It's foolish how much comfort Gregor takes from that, that straightforward, unmincing reassurance that he feels safe with him. He slumps a little with the relief of it, like a weight has fallen off his back, and manages to meet his eyes again finally. It's no trivial thing to hear from Duv, and he knows it, values it immensely.

"I don't want to discuss it," he says ruefully, thinking back to Cordelia's pointed comments when he was much younger and how thoroughly he'd ignored them. They do that on Beta; they also sleep with men on Beta like it's no big thing, and Gregor hadn't thought he could do that here either. One piece at a time, apparently...

"It's mortifying to even contemplate."