"Successfully did not take advantage of you! I shall wear this badge of honour with pride."

"What's the meme term, here, same hat?"

It is insane that Haru thought this was possible. "It is.

"...but, uh, say, out of curiosity," he will someday learn to stop saying words but today is empirically not that day, huh, he wishes he hadn't started this goddamn sentence.

"Hmm?"

Gaaahhhhhh.

"Is the," he could just say it's nothing, he could just say never mind, he literally could, that is an action he could take, "sex okay only for guiding or..." Remember how he was confident and sexy for three seconds just now? He misses that time.

"...what, like with your bracelet on?"

"Yeah." He can at least not stutter, come on, at least that, man. "It's fine if you don't want to obviously, I was just... wondering."

"I mean, I guess it's not out of the question, it's just, you know, kind of a lot less good than when the compatibility's there, I've hooked up with non-espers a couple times and it's lackluster. I'm only pro-sleeping-around in the first place because I'm an esper, I notebooked myself into it when I decided it was going to be an important career skill."

"Right. Makes sense." Never mind, then.

"Do you not find that to be the case? Maybe I'm weird."

"...I mean, it is better with a compatible esper, but it's not bad otherwise? At least if," his partner knows what he's doing, "we've got chemistry, which, I guess I've had several partners I had zero chemistry with..."

"Perhaps I've been substituting compatibility for chemistry," allows Haru.

That just sounds kind of sad.

"Maybe I'm just a horndog, that's a pretty plausible alternative explanation too."

"I have perhaps encountered one or two subtle clues suggesting that this might be the case. Anyway, it's not out of the question but I am approaching from a slightly skeptical vantage point."

"Don't worry about it, we don't have to." Oh look there are cooking things for him to do now. He is suddenly feeling a bit too exposed, wearing only an apron with his back to Haru (that feeling he doesn't want to look at again), but he is not going to go be pathetic and flee to put clothes on because that will certainly kill whatever attraction Haru could possibly feel for his personality if not his body.

"Mm-hm." Haru gets a text from Tess, and makes a phone call. Ring ring.

Time to make himself busy and stop having thoughts, how about.

"Mr. Thorburn, thanks for picking up at this hour. I would have called earlier, but unfortunately I had a little problem. I have here in my notes that you proctored the exam last fall for SWAT graduates, is that right?"

...that tone of voice sends a shiver down his spine and directly to his dick.

"Can you tell me if the exam was the same one that was set in the spring of the same year?... uh-huh. And who authorized that?..." Type type. "And did you have any reservations about, say, the switch to multiple choice, or any other changes - mm-hm. Oh, I see. Mr. Thorburn, are you familiar with the sum of money that for policy-making purposes the Canadian government considers equivalent to one randomly selected human life?"

"Well, that would be a perfectly reasonable number not to know offhand, if you weren't making policies denominated in human lives. - no, of course you are, Mr. Thorburn. Not just you, but it sounds like you were right there in the room... Oh, you're saying you flunked some even worse students? That's great. I'm glad that the guy who nearly killed fourteen people in my dungeon today didn't have more company on his squad. ...I don't know if you'd remember him, it sounds like you passed a lot of people last fall, but sure, I have the name here..."

Jaeha should. Not. Actually. Get an erection from this. And to be fair he isn't, it's just kind of a semi, but, uh.

"Why yes, you actually guessed right, perhaps you'd already heard? Keeping an eye on the back of the pack and their inglorious careers?... No, not today, Mr. Thorburn, but I'm going to need that other phone number sooner than later. And anyone else you've - right in one, thank you. - no, this is absolutely not an isolated incident. I - Mr. Thorburn. Mr. Thorburn, this call is being recorded, Canada is a one party consent jurisdiction. The number, please."

Jaeha desperately wishes Haru wasn't one of those espers that lowered the volume of his phone's speakers this much because he really, really wants to hear the sounds of Haru's enemies being crushed under his heel.

He may have forgotten what he was doing.