"I DON'T SMOKE POT. SORRY."

Taki answered Ellis's stupid question. I followed Ellis when he went out of the room and we encountered the twins. Then, the twins decided to join us for a walk as we all followed Ellis out of the hotel and we reached a small lake where we all sat down near the bank and relaxed just for a while. Then, Ellis asked if Taki had pot.

"But do you smoke?" Ellis followed up.

"I don't," Taki grinned.

Ellis turned to Taka. "Do you smoke?"

"Pot?" Taka confirmed.

"Yeah," Ellis said.

Taka shook his head. "Nope."

"But do you smoke, in general?" Ellis clarified.

"I don't," Taka grinned as well.

"You twins… You're so confusing," Ellis grunted.

"It's easy to tell. I'm pansexual. Taka's straight," Taki said.

Ellis stared at Taki like he wants to grab his neck and strangle him. "Oh, honey, I don't read forehead lines."

Taki touched his forehead and wondered if he had those. Taka just laughed.

Well, what got me curious was Taki's sexual orientation. "So… Pansexual, huh? So, you've been with a straight guy, a girl, a gay man, a lesbian, a transsexual?"

Taka shook his head. "He's never been with a straight guy or girl."

That's a surprise. "That's odd. Why is that so?"

"I think it's the same feeling for a straight man when a gay guy tries to pursue him for any reason. I have that feeling, actually. Not that I discriminate them, though. I just feel like I'm more open to people like me than the straight ones," Taki replied.

I kind of relate myself to Taki. I might have liked guys long before I knew to myself but it felt validated when my drag family influenced me. Not that they told me who to love, but they made me feel safe about opening myself up to who truly I am.

"So, say, for example, we have a trans woman and a straight girl at a bar, and you're about to approach one of them. Are you gonna approach the trans woman first?" Ellis asked.

"No, I'm gonna approach just the trans woman," Taki said.

"And I'm gonna approach the straight girl," Taka added, then they did a high five.

"Wow, so it's a win-win situation for the both of you, then," I reacted. "You're not gonna have issues of liking the same person."

"True that," Taka confirmed.

"So, Taki, how does it feel to be in a relationship with all of them at the same time? Was it hard?" I was curious to ask.

Taki laughed. "Wait a minute, Trick. Let me clarify this. I may be pansexual, but I've never experienced what you've thought I did. That's Taka's forte. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I prefer monogamy to polyamory."

Ellis turned to Taka. "Hello there, my dear friend. I've never visualized you as a whore. You're the more serious type of guy, unlike your brother who is all smiles all the time."

"I do smile too," Taka said. "and sorry to burst your bubble too, Ellis. I do not get paid for fucking people."

"So you do it for free? Gosh, we're gonna be best friends," Ellis's eyes glimmered.

Taka laughed. "I do it with the people I'm committed to. As Taki said, I do welcome the concept of polyamory with straight people. I used to be in a throuple back then, but it didn't just work. Not because we have trust issues, which is common to polyamory relationships, or I guess even in monogamy, but the three of us didn't know each other well."

I tried to analyze every word that Taka was saying, and somehow I can follow, but I need to ask further. "That's a lot to take, but… what happened?"

Taka explained. "There was this straight girl that I liked. We started dating and we decided to become a couple after a few weeks. To add more spice to our relationship, I opened up being in a throuple to her. She was hesitant at first, since she wasn't comfortable with the idea and she never tried it before, but I convinced her and she finally decided to give it a try. We've set some rules, so we're on the same page. When she gave me the green light, I suggested her to find a guy that she could learn to like. Just a few days later, we met this handsome man in a bar and we asked him if he wanted to be part of the throuple. He's cool with it and both my girlfriend and I were okay with him. The relationship went really well, until the three of us approached our fourth month together…"

"And?" Ellis curiously uttered. Well, Taka has been holding up the suspense.

"We found out that the guy was the girl's first cousin. The mother of the girl and the father of the guy were siblings that were orphaned at an early age and were separated for a very long time," Taki just smiled faintly.

Ellis's and my mouth formed a big O shape. Taki was chuckling on the side.

"When we all found out, I told them something…" Taka continued.

"Please don't tell me what I'm thinking right now, Taki. Please!" Ellis was already biting his nails in suspense. I might do that as well!

"Well, I told them that we can still continue the relationship, but I guess, I just can't justify my love with the solution I thought of," Taka just kept on hanging us by a thread.

"Which is?" I asked.

"We're not doing H in bed," Taka said.

"Oh, gosh, that's so visual," I said, then I did a facepalm.

"The other guy broke up with us, as he didn't agree with that, since he's not getting any. The girl broke up with me because she was too embarrassed to remember that for the rest of her life. That made me sad because that was the best H of my life," Taka added.

"Will you stop, you f/ucked-up f/ucker?" Ellis retched after that.

"Now, tell me, am I the odd one?" Taki grinned.

"We're odd in our own ways, buddy," I said. "Whew, you guys are such interesting people."

"Okay, let me sum it up. Taki goes out with LGBT peeps, one at a time, and Taka is a straight slut. Correct?" Ellis said.

"Why do you make it sound like I'm a bad guy?" Taka told Ellis as Taka tried his hardest not to laugh.

"Honey, stop preaching to the choir. It takes one to know one and we're on the same side," Ellis defended himself.

"Yeah, that's because he's a slut too," I added, then we all laughed.

"Fine, I'm a slut who falls in love with too many people," Taka scoffed, which I think he was offended with the word 'slut'.

"Hey, we're just kidding, Taka. That's just a joke. We don't think polyamory and sluttiness have the same meaning. We're sorry," I said immediately.

Then, suddenly, Taka said… "Gotcha!" Then he laughed. Taki laughed as well, which I think he knew what his twin is doing.

"Oh, okay, he's got game," Ellis then smirked.

"You twins… You're so confusing," I said.

"It's easy to tell. Taki's pansexual. I'm straight," Taka said.

"I think we figured it out by knowing that the two of you don't smoke," Ellis spoke.

"Pot?" Taki asked, then we laughed again.

Somehow this moment of fun took all the angst and worries that Ellis and I both had. Until Taki asked about Haru.

"So, Ellis… Haru's gonna be fighting soon. How are you feeling?"

Ellis sighed. "Well, I'm kind of angry at him at the moment, but deep inside me, I'm worried for him. You've observed how the Thai fight. They're skilled and cunning. They transform into these different animals. They're moving really fast."

"I didn't see Ton transform into an animal," Taki commented.

"We received a piece of information about the Thai, that all of them can transform into these animals. As we've watched, Ploy can change into a fighting fish. Ton, who didn't show us his transformation earlier, can change into a Siamese fireback, which is a kind of bird. Definitely, Beam has some tricks up his sleeve," I explained.

"He looked so serious, although he's been very polite whenever we come across him," Taka reacted.

"Well, the Thai people have been known for their gentleness, but, man, they kick ass in the ring," Taki said his observation.

"Which is why I'm worried. Right now, I wanna use my filthy hands to hug Haru in the neck, but if Beam does that, I'm gonna be crushed," Ellis shrugged.

"I was super impressed with Haru when he fought the Irish. I'm telling you, he's gonna be okay," I tried to uplift Ellis's spirit and I think, it worked somehow. His face lit up.

"You think?" Ellis asked.

I nodded. "He has his way of words, literally and magically. He's a cunning linguist."

Ellis squinted his eyes. "It's a good thing you say that phrase very slowly. Otherwise, I would say that I might have heard a different thing."

"Which we both love," Taki and Taka spoke at the same time and even did a high-five.

Ellis and I retched. "Taki, really?"

"Yeah, I told you, I'm pan," Taki reiterated.

"And we don't smoke," Taka added.

"Pot," Taki winked.

Ellis and I both groaned. "You twins… You're so confusing."