"I don't want omniscient beings fucking with my head when I don't even know what they're doing and I might not even notice-- I don't care if it's doing positive things, I don't want something to change my brain without me even getting to know what it changed-- I half want to stop fucking Marlo but that wouldn't work, the Erogame wants me to fuck Marlo and if I did it would probably arrange to force me to rape Marlo or something because Marlo thinks getting raped is hot and I don't know if I know that for real or because Everyone Knows is fucking with my head--"

"Do not have sex with me if you don't want to be doing that — True Companions makes you immune to mind control, right —" 

"Don't do something you don't want to do because I'm freaking out."

"Okay, but if it's freaking you out this much to not have it then you should — I'm not going to give it to you in the next five minutes, at minimum we need to talk about what exactly you want from it first, but that's. There." 

"It's fine! I'm fine. Everything's fine."

Sasha hugs him. 

"I wouldn't-- necessarily mind the changes, I mind-- things messing around in my brain without me knowing what they're doing."

"So cuddle me until you can have a conversation about what exactly you want from True Companion, and then you'll know." 

"I want the Erogame to tell me what it's doing to my brain."

"I'm pretty sure that's not the only thing you want." 

He's not going to reach out Lev doesn't want to be having sex with him he shouldn't — 

Sasha leans over and hugs him too. 

It's probably due to the Erogame but Lev feels really really scared and what makes him feel safe is resting his head on Marlo's chest.

"Skills?" 

"Uh, I have a lot — the ones I use are Cuddle which tells me how to move so the person I'm holding feels safe, Sleep Telepathy which tells me how you want to be interacted with while you're asleep and lets me see your dreams, and Matchmaking which tells me what a relationship between two people would be like — I can check what the rest of them are —" 

"Cuddle's nice," Lev says into Marlo's shoulder. "I like Cuddle."

"I like Cuddle too," Marlo says, and cradles Lev's head. 

"Might as well tell me what other horrifying secrets there are in the skills list."

He's maybe blushing a little bit.

"They're not that horrifying — Striptease and Strip Other and Edge Riding do exactly what they sound like, Intimate Healing lets me make people stop feeling nauseous by cuddling them or do CPR by kissing them, Hypnosis also does exactly what it sounds like but I've only ever used it on Sasha, Language of Love does a thing where if someone flirts with me in a language I don't speak I hear it as English, Strike a Pose means I start automatically posing when there are cameras around, Sexual Communication means I say the thing I want with no self censoring and thank the Lord it is a skill I have to use on purpose — I am not actually sure what Exhibitionism and But Had He Been Drinking do, I was distracted and haven't used them, let me check —" 

Info/Skills/But Had He Been Drinking

But Had He Been Drinking. Lvl 1. Passive.

When you drink, you attract a number of rapists equivalent to your level in this skill, all of whom are both attracted to you and aware of your vulnerable state. Observers will believe you are consenting due to being drunk; the drunker you are, the more evidence it will take to cause them to believe you don't consent. 

Info/Skills/Exhibitionism

Exhibitionism. Lvl 1. Active. 1 D|S/use.

When you use this skill while having sex, summon an audience. Audiences will not necessarily confine themselves to simply watching. Audiences summoned while you're not having sex may be... disappointed. 
 

"— okay, But Had He Been Drinking apparently summons rapists when I'm drunk and convinces bystanders I'm consenting, if either of you wants that one sorry but it's not happening, and Exhibitionism summons an audience but it's a skill I have to use on purpose so I can just not do that." 

"I notice you're not mentioning whether you're going to use it. --I also don't know what Edge Riding is."

"It's a passive skill, if I drink it just happens. I am not intending to get drunk but I wasn't intending to before. — edge riding is," and his face is a fascinating shade of pink as he explains. 

"...That sounds hot."

"It's extremely hot." 

"Sasha, you should do that to me."