"I - uh, I don't want to hurt you. I want you to be happy. I want you to be mine. And separately from all that I don't care for there to be a story people could tell about us where I decided I wanted a prisoner without a lot of options and then told her I loved her until she gave in and wasn't too picky about waiting for marriage to be with her. I want to have done things honorably. I guess I'm not just- trying to impress an imaginary audience, I also feel like if I don't do it properly then maybe it won't work right."

- nod.

"I guess - I admittedly don't really know how to do things right. I do know that it's - kind of dumb, to figure that even if things aren't how you want them when you're dating then they magically will be when you're married, so - I'm not trying to complain, I'd feel rotten complaining, it's just - you do realize you can tell someone you love them and then also not have sex with them until you're married, right, there isn't, like, a law of the universe that prevents it - "

"I, uh, did tell you that. Right? I love you."

"Yeah, sorry, you did. I know. S'just - I do not think I have a way of saying whatever I'm trying to say that doesn't sound both enormously stupid and self-centered, sorry. Just - I dunno. I shouldn't've said anything, see, it's not even going to make sense - "

"Korva, I want to know how to make you happy."

She bites her lip and blushes.

"...I'm gonna be very annoyed with you if you make fun of me after this."

"Promise I won't laugh. - I've heard a lot of drunk adventurers talking about weird things they wanted. I might be Osirian but I think I can keep up."

" - okay. But you asked."

She closes her eyes and looks like she's thinking very hard, for a moment, picturing something, or maybe gathering her strength. She's still blushing.

"I want - to be valued, I guess. To be - really certain I'm valued, really - the kind of thing where you can't help but believe it because someone's moved to tell you that you're wonderful every day, just being in your presence. I know this is stupid, but - being stupid for a second. And I want - it's lovely when you hold me and probably it out to be enough, but - I guess - I want you to kiss me and pet my hair and tell me - I dunno, that I'm pretty, why you like me, why you - 'cause I don't understand, and it's probably stupid to think it'll help if I hear it again, but maybe eventually it'll stick, and - I don't wanna be pathetic but I don't know which of these things to say, see, no one told me - "

"Uh, did you say the thing or was that - context for the thing or something -"

" - I mean I can probably say more things I want if it's important but this is honestly very hard - "

"It's okay, it's okay, it's just that all I understood from what you said was that I should kiss you and pet your hair and say nice things about you and tell you you're pretty, so if, uh, you were explaining something else I didn't get it -"

"...yeah. I mean, like - should in the sense of it would be nice if you did but you don't, like - have to, or anything - "

He picks her up and carries her back to where he is sitting and settles her in his lap. "- okay?"

- nodnodnod.

- kiss.

Oh gosh she's never kissed anyone before and he's probably kissed lots of people lots of times and he's going to think she's weird and pathetic and - god Hagan is kissing her.

She's just going to kind of let this happen and blush and hold him and be kind of caught between happiness and nervousness that this is all going to turn out to be some kind of ridiculously elaborate middle-school prank.

" - okay?"

" - yeah."

"That wasn't some, ah, Chelish euphemism, that was - I did the thing that you wanted?"

Nodnod. Snuggle.

"Sorry."

Well in that case he will do it again.

- oh gosh.

This time she has kind of stopped expecting a crowd of people to come out and laugh at her and it's just - nice. It's really nice.

Oh good. And hair-petting, she said hairpetting. And - does she want to have sex? He's pretty sure Chelish people who are considering marrying have sex and he's pretty sure an Osirian who wants sex will suggest that you kiss him and then not give a lot of explicit verbal instruction after that but this just leaves him - 

- he told her that he'd do whatever she wanted and if this is what she wants then it's what he wants -

- he decides eventually to start trying to work out the ties on her dress but slowly so if it's not right she can stop him and if it is right he can get himself in a better state of mind about it -

She is so happy about the hairpetting. And the kissing. Hagan is kissing her and he's not acting like this is a ridiculous thing to be doing and it's nice, it's so so nice.

It takes her a couple seconds to process the fact that he's untying her dress, but when she does she brings her hand up to hold his, gently.

"Hey," she says, very softly.

"Hey. Love you."