"Awww," she says, grinning. "I wouldn't mind, you know. Well, I guess the question of what I'd mind is a little complicated. But just more mind control? If it was safe or at least reversible? If you were going to enjoy it? By all means please do. Hypothetically. If you take me up on my offer in the first place."

"I would probably want to be extra careful, or, something," he says, his thoughts a little muddled at the moment. (It's getting less and less likely that he's going to not take her up on this offer, regardless of if that's a good idea or not. He should probably be worried about this.) "Even though this um, does play into my, um, fantasies." He blushes, from embarrassment (and other things). And then pauses. In a much lower voice, he asks, "how do you know what, um, I like, anyways? You said you didn't want to write it down. But clearly you um, know something?" 

"I have glimpsed your phone screen on occasion when there were things on it you probably didn't want anyone else seeing. Also there's the matter of all the Tanya Huff. She really has some very specific interests, as a writer."

He winces. "Fuck." And then winces at the curse. "I didn't think anyone noticed that. What... what have you seen?" He winces again. "And yes, Tanya Huff is... well, yes. But that doesn't necessarily mean..." he trails off. 

"Doesn't necessarily mean that you have an interest in her interests? Well. Maybe not. But given the sites you visit, and certain things I may have seen happening in a quiet corner somewhere, I drew some conclusions."

"...a quiet corner in the library?" 

"That's the one!"

"Fuck." He winces, and winces some more. "I um. I guess I'm glad you noticed me, um, doing that and no one else? Probably? Fuck, shit, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been doing that." Hopefully she just caught him the one time? He's never doing that again. Or looking at... websites at school, even if they're text ones. Fuck. 

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure absolutely no one at school has ever watched you as closely as I do. And I didn't mind a bit."

"It was still really stupid," he says, "I'm... glad you don't mind. It was still really dumb, though." It really, really was. "...I guess that explains how you know things though." He starts walking again. Maybe when they get to his place he'll have calmed down? He hopes. 

She follows, bouncing adorably at his side.

"I will concede that it was a terrible idea but who am I to judge anyone else for their terrible ideas while I'm out here begging you to mind-control me?"

"'...I see what you're saying, but I still feel like I was caught doing something embarrassing." Because he was! "Maybe we should try talking about something else."

"You could tell me about your taste in movies," she suggests. "Or your taste in mind control. Either one."

"I like sci-fi and fantasy, mostly," he says, ignoring the second question (though one could argue it at least partly answers it, though that wasn't really what she's asking). "I just find that sort of thing more fun, more interesting, you know? Though I do enjoy a good action flick, if you know what I mean?" She does, right? "What about you?" 

"My favourite movie is Matilda again and then you have to go through a lot of Disney before you reach anything made for grown-ups. I'll never turn down a good fantasy, my opinions on sci-fi are a little more mixed, and you will have to teach me the virtues of action flicks because I've never seen the appeal."

"I haven't seen Matilda in a while, but I remember it was pretty good," he tells her. "I liked the book a lot when I was younger, though. I could try showing you some good action movies, maybe? I just find them compelling, I guess. Easy to watch, and get caught up in."

"See, I have never found that! But maybe I can learn to appreciate your perspective on watching people punch each other."

"Sometimes they're shooting each other! Sometimes they're shooting each other with lasers or using magical powers and stuff. I suppose I do find them more fun with fantastical elements included."

"Most things are," she agrees. "It's just - why are they shooting at each other, you know? Have they tried diplomacy? What are the personal and political considerations? Is anyone having feelings about it? And, most importantly of all, do they understand the gravity of violence and put appropriate thought into the consequences of their actions?"

"The reasons vary from film to film, I suppose," he says. "Most of the time it's because the bad guys are going to do bad things like threaten people with a diamond-powered space laser or something like that" he's thinking of Bond movies at the moment "so I'm not sure that diplomacy is really an option. I think. Not sure what you mean about the 'gravity of violence', exactly?"

"Violence is significant, you know? It kills people! It can kill whoever started it if they're incautious or unlucky! If you're going to start a fight you should approach it like a ritual casting: think through the circumstances and their implications, be prepared, understand what can go wrong and how, know what you're trying to accomplish and what resources you're putting into it. People in action movies mostly do not do this."

"...I think if action movies put that much thought into it, they would be a lot less appealing. Like, I guess if you're thinking about it that way, most movies try to make it as black and white as possible so it's clear the main characters are in the right. Or the main characters aren't the ones starting the fight in the first place, they're trapped by the bad guys in some way and have to fight, and don't have any time to plan. Or something like that?"

"If an action movie plot happened to me, I would still approach it with that mindset no matter how cornered or pressed for time I was, but I admit I'm hardly the sort of person who gets cast in action movies. Or, I suppose more to the point, who has action movies written about them. Would it really be worse for your purposes, though, if the characters put thought into things? Why?"

"...I don't know if it would be worse for my purposes. Sometimes it would be interesting to see people think through stuff like contingencies and such, but that's more for heist movies, or other stuff like that. But other times you just want mindless explosions, without having to think too hard about that stuff, you know?" John's mind draws a sudden analogy between this discussion and the kinds porn he likes/is in the mood for sometimes, and he blushes a little, but isn't going to bring it up at the moment. 

She spies his blush and bumps his shoulder gently with hers, grinning. "Something on your mind?"