They were watching a movie and drinking margaritas, something they did quite often together, when Dani, two drinks in and bubbly with joy, said, "that man just needs to be pegged and all of his problems would fade away."
Hernando laughed. "I do believe that if Manny gave in to his homoerotic desires, he would be much happier."
"It doesn't even have to be gay," Dani pointed out. "Many women peg their men. Not because it involves butt sex it means it's gay. Or is it gay when a man fucks a woman up the ass?"
"You've got a point," Hernando said.
"Someone needs to give him a prostate massage. With a 10-inch tentacle dildo preferably."
That got another laugh out of Hernando. Lito just watched them, fascinated by their easy friendship, the undeniable love they had for each other.
"Why a tentacle dildo?" Lito asked after a moment had passed.
"The whole movie is about the psychological aspects of the sexual impulse, Lito," Hernando explained, "the lighthouse is a metaphor for his repressed desires, but it's also about the power imbalance. A tentacle dildo would be a metaphor for him finally submitting to the sea, and, with it, finally finding peace in the fact that he cannot possibly dominate nature as he's been trying to do the entire film."
Lito nodded. He wasn't entirely sure if he got all the ins and outs of Hernando's analysis in the first watch, but he would watch the film again later in his own time to study Manny's character. He was intriguing, and, as an actor, intriguing characters were his favorites to study.
When the movie ended, Dani got up and went to their kitchen to prepare a new batch of margaritas. Lito knew he needed to tap out, he could not be hangover the following day as he had a costume fitting, but watching Dani and Hernando live their best vacation lives was a joy he could not get enough of.
Dani came back with only two margaritas to the sofa.
"Where's mine?" Lito asked as Dani gave Hernando his glass.
"You have a fitting tomorrow." Lito pouted, but Dani was relentless. "You will be complaining about puffiness in the morning if you don't tap out now."
Lito couldn't help his smile. They both knew him so well. It made him feel warm, at home.
Just as Hernando was about to start a second movie, Dani asked, "have you tried it?"
"Tried what?" Lito said.
"Pegging."
Lito laughed. "You've been there when we've done the real thing."
"Pegging is its own thing," Dani countered.
"But we don't need a dildo if we have the equipment," Lito pushed.
"Saying you don't need toys because you have a dick is such cis straight man bullshit." Dani laughed at Lito's face.
Somewhere in the background, he heard Nomi's laugh. Lito didn't think she was listening in, but he still felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him. He dared a peek into Nomi's mind and saw she was reading a book with her girlfriend, pointing at something in the page. He quickly came back to his own body to avoid the embarrassment of having his cluster seeing what he was up to.
"We don't really have toys… that fit the description though," said Hernando.
"You literally have one toy that you've ever used and I gave it to you," said Dani with a smirk. When Lito didn't say anything, Dani continued, "would you like me to fuck you with my strap?"
Lito felt his face heat up, unsure why it was such a big deal. They had had sex with Dani in the room many times, but they had never… Dani had never actually been with them in the same bed like this. Lito thought he was gay —he was pretty sure he was gay, he'd never been able to get it up with a woman after he'd recognized the fact— and that meant all sex acts with women were out of the table.
But then he thought to his cluster, people he had had sex with —in his mind, thousands of miles apart, but as real as if they had been in the room with him— and he knew he had had sex with women that hadn't ended in disaster. But still, that was in his head! It wasn't— Lito didn't think he could—
Hernando cleared his throat. "Is that something you'd be into?"
The question was directed at Dani, but Lito was already spiraling about it. Is that something he'd be into? He knew Dani was attractive —hot, Dani was super hot, everyone around him seemed to agree on that— but was he attracted to her? Was Hernando?
Dani was looking at Lito pensively. "I'd fuck either of you, but I have a feeling Lito is not ready to ride my strap yet."
"Ride it?" Lito asked, his voice went up an octave.
"What? Did you think I'd do all the work?" Her smile was playful, but Lito could tell she was actually echoing something she'd said before.
"Have you ever done this before?" Lito asked.
"A bunch of times, yeah."
Hernando raised his eyebrow. "A bunch?"
"Many straight men want to get pegged. Far more than you realize." She seemed to be deciding how much to share, then she shrugged and said, "besides, it's one of those things men can't fuck up, you know? You both know by now I'm not… I don't always like having things inside of me. If I offered a good fuck like this, most guys would not push about getting inside me."
Hernando's eyes softened. He put a hand on Dani's thigh, softly, as if Dani would be scared and run away. "You know, you never have to do anything you don't want to do with us."
Dani smiled, perhaps a little more watery than she would have liked. "I know. That's what I like about being with you guys. It's good. It's… safe."
"Did you and Joaquin—"
"No, no, no," Dani said, not even letting Lito finish his question. Lito breathed a sigh of relief. "Joaquin was too macho for that sort of thing. He didn't even let me use my vibrator when I was with him."
"Asshole," said Lito.
Hernando's hand moved slightly upwards, toying with the hem of Dani's skirt. "Would you… want me to ride your strap?"
Lito felt goosebumps form in his arms at the question. The idea of seeing Hernando ride someone else felt… electric.
"Yeah, I'd be into that," Dani said.
Hernando turned to Lito. "Would you be okay with that?"
Lito sputtered briefly. "Okay? I'm getting the lube right now."
Dani laughed and stood up. "Prep him for me, will you, Lito? I want him ready when I get to your room."
Then she took off to her own room with a spring to her step.
"Are you sure about this?" Hernando asked.
"Abso-fucking-lutely."
Later, much later, after Hernando had finished and Dani had gotten her favorite vibrator to finish herself off, Lito found himself in the balcony filling the tub so his lovers could relax. He was feeling particularly happy after seeing how well Hernando and Dani worked together and he wanted to share his happiness with someone but who was he going to tell? It's not like he had friends with whom he talked about his complicated relationship.
"You know what, I resent that," Wolfgang said, leaning against the railing of the balcony. "I thought we were friends."
"Ah, you know what I mean," Lito said. "I can't exactly— I haven't told them about the cluster yet."
"Hmm," Wolfgang crossed his arms. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"You want to talk about it?" Lito asked.
Wolfgang just shrugged.
"It's just… I'm so happy with them. I want them to know the real me."
"They know the real you."
Lito heard Dani giggling from the bedroom and he lowered his voice. "You know what I mean."
"Then tell them."
"They'll be in danger then."
"As long as Whispers is after us, we're all in danger. You know this." Wolfgang's voice was not harsh, but Lito still flinched at the words.
"I just wish things would be different. I wish I could tell everyone about them."
"Them? It's not just Hernando and you anymore?" Wolfgang seemed slightly taken aback by the admission. Of all the people in the cluster, Lito thought he'd be the first to get on board with their three-way relationship.
"Are you going to judge? Because if so—"
"No, no, no judging, just… surprised. I thought you were a lot more uptight about these things."
"Why? Because I'm Mexican?"
"No, because you were… you are still thinking about what will happen when Joaquin leaks the photos."
"Well, my career will be over!"
From the bedroom, Hernando asked, "what did you say, Lito? I can't hear you from outside."
"Nothing! Just… thinking out loud!" he yelled. In a lower voice, he told Wolfgang, "It's just… people will be talking a lot about me and Hernando. I don't want Dani's reputation to suffer as well."
"I don't think you need to worry about that," he said, then left Lito on his own.
The tub was almost full when Dani stepped out to the balcony with a margarita in her hand wearing nothing but a silk robe. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, just, you know, thinking."
"About what just happened?" Dani frowned, as if she was trying to figure out what could have set Lito off.
"Not really. That was hot though."
"It was," she agreed. Then she sat on the edge of the tub, dipping her toes in. "Is it about the photos?"
Lito shrugged. "Maybe."
"Lito… I'm so sorry," she started. "I know it was wrong of me to even have those photos, and it was truly careless to not delete them—"
"Dani, Dani… it's okay. I forgave you. I'm—"
"No, but this was a terrible thing and now I'm intruding in your home and—"
"Dani. Please. I'm serious. It's okay," Lito said.
"But the photos—"
"I don't care about the photos," he lied.
Dani leveled a look at him.
"Okay, fine. I care a lot about the photos. But this," he pointed between them," you, Hernando, this thing we have between us, this is more important."
Dani looked like she was about to cry, which was when Hernando came out of the house, completely naked, carrying two more margaritas.
"My love," Hernando said, offering him a glass.
Lito took a sip of his drink and watched as Dani and Hernando got in the tub. After a few minutes enjoying the view, he decided he was due a relaxing bath with both of them. His lovers. His family. He could worry about Joaquin's revenge another day.