"Got freaked out and disappeared into the bathroom halfway through a threesome."

“...Yeah, that’s fair.” Hugs?

Hugs.

"I'm sorry I led you on. And also that I don't know whether I could actually kiss you without getting freaked out and running into the bathroom."

“It’s okay. Really. I’m just—glad that got figured out before I, like, tried to kiss you or something.”

Lev takes Martin's hand and puts it in his hair. "I really like you. --And for what it's worth you probably are my type? Which is, uh, men who are more than a foot taller than me."

Lev is going to have his hair very tentatively pet while Martin blushes. “Oh. Okay. And—for what it’s worth, it’s also fine if you don’t want to kiss me ever, or if I wasn’t your type?”

"Yes. I gathered that you don't want to sexually assault me."

Yeah okay Martin is just going to shove his face in Lev's hair and make muffled noises about this whole situation.

Muffled noises! A good plan.

Eventually Lev is going to start talking about finding tutoring clients and which studio they should move into.

Eventually Martin is going to lift his head up to hum approvingly and generally make appropriate listening noises. 

And tomorrow morning Lev is going to walk into Elias's office and say, "Martin and I are quitting."

No he isn’t. 

He can get as far as the door before he just... stops. 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaa more undocumented mind control

He forms the intention to ask for a raise and then tries to open the door.

That works fine! He opens the door. 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

He goes to his desk, opens his laptop, and tries to compose an email.

He can compose the email! He can even compose an email about quitting! He cannot hit send. 

Pen and paper?

Once again, he can write it! He cannot take any steps towards turning it in.

.............can he leave the building.

Sure!

...How long does he want to leave the building for.

His plan is to go back to his apartment, curl up under a blanket, play a shitty iPhone game, and not return to work. 

He should probably text Martin:

weird mind control thing means I can't quit

going to hide under a blanket for three days and see if that works

He can do that!

Martin texts back:

are you sure you can't? it's OK if you just... want to stay

if it's mind control I'm sorry & I genuinely did not know about it. just, one of my coworkers in research quit and as far as I know there was no problem?

do you need me to bring you food for blanket-hiding

what should I tell Tim & Sasha

I can write an email but not send it, I can write a letter but not take it to Elias, I can open the door of Elias's office if I'm planning to ask for a raise but not if I'm planning to quit

I can get my own food but seeing you would be nice

you should see if you can quit if you still want to

Martin comes by sometimes, bearing frozen dinners.

Lev gets the feeling of being watched on-and-off. If he tries to apply for other jobs, he discovers that he can't turn in the application. If he tries to invite people to be tutored by him, he can't get the words out.

He says to Martin one of the times he came bearing a frozen dinner: "you didn't quit."