships

Significant others

All relationships in the world of EarthUnbound are considered “open relationships” by default. Most people still engage in quasi-monogamous primary relationships (boy/girlfriend, single marriage) with a single “romantic” partner, but will also have casual sex with friends and other lovers, and recreational sex with strangers. Ideas like “cheating” and “adultery” seem incredibly archaic to modern people in the world of EarthUnbound, like bloodletting or witch-burning would seem in the real world today. Not that sexual betrayal of a partner isn’t possible; e.g. sleeping with a partner’s hated rival might be taken as a slap in the face; or breaking off a relationship to start one with the former partner’s best friend, or sibling, would still surely be hurtful.

Engaging in recreational group sex with is very common in the world of EarthUnbound, both among singles and people who are in a romantic relationship with a single, primary partner (who may or may not be one of the people involved in the group sex). Actual swinging in a formal setting (couples meeting other couples for group sex or partner exchanges) is relatively common, but by no means the norm. It’s the kind of thing that most people who have been in a committed relationship for a few years will probably have tried at least one or a few times, and only a minority do regularly.

It is very common for people who are involved in a quasi-monogamous primary relationship (dating, or married) to also have one or more long-term secondary relationships with other lovers, perhaps even some shared by both primary partners (e.g. a close friend-with-benefits of many years). Actual polyamory, on the other hand, is relatively uncommon—although far more common than in the real world. Polyamorous marriage, among any number and any combination of genders, while rare, is perfectly legal and socially accepted in the world of EarthUnbound.

Friends and Family

In the world of EarthUnbound, sex is as common as small-talk, and happens in roughly the same situations, with roughly the same frequency. All significant relationships (friendships, significant working relationships, etc) are assumed, by default, to include casual sex to some degree. When one meets an acquaintance, they might exchange pleasant greetings and chat, and during that chat, if one of them is feeling horny, he or she might offer, or request, oral sex. Friends meeting at the park might decide to strip down and fuck on the grass to have some casual fun; a chat with a coworker at the water cooler might lead to a friendly blowjob; a couple having their old college friend over for dinner is likely to end the evening by inviting the guest to have a threesome; etc.

It would be unusual to have a face-to-face encounter with an acquaintance of any reasonable duration, in which both people had compatible orientations, which did not include at least some friendly kissing and/or sexual touching. Not to do so could even be taken as a sign that one or both parties was upset with the other in some way. Overall, on average, any given encounter between acquaintances—if it lasts long enough for it to be convenient to do so—probably involves oral sex roughly half the time, and full intercourse perhaps one out of three times.

Among people who are acquainted reasonably well, it is considered socially acceptable to initiate a kiss, or cop a feel of a private part—even under clothing—without asking permission, since it is presumed that the acquaintance would naturally be receptive to that sort of intimacy. It is also considered socially acceptable for a man to ejaculate on a friend without asking first, if that friend’s orientation includes this sort of behavior, even if the friend isn’t already participating in the sex act which leads to the ejaculation—although this could be seen as gauche, depending on how the act is handled (a surprise facial, for instance, could be seen as rude, unless the man already knew that his friend enjoyed them).

Exposing an acquaintance’s private parts without asking is also usually considered acceptable (since nudity itself is not taboo, public exposure wouldn’t be considered anything to be concerned about), although there are situations where this could be seen as rude (due to the context of the act, rather than the nudity). Generally speaking, if the revealing is performed in order to derive personal pleasure from having a look at the friend’s privates, the act would usually be considered acceptable (i.e. just being playful, or horny, is normally fine), whereas if it’s done to embarrass or shame the friend in some way, it could be seen as rude, and a legitimate cause for grievance.

Employees

Although in many ways the world of EarthUnbound could be considered more progressive and enlightened regarding sexual attitudes than the real world, there is at least one instance where it is woefully behind the times compared to our world: recognition of workplace sexual harassment. As a result of the free attitudes of EarthUnbound society towards sex and nudity, the exploitation of employees for sexual purposes was never given very much serious attention or consideration by society or authorities in the world of EarthUnbound. As a result, there are virtually no protections in place to prevent such exploitation. Actual **** of an employee is, of course, completely illegal. However, **** of an employee to perform sexual acts under threat of workplace consequences, or for the promise of rewards, is completely accepted in EarthUnbound society.

For example, an office worker might require that a secretary provide oral sex to the office worker on demand, and also provide it to favored clients to help advance the office worker’s career. The office worker might tell the secretary that refusal would result in getting fired and replaced, and might even make this requirement clear during the hiring process. None of this would be cause for legal concern for the office worker, or even grounds for a complaint to the H.R. department. Please note that in the fully gender-equal world of EarthUnbound, it would be no more likely for either the office worker or secretary in this scenario to be either male or female.

Strangers

It is generally acceptable in nearly all situations to sexually proposition a stranger in the world of EarthUnbound. Although flirting, conversation, and so forth are still a more common way to initiate a relationship—even a casual one—nobody would ever feel insulted, or consider it socially inappropriate, if a stranger simply walked up to them and asked to fuck. This sort of thing is quite rare among total strangers, however, unless the setting somehow makes it more socially expected (e.g. a singles bar or a wild party might be common places to find people taking such a blunt approach, and perhaps even finding success with it). This could be equated to flirting in real world society: doing so with a total stranger on the street would rarely be met with a positive response, although it wouldn’t result in too much of a negative one unless it was pushed too far; and in some places and situations it’s practically the expected way to approach people.

It is not too uncommon, and is not viewed as excessively inappropriate (although it would normally seem fairly rude) to touch a stranger’s privates—even under their clothing—without being asked. Most people in that situation would ask that the stranger stop, and only if the stranger refused to stop, or tried to go even further, would the person so accosted become truly upset. In some settings and circumstances, this sort of behavior is more acceptable, and more likely to be met with a receptive response; for instance, at parties or clubs. For example: in the world of EarthUnbound a girl sitting in a coffee shop might have a stranger sit next to her, compliment her breasts, then start to fondle one of them. She might smile politely, thank him for the compliment, but turn down his advances; if he didn’t let go of her boob after a few seconds, she might turn away with an apologetic smile. Nobody else around them would consider this exchange unusual, or the stranger’s behavior with the girl socially unacceptable (although it would likely be perceived as somewhat rude of him to fondle her breasts without asking, and especially after she turned him down the first time). No matter how rude such behavior might be considered, it would not be illegal unless the stranger took the matter so far as to constitute ****, or actually committed **** (which is just as illegal in the world of EarthUnbound as in the real world).

A similar scenario would be ejaculating on a stranger without permission. Although the circumstances when this might occur are uncommon (since being in the sort of situation which might lead to ejaculating usually means that those present are either not complete strangers, or are otherwise consenting to mutual sexual activity), in cases where it does happen it is considered extremely rude (unless you are lucky enough that the target of your surprise frosting is receptive). For instance, if you are engaging in—or perhaps simply masturbating while watching—a public sex act, and you finish by cumming onto a non-participating bystander without asking (or worse, after asking and being told “no”), then unless this person happened to be receptive to the act, you would certainly be regarded by any onlookers as extremely rude, even offensive. As with touching private parts, this sort of behavior, while extremely rude, would not be considered illegal.