[ asriel bites back the urge to shoot the question down at once and continue being as useful as a stone wall, mostly because he already has ideas and has concluded that he still hates every single one.

stelmaria paces near enough that her tail brushes against his leg, which is more significant a gesture than it would seem at a glance. they orbit each other with the natural ease of two bodies which have always done so because they are never not aware of the other, and so even their little collisions aren't accidental. she recognises the struggle this presents, but anything more would be too obvious and only worsen the problem; reassurances in their quiet way. ]

It might not even be a universal solution. Why not make it the worst thing you could think of? In all likelihood, it gets what it wants every time we try and fail.

[ sure, he's an optimist, but not about curses intended to force people into uncomfortable situations. ]

I doubt the solution is purely physical. If that were the goal, there are far easier ways of achieving that outcome than this.

[ surely pointing that out as clinically as possible will make it less ridiculously awkward. ]