Does Sadde help or does he strictly need Matt?

Sadde… helps. Helps as in Theo gets distracted by the closer smell, notices it's an Important Person, and then is distracted from what he was thinking of before and that's obviously good.

And then Theo decides that he's getting distracted for a bit too long because he actually considers, once, getting up and going after someone, and they should go back inside.

Eugh.

"I'd say this experiment was a success, though."

He nods. "If we can work out a phrasing and a pacing, or an amount of time to say it for that seems decent, I can just use that in the future with people who I am going to interact with lots and really need to be careful around? And also who hopefully won't abuse it to try to get me to do something quick and against my will, though with just a small recording that hopefully won't work unless, I dunno, copying works, which would be frustrating."

"And I mean in any case it seems the only equilibrium is 'both parties slightly fascinated by each other.'"

"Yeah, but it seems that's enough to get me to double-check personhood, which is good."

"...so, since we're being all honest with each other and having heart-to-hearts and stuff, I'm curious about why you were conflicted about kissing me."

"Excluding the current magical bit, my current feelings? Or my feelings before I became a vampire?"

"Both?"

"Before vampirism, you seemed cute but also you had the whole agender thing going on – agender? Might be the wrong word – and I wasn't sure how that would interact with things if we did go into doing things, and I also wasn't up for it at the time because of various things, and then time passed and I might have considered it eventually and then I temporarily died and became a vampire. Now – I dunno, I can pick through it but I haven't yet."

"Genderfluid, and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't come up at all unless you have some flavor of dislike for having kissed someone who is sometimes a girl."

"Nnno? But it would mean that it would be weird for me to act normally couple-y and kiss you and whatever while you're a girl – mainly the kissing part, not the rest of it since that can be done approximately platonically anyway."

"Couple-y...? Oh you were thinking something longer term, um."

"I was thinking of the possibility of something longer term since I wasn't at the time in the mood for some quick fling thing? So, you know, all of these things would have been issues – didn't want a quick fling, didn't know if I wanted a longer-term thing, didn't know if a longer-term thing would work out in the slightest? Hence conflicted?"

"Yeah, I mean, I'm not strictly opposed to it, it just hadn't crossed my mind as a possibility."

He tilts his head, looking at Theo in what might be called "a new light."

Theo looks slightly amused by this. "And I had basically ruled it out, see: me not acting on it, 'cause you seemed up for meeting lots of people in lots of ways and I was just vaguely background."

"You weren't just vaguely background! I'm just—well, I like kissing people a lot, in a way that is completely decoupled from having romantic relationships with them. I haven't even ever had any."

Theo shrugs. "I haven't either, though whether that's down to being gay in a small town or whether it's just because I've not been up for it or what, dunno."

D'aww.

(Matt has deleted the video. It is supremely weird to be Noticeable to the vampire.)

"You. Are definitely not the only gay guy here."

"I didn't think I was the only one," he says. "And I'm sure there are a couple of bi ones too, hi Matt, but still, limited pool."

Smirk.

"For long term dating, I guess that's true, depending on what you like."

He shrugs. "Anyway, had any new thoughts about what to test or should we just go back through the things we mentioned and didn't get 'round to…?"

"Well we should probably figure out whether the picture slash video slash recording thing depends on who possesses it or who owns it or who actually recorded it and how all of that works with copies."