[ he's not... not expected his from her, but it deserves a bit more of his focus than, say, a casual conversation about their divisions. he lets her finish speaking and pause for his approval, and then nods. ]

Yes, [ he says. ] A rival, perhaps, but when it is romance it is... tangled.

[ he smiles a smile that recalls some far off memory, and it is only a slight shift of his lips, nothing more. ]

A competition, [ he murmurs. ] A wager, often, counting kills or the like. Such it was with my wife. That was how it began.

[ he plainly means the one lost to him. ]