For the rest of the night, Lev is going to alternate crying on him, kissing him, and apologizing for crying on him and kissing him because he's fifteen and Lev could get him expelled from Eros and therefore both of these things seem pretty unethical.

Sasha alternates holding Lev while he cries, kissing him, reassuring him that no it really is okay, determinedly not thinking about how sad this room is, determinedly not thinking about what the general opinion of this relationship and Sasha as a person is going to be tomorrow, and suppressing the urge to run back to his room and triple-check the window. 

POSSIBLY it is also bad that he is making Sasha reassure him about doing all of this horrible stuff. That seems pretty mindfucky honestly. (After he expresses his opinion he starts crying too hard to make words.)

He stops with the verbal reassurances after that, mostly because Lev isn't saying anything, and instead holds Lev and kisses his forehead and rubs his back and doesn't say anything at all. 

Eventually he cries himself to sleep on Sasha's shoulder.

Having another warm body there in bed with him makes it so much easier to fall asleep. 

(He thought he'd gotten used to sleeping alone.) 

Lev has nightmares.

So does Sasha. 

He kisses Lev again when he needs to leave in the morning. 

He's so so grateful.

It's a shame Sasha has to leave, but — he has a job, it's a good job, he's good at it, he kisses Lev one last time and then goes. 

Chris pulls Marlo aside that morning. "Your anchor says you've stopped sleeping with him."

He has not been looking forward to this conversation. "I have." 

"What brought that on?"

He considers the wording before he says, "I... tried kissing Sasha, and he pushed me away and said 'You don't want to be doing this, or at least that's not why you're doing it,' and he was right, and when I told him so he said 'okay, you're going to stop having sex you're not having because you want to be having it,' and he was still right." 

"That does seem like a reasonable decision."

He settles on, "I'm glad you think so." 

"It seems to me that actually wanting to have sex may be an important ingredient in getting it to be Intimacy 5."

"That is... probably not incorrect." 

"Sasha is new, isn't he?"

"Yes. He is." He's fairly sure Chris doesn't need to ask that but he doesn't know what Chris is getting at by asking anyway. 

"Perhaps you should try spending more time with him."

He glows, quietly, just like he always does when Chris smiles. "I will." 

Chris considers him thoughtfully, in that I'm-seeing-straight-through-to-your-soul sort of way. 

Marlo doesn't look away. 

"Ask him about anchoring if you continue to get along, I suspect he'd be a solid candidate."