So... from the beginning, I guess... apologies for typos, it's late.
A few months back, I set up an OKC profile just to talk to people. Light read through my profile and Saw That It Was Good (tm), and the first three matches for me were her (of course) and two other members of the local 'cule.
For the most part, it was... discouraging. Most conversations ended within a few days, and ended with me saying something and never getting a reply. One was interested in how the whole open relationship thing worked and why we weren't exclusive ("Well, her husband would have issues with that." "Oh.") Some fun small talk. But the conversations were either pointless small talk about weather and whatnot, or decent conversations that were fun... but ended abruptly and without warning.
And then, one that wasn't. Someone new had shown up under the poly filters, and we started talking. Some stuff in common; not everything, but enough to give us conversation topics. She was married and recently poly, having met her first Other Whatever, so I talked some about the locals I knew, meetups, etc. During a group thing, she gets introduced to everyone, as it turns out her Other is a member of the local 'cule. All together now: Iiiiit's a small world aaaafter all......
Anyway. We meet up and chat in a park for a bit. And I'm realizing... I kinda like her. I mean, I don't know if she's someone I would pursue if we were both single... but that's part of poly, right? There's no need for someone to fill all your needs. Nobody's perfect, and you shouldn't have to be perfect. So, we met again, I took her to dinner. There was much talking. I was somewhat awkward. And since I'm terrible at reading body language, I decided that it had been a 'just friends' things.
I find out that Light feels a bit jealous. Which at first, makes no sense to me, but then I realize... We've been together for seven months, and suddenly I've gone from 'not looking for anyone, just talking to people' to 'I may be interested'. It's a big personality change, one I'd be worried about in someone else. So we talk, and things seem good, so I go meet... she needs a nickname... let's go with Tree. So I go meet Tree again, at her place. And perform my first rookie fuckup: Light also wanted to spend time with me. So I tell her that I'll text her when I'm leaving and we can go do soemthing. Should be about midnight. You guessed it... I lost track of time while talking. Minor issue there that leads me to a panic attack that lasts all night and into the next day, until we're able to talk things out.
But anyway, that night was... awkward. Slightly uncomfortable. I still wasn't quite sure what I was doing, what I wanted, if I was doing the right thing. I'm also apparently not very subtle. I didn't make a very good impression. But we keep talking, and I talk about some of my reasons for how I was acting, and we decide... no more filters. Just be us. And talking goes well.
Which leads to today. I'd gotten some dating advice from Light, I went over to Tree's place, ready to discuss... rules and boundaries and whatever else... and then watched movies and kissed and cuddled andmostof the awkwardness was gone. It was just the experience of learning about someone new, and... it was fun. And we're not sure exactly what it is... but we're going to keep going. I've got a small hickey on my neck, she's got... a few more... (One of the things with Light and Cool is that, no leaving big, obvious marks. I'll admit... it felt great to tug skin with my teeth, to hear the gasp... it's a need I hadn't realized I needed filled)... and I guess that technically makes me poly now.
And since it's so damn late, I'm going to try to take a nap before work. Then do a fuckton of processing today. I... knew this was a possibility when I started dating Light all those months ago, but I didn't expect it to happen like this, or this fast. Life just got a little more interesting...