...and, for a little while, they are unbound, together, allowed a short span of time to fuck or snuggle or just hold each other.

Yes, in case it isn't obvious, both of them belong to me. *slight smile*

They are part of my Pack; a pair of young lovers that Cate and I took under our wing a while ago, and who have even before now proven themselves to be good friends and great company. The night before last, after days of conversation with them both and a very intense night of conversation with each one individually, I offered them something together that I had been rather strongly resisting even suggesting to either one alone.

While they belong to me, though they will still be packmates, friends, and at times lovers, they will NOT be dating, nor are they allowed to play with each other without my permission. There are quite a few reasons for this, but the main ones are simple:

1) They are in training, and I want them focused on what they can learn rather than focused on each other. This means that neither one of them is to attempt to dominate the other unless it is with my guidance and at my command; it also means that while they can snuggle and will at times sleep together, that they won't be fucking, nor will they always be allowed to touch each other, or even speak to each other, depending on what aspect of their training is being taught at the moment.

2) The boy has been... intensely attached, shall we say, to the girl; not necessarily a bad thing, but awkward when the girl in question is decidedly poly and feeling the need for a bit of space. She loves him, make no mistake there, but right now she needs a bit of breathing room and without someone else for him to cling to when he needs to, she won't get it.

3) The girl is, in bed, a switch leaning to submissive. Outside of it she is decidedly Domme, and wants a chance to exercise some of her submissive urges while learning from another woman some of the things a Domme should know.

4) The boy is a switch as well, though he tends to think of himself as a Dom much of the time. He has had almost no experience submitting though, partly because what little experience he has had was somewhat sour and partly because he has not found anyone who can control his Dominant nature without setting off his buttons. He also needs to learn what many of the things a submissive experiences feel like, so that if or when he does them to someone else, he will understand exactly what reactions he's likely to cause and, more importantly, WHY.

5) Trying to train someone in this fashion is surprisingly difficult if they have a pet or pets of their own at the time. To be able to submit, you need to NOT be responsible for someone else, required to take care of them, attentive to their training and their well-being; having a pet rather thoroughly snaps one out of the submissive mindset. Having a pet you're in love with, doubly so.

6) I intend to give the boy a better taste of poly living than he's gotten so far; the girl is gorgeous, intelligent, and pretty much never has a shortage of hopeful partners, and he has yet to experience that side of it. With the attachment of their relationship entirely on hold, it will be easier to not only introduce him to potential play partners, but give him a guilt-free way of experimenting with them - after all, if he's ORDERED to do so, it's hardly his fault. *wink*

7) ...ok, I'll admit it, owning two people who happen to love each other gives me a LOT of leverage. *wry grin* Makes my job easier in some ways; certainly makes for a larger variety of punishments and rewards than would be available when training just one person. I'm lazy, if there's a convenient tool like that right there, I'm certainly not going to turn my nose up at it.

So yeah. Torian was right; I just needed to open my eyes to what was there. I'd been trying so hard NOT to interfere with their relationship when they first started asking me for advice and help individually that it hadn't even occurred to me to try this. I was actively fighting NOT to just snatch up one or the other of them as a playtoy, even. *amused* I feel... heh. Relieved, honestly. They were heading for one hell of a rocky patch in their relationship left to their own devices, but I suspect this experience will get them through, past, and far beyond it with only the slightest of rough spots. And I?

I get the satisfaction of two pretty little pets sitting at my feet again; I get someone to train, to teach; I get the physical pleasure of having my fingers wrapped around a collar, watching the look in their eyes as I take them farther than they'd ever imagined going... and bring them back again.

Yep. I suspect I'll be having a LOT fewer 5AM angst hours. *chuckles throatily, eyes heavy-lidded, contentment clear in her expression* I've MISSED this.

I feel... heh. I feel complete again. I've my loves, I've my pack, and I've my pets.

Life is GOOD.