[Lance is silent for a long moment, just watching Tal's expression brighten up then melt into disappointment as he moves back and puts distance between them again. On some level, he should be... relieved that he wasn't totally just imagining things or overreacting to a moment that was already too charged with other feelings.

But then again, it doesn't really make him happy to know either. The situation is wrong on more than one level, and he hasn't even begun to unpack what exactly it all means, let alone what it means what it means when it may not be so purely one-sided.

....Well, not that any of that matters at this point. There's no point in thinking about something that can't happen anyway. Lance takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.]

...I just don't want to do that to Floe. And I don't want to do that to Nine and Ren either.

[He supposes though, that that second part is flimsy. On some level, they'd have to be okay with it, if the three of them are together. Using that as a shield isn't fair to Tal.]

And...I don't want to do that to myself either. Not because you're a guy or... whatever. I just... I like what we have now as friends.... and I don't want to lose that.