[ Too bad he's exactly the type of person to read ill into everything. It's really a shame — maybe if he wasn't half as entrenched in defunct negativity and sneering contempt, he wouldn't be so quick to second-guess anyone who so much as makes eye contact with him. But that's for the better, in any case. Elliot's too prone to snapping, so fickle he'd make enemies out of his friends before he became marginally close enough to exchange cordial remarks, much less ricochet back and forth between the divide. ]

Then you have no thoughts for spirituality? It's inconsequential to you, so it makes no difference either way.

[ It isn't disbelief staining his inflection. Not quite. Not in the right way, just — something in his stare that begets answers. Understanding where he won't find any: he can't scalp comprehension from anyone else more than he can sloppily dig his own grave. ]

The physical realm requires focus. But I don't believe you can disparage the intangible plane so easily.

[ It's a bit chafing. He isn't sure what he wants from Kaoru, acceptance or denial or anything resembling resignation. He's certainly inconstant enough, playing both fields without rationale for either side.

... Validation, probably.

That hits the nail squarely on the head. ]