I thought last night was complicated. Now I don't know what to think.

I had just gotten back from my afternoon class, meaning I was done for the week. And yes, Cabotton University opened classes on Monday. They had cancelled last Thursday and Friday when the attacks happened, but then resumed everything this week.

I got back and saw that Rose Anne had sent me another ticker message. She explained to me that starting next Monday, she would be leaving to go to another part of the country, although she was not allowed to disclose where. She told me she was grateful for my cooperation and then invited me to the Slack for a final goodbye conversation. That was easy enough, because even though everything is under martial law and curfews, Cabotton students have free travel within the Campus.

So we ate, mostly in silence. But we did talk. She asked me about how I first got started in dymensional planes altogether. That, of course, involves a large portion of my childhood. She also pointed out the small "toys" I had in my bedroom.

I guess they could be considered "toys" in a sense. I have hovering around my bedroom a collection of model airplanes, boats, automobiles, and buildings, all made of quick-matter with the use of lightfire. I actually made some of them when I was a child...illegally. Yes, I used lightfire crafting when I was underage. I eventually asked my parents at the time...I think I was twelve or thirteen...and they had told me to stop, but they let me keep the "toys." When I became of age and got my spellcrafter license, I resumed making these refined models. And it's been a hobby since.

I told her this. She asked to have a last look at them in my room. I obliged and let her come into my bedroom again. On the way there, we passed by Valian, who gave me a side glance. But I didn't give a damn. We went on our way. And I showed her the models in my room.

"You're just so smart and handsome, you know that?" she said while looking at one of my knickknacks.

"Shall we kiss?" I said, kind of jokingly.

And suddenly she kissed me.

I won't lie. I did enjoy it. I wasn't expecting it, but I realized at that moment that the feelings of attraction I had were mutual. "If only she wasn't leaving now..." I began to think, when suddenly she said something that even now I don't know how to process.

"I should not have done that," she said. "I'm actually married...ten years this month, in fact."

I was shocked. Stunned. But then she reassured me that it was not what it seemed. Apparently her husband, Josh Mahathy, had to relocate to West Terredon a few years back. He's part of the same line of work she is. And they had been seeing each other once, maybe twice, per year since then. When they found out that their work was pulling them away from each other, they signed a sort of "pact" with each other to make their marriage a mutually "open marriage."

Rose Anne then explained to me that before she met Josh, she had a sort of romantic lifestyle where she would be seeing multiple partners, many of whom would be seeing multiple partners of their own. They were all aware of each other, and they were consenting. But everything changed when she met Josh Mahathy. He had been raised to believe in monogamy. She decided, at the age of 26 at that time, to surrender her multiple-partner lifestyle and marry Josh. It was traditional. It was monogamous.

"It seemed as if my life had turned a new chapter," Rose Anne said to me.

And then, about two years into their marriage, Mr. Mahathy was assigned to a very peculiar task in the Mount Carris Perimeter. He immersed himself into their progressive-humanist culture, and got romantically involved with multiple partners himself.

This was part of the assignment, but he apparently started to develop a genuine connection with two of them. He had a bit of an emotional breakdown and confessed this to Rose Anne, stating the he would promise to seek counseling from a professional. After a long time of thinking, though, Rose Anne forgave him, though, and said that she was still willing to pursue this lifestyle again.

And thus they formed the "open marriage pact." Rose Anne and Josh are primary partners in marriage, but they both consent to the other seeing one or multiple other partners.

Three years later, so five years ago now, Josh Mahathy was assigned to West Terredon, where he has been on assignment since. He has apparently been seeing another partner while Rose Anne was seeking out a partner of her own. She told me that she had been interested in one other individual in the past but that he had never returned the favor.

"So yes," Rose Anne said. "I should have told you before we kissed. I understand this may be new to you. And if you're not comfortable being in a dynamic like this, I understand. But in the meantime, give this some thought."