"Ah. I mistook for a hypothetical something which was very much not. I do recall your description of being burned before. I in no way meant to belittle that experience, and I apologize." 

"So I don't think it's - silly - to try to be responsible, even if it - seems to you as a layperson that some rule doesn't make sense for you."

"I agree, in broad terms. Best to avoid flying blind when there are mountains around. I don't consider myself a layperson in either romance or ethics, but this does not make your caution unwise." 

"You're not exactly a priest!"

"And priests are not seven-hundred-year-old dragons who have been to Heaven and back. Nor have their arguments been spectacularly convincing to me on this matter. To be clear, these are my own reasons for trusting my own judgment as it concerns my own wellbeing, and the extent to which they may generalize is a separate matter." 

"You went to Heaven?"

"Oh yes, there's a spell for planar travel. Also I was very, very dead for quite a long time. In fact, I was only revived a short while before I ended up here. Mind you, the version of Heaven that connects to this plane might well be different from the one I knew. But you can understand, I hope, why I feel skeptical when a priest insists to me that Heaven abhors casual sex; I have rather direct evidence to the contrary."

"I mean, you may've been forgiven, that doesn't - what was it like there?"

"Intense, but deeply fulfilling. There's a frankly indescribable amount of mutual trust and coordination, not just in countering Evil but in the active pursuit of Good. There are also places of rest and recovery for those who need it, for however long they need it. I made a great many friends there, and I miss them still. 

"It saddens me greatly that I cannot recall all that transpired in Heaven; agreements among the gods require certain knowledge not reach the world of the living. But what I am permitted to remember, I remember fondly."

Nod nod.

"Also, to clarify, my evidence for Heaven's opinion on sex is less the fact that I arrived there, and more the fact that I distinctly recall a wide array of romantic relationships among the inhabitants, from the frivolous to the eternally committed. It was not condemned, but considered one of the many ways in which beings may derive joy from one another. Of course, they didn't have to worry about disease, pointless cruelty, or childbearing, just the sort of interpersonal drama that often arises when strong emotions are involved. 

"There was still heartbreak and loss. Even the angels are not perfect to one another, and those whose bodies are made of soul can still be destroyed in the war on Evil. But there was always — more heart to endure it with, more support and kindness and welcome and being understood — than can be easily found in life.

"I again stress that Earth's afterlife situation may be very different."

"Well, right, in Heaven they neither marry nor are given in marriage, perhaps they do all kinds of things there."

"Oh, they do. But I expect they wouldn't do those things at all if they were just innately bad for people." 

"I don't know if they're innately bad, we're just not supposed to while we're alive even if we think we're very clever and can get away with it."

"We seem to be at an impasse, then. I consider it unacceptably unwise to enter a long-term exclusive romantic bond with no trial period; if I understand correctly, you consider the trial period itself unwise and possibly unethical. We both have prior experiences and ethical norms backing our respective judgments." 

"Yeah, I sorta figured."

"I think it was still a conversation worth having. I greatly respect your decision to do the right thing as you see it." 

"Thanks."

"I am sorry. I do still enjoy your company, if you still wish mine." 

Nod nod.