N is for Nuptuals

from Rebekah Loper’s book called The A-Zs of Worldbuilding: Building a Fictional World From Scratch

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Nuptials are a thing of the past. Matchmakers put people together based on information gathered in the four years (from 18 to 22) young adults are living and exploring their world. At the end of that time, the Matchmakers match the people up in the best configurations. They may be matched with up to three other people and live as a family unit. There can be 1, 2, 3, or 4 adults living in a shared space. Individuals may choose to have their own quarters, or they can be in a relationship with someone who also has an individual unit.

Whatever type of relationship they end up in, the relationships are arranged. The Matchmakers decide who is best together, and there is no deviation from that. There is no marriage, so there’s no such thing as divorce. That being said, there is an opportunity once a year for a group or couple to decide to split.

The culture of the community has all but eradicated abuse. The mindset and close living of groups of people has made it impossible for abuse to occur, and when it did in the past, the abusers were kicked out of the community. The swift action of the time has meant that no one behaves that way. Surviving outside the community is all but impossible.

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Above you see my description that I wrote based on the extensive questions in The A-Zs of Worldbuilding. Below, you can read an excerpt of Chapter 57 from Exploration: An Erotic Novel, available now!

Remember this (and most) of my posts contain adult content!

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“Right,” I said. “So, what did happen?”

“Nothing that exciting,” he said. I waited for more. He didn’t disappoint. “I went through my four years of experimentation. I tried everything. But what I found was that I wasn’t all that interested in a steady relationship. It was a lot more fun to do different things with different people.”

“So why didn’t you tell them you wanted a poly relationship?” I asked. It was common for people to request multiple relationships. Monogamous people weren’t the norm. We shared food, resources, living spaces. Why wouldn’t we share sex, too?

“Because that’s not what I wanted either. I didn’t want multiple committed relationships. I just wanted to be free to do what I want.”

That seemed unusual. People who didn’t want relationships were often aromantic or asexual, but he was sexual for sure, and it appeared he might be romantic, too.

“What we have,” he said with a deep breath, “is perfect. We have a great time together.” I nodded in agreement. “But there’s no push to be more.” I nodded again, but I was a little bit less sure.

Was there no push for more? We were here, at dinner time, he made dinner for me. We spent the afternoon cuddling and napping. Work time was over, everyone else had left. He could have gone any time. And yet, here we were.

“I told the matchmakers all of this, and they let me be free.”

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Who is “he”?

How does their relationship work?

Find out all that and in Exploration: An Erotic Novel available now! Or come back tomorrow to learn more!