"...Wow. Okay. I'm trying to figure out where to even start. I don't think it's, like, unreasonable, if you happen to own a sword, to stab someone with it for trying to rape you? I don't even think it's illegal, although don't quote me on that, and if you did straight-up kill someone I think it'd get way more police attention than you wanted even if you didn't end up being actually accused of murder for it. It's just....really weird? If you go around telling people you stabbed a dude with a sword for trying to rape you, they're not going to be like 'oh, yeah, good work, glad you're okay', they'll be like 'what the actual fuck'." 

Claudette is still stuck on an earlier part of that speech. "Do they not have birth control where you're from?" 

"I mean, maybe they have a religious objection to it?" 

"Her religion sounds much too cool to be against birth control." 

"I don't know what you are talking about. I tell the police what happen and they say I did not break the law.  I would not complain if I was made a slave because I breaked the law."

"...Kill many baby not born yet, go Tanar?"

"Yes," Iomedae agrees. "Just like if you kill many born babies. If you try your best to feed them but not enough food, and they die, that is different, no Tanar for that."

"I still don't have the slightest idea what Tanar is. Birth control is - you can take medicine to not get pregnant in the first place, even if you have sex, and lots of women take that. There's also a pill you can take the next day, if you were raped, that stops your body from being able to get pregnant. ...I guess a lot of religious people are against abortion because they think it's killing babies. But banning it and forcing women to have babies they don't want ruins a lot of people's lives." 

"Killing babies ruin the baby lives."

"Say 'birth control' again, different words?"

Oh no the awkwardness level of this conversation is rising so fast. Emily is past the point of her life where she ever feels like getting into a fight with fundies about abortion. 

"Women make tiny eggs inside their ovaries, and that's what grows into a baby if it runs into a man's sperm. You can take a drug that stops your body from making the egg, so even if you have sex, there's nothing for the sperm to make a baby with. Or the man can wear a condom - a sort of bag over their dick - and then the sperm are stuck and don't go inside the woman - but obviously you can't count on a rapist to do that. The morning-after pill stops your body from making the egg even if it was about to - so it doesn't always work, you can get really unlucky with timing, but it's supposed to work nineteen times out of twenty if you take it right away or at least the same day." 

Awkwardness has never stopped Claudette from saying things she thinks. "Well, people who don't believe in God or that souls exist don't think that an early fetus dying is like a person dying, because it's, like, this big," she holds her thumb and forefinger a centimeter apart, "and it doesn't properly have a brain yet or anything." 

Well those people are obviously wrong.

"How get drug?...Also what is 'drug'? 'Drug' like necklace?"

"I think a drug that make you not able have babies is not evil to take. I do not know of such a drug. Of course is evil to kill babies even if they do not have a brain, what would that have to do with it."

"Well, people who don't think souls are real think that your - person-ness - is in your brain, because where else would it be, it's got to be kept somewhere physical. ...I guess a long time ago people thought the person-ness was in the liver, but they were wrong. You can study it by looking at how brain injuries affect people." 

Why on earth would drugs be like a necklace. That's a bizarre superstition to have. "Nnno. Drugs - medicines - are things like painkillers? That the doctor would give you to drink or swallow when you're sick." If that doesn't convey it then she's out of ideas. 

"Evelyn take us to doctor tomorrow. I could take drug that makes me not bear children then?"

"Oh! I know drug now. When I child, my mother tell me many story, story have strange thing, I say 'Mother, what that word mean' and she most say it like a necklace. I say 'too many word for necklace' but maybe English not that, English only have one word for necklace."

Emily is not even going to try to dig into that one. "...Honestly, yeah, I think Evelyn's one of the foster parents who'd take that well. She'll want to give you the really embarrassing sex ed talk, and probably be kind of worried that you want it mainly for in case someone else tries to rape you and that makes it sound like you're traumatized, but if you say it would make you less scared about the police confiscating your sword if at least you didn't have to worry about getting pregnant, I think she'd be like 'yeah, fair enough.' ...She probably needs to get the social worker's permission but she can generally persuade them of things." 

"That is good. If not carry sword, knife, not use lightning, small good not baby."

Of course Evelyn decides whether Iomedae is permitted to make herself barren. Iomedae should not feel surprised and upset about this; it follows from things she knew already. "Yes. At least not baby. Sex ed talk?"

"She won't be completely sure you want it out of caution, because - well, you don't seem like the type to have a secret boyfriend, but a lot of kids who ask about birth control when they're fifteen are going to be asking because they have a secret boyfriend, and Evelyn will want to cover her bases and make sure you know how sex works and have received the standard parental advice on not getting pressured into it and waiting until you really love someone. I'm pretty sure it's just as embarrassing for her as it is for us." 

- grin at Alfirin. "I can totally get you a taser if you promise not to tell Evelyn it was me. Or pepper spray, that might be better." 

"...Taser is lightning? I want, but Iomedae is holy warrior, not lie. And Evelyn maybe hit me if find I have taser?"

"...Nah, she won't hit you. Trust me, I did worse things than hiding a taser when I lived here. Once when I was thirteen I snuck some of my friends in at 2 am and we had a party in the basement and drank half of her wine collection. - and it's not lying if you just never happen to mention it, is it?"  

"I no will say it if she does not ask, but if she find Alfirin have taser, and ask, Iomedae, you know who give Alfirin taser, I no can lie. 

Why would you ....drink Evelyn wine with friends? Evelyn maybe no, but many people hit you so you no can walk for less than that."