Consent is a clear, freely given yes to a specific sexual act, and it stays in force only while the person still wants the act. Silence is not yes. A frozen body is not yes. A yes to kissing is not a yes to everything that could follow.

People can change their minds. Status, age gaps, bosses, and substances all squeeze how free a yes can be. The law draws hard lines around age and around incapacity. Ethics draws a wider circle that includes pressure, sulking, and wearing someone down over a weekend.

Ongoing consent sounds formal until you try the short version out loud: Is this still good. Do you want me to keep going. Those sentences do not kill mood in a healthy room. They prevent the other kind of story.

Enthusiasm is a useful extra signal. It is not a substitute for words when the act is new or loaded.