[ teenagers, he says, as though finn and ziggy aren't soft in a way she and mal hadn't been allowed to ever nurture. a quirk of her brow says all it needs to, of her disagreement on the term. they are children. untouched by war, as far as she can tell. still sweet rather than a boy that's gone soured, in finn's case. innocent as she had been, before the draft had come for her next.

she understands, now, why ana kuya had felt so driven to make her valuable beyond her grip on a gun. it's the same protective urge that strikes her, sometimes, whenever finn extends a kindness toward her. ]

Teenagers are only grown children. They haven't lost their softness yet. [ there's a surprising patience that evens out her voice. ] It's not a bad thing.

[ honestly, she's not too concerned about maintaining their purity by sheltering them, or whatever nonsense. but that he thinks they're simple romance novels and not something less untoward — her mouth twitches, eyebrows lifting. ]

I didn't realize you were so innocent that you thought these were just romance novels.

[ can't a woman read erotica in peace??? ]