Sera didn't shake him off, but she wasn't as relaxed as she normally would be. She'd just gotten better at hiding her displeasure until she could find a better way to deal with it.

Taylor sighed.

"Please talk to me, Sera," he said softly. "I can't make this better unless you do."

"You know I don't like it," Sera said, glancing over at him. "What else do you want me to say? You already know this isn't sitting well with me."

"I don't want you to be unhappy," Taylor said. He knew why it wasn't sitting well with her, he knew very well why. He was quiet for a moment, and then he looked at her. "It isn't the same, you know."

Sera's eyes narrowed a little at that. "How is it not the same?" She looked at him for the first time in a few minutes. Hey, if he was going to say something like that then he needed to back it up.

Well, he had her attention now, so Taylor decided to continue on with that train of thought.

"Are eating and sex the same thing for you?" he asked her in return.

"No." Sera gave him a weird look but let him explain. This one had better be good, though, because that was a weird question, even for him. And even if it was in context.

"It's the same distinction for me," Taylor said. "There's sex and pleasing you, and then there's feeding. Two completely separate things."

Sera frowned. It didn't sound like a very big distinction, but she'd just have to trust him that it was different. "How different?" she asked after a moment.

Taylor put an arm around her and pulled her a bit closer.

"When I'm with you, I want to please you," he said. "I make sure it happens. When I'm feeding, it's just a process. A means to the end."

Sera nodded after a moment. So the difference between being with him and, say, someone she'd picked up at a bar. Not that she'd ever done that, but she figured it was equatable.

"When I'm feeding, that's all there is to it," Taylor explained softly. "Nothing more." He gave her a soft kiss on the cheek and a very slight grin. "Nothing at all like the way it is when I'm loving you."

Sera huffed. "You're making it hard to be mad at you," she grumbled. Not that she would entirely forgive him right now, anyway.

"I'm just explaining," Taylor said. "Easing your anger is just a bonus." He gave her a little grin to let her know he was joking just a little bit to lighten the mood. "It's the truth, though. It's literally the difference between eating and sex. Two different concepts."

Sera nodded slowly again. Okay. She could comprehend that. And that wasn't so bad.

"Okay. I get that. But why her?"

"Because she was there," Taylor replied. "And she had kidnapped you. She needed to be dealt with, and I needed to feed anyways." He pulled her close. "If it wasn't me, it would have been Damien who killed her. At least my way she served a purpose before she died and made it safer for me to come back to you."

Sera nodded. Okay, that she could deal with. The siren had ended up dead anyway, so it wasn't like she was going to be coming back and making herself a nuisance.

"Okay. So now how do we deal with this?"

"That's something I've been trying to figure out," Taylor replied. "Like I said... Little nibbles here and there weren't cutting it, and I refuse to take from you because I don't want to hurt you."

Sera frowned. "What about, I don't know, going to a strip club or something?"

"I've tried at clubs before," Taylor said. "Quite a few times. It's not a bad source, usually, unless someone else is already there." He looked at her. "Is that something you would be okay with?"

"If it keeps you fed and you don't actually have to get intimate to feed off people, then yes." Sera looked at him briefly before looking away again.

"Alright," Taylor said. He could compromise that way, especially because it should work, in theory. "I can do that." Leaning in, he gave her a little kiss. "I could take you clubbing with me. I know how to not take from you."

"We'll see." Because she wasn't quite that forgiving yet. Although, then again, it would be a good excuse to keep an eye on him, if she felt the need to. Either way, she didn't have a definite answer yet.

"Fair enough," Taylor said. He was grateful she hadn't told him to leave. He would take whatever she would give him. He held her gently, not doing more than that for the moment.

Sera just stayed there for the moment, still trying to work through everything. Although, now that she'd recovered from the effects of the siren influence, a drink or two sounded good.