[ Ainosuke is already half-way in the motion of refilling Nishi's glass for him when he finishes his sentence and gives him full body pause, bottle hanging in the air for a moment without pouring yet.
Performance, huh? ]
Is that what it felt like to you?
[ His expression is unreadable, but he does return to pouring the wine and returns the glass to Nishi. ]
[Is it worse that Nishi is being honest with him? He's not being petty or vengeful, merely saying it as it is. He has infinitely more to gain from being pointed with this man, his words a steady razor against his throat.]
Correct. If you believe love is something you can dole out on command... I'm afraid you've been sorely mistaken.
[Love chooses you, not the other way around. Taking up his glass, Nishi takes a measured sip.]
But what is it you've mistaken for love, exactly? Now that, I'd like to know.
[ Ah... It stings. It stings even though it shouldn't, because it's true that their tryst wasn't based on infatuation but rather on practicality, a mutual way of escaping something far far more unpleasant. But even then, to have his love denied is unpleasant.
Ainosuke takes a sip from his glass, lips in a thin smile. ]
For you? I wonder. It's a fact that we chose one another for convenience and relief, but that doesn't mean I felt nothing about it, my dear... Every bite, every touch, every kiss... I'm not dishonest in all affections, and it saddens me to hear you think so.
Love is a curious thing, fleeting, hard to escape and hard to hold onto, isn't it?
[...The man looks genuinely dissatisfied with his judgment. Nishi suspected he might, but it leaves the greater question lingering— if it wasn't love, elusive and inescapable, then what was it Ainosuke showed him?
He takes a sip from his glass, barely tasting it, thoughts elsewhere.]
That much is true, but that's why I can't call what you showed me love. If you want my honest appraisal... your "love" felt curiously hollow. I could speculate as to why, of course, though I doubt you'd appreciate the intrusion.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Performance, huh? ]
Is that what it felt like to you?
[ His expression is unreadable, but he does return to pouring the wine and returns the glass to Nishi. ]
no subject
Correct. If you believe love is something you can dole out on command... I'm afraid you've been sorely mistaken.
[Love chooses you, not the other way around. Taking up his glass, Nishi takes a measured sip.]
But what is it you've mistaken for love, exactly? Now that, I'd like to know.
no subject
Ainosuke takes a sip from his glass, lips in a thin smile. ]
For you? I wonder. It's a fact that we chose one another for convenience and relief, but that doesn't mean I felt nothing about it, my dear... Every bite, every touch, every kiss... I'm not dishonest in all affections, and it saddens me to hear you think so.
Love is a curious thing, fleeting, hard to escape and hard to hold onto, isn't it?
no subject
He takes a sip from his glass, barely tasting it, thoughts elsewhere.]
That much is true, but that's why I can't call what you showed me love. If you want my honest appraisal... your "love" felt curiously hollow. I could speculate as to why, of course, though I doubt you'd appreciate the intrusion.
[Not like that would stop Nishi.]