"I am familiar with the concept of not wanting to have sex." 

"...okay. That's good, because if you weren't I would feel pretty uncomfortable about kissing you."

It isn't that weird as a thing, if he thinks about it. Plenty of people who are dating someone don't want to sleep with anyone else, it's just that Sasha has never previously had the opportunity to kiss one of those people. "I just don't usually kiss people who don't also want to sleep with me. It's not a big deal." 

Sasha must be pretty inexperienced if he hasn't encountered people who want to kiss but don't want to have sex. 

"It's a thing! It's just that I need to feel close to people before I get anything out of sex with them."

Lev puts a hand in Sasha's hair and then kisses him deeply.

Kissing is nice. And Lev is still cute, even if he is confusing. 

Sasha is really, really good at kissing. 

Lev is perfectly aware that if he tried to have sex with Sasha right now it would be kind of disgusting and unpleasant, like eating cold congealed eggs. That doesn't stop the thought from being tempting. 

Sasha is... maybe not super clear on where the line between "kissing" and "beyond that" is; he doesn't put his hands up Lev's shirt again, but he does rub their bodies together, pull Lev closer, bite very gently at Lev's lower lip. 

All of those things are fine!

Lev pulls Sasha's hair. 

Sasha moans and gasps — almost exactly the way Lily does; his hair is softer but it curls around Lev's fingers exactly the same — and definitely does not discourage this. 

"God, it's such a waste."

"Hm?" 

"It would be really nice to have a threesome with you and Lily, but I'm not going to stay in Milliways long enough to fall in love with you, and without that it... wouldn't work."

...his experience of love does not generally include things like "time," but if it works for Lev. 

He nods and tries to stand up and promptly falls. 

Lev has an arm around his shoulder helping him up.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, I just can't balance really at all, I'm — not really sure why." 

"That's-- odd, have you seen a doctor about it?"

"I've asked. She clucked her tongue a lot and suggested a surge that didn't help, and I didn't go back." 

"Surge?"

"Surgery. People mostly use them for cosmetic stuff, there's a thing lots of people are doing with their eyes right now, but they still exist for medical purposes. This one just — I can't tell if it made things worse or not but it didn't help." 

"I guess even the utopian future has untreatable neurological problems and incredibly unhelpful doctors."

"I guess," he agrees. Maybe they should sit down and then Sasha can cuddle Lev. 

"Milliways has private rooms, we might want to go up to one of those instead of being all PDA-y in front of the other customers."

"The extent to which I can handle stairs is. Limited." 

"There are rooms on the first floor."

"Then yes, let's." 

He'll keep leaning on Lev some, but while they're moving it's much easier to lean on walls and chairs.