"I think I'm just going to shower and go to bed," Ryou announced as soon as they got home. He'd been quiet for the whole drive, keeping his eyes closed as he rested, which prevented Duke from trying to talk to him. He wasn't ready to talk, about any of this.

"Ryou, can I please talk to you for a minute after you shower?"

The college student paused in his path towards his bedroom. It was a question, not a command or a request. He didn't have to say yes if he didn't want to. It was up to him.

"Okay."

"Thanks."

Later, Ryou had blow-dried his hair and was wearing warm, comfortable pajamas while Duke took his temperature, wary of his partner catching ill from his time spent in the rain. The plastic thermometer beeped, and Duke pulled it out, checking the digital display.

"No fever—not yet, at least—but your temperature is a bit low. Do you want some tea?"

"A small mug of chamomile, please," Ryou replied quietly. He pulled the blanket around his shoulders closer to himself as he pulled his legs up underneath him on the couch. Duke moved away to wash the thermometer and put the kettle on. The water boiled quickly, and Duke brought Ryou his tea, sitting beside him on the couch with a serious expression.

"I want to apologize for not speaking with you about my idea first," he began. "I'm sorry for springing that on you without any prior notice or asking for your permission beforehand. I want to know what you think of it, and if you think you'd be okay with that. If you need more time to think, that's fine. Take all the time you need, and just let me know when you're ready."

Ryou traced the rim of his small mug, staring into his herbal tea as if it would give him answers. After a bit of silence, he looked up.

"It's just something I've never considered before."

"Polyamory, you mean?"

"Yeah." Ryou sipped his tea, though it was still hot enough to burn the tip of his tongue. "I guess I just need time to adjust to the idea before I can know if I want that or not."

"That's only fair." Duke pressed a chaste kiss to Ryou's forehead. "If you have any questions or doubts, you can come to me anything."

"I want..." Ryou began, then nibbled on his bottom lip uncertainly. Duke had been about to stand up, but he settled back down, waiting as Ryou sifted through his thoughts. "I want Seto to be happy. And I want to stay friends with him, at the very least." He spoke slowly, thinking out loud. "I... I liked it when he kissed me, and I think it would be nice to be loved by him. But... I don't know how we'd make it work, assuming he says yes. I feel like it'd be too easy for someone to get insecure or jealous, or to feel neglected."

"We can figure those things out along the way," Duke assured, brushing back Ryou's still-damp hair in a reassuring gesture. "We'll start slow, and we'll talk through everything so that we don't have any problems. Okay?"

"Okay. But that assumes that Kaiba says yes."

"I think he will, he just needs some time to realize that it's what he wants."

"About that... when were you and Kaiba involved?"

"Before you and I started dating, after his party. Remember how he wrote his number on my arm?"

Ryou nodded.

"That's why. We'd been making out, but we were interrupted, so I asked for a rain check."

"Well, giving you his number was also his way of giving me his number," Ryou pointed out gently. "After I exorcised his father's ghost in the library, he had a lot of questions, and I didn't have the time to explain it all then."

"You did what?" Duke blinked at him in shocked surprise.

"I wanted some time alone in a quiet place, so I went to the library," Ryou explained. "There were a lot of ghosts there and they warned me about Gozaburo's ghost, saying that he was still tormenting his son. Then Kaiba and Gozaburo entered a little bit later, and I was ready for them."

"You exorcised the ghost of Kaiba's father?"

"Adoptive father," Ryou corrected. "And he only deserves that title in the legal sense. He was barely a parent to either of them."

"How do you know that?"

"The ghosts told me."

"Of course, why didn't I realize?" Duke bumped the heel of his hand against his forehead in a gesture of mock revelation, making Ryou giggle.

"I'm really tired, so I'm going to go to bed now, okay?"

"Okay. Sleep well, dear." Duke kissed Ryou's cheek and let his partner retreat to his bedroom. He couldn't be entirely certain that Kaiba would accept his proposition, but he hoped that he would. It would be quite an experience for all of them, even if it only lasted for a short while. Seto and Ryou probably had the most bonding to do, since Duke had already slept with each of them and they had only kissed once. There would be time to remedy that, though. There would be time, if Kaiba gave them a chance.

Duke's proposition had been more startling for the brunette than Duke probably realized. It kept him awake that night, his mind processing the idea, looking at it from all perspectives as he tried to decide what he should do.

First of all, he'd never dated anyone before, so he wasn't sure how he'd date two people at once. Would that just be three people at dinner instead of two? Three people in bed instead of two? Odd. Very odd. But not unpleasant. Or would they all be separate? Three overlapping relationships existing in tandem, but not entirely overlapping? Duke's relationship with Ryou, Ryou's relationship with Seto, and Seto's relationship with Duke. What would they technically call that? It was like a love triangle without any conflict.

How would his relationships with those two affect Mokuba? It would be impossible to keep secret from his brother, since he'd certainly catch on sooner or later.

Seto didn't know what a relationship with one person would require of him, in terms of time, attention, energy, resources—would dating two people require twice as much from him, or only half as much? What would be asked of him? What would they expect of him? How would this be different from what he'd already had with Duke, or with Ryou, for that matter?

This was all very perplexing to him, and it was clear that he wasn't going to settle on a solution tonight. No, he'd need more time.

"Since Kaiba and I are the ones who are still uncertain about this, do you think he and I should meet to talk about it?" Ryou was playing on his old handheld game system as he lay on their couch, Duke making dinner in the kitchen. The gaming system was several years old, but it still worked perfectly and he still played games on it that he'd loved for years.

"I don't think that could hurt," Duke replied. "I think you should ask him out for dinner or something."

"That sounds so formal, though."

"He's a formal person. I think it would help him to feel comfortable."

Ryou bit his bottom lip. "I'm not sure if I'll be comfortable with that, though."

"You'll be fine, dear. And if that makes you nervous, you could ask him to talk about it over coffee. That's what you two do after all, isn't it? Maybe that familiarity would be good for both of you, make it easier to discuss."

"That's not a very private place to talk, though. And he is a public figure, so I wouldn't want us to draw anyone's attention with a conversation like that."

That's a good point." Duke thought on the matter for a minute. "

"I know that a phone-call is out of the question, because I rely partially on visual cues—gestures, microexpressions, eye contact, things like that—to help me understand Kaiba when we're talking."

"That might've been more convenient for both of you, but it also would've been less effective," Duke mused as he cooked.

"Yeah. Maybe I should just ask him if he wants to talk about it and where he thinks we should meet?"

"That's not a bad idea."

Ryou texted Kaiba asking just that, and he received a response within minutes.

We can discuss it over dinner. My house, Thursday, at 7. I'll send someone to pick you up.

Having a private dinner at the Kaiba mansion was a daunting prospect, but it was better than being in a public place where they might be overheard.

{Thank you. I look forward to it.}

He looked forward to it, but was equally nervous about it. That was okay, though. He'd be ready when the time came.

More or less.

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my sweet, supportive kouhai! You know who you are. ;)