Downsized Hero 2 Ch 4 (Cate's POV)

The last hour or so had me reeling. Stats, skills, gods, and heroes. Even a frikkin' dragon for goodness sake. And now I was out buying pizza with Arty's new girlfriend. What the heck is my life now?

My car was parked about a block away from Arty's place, but neither Zoya nor I made an effort to speak as we made our way there. In fact, other than Zoya relaying Arty's directions, it was quiet the whole drive. The cold from the faux leather seats seeped through my clothes and made the muscles in my back and neck tighten even further.

Pulling into a spot around the corner off Pine Street, I parked and killed the engine. The ride was so short the heater hadn't had a chance to warm the interior of the car yet, and we sat in our winter coats for a beat, breathing clouds of white steam into the air. Then I turned to find Zoya facing me.

"You called me out here. What do you want to talk about?" I asked tersely. The tension had risen the whole ride, and I could feel my heart rate increasing in fight or flight response.

I'd met with Arty's girlfriends before. Heck, I'd even liked a couple of them enough to hang out once or twice. But Arty's previous women all had this kind of temporary presence, like someone you'd meet and chat with at a conference. As much as you might get along, you didn't expect to see each other again. But Zoya was different. She was moving fast, like she was laying down a claim. And that had me on edge.

"What else?" The energetic woman replied with a cheeky smile. "Arty, of course." Her dark eyes glittered in the light from the bright store frontages outside.

My heart rate went higher. "I'm not sure what you mean. Arty and I are friends." I tried to sound above it all, disinterested. Assured. But I was unable to maintain it, and looked away out the front window with an involuntary swallow.

"Maybe I'm wrong," Her voice was light, even amused. "But I'm getting a vibe there's more on your side than that." I saw her eyes narrow in the reflection off the windshield.

"So, what, is this the 'back off' speech?" In a sudden rush of unexpected emotion, I turned toward her again, forcing myself to lock eyes. "Sorry, but that's not happening. Arty's my friend, I'm the one who's been there for him. I pick him back up after people like you leave. Every. Time." I clenched my jaw, trying to rein it in. I don't know how she was pushing my buttons like this with such unerring accuracy. But heck if I was going to let this new girl tell me what to do.

"Ha!" She breathed in satisfaction. Her face was momentarily illuminated by a passing car, and her expression looked triumphant. "But what if you could avoid that in the first place? What if you were by his side?" She probed.

"What do you mean?" I frowned, the conversation serving off in an unanticipated direction.

"See, I think your challenge is you're trying so hard to avoid pain, for both Arty and yourself. And that's kept you on the outside looking in." She never broke eye contact, watching me closely. "But what if you had help from the inside? From a trusted party member, perhaps?" An impish grin curled at one side of her mouth.

"What?" Her zig-zagging was leaving me behind.

"To be clear, I'm not giving Arty up. But," she held out her hand palm up. "I'm not holding on to him as exclusive, either. If you're okay with that," she gave a light shrug, her eyes never leaving mine. "Maybe we can come to an arrangement."

She was serious. This conversation was throwing me so far off balance, I didn't know how I was still upright. "What exactly are you suggesting?" I replied, needing something concrete to hold on to.

"I should say, up front, I'm not really into girls," Zoya began, then tilted her head. "Okay, well I think I like to be watched by girls." My heart thumped like a depth charge going off below the surface, but I held it in. "But I'm not into girl-girl sex." Zoya furrowed her brow in thought. "Hunh, maybe if Arty was watching? Shit, that's kind of hot." She shook her head. "Fuck, never mind, not the point. The point is, Arty thinks you're a lesbian. Is that true?"

I sighed audibly. "He's not wrong to think that. I basically call myself a lesbian in public, because it's easier." I slumped back in my seat, staring unfocused at the ceiling. "If you say you're a little bi, people have a hard time accepting it. Everyone wants to categorize and label you. And then weirdos of all genders and orientations start trying to prove you can't really be bi, or that a little bit bi is not a thing." A heat I thought long extinguished turned out only to be banked, needing only the oxygen to flare up again. "But I'm not really a lesbian, exactly. I'm maybe 80-90% exclusively girls. I mean, functionally so far it's been 100%." I looked back at Zoya with a grimace, before my face softened. "But Arty is ... he's always made me feel ... things ... I don't feel with anyone else." I felt the heat turn to a flush and spread across my neck and face.

The outside world was fading away as the car windows fogged up from our breath. It lent the whole conversation a feeling of unreality, as if the rest of the world faded away behind that shroud of condensation. That, and Zoya's earnest, excited face pulled feelings and thoughts out of me I thought I'd dealt with and packed away. Given an outlet, they practically burst out of me.

"And, um, I ... I like to watch." It was like my mouth belonged to a different person. I listened in horror as it all came tumbling out. "People having sex. I've done it once with an ex-girlfriend of mine, but she thought it was a cuck thing, and that went south really quick." I flinched, remembering the aftermath, and I moved on quickly. "But watching two people having hot sex where they get off on someone else watching, even directing some of the, uh, activity ... Fuck, why am I telling you this!" I put a hand over my mouth, certain my face was as bright as my hair right now.

I glanced over and saw the widest grin across Zoya's face. "Cate. This could be the start of something beautiful." She breathed in a sensual whisper. "I really think we could both get what we want here." She seemed to vibrate with energy, leaning forward across the center console with a heated intensity. "We just need to reach for it."

I licked my lips, not really believing this conversation was actually happening. But that oddly gave me the courage to keep going. "Okay, say I'm interested." I said slowly. I searched her face for verification and saw her eyes widen in tentative success. "What does this kind of a relationship look like in your imagination?"

"Simple." Zoya held up her exquisitely manicured index finger. "One guy: Arty. With women that we all approve of as a group."

"Oh, we're a group now?" I chuckled without any force behind it.

"The way I figure it, we're in a relationship already." Zoya shrugged her shoulders, one finger still raised. "This whole party and hero thing. We're connected, this just puts a more specific shape to it."

"This conversation is wild." I put a hand to my forehead, staring down at the steering wheel, shaking my head.

"Iter is also involved," Zoya added. "I'm not sure given that she's a fucking goddess what that makes their relationship, but she's definitely part of this. If she comes back--and I really don't doubt she will--we will be having this conversation with her. I think if you and I nail down the details first that will go more smoothly."

That is a potentially volatile variable. "Ok, so I get the group." I bit my lip. "And agree we talk things out with all of us weighing in. Only way to make it work."

"Right." Zoya nodded, then brought up a second finger. "Two: No outside relationships. No added complications or safety concerns. The last thing we need is someone taking a risk, catching something, or bringing a jealous partner into the situation. Or, God, getting pregnant."

"No worries there. Agreed." Yeah, nothing would ruin things faster than that.

A third finger joined the other two. "Open communication. No sneaking or backstabbing, no resentment or jealousy. And also clear consent for all involved. Talk it out, or take a hike."

I nodded thoughtfully. She'd really thought this through. Arty'd said she was smart, but this kind of analytical approach was refreshing. Wildly eccentric and unexpected, but welcome. Goodness knows I'd had too many relationships blow-up on me from unspoken desires or grievances. "Yeah, that would be crucial. I have a low-drama threshold."

Her fourth finger came up. "Finally, we're dating Arty, not each other. If people want to mess around together, I've got no problem with that. But Arty has to be the center, or its more complications, drama, etc." Her eyes were hard.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, that makes sense." I nodded again "I agree. Arty's the one who makes this work."

She put her hand down. "We'll learn the rest along the way." She had a wide smile.

"Goodness, is that really all there is to it?" For something so complicated, it felt too simple.

"That's why the open communication is so important. But I mean, those are some pretty big hills to jump for most people. What about you?" Zoya raised her eyebrows and looked at me patiently, encouraging me to think about it.

"One more thing," I added, the accountant in me wanting to lock everything down, balance both sides of the sheet. "Timeframe. Is this a permanent thing?" I threw the question down like a gauntlet. "People change. Needs change. Is there an exit clause?" I knew Arty was it for me. Always had been, before I'd even realized it. Where was Zoya at, though?

Zoya thought seriously for a bit. "I mean, my first thought is that anyone can leave the group at any time. But practically, I don't know how Arty's party stuff works. Can we leave? Not sure why we would, but ... something to ask Arty. Or Iter, I guess." She shrugged weakly. "Right now, I say yes, there has to be a way to leave or that's just resentment waiting to happen. The practical details, we'll double-check." She faced me directly. "For me, though, this is it." She laughed softly in wonder. "I've known Arty less than a week, and I already can't imagine my life without him, without all this. That's absolutely crazy. But I won't let it go." The expression on her face was firm, like a fighter prepared to take on all challengers. Resolute.

I took it in, nodding once in agreement and approval. I circled back on one point that occurred to me while she was talking. "Is everyone in the party automatically in the group? Or vice versa?"

"Oh hell no." She smirked with a raised eyebrow at the temerity of the suggestion. "You and I joined the party before the group, after all. I mean, what if a real bitch joins? Guy or girl? No, the group is separate. I'd say you could even be in the group and not the party, as long as everyone was okay with it." She shrugged her shoulders again. "Though they'd need to be in on the hero stuff. It'd be a bad idea to keep that secret."

I got the sense that Zoya was quick to judgement, but also quick to drop things she felt were irrelevant to her chosen focus. That could be good, but also bad for group dynamics. I'd have to watch the others to make sure resentment wouldn't build if Zoya came off as flippant or dismissive. I gaped internally at how I was already working out ways to protect a group I hadn't even officially agreed to yet.

I was silent for a moment as I considered everything Zoya had laid out. Sharing Arty. I thought through each of the rules and tested them against my emotional reaction, expecting shame, or possessiveness, or some negative feeling intruding. But there was none of that. If anything, there was excitement. A part of it was finding an unexpected common ground with this intense woman in front of me. I knew I loved Arty, I had for a long time. But I could never act on it, something was always in the way. If this was a path to gaining that place, that opportunity for love, there was no part of me that wouldn't fall over myself to reach for it. And then, like Zoya had said, more people means more opportunities to watch. I couldn't wrap my head around it, but this ... arrangement ... fit the shape of what I'd always wanted but never thought I could have. A puzzle piece I'd been trying unsuccessfully to fill in an empty space, only to find it was a match for a different puzzle entirely.

It all depended on Arty, though.

"Yeah." I nodded at last, hardly accepting the words coming out of my mouth, but not hesitating either. "Yeah, okay, I'm in. If we can get Arty on board."

Zoya leaned forward, grabbing onto my hand, eyebrows waggling. "So, I'm thinking we should test the waters. Tonight. Think you can stay over?"

I turned my head to look at her sideways. "What are you planning?"

"Call it a trial period." She winked.

I frowned. "I'm not interested in spying on you and Arty like a peeping tom. If we're doing this, I want him to know and agree beforehand."

Zoya nodded rapidly. "You're right, of course it needs to be consensual, that's in the ground rules." She squeezed my hand in both of hers, her enthusiasm unabated. "But I think we can make it happen. We just have to approach it the right way." She smirked. "If things work out, we can work on making things more official."

Official. Shit, was I really agreeing to this? I took a deep breath, blinking rapidly. All the tension I'd built up on the drive over had left my body and I felt a lassitude wash over me.

But to finally be with Arty, not as a friend, not as a crutch. To stand beside him where I can keep him whole. That's what I want. An unexpected smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.

"Oh, and one other thing," Zoya added, a sly look appearing on her face. "What do you know about this Anya person?"