"Yep!" calls Less Recently Dead Rebecca from where she's watching the kids. "Also tell your alt to visit me I can't teleport!"

Macalaurë ears are so so pink. Michael mostly just looks puzzled. "But that just - is gender? I mean, gender also has some other things but the caretaker/protector/provider bit..."

"Tell that to Thuringwethil!"

"What, while duelling her?"

" - I think I would like to go marry my Rebecca now."

" - you should at least check if the church has lightened up enough - or invented the concept of rape enough - that she can have a church wedding. And even if it's not a church wedding you should have vows or something probably."

"Oh gosh a church wedding do you think they'd let me -"

"There are a bunch of Earths, if Wish isn't on top of it you can shop around. I bet they'd let you - also," he says to his alt, "if you don't want kids you have to do the Elf thing, she won't, and she thinks once you're married she can't refuse you so do clarify."

Blink. "The Elf thing?"

"Elves can decide whether they're ready to conceive children and then only have them when they want them."

"...yeah I can't do that." (She kisses Small Catherine's head.) (Larger Catherines notice her existence and creep in their direction.)

"I can. Also what was the second thing you said -"

" - she thinks she can't refuse you? Like - I think the idea is - in a marriage you promise to shelter and cherish and protect and provide for her, and you are obliged to do that even if you really don't feel like it one day, and she promises to be yours, and so even if she doesn't feel like it -"

"Those are not analogous!"

"Yes, that's why I am telling you so you won't be upset about it later."

"I don't... see why that would be upsetting?"

"I think the idea is they would rather just wait till we feel like it and do not want to just sort of be smiled at anyway? It doesn't, uh, come up very much."

Kiss. "Yes. That is the idea. It's not - supposed to be a duty -"

"It would be the best one if it was one!"

Is this the same reason I had that interminable dry spell until I literally died or is that something else.

- adjacent? The idea that I think we're both having a lovely time while she thinks that she has no right to refuse, or that it wouldn't matter if she did, or that if she gets anything out of it herself that's some great kindness on my part - that is horrible. I would never touch anyone if I thought that might be what was going on secretly while they smiled. But I think part of it was just Elfiness because past a point he was clear that you wanted him.

I was not super subtle!

And I'd have gone for it. But Elves are very - I think they might actually just not have the human thing where you are tempted into doing things you consider wrong? They experience the feeling of temptation but I can't think of any of them acting on it.

That happens. But - usually in desperate and unusual circumstances, when someone hasn't a community or a support network or sources of resilience.

"I am tempted into doing things I think are wrong like all the time I just go to a priest after."