Commitments

I spent the morning in a bar talking to Carinelle. It was the end of her shift and she was looking for company. I like Carinelle a lot. She posts thoughtful things on the alliance boards, and I like the sound of her voice on comms when she leads fleets. She's also very pretty.

Carinelle and Rocius have an arrangement. Rocius' wife Cierelle knows and approves. They're even talking of Carinelle moving in with them. I thought she was safe to flirt with, and we were flirting gently for a while when I said "but you're taken" So it was a bit of a shock when she smiled at me and said it wasn't an exclusive arrangement...

I carefully backed off, started talking about Sarakai. Carinelle took the hint, and I hope she wasn't offended. I started thinking though. I do tea with Sarakai, and we talk and have started walking arm-in-arm, but we haven't discussed anything. She called me her friend, and that feels important, but ...

It's not like I've made any promises. Neither has she.

So why do I feel like I have?