"Well," she said, "it's a long story, but he was doing a bit of two-timing and lying between my friend and another woman. My friend got the worst end of that stick, I think." She shook her head, though she smiled. "You know how stuff like that goes. I mean, I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt anyone, people in those sorts of situations so rarely do, but it turned out messy, as it always does. But anyway, my friend was very hurt and got lots of scorn from our community and you know, I'm very loyal to my friends."

Ruby tipped her head back and laughed at his reaction, shaking her head as she did. "No, no," she said. "When I tell you to stop being a dreamboat, I mean 'never stop being a dreamboat.' Confusing, I know, but as you just said, I don't think you could help it anyway, even if I didn't enjoy all of this." She gave a vague wave to his general outline, grinning. She didn't feel like he was attempting to lure her anywhere or anything like that, or that he even was at all interested in her. She was just enjoying the conversation, and of course, all the sensory joy that came along with it.