Intimacies represent things that a character cares deeply about. This could be a person, a place, a thing, a cause, an organisation or an ideal. They can be both positive and negative. In general they provide bonuses or penalties to certain social rolls. A character may have a number of intimacies equal to twice their willpower.
Intimacies are rated with a dedication. The dedication of an intimacy defaults to (Composure-1). The dedication of an intimacy is a measure of how much a character cares about that intimacy. A dedication of zero indicates an intimacy has been eroded. All characters are considered to have an intimacy rated at 8 to 'Staying Alive', which does not count towards their maximum.
The dedication of an intimacy should fluctuate through roleplaying. In a scene the dedication could go up by 1 if the characters beliefs and sympathies are reaffirmed, or could go down by 1 if the character's faith and attitudes are confronted and found wanting. An intimacy should not gain a dedication above 6 through roleplay (and going above 5 should be very rare).