Victor listened attentively to Mondai’s story, and though he knew what to expect, hearing it from her lips, in her voice, just made it sound so much worse. ‘I was comforting him’, of course, what else could one expect from Saint Airi? And the mere fact that she felt the need to clarify that it had only been ‘a friendly gesture, nothing else’ only made the image in Victor’s head all the less ‘friendly’. He finished his firewhiskey and placed the glass back on the desk gently, rotating it with his fingers. “Almost immediately?” he repeated, paying an astronomical amount of attention to her word choice. “Y’know, for someone who has no feelings for the git, you sure seem desperate to prove that point, Mondai. It almost makes you seem… suspicious.”

Why was she still standing? Didn’t she understand formalities? Manners? When invited to join someone for a drink, the expected thing to do is to sit with that person. But instead of asking the girl to sit, Victor decided he would join her, coming up from his chair and slowly walking around the desk to stand beside her.

This was totally just a casual chat. They were friends, weren’t they? He just wanted her to feel more… comfortable. “So, why didn’t you pull back immediately, if you hated it so much?” he asked, looking down at the girl expectantly, the hint of a smile on his lips. He was just a curious boy making an innocent question, is all.