"Ugh it makes like medical sense but I'm like, a monogamously inclined sort of person, and I will probably have to stop doing that if I'm going to be an esper instead of meeting the boy of my dreams in med school and getting on the relationship escalator like a normal person, but the way I have to stop doing that will involve me not being backlashed so I can do any novel introspection while enjoying actual privacy which is a thing I remember sometimes liking to have? So probably it is a bad idea even if it would be really nice in many ways but like if you're way worse off than you look it won't be hard to talk me into it and I'll like survive and stuff."

Julien is going to burst into tears about this!  "Just - tell me exactly what you want - and I will do exactly that much -"

"Whoa shit hey what did I say -"

"- You didn't - say - anything, I just - I don't know what to do here, and I can pretend to be okay, kind of, but I'm not - and -"  Clinging, crying.  "I don't want to do anything wrong..."

Clinging right back. "I know. I know you're not okay. I can feel your backlash wobbling whenever there's slightly more or less contact and it's right up there with mine and I'm not okay. I'm sorry."

"I don't know that I'll - ever - be okay again...  It doesn't feel like I will be -"

"It feels like forever. Yeah. It's a week but it doesn't feel like it has, you know, only one Monday in it and stuff."

"I think I mean something more real than that."  - Wait why is he still wearing a shirt.  Julien should not be wearing a shirt.

Oh that's good that he is not wearing a shirt now. Snuggle. "More real than that?"

"Like," snif, "I might be permanently traumatized.  Or something.  ...Broken."

"One doesn't hear about that very much but I guess perhaps one might not."

Nod-nod-nod with his chin into Haru's shoulder.

"I mean, if it's that you want me to not - do dating things, with anyone else, unless we break up, or - get separated and think we aren't going to see each other again...  I don't want to do anything wrong -"

"No, I just mean, like, we've barely met - I'm probably really cool in five years but you don't know this me - I wanted to like, do the whole thing where I'm not casual about it and I'm not doing too much stuff with anybody I'm not maybe falling in love with? I think I can fix that so that it's not a liability for my entire being a really cool esper situation, but not until I can sit down in a room by myself with a notebook."

Julien makes a keening noise.

"Also separately I am pretty confused about where you're coming from here and that seems like its own separate liability!"

"I am not sane enough to navigate this."

"Yeah me either. Just don't leave please?"

"I won't.  Unless more horrible stuff happens, then I guess I might somehow."

"Yeah." His feet are basically probably clean by now maybe, he wasn't paying a lot of attention to them but they're at least thoroughly rinsed and have touched soap at all. "We should maybe try to get some sleep? If we're due for more thrilling adventures overnight."

"I was vaguely planning on making out while we have the privacy and then trying to sleep in the car, but if we're not doing that then yeah maybe.  - Do you wanna spit in each other's mouths or something."

"When you started crying I considered licking your face but decided that it would be off-putting and you would leave me alone."

"Oh, you can do that.  I mean - good idea to disclaim it first -"

"Well it won't do any good now, the dropoff is pretty steep. But if you cry again I'll bear it in mind and I guess you can do the same thing if I do?"

"I can probably do that."

He scrunches up his face and hitches his breath and - yep, here's another tear.