"I want you to know that I'm okay with you."

"I do know that." 

"Good." He kisses Raine.

Raine relaxes into the mattress, relaxes into Asher. 

"I really don't want you to have unprotected sex with other people though."

"...yeah. I — wanted to use protection, I just — stopped pushing when he said he was on the implant because I knew pushing wouldn't get me anywhere." 

Hugs. "It's okay. I'm sure you wouldn't have if you'd known he was-- like that."

"Are you okay?"

"I did know." 

She's just barely audible. 

"...then why did you fuck him?"

His voice is soft and gentle and curious.

"Because I was trapped and miserable and I wanted to prove my body was mine to do what I wanted with and I wanted to get the noise fucked out of my head." 

"Not sure why fucking someone-- like that-- would prove your body is yours."

"It was a stupid thing I wasn't supposed to be doing and nobody could stop me." 

"Uh. ...I also can't stop you from doing stupid things but in the future can you, like. Express that you control your body through not making stupid choices."

"If I'm somewhere where they don't take away my clothes and make me hide my thread and force me to eat and make me change my fucking name for what they say is my own good." 

"Okay," he says. "I can do that."

"Good." 

"I won't make you eat more than you want to and you can wear whatever you want and I'll call you Her Highness the Princess of Maldonia if that's what you want to be called."

"Thank you." 

She wants to be less tense. Why isn't she relaxing? 

"And. I guess you can have unprotected sex if you want to, it's your body, I just. --I would really rather you not decide to do things that are going to fuck you up this much."

She isn't going to protest that she didn't know it would fuck her up this much. She isn't going to cry. 

She's going to nod and not say anything at all. 

He's going to hold her.

(He doesn't know what he's doing wrong.)

Being held should be nice — she doesn't want to feel too-hot and constricted — she closes her eyes. 

"Do you want me to leave you for a bit?"