[When Elizabeth thinks back, she realizes that Gai couldn't have answered any other way. If he cared about her shape and her more conservative pace, he would have found someone else. He isn't the sort of person to waste time, it seems to her. So he saw something in Elizabeth that kept bringing him back. Something Elizabeth had thought she didn't have. But the fact that he wants to see her, wants to be with her 'like that' no matter what she looks like says to Elizabeth that there was something true in between no-education and the things she'd read in Luceti. Something that wasn't purely evil or purely physical, but an expression of deep affection and trust. It wasn't just about her body, was it?]

[This time, it wasn't about her body and what it could do.]

[She tries to stay quiet and not upset Gai, but she's crying silently over his shoulder. She cares for him, she trusts him.]

I have... [She cleared her throat, trying to rein in her voice from wavering.] I've thought of what I want it to be like. My first time. [She closes her eyes, trying to paint the scene.] I want to be in an evening dress, one that slides off of me, and makes me feel like a beautiful woman. Instead of a girl in a-- [She sniffs and tries to laugh.] --wet bathing suit that she has to peel off.

[She thinks for a moment, then tucks her nose against Gai's neck.] ...tomorrow night?