"Oh. Well, then I suppose it doesn't matter all that much." She shakes her head a bit.

"Yup. ...Do nondynamic relationships work? The closest I can really come to imagining it as a coherent thing would basically be a couple of switches switching really fast and I know that's definitely not the thing."

Pause. "Well, there's... I mean, the answer to that question is yes, and that thing you described is not the thing," she says carefully.

"I'm not sure why I assumed you'd know but it sounds like maybe you do."

"Well. I'm. Slightly kinky?" she tries.

"Wasn't on your list. Or my sex ed classes, for that matter."

"Yeah, I mean, it's just. A bit weird. And I didn't want to scare you away by bringing it up too soon, nor to make it look like it was really all that big or important an aspect of it."

"What is it you want to do? I'm not, like, insecure in my domliness or anything, I just have literally no idea what nondynamic sexuals actually practically do."

"Well, there's just... no domination or submission? No ropes and stuff, it's... symmetrical? Like, both people suggest things and ordering anyone isn't involved in it. It's pretty much the same thing without implements and with both participants being active in decisionmaking and such."

"Yeah, pretty much. Um. We don't need to, really. It's just. An idea."

"I'll mull it over." Pet pet. "What's the appeal? In comparison to regular sex, not in comparison to staring at a wall, that much I can figure out."

"Well, it's... kind of exciting? Sorta subversive, like, I'm with a gorgeous dom who could be ordering me around but she's... not? Because she wants to not? It's hard to explain."

"I can see that."

"Yeah. Not everybody's thing. Or, not almost anyone's thing."

Scritch scritch. "Maybe sometime. I could see it being appealing if I were really mentally exhausted maybe."

"Mmhm," she says, leaning into the scritches.

Kiss.

"See, that's what I thought you were getting at early when I went all severe and said 'excuse me', it's not a 'shame' that he's not on the market."

Blink. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"What did you mean it like?"

"Well, like, it's a nice thing! I like belonging to you, it's nice to date and stuff. It's a shame in the same way, I don't know, lactose intolerance is a shame, because cheese tastes nice? It's one less nice thing he has. Which, I mean, granted, he doesn't particularly care that he doesn't have it, I suppose, but. I dunno."

"Alex would probably say that it's not particularly a shame that there are people who can't abide watching Nascars go round and round in circles, however much fun the fans have in the process."

"I suppose," she sighs. "Though it's not quite the same, relationships are kinda... a bigger deal? Than hobbies. But, yeah, I mean, you're right."