before he could respond properly, river paused to let out a drawn out groan of frustration, resisting the urge to yank on his own hair and instead clenching his teeth to release some of the tension. "this is exactly what i'm talking about! stubborn!" maybe he didn't know all that much about her personally, but he didn't think it was too far of a stretch to assume their relationship had been a net positive on both of their lives. why else would she had kept it up this long if it wasn't? he didn't even know what to say without incriminating himself further, feeling as though he'd been backed into a corner and forced to admit what he himself wasn't even ready to come to terms with, so he merely watched her dress herself with a slight frown on his face, hating how even such a simple act became so enticing when done by her. the comment he'd blurted out before he was even able to think it through came back to bite him as she responded with obvious surprise, though he couldn't tell if that was a tinge of hopefulness he detected in her tone, or if he was just deluding himself. "i mean... yeah, sure. she's great, but she's... i can't see myself falling in love with her. it's just convenient, y'know..." convenient, but not necessary. if they broke up today, he might miss her, but the thought didn't fill him with nearly as much dread as the thought of losing ingrid. "i'm just saying, if she's the problem— if she's the reason you wanna end it... i dunno. it's not, like, serious, is what i'm saying.