"It was better to agree to forget it or treat it as an untouchable past than to have him keep apologizing. I consented. Sure at first I dismissed his advances a few times, but ultimately I consented. Eagerly. I wanted distraction from my thoughts and pain and honestly, it's a good method."

One that had gone far more horribly than this before, so it was fine.

"Gets extra awkward worth him being a former teacher to my teammates and him being married and me knowing his husband well and this one really bad spot of trouble his sister helped get me out of. Lots of reasons to not touch it with a ten foot stick."

As Jean-Paul himself had more or less said, there were ways David wrapped himself up and isolated. It had never worked well in the past, but it was something he had been doing since he had begun hiding the secret of his mutation.