Chapter 5: That Time I Got to Feel the Twins Making Out with Each Other
Over the next few weeks of my visit to the future, the twins show me everything they think is necessary or interesting or just fun to do. When I first arrived after my accidental time-leap, I didn't see any futuristic traffic in the city, like flying cars or maglev trains. That's because people get to other areas within the city's vast canopy just by walking through certain doors or archways with the right kind of focused intention. (The twins' only explanation for this: "It's all connected.") Once I get the hang of it, we start ranging farther out from the city centre where the Timesync research lab is.
It turns out there are different terrains in each "borough" or "suburb" of the city. For instance, there are the famous showering groves that Sunni invited me to, which are in a section of the city that's more like a rainforest, with tall trees and a sky of gentle, misty clouds. We don't use any shampoo or soap to wash, but somehow I feel more refreshed than ever after playing in the showering groves. For the first time, I feel comfortable enough to take off all my clothes and go fully naked, delighting in the cool patter of droplets across my bared skin and the steamy tropical heat.
I also get more adventurous with food, trying things the twins offer me without having any idea what they are. Some things are clearly based on fruits or grains, like I'd been eating up to that point, but other things...well, I'll talk more about that in a bit. For now, I'll just say that after each meal, I feel satisfied and somehow healthier. One thing I notice is that I don't get heartburn from anything I eat, which is rare at home. Even bananas give me heartburn, so eating different food when I travel can be a trial. The food here makes me feel like a plant that's finally getting the right fertilizer; like I'm not just hanging on in my arid little pot but actively thriving in the landscape where I belong. I swear even my hair seems shinier, and my perpetually dry hands feel softer after bathing in the lush air of the tropical showering groves. I'd say I didn't ask for any of this...but in a way, I did. Standing there in that cold, barren park in Mississauga wishing to be anywhere but there in the middle of the fucking pandemic, somehow I reached out and grabbed onto exactly what I needed. Now, experiencing what the city has to offer in complete safety and freedom, I find my initial suspicions about it giving way to cautious gratitude, and then astonished, relieved joy.
So here I am, sitting contentedly with the twins on the roof of one of the arcades after a particularly fun day of exploring the city. From here we can see all the tiled and arched rooftops spreading around us like a formal garden, interspersed with open squares and little hills, natural groves and ponds. The sky is doing its evening dance of colours, fading from opal to emerald to sapphire blue. (Never pitch black, though, not even in the deepest part of the night.) The heat of day has faded to a pleasant coolness, just enough that I throw a light, silky blanket over my legs and the twins.' I just started going fully 'au naturel' all the time the day before, and I'm still getting used to it.
"Robyn," Raine says as we look up at the sky, "we'd like to ask you something."
Something in her tone tells me this is no casual query. I perk up.
"Yeah?"
"It's nice sharing this blanket, isn't it? Feeling the same silky sensation, all three of us at once." Sunni asks.
"Mm-hmm, really nice."
"We thought that perhaps you would like to share other sensations with us, too."
"We know you're asexual," Raine adds quickly. "And we aren't asking you to have sex with us. But on that first night, when you shared the way you do it, and every time since then," (I admit, I've let the city service me several more times) "we are always astonished by how well you craft the experiences of pleasure and pain that you want to have, and how clearly you convey it to others, even though it was taboo to admit you like that sort of thing in your time."
I flush with pride at their compliments.
"That means a lot, guys. I've really opened up lately. I have you to thank for getting me started."
"No, it's a gift to us, Robyn. It's something we cherish. It's the highest aspiration of this city, of this time, to discover what it is you truly desire and do it. And we want to share our own discovery with you. We think you would..."
The two look at each other in silent communication, then finish:
"...understand us better than most here."
I cock my head at that one.
"Why don't people understand you here? Aren't you part of the whole intimate empathy thing?"
"Yes, of course. But you probably don't realize that being a couple, the way we are, is a bit...
unusual
in this time."
"How so?"
"To be blunt, we're monogamous. Exclusively monogamous. We don't have sex with other people. And we don't share our sexual experiences with others, even empathically. We're very private that way."
"You know that's totally normal in my time, right? That's, like, practically the standard: the heterosexual monogamous couple who doesn't do anything naughty in public."
"In your time, yes. But in our time, monogamy is not the...how can I say it...not the most practical way to live. When it comes to long-term relationships, it's much more common, now, for small groups of say, four to seven people, to bond together like a family, but with no necessary blood relation."
"Or at least triads," Sunni puts in.
"Yes, small groups or triads. They're more stable bases."
"And let me guess, they're all queer," I suggest. "So being a straight couple is the new minority."
"Well..." the two look at each other a bit helplessly. "There's no real concept of 'queer' or 'straight' here, not like you know it. There are too many kinds of bodies, and bodies are very easily changed, as you've seen. So, the groupings can be made up of people with a mix of different...you would say 'genders,' or all the same gender if it happens to go that way. 'Gender' and 'sexual orientation' were important to people in your time, but they no longer matter so much as ways of making identity or connections. People just are who they are, and love who they want. What does still matter, in a way, is the number of people and their roles in the relationship."
"Why? That seems judgemental. I thought there was no judgement around sex here."
"It's not a judgement so much as a practicality," Raine explains. "Being in an exclusive couple puts a lot of pressure on one person to provide all the satisfaction the other could want. It can, and does, lead to break-ups, where one person ends the relationship and leaves the other broken-hearted. Even here, there can be unhappy endings to relationships. We're still human and we still feel fear, jealousy, sadness, and anger, which are all necessary emotions in their ways. We're just better supported by our community and by the city, so we can heal more easily from the emotional wounds life deals than in your time. And of course, the city also lets us see our partners' perspectives and empathize with them, so we don't often blame or hate our lovers even after we part ways."
"Even if there is hurt," Sunni adds, "it hurts
less
with a group dynamic. If one person leaves the group, or even dies, the remaining people still have the support of all the others to get through their grief together. New people can join the group as old ones leave. The sorrow of loss is minimized when you don't have to face it alone. The same goes for dealing with jealousy or anger. There is always someone from your inner group to help you through it--someone who understands."
