[It's such a calm, quiet conversation, and Nikolas is holding him together quite admirably, if he does say so himself! And yet there's something deep in him that feels like it's spiraling out of control in a way he hasn't felt in some time. Like all such spirals, it's both compelling and maddening. He feels the way he did the last time he had a dalliance with Winter, in fact. It's all too easy to imagine it happening again tonight, not just that way, but better, because he's a better man, isn't he—

Not better enough. No, not even close. He has to remember that before he goes too far.

Still. He leans in closer, with an intentness in his gaze that he isn't hiding.]

No, no. I do know that! And that is where our Ophelia comes in, and it isn't my place to go into all of that here and tonight. But myself, I can speak for. And I have led your thinking astray, at least insofar as you may think about how I see you.