"Not at all? I am going to politely fail to inquire about the sleeping arrangements of my partner. Do you want pancakes?" 

"I wouldn't want to impose, but also yes."

"I guessed we'd probably have guests, so." He serves them up with maple syrup. "Behold the one thing I can cook."

"It's more things than I can."

"I learned it in order to try to get Asher to wake up in the morning, which--"

Asher somehow wanders into the kitchen with his eyes closed, grabs a plate with a pancake on it, shovels it into his mouth with his hands, and then zombie-walks back to the bedroom.

"--which worked less well than I hoped."

"Give yourself some credit, he was at least briefly out of bed."

"Sleep-pancake-eating."

"It's an impressive skill. Very Asher." He takes a bite. "These are really good."

"Have a good time?"

"It Was A Pleasant Evening."

Social duties done, Lev is going to take out his phone and start scrolling through something muttering unclear and mostly derogatory opinions.

"Do you mind if I ask you a stupid question?"

He looks up. "Go ahead."

"People keep seeming to think I'm a woman?"

"Probably because you're wearing a dress. Men sometimes wear dresses in Cascadia but it's not usual."

"And they just assume that despite the-- everything else? I mean, and the long hair, I do not understand why you all cut it so short, but you definitely do that."

"When a person who looks like a man is wearing female-gendered clothing many people tend to assume that they're trying to tell everyone they're a woman, the same way that-- do you have other clothing that conveys messages in Great Tang--"

"We have clothing that conveys class, and sex, and people do definitely try and send more subtle messages--"

"So we assume the thing people have more control over is the thing they prefer. Especially if you're at a class for new immigrants most of whom won't have gotten to be on hormones long enough to look as androgynous as Rose."

"So it's partially because people think I'm from Gilead."

"Yeah, but some people are going to think you're trying to communicate that you're a woman even otherwise."

"I know you-- Cascadia-- have a thing about personal choice, and I'm a guest here, as such--" ... "--So it's going to be an assumption people will make."

"I mean, you can correct them, it's not like you're the only guy wearing a dress."