"That.. well, that was what I had planned. It's nothing I would ever ask him, after all." Ashton was quickly realizing that his relationship with Dias, whatever it was, would be anything but typical; they were too inexperienced and.. well, both of them were just too weird for anything normal.

Though Claude's words about his past, and the relationships back then, made Ashton drop his jaw a little bit. It wasn't entirely unexpected, hearing how popular he'd been, but it made him a little self-conscious all the same. Maybe Claude had had so much experience back then that that was why he hadn't wanted to go out for a second tea with Ashton that one time. No one wanted to date an inexperienced guy with dragons on his back.

Of course, now he was just an inexperienced guy.

"Haaa, I bet a lot of people wanted to date you back on Expel and Nede, you know," Ashton was trying to say nonchalantly but failing just a bit. "I mean, I wouldn't know or anything, but.. uh, you know. I mean, I guess Rena seemed pretty taken with you." He coughed. So had he at one point, but he wouldn't have wanted to break Rena's heart. She was really the jealous type, after all.

He took a final sip of his grape juice, finishing it. "But, wow, Claude. I wouldn't have expected that. I mean, that you were such a fisherman, so to speak.."