The man looks human, rather than like a ball of tentacles or something, and he doesn't even have horns or wings or a tail. 

"Kyeo and Sarham?" he says. 

"That's us. I'm Sarham."

"Nice to meet you both. I've received information on your world from Milliways. Can you each talk through the problem that's bringing you here today?"

"I appear to have 'trauma induced erectile dysfunction'."

"Which, like, it's fine -"

"It's fine? Why are we here if it's fine?"

"I think I'd like to hear Kyeo's perspective on the problem first."

"Which," Kyeo goes on, "I had been under the impression was not fine. And we are here instead of going to someone on the planet where we live because people there are less likely to be 'culturally competent'. And apparently being from another universe will help. Somehow."

"Well, I know that I'm not culturally competent, which is better than someone who thinks they're culturally competent and isn't."

"If you say so." Kyeo appears to think he's done now.

"Sarham, what's the problem from your perspective?"

"I actually wouldn't say there's a problem so much as - looming possible future problems, that I would like us to get on track to handle before they're serious."

"Can you unpack that a bit?"

"So like, there's our sex life, which is fine for the time being but may wind up seeming limited as time goes on, and there's - he either wants or feels vaguely obligated to have kids and I don't really want them, and we need to decide where to live when I graduate because I don't envision spending the rest of my life on Outer Sohaibek but I think he's nervous about going to Kular with me. Also we have a small cult fandom and that is fine so far but I could see it getting awkward."

"It sounds like Sarham has identified more potential issues than Kyeo has. Kyeo, what do you think about the things Sarham brought up?"

"I am not really clear on the way in which things like that become problems - like, we aren't going to get pregnant or anything, so I don't think we're going to somehow wind up with a baby Sarham didn't want even if I don't understand why he doesn't want one - but I expect taking his word for it to be a reasonable thing to do."

"Sarham, have you tried to explain how you think those things will become problems?"

"I didn't get very far. I'm usually okay at explaining stuff to Kyeo but I got sort of - tongue-tied about it with this stuff."

"Can I ask you why you become tongue-tied or will you also become tongue-tied about that?" 

"I think... when I'm explaining other people, third parties, galactic society, all that, it's easy to position all the constraints as things that we can't affect ourselves? But when I'm worried about how the two of us will feel and what the two of us will do he'll just kind of look at me like, well, how about we don't do that then, and I am not confident in this strategy so I wanted to come here, but apparently I accidentally communicated dissatisfaction with the sex thing which was not my intention."

"You're not dissatisfied with the sex situation but you're worried you might be in the future?"

"...I am satisfied with the sex situation on a medium-term basis but would be sort of sad if it was how things were forever and am suspicious that Kyeo won't find it satisfying forever either."

"My understanding is that the first issue that needs to be dealt with is that you two are having trouble communicating with each other about what issues may or may not exist in the future. My proposed approach is that maybe if you explain it to me, an uninvolved stranger from an Earth that doesn't even have spaceships, maybe it will be easier and less emotionally laden."

"Yeah, that seems reasonable, where do we start with that?"

"Kyeo, what did you understand Sarham to say when he was talking about why he has trouble communicating about this stuff?" 

"...I mostly didn't."

"Can you try to give a summary? It's all right if it sounds stupid, but it's much easier for Sarham to explain what he's thinking if he has a sense of what parts of it you're understanding and not understanding."

"It is easier for him to explain when other people do weird things because he is not one of them and cannot control what they do and make it less weird."

"That's actually pretty close to what I got. Sarham, is that right?"

"Well, it sounds weird when you say it like that, but, I guess."

"What's weird about it? --If you think this isn't productive, just let me know, we can also try drilling down on one of the other issues."

"It's weird because - I don't have, like, perfect volitional control over all my feelings at all times, so, if I'm worried about a future possible problem, I can't necessarily solve that by just deciding not to have it. I think Kyeo also probably can't do that, at least not forever. This is a pretty normal human trait as I understand it, and Kyeo's satisfied with the explanation 'those people do that thing and we can't stop them' but not with the explanation 'I am a fallible being and might one day have a feeling I don't currently want to have'."

"And Kyeo... comes from a culture where people are more expected to just not have problems by deciding not to have them?"

"Yep!"

"Kyeo, can you talk me through how that has worked for you in the past?"

"I was not always very good at it."

"What kind of problems did you encounter?"

"Well. I was a jujube."

"I don't know if the translation thing covers that, he means he's gay."

"...I sense this is getting into very emotional territory."

"They have some incredibly sickening conversion therapy on his planet."

"Also it turns out it does not work."

"...Mine too."

"I'm sorry."

"I may want to go back to that at some point but we don't have to talk about it now. --Kyeo, can you walk me through a time it did work?"

"A time when deciding not to have a problem worked? Uh - I became used to short showers of unpleasant temperatures when the plumbing was broken and it was fine. At the time. I can no longer take a cold shower without a panic attack."

"Many people find it easy to get used to negative physical sensations," Chris agrees. "Sarham, do you also find that?"

"Not especially."