That was not even remotely the reply he was expecting, though he wasn't being very direct about it either. It was intimately personal, and Devin turned his head to look at her as she spoke. He was, in a word, humbled. This didn't seem like a subject Valdis would share with just anyone.

A strained smile pulled faintly at his mouth. "The only relationship I've ever had was with a woman who turned out to be a demon and tried to cut my heart out, so I think you have a slightly better outlook than I do." He rested his head in his hands and took a shivery breath. "Bobby... made me feel something that wasn't real. She gave me the world and then stabbed me in the chest with it. Repeatedly." It might almost be funny if it hadn't been completely agonizing.

"So that... does help, some. I don't know what this is supposed to be like when it is real. I have no reference point." Another pause, and his voice was barely audible. "The fact that I can't tell the difference between what she did to me and him-- it's not him I'm afraid of trusting. It's me."