Having my own place for the first time in several years has made it really clear quite the extent to which I am an introvert. Maintaining a small number of close connections is very important and healthy for me, and I dearly enjoy being around my favourite people more than almost anything (to the extent that I do sometimes ignore my own introvert-needs in order to continue being around people when I'm enjoying myself), but my social batteries are ultimately very limited and drain somewhat quickly around everyone other than my partner.
In particular I'm discovering that having people other than my partner in my house, even good friends, for more than a couple nights easily becomes draining if I am not actively seeking my own space often (I need to get much more in the habit of being like "I'm going to go use my computer for the next few hours" or "can I have the lounge to myself for the next few hours?" when I have visitors). This is the case even if I have complete control of the sensory environment, even if the other person helps with cooking etc, even if a lot of hangout time is parallel play. The only person that doesn’t seem to trigger this is my partner (who I can spend loads of time with and not meet some of those above conditions around and yet still I won’t get drained from that time).
idk. I would really like to be the kind of person who can be around friends all the time, but that's simply not me and it's good that I'm learning more about myself and my limitations and needs.