[ His instinct, as ever, is to list off each of those people and explain why they are wrong, or why their care will fade, or so on and so forth. But Bastien has spent too fucking long dealing with his self-pity, and really doesn't need to do more of that, and so he swallows the impulse. ]
Yes. Perhaps.
[ A breath in. He toys with his cup. He pretends for a moment that it's artifice, and that it's not real awkwardness that's driving him to these hesitations and twitches. He pretends he's playing a part. It wouldn't look so different, would it, if he were just playacting at shyness? He'd be making the same gestures, avoiding glances in the same way. He wishes he could convince himself he's just playacting. ]
I imagine you will not want to - continue as we have been, in light of that, will you?
[ Because Bastien had his heart broken, didn't he. Because Bastien should not, and could not, trust a man like him. What a terrible echo it would be of the cruelty that Bastien suffered. ]
no subject
Yes. Perhaps.
[ A breath in. He toys with his cup. He pretends for a moment that it's artifice, and that it's not real awkwardness that's driving him to these hesitations and twitches. He pretends he's playing a part. It wouldn't look so different, would it, if he were just playacting at shyness? He'd be making the same gestures, avoiding glances in the same way. He wishes he could convince himself he's just playacting. ]
I imagine you will not want to - continue as we have been, in light of that, will you?
[ Because Bastien had his heart broken, didn't he. Because Bastien should not, and could not, trust a man like him. What a terrible echo it would be of the cruelty that Bastien suffered. ]