"It'd be bad to be pressurey but not bad to want anything."

"I'm not sure what the difference is exactly?"

"Pressure is about making it hard to say no, and wanting anything is about making it clear that there's anything she could conceivably choose to say yes to."

"Does it not make it hard to say no if I'll clearly have lots of emotions about it if she does?"

"No. She can always fuck off to a different universe if she decides she does not want to interact with your feelings."

"Oh. Well, I can refrain from filtering my emotions when I talk to her if that seems like a good idea."

"You can also, like, use words, you don't have to skip straight to the waterworks."

"I don't actually plan on crying, it just seems like a not impossible outcome, or something like that."

Nod nod.

"Are you really sure that seeming needy won't be a bad idea?"

"No, you could super fuck it up, I'm just more confident that pathologically avoiding seeming like you give a shit about her at all is a bad idea."

Nod.

"How might I fuck it up?"

"Oh, I don't know specifically, as I said you can try lines on me if you want."

"I think I'm finding it hard to be emotionally vulnerable around you under these circumstances."

"Yeah, valid, would that everyone in this situation had more tools to hand."

"Possibly if you like, left the room and gave me a minute I could come up with some lines and write them down?"

"Sure, can I borrow your phone to call my folks?"