"Sounds good!"

"Okay. Thank you."

She free writes. She writes up an account for Fazil of what happened two nights ago that basically matches the account she gave Hagan earlier. She plays around with prestidigitation. Tries making a crude little one-armed Hagan figurine. It's not really recognizable. She gives it a little bow and a little snake and sets it very carefully on her nightstand. 

Eventually she heads out to get some more food and brings it to her husband.

Her husband is doing nothing in bed. 

"Hey. Feeling any better?"

"I ...think so? I don't feel like there's definitely no point in doing anything, so that's good. I instead feel like there's no point preparing for the state dinner because it will be excruciating torture, but." Shrug. "Abadar says he can't give me Miracle, which is not shocking but is still kind of disappointing. I said he could have my ranger levels in exchange but apparently he cannot."

"Would it help if I said that it will probably be excruciating torture but I can promise to snuggle you afterwards. Or - anything else that won't itself be excruciating torture for me."

"So what, exactly, is excruciating torture for you."

"I - will not promise to have penetrative sex with you on a given night when I might be really tired and haven't psyched myself up for it, because I might really need to tap out of it. Are there - other things you want."

"Yeah, I - what we had before doesn't solve our central problem here but it'd still be nice, compared to -" Handwave.

" - I can try it. Not necessarily whenever, but - if you make it through the dinner party without giving up on being a passable head of state, then yeah. Yes."

Snort. "Absolute power, indeed."

She doesn't immediately have a safe answer to that. She looks at a corner of the room while she tries to think of one.

He doesn't seem to particularly expect one. He hugs her, not very energetically.

"You still wanna hear about feelings, or are you sick of it yet."

"Go ahead. Can't pretend I'm - enjoying it - but it feels like we're getting somewhere."

Nod.

"You obviously have the power to demand anything from me at any time. There are very few things that I am even capable of refusing you, and if I did you could punish me, and no one would come to my aid."

"Wasn't - pretending that's not true. Just - noticing how it doesn't actually get me anything I want and seems to actively get in the way half the time."

" - yeah. I'm not disputing that.

"I can be more careful about wording things, if there'd be a better way to put it, and I can - I guess I was making an assumption here, right, if it were me then having something to look forward to if I succeeded and something slightly lesser to look forward to if I failed would be a lifeline for all six hours, y'know? But you're not me and if something else would help you more you can pitch me on it.

"I do think that - if I stop claiming, or thinking, that I should be able to refuse to have sex with you at any particular point in time, then things will end up - worse."

"I wasn't - criticizing you, when I said that. If that - wasn't clear. I - it will help."

" - okay. M'sorry for assuming. That - helps, thank you."

"Is there some - culture thing here - to do with what people mean by things like that in Cheliax, or is it just something about our relationship right now -"

"It's - kind of both?

" - we have a big reputation as sluts, right, the Chelish, but - a free person always has the right to refuse sex. To anyone, at any time, for any reason, married or not. Sex without consent is rape. And - I understand Osirians don't see it that way. And I'm - scared about it, about what happens if these differences end up coming to a head. So I'm touchy about it. But this is important, okay, this is my line, no sex stuff that I've said no to."

Patpatpat.

Snuggle.

"I'm not gonna ask you to make promises. But - I think you will very very seriously regret it if you don't respect that line. And you will hurt me much worse than you did last time.

"Anyway. That's where I'm at."

"Chelish people are promising - less."