[ she takes a deep breath. looks away. ianthe is right, of course. there's an effort here. she'd come back after they'd both tried to angrily shut down the conversation.

it's pettiness, really, that makes alina not want to be the most difficult part of this conversation, that makes her wrangle and swallow all her own immaturity. ]

Fine. I have never asked you to justify what you do and don't enjoy. No matter how many bones or how much blood was involved. I've never tried to change your mind. But you made me feel like I'm ... wrong, or asking too much, or — or that I have to do something I'm not interested in just to be worth being with.