IC Contact - Duplicity

[understood]

username: Cst.B.Fraser

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[scarrystories]

[ He takes Ben's hands to pull them away from his face. ]

Ben.

[understood]

It's not... that.

[scarrystories]

Then?

[understood]

I think it's... it's related to the reason I don't drink. I think, so often, people drink in order to escape their own lives, to... to lose themselves in something external. I've never felt the need to do that. I've always thought it was that simple—never feeling the need—but perhaps it goes deeper than that. Perhaps with alcohol, or sex, or anything else that involves a... a letting go of inhibitions... I actually fear that escape. Perhaps I fear that I really will lose myself, for more than the time being. That I won't be able to find myself again. And... I mean, to escape my life, really, even the language I'm using, it's—well, the French even refer to orgasm as "a little death," and so in a sense... I think some part of me feels that letting go will result in... some kind of death of the self, so to speak. I find physical intimacy... consuming, in that way. It's difficult.

It's easier when it's... a means to an end, I suppose. An expression of care for another person. But I... I do value my inhibitions. Generally speaking. And so... when I'm reminded that I've put them aside for a time... well, in a way... inhibitions, courtesy, a sense of being... civilized, it's all of a piece. There's this sense that I've lost who I choose to be. It's not that I'm without passion, but that giving myself over to passion feels like abandoning reason and principle, and doing that purely for pleasure and escape... terrifies me.

[scarrystories]

[ Andy doesn't interrupt at all throughout, he just listens attentively. When he's done, Andy leans in to give him a light peck on the lips. ]

That makes sense.

[understood]

It does?

[scarrystories]

It does. You have very clear limits for yourself, catching yourself stepping outside of them freaks you out.

Do you feel weird when you think about the sex you had after the fact?

[understood]

Yeah.

[scarrystories]

Do you have any leisurely activities? Things you do just for fun.

[understood]

Just for fun?

... I listen to music. I go for hikes.

[scarrystories]

Do you lose track of time? Forget your stressors for a bit?

[understood]

It's very rare that I lose track of time. But I don't think I tend to dwell on stressors at any time.

[scarrystories]

So the difference between that and sex is what? Intensity?

[understood]

They don't make me stop thinking. There's always... a level of analysis, out in nature. If nothing else, I'll tend to catalogue flora and fauna as I go... look for signs of tracks... estimate wind speed and direction. With music, as well, there's always historical context to consider, and all the technicalities, the theory... it's not just instinct, just sensation. I'm used to relying on both of those—instinct and senses—as tools. But not losing myself in them.

[scarrystories]

We could try making it more controlled on your end, but I think learning to let go gradually would be better.

[understood]

I'm not sure that... I mean to say. What if I do get lost? What if this is the start of a slippery slope? What if I develop a... a sex addiction?

[scarrystories]

I get the concern and the fear, I really do. But I don't think it's a risk, I think you could get wrapped into it for a while, like how most people who go to a casino for the first time get hooked and end up with a moral hangover.

Plus, honestly, I could see something like a sex addiction coming a mile away and I'd intervene before it got bad.

[understood]

It's just that I'm very aware that it's not in my nature to let things go.

[scarrystories]

... are we still talking about sex?

[ Because if they're not this is getting into a more serious conversation. ]

[understood]

What else would we be talking about?

[scarrystories]

... the... temporary nature of relationships in this place.

[understood]

I'm not sure I know quite what you mean.

[scarrystories]

Nevermind. We're still talking about sex, then.

[understood]

I was, yes. It's certainly not a personality trait that only applies to my... my "sex life," though. It's just in that context that it worries me.

[ Always with the air quotes. ]

[scarrystories]

Have you ever had a problem with addiction? Or... smaller things like, being unable to stop eating chips until you're out?