"Well, you probably also shouldn't have said it's because I'm 'always like this about Duke'."

Sorry, that part was only now starting to sink in.

"Apparently," Octavia replied, exasperated but not really at him. She sank further back in her seat. "Why?"

"Lucifer, that's dumb."

... Hold on, she was going to find her way to something a little more reassuring than that.

"For one, why would you ever think I would be the model for how to do any of this shit properly?"

"Yeah, I think we both know that's not true."

(Or maybe she was mixing up loving people with managing to treat them the way they should be treated.)

"Okay, well..." Tiny shrug. "None of that actually relates to anyone's preferences in the sack."

"Then I guess one needs to learn to listen," Octavia replied mildly. "Or better yet, ask."

"You made me feel pressured to pick a favorite out of things I don't have a favorite one of right now," Octavia replied. "Your insecurity made me feel like you thought I was doing something wrong."

Octavia gave him a (still slightly exasperated) nod, like 'yes, thank you'. Sometimes bruised feelings needed her to go digging for an apology.

"You never asked why, but I'm gonna tell you anyway," she said. "I don't have sexy preferences right now, because they change, they come and go, they're based on -- whatever I feel like at the time, whatever was hottest most recently, that kind of thing. And I don't... That's a distant thing right now. There's nothing anchoring me to any preference, right now."

Tiny nod.

"It's theoretical."

"Not as strange as it would be for you," Octavia replied with another tiny gesture, though it was a shrug this time. "It's not like this is the first time I've just... not had sex."

Octavia's gaze dipped towards the table between them.

"Yeah."

"I know."

Suppose she should have said more, but more didn't seem to be coming to her.

"I know that, too," Octavia replied.

Also softer.