That sounds like a cue to hug Lev.

"It would. And I think it's good for me to -- be thinking about what kind of world I want --"

Language is horribly inadequate.

"It's important to have something you're for and not just something you're against."

"Yeah."

"God. Zoe is going to kill me."

"She really is."

Lev blinks and processes a previous statement.

"You had sex?"

"Yes."

"I."

Lev does not know at all how to complete this sentence or to articulate his feelings of envy and jealousy and rejection in a way that doesn't make Mordred run screaming.

"I am trying to go slow with you because I have a lot of feelings about you and I don't want to make things worse and am worried about maybe doing that so I'm being careful." 

"It's not -- that I don't like you or want you or that you aren't important to me? It's that I do and you are."

"...and also that I am extremely incredibly aware of the face you make when you're scared because someone turned down sex and now you think they're about to hurt you and I know you know I'm not going to do that and this is my problem not yours but also it makes approaching the subject at all feel about five times more fraught."

"Yeah. I don't."

Forming sentences is hard.

"I-- also like you."

"I know." More hug? Does that help at all?

Hugs are nice.

"I... want to. Is the thing."

"I want to too. If that helps. We can try?"

"...probably not right this second."

"I don't want to if you're scared. I-- really really don't want to if you're scared."

I don't want to be him, he doesn't say.

"Most of what I'm scared of is hurting you? But. Fair enough."

Lev doesn't say something like it doesn't matter if you hurt me because this seems not very reassuring.

"Can I kiss you."

"Yes."

Lev presses a little kiss against Mordred's lips; Mordred makes a tiny high-pitched noise.

Lev pulls away.

"I l-- like you. A lot."

".....I love you too."

Meanwhile--

Inaaya is definitely concentrating on her work and definitely not mooning over James.

Please ignore the staring out the window.

Mmhm. Of course she is.

Joan quietly lets her do that for... probably too long before she says, "So how did it go?"

"It went really well."

"He's so good."

He'd better have been. "How so? Since you're not getting anything done anyway."

"I told him I would cut off his hand if he raped me and he told me he wasn't going to rape me either way."

"Glad I won't have to kill him."

"Me too."

"He's... kind."

"I know it's strange but I think he's actually kind. Not pretending."

Joan has never talked to him. Inaaya has. She's still skeptical.