Suraci had, over the past 3 weeks, made some valiant efforts to not push Cire into a volcano. While Sumas slept next to Suraci every night and came to only Suraci when they wanted dick, for everything else he may as well have been a stick in a moving wheel. It was clear Cire and Sumas had known each other quite some time and their familiarity was infuriating to Suraci. All their inside jokes, the banter in merspeak back and forth between them, the constant reminiscing they did, their playful fighting... the only thing that even temporarily stopped Suraci from seething was when he was inside Sumas and Sumas was calling his name.
Cire knew the terrain almost as well as Sumas, and he could travel the fastest in water. Still, he'd swim alongside Sumas while they giggled back and forth. If they all were walking on land, he was sure to walk at Sumas's side. Suraci always seemed to fall behind. It was impossible for Cire to not notice the boiling rage that was smoldering under the surface like a grease fire in every interaction he had with Suraci. However, this behavior only puzzled him. Sumas had rejected him in favor of Suraci so there really wasn't anything to envy. If anything, he should be the one frustrated, after all he had to hear Sumas every morning, night and any time they'd stop for a rest or to eat panting and moaning 'Suraci' over and over again. And while it probably wouldn't upset him if Suraci drowned in the ocean, Sumas was clearly happy. So, regardless of whether or not Sumas ever would have become intimate with Cire, Sumas was too important to him to intrude, so important that he wanted to take any position in their life he was offered. No matter what, he wanted to be close to them even if it meant he had to endure Suraci, so what the hell was that guy's problem anyway?
Sumas, despite usually being the empathetic one, had been stuck in an uncomfortably numb phase. The only breaks they seemed to get from this numbness was when they were with Cire talking like old times or Suraci when they were fucking, but they still couldn't seem to really pick up on all the feelings around them. Their nervousness surrounding this turn of events was also something they couldn't express. Sumas made great efforts to cover up the fact that they were an empath. It was something too dangerous to reveal to just anyone. So it wouldn't exactly make sense to announce something was missing that they hadn't even copped to having in the first place. What's more, it was far better if that ability never kicked in during this trip, because everything they were about to do would be too overwhelming if they took a minute to feel it. This was like surgery to cut out a tumor, anesthetic is necessary.
Suraci had been tasked with setting up camp while Sumas and Cire went to gather supplies. It made sense because Sumas and Cire knew the terrain better, but Suraci couldn't help silently fuming about it. Because he was a man of logic, he naturally decided to spy on them as they returned. This just seemed like the best way to go about his suspicions. So, when he saw Cire hug Sumas goodnight, gently rubbing their back, he decided he needed to have a talk with Cire when Sumas wasn't around.
Sumas came into the makeshift room they shared with Suraci. Their body was feeling abnormally weak and more nauseated than they were used to. Not wanting to worry the rest of their party for fear it would push them off schedule they didn't mention this. Instead, they stripped all their clothes off, ran a cleaning crystal over their skin and hair and crawled into the sheets lying down exhausted. Suraci, anxious for some time with Sumas, was disappointed to find them not even bothering to touch him. Did they want him to make the first move? He stripped and crawled in next to them. Wrapping his arms around them he began to plant kisses on their neck and back.
Sumas normally couldn't refuse when Suraci came on to them, and honestly it had been a while because they had been so proactive lately. They hated to pass up this opportunity, but they were feeling so nauseous they couldn't reciprocate. Instead they simply said "Not tonight. I'm too tired. It's my fault, I've been keeping both of us up lately. Let's get some rest for once."
Suraci knew that interrogating Sumas wouldn't serve to do anything other than draw their ire so he rolled over unfulfilled and suspicious. For weeks they had been going at it like rabbits, but now they're not in the mood? He decided at this moment that he needed to confront Cire.
"Where are you going?" Sumas asked noticing him leave the bed.
"I need to take care of something because I've gotten too used to fucking you so much." Suraci said. This wasn't untrue in its literal translation either, but be wasn't planning on masturbating like what he said implied. He was planning on telling Cire to leave Sumas alone.
Cire was standing watch. They all slept in shifts to prevent being ambushed. Suraci approached him and said very plainly "I know what you two did tonight."
"I'm going to just go ahead and assume you're not implying something stupid with that because insecurity looks really bad on you." Cire responded.
"I'm not being insecure. There's never been a night since we've been out here that I haven't been inside them until tonight and they've been very friendly with you lately." Suraci responded still containing his anger.
"I've got nothing to do with that. Just because they're not in the mood doesn't mean they're cheating. I mean, if they even have something that defined with you. I don't know what you two are, I don't care. I was friends with Sumas long before you ever came along and your paranoid delusions aren't going to change that." Cire replied matter of factly.
"I saw how you were touching their back when you were hugging them goodnight. It wasn't the way you'd touch someone who was just a friend." Suraci was so new to these feelings he was utterly blindsided by them.
"Are you listening to yourself right now? You sound crazy. You literally just admitted to spying on us." Cire suppressed his laughter at how ridiculous Suraci was being.
"I didn't spy on you!" Suraci almost yelled.
"Calm yourself unless you want to wake them up. What were you doing if you weren't spying? You were just hiding out of sight waiting for us to get back so you could surprise us, right? Look dude, there's no secret between us that you hate my guts. I can feel your rage from here. I just literally don't get it. I mean 1) do you even know Sumas? They're not the type to cheat. 2) Do you even know how long Sumas and I have known each other? If they wanted to climb up on my dick it would have already happened long before you. And I've got 2 words for you: prehensile penis. All mermen have 2. There was never any shortage of impressive dick around Sumas, but despite that, they chose yours. Just feel special already." Cire said nonchalantly.
Suraci couldn't really let the words sink in. He was still stuck on dual prehensile penises. He'd never felt insecure before either. As long as he could remember other people just made him lose faith in humanity. Data sets never disappointed, but people did constantly. All his life he'd never met anyone who could even begin to keep up with him intellectually until Sumas. He'd never had sex like that either. Sumas was so physically and mentally attractive to him and they had such chemistry together between the sheets. He felt like he was going crazy losing the only person he'd ever really liked and felt capable of connecting with. Cire being so emotionally mature at this moment didn't make Suraci pause to reflect either. No this made Suraci feel all the more threatened. Before he could even think his fist was already in motion.
Cire knew the guy was a loose cannon, so he was waiting for the moment when words would fail. He redirected Suraci's punch and threw Suraci off balance so that he fell forward past Cire. From behind Suraci, Cire shook his head. "A couple of things: 1) you are remiss if you think you care more about Sumas than I do. If Sumas didn't express such fondness towards you I wouldn't be tolerating you right now. 2) Jealousy is a pointless emotion. If the person you covet is drifting from you it will do little to draw them back and if they have not drifted it will surely drive them away. If I was you, I'd go back and crawl in bed with Sumas, as you know, they don't sleep with me. And maybe try to grow up a little, Sumas has had a difficult enough life the last thing they need is the guy they like doubting them."
Suraci wanted to be more angry, but he found himself embarrassed realizing he'd picked a fight over nothing. He also realized he'd was wasting his precious time with Sumas arguing with someone else. Realizing his error should have prompted him to apologize, but his ego was too wounded for him to want to. Instead, he got up without a word and crawled back in bed with Sumas... except Sumas wasn't there.