Oswald is going to telepathically beam I'm worried about Lev at him. Also incidentally this feeling might show on his face. Vague huglike thing accommodating for Lev's head being on his leg.

"It's stupid, I know it's stupid, I just."

"I don't think it's stupid."

"Not stupid at all." He is murmuring more than talking.

"He wasn't nice to me," Lev says to Oswald's leg.

"I'm not sure how much an effect things like that have on feelings. I wish he had been."

there are people I miss even though -- "Yeah, I -- still don't think it's stupid. But. What Oswald said."

"I mean. Cultists, right."

Sad laugh. "Yeah."

[Return to the plot here.]

After a couple hours alone with Ayers, Lev has returned, happy and somewhat dazed. His neck is somewhat more hickey than neck.

Does Oswald know what hickeys look like in great detail by now? Yes. Does he doublecheck to make sure they aren't some kind of unexpected supernatural thing anyways? Yes, because he is feeling high-strung and necks are the kind of place supernatural things manifest these days. "You look happy."

"Yeah. He's so good." He has such a stupid grin on his face.

It's a very wonderful grin, thank you very much. "I'm glad." Talking about other people having sex is so incredibly awkward, wow. "I suppose he's better at the stuff with the, the," gestures, "uh, pain, than me, though I guess it's not actually hard to improve on--" maybe he would be better at self-deprecating humor if he was any good at delivery

"It's not, um, a comparison? And to the extent that it's a comparison you're probably, um. --like I think not ever having tortured me helps?"

"Oh no, I didn't mean it as--" he's saying at the same time Lev is. Oh dear. He should quit trying to say casual humorous things and go back to being high-strung in all his conversations. "I guess we are hitting marks on very different ends of the spectrum, aren't we."

"I love you." This is a very goofy smile and also he collapses in bed because he's not very good at walking.
 
 

"I love you too."

"He loooooooves me," Lev says in a sing-songy voice. "He looooooves me and he doesn't want to make me sad and he only hurt me in ways I like."

He sits down next to him. "That's very good."

Part of his brain is remembering that Ayers is going to make Lev sad because he is dying. That part of his brain can shut up and go away.

"He kept apologizing to me. And telling me I'm smart and good and precious and all the things he said about me were wrong and he'd spent years remembering the things he'd said and regretting them. I didn't even remember half the things he was upset about having said."

"Well, I am glad that he has seen the light about how wonderful you are." Asking about the regrettable things he said seems like a good way to make their day somewhat worse for no reason, so he resists the temptation.

Lev presses his head into Oswald's shoulder. "You're all wrong!"

"I'm afraid you'll find, sir, that we are in the majority on this one."

"Truth," Lev says very seriously, "is not up for popular vote." Then he starts giggling.

"You'd say something to him if you didn't like something, right?"