"If it makes you feel better, I wasn't planning on respecting you in the morning." To be fair, she generally didn't give the impression of respecting him in the evening, either. It was a game, though; she was bossy with him because he let her be, not because of any illusion on either of their parts that she was authoritative or he was obedient.

Playing pretend. Pretend you're fine. Pretend you don't wait for the water to turn on you. Pretend you don't get claustrophobic in bathrooms with clean white walls and mirrors. Pretend you don't half-hate every human walking around like they're better than you, pretend you could ever be normal, pretend-

Pretend that you're authoritative and he's obedient. It was more fun.