Lisaac likes Chaden, she thinks he looks cool when playing soccer. Today she told him about it. Chaden had seemed absent, he had been consumed in his own thoughts, never expecting such a bold statement. He hadn't been prepared at all, so he just answered "Good." and gave a nervous smile. Lisaac also hadn't thought of getting that kind of response.

She hadn't thought at all what he would say, she just felt that it was right to tell.

But at that moment she was plagued by the question whether "Good" was enough.

Was it too much to ask for something more after her watching him play soccer?

There was a difference between them, she knew him as a cool athlete, he just had put her as part of the crowd cheering. Lisaac could extrapolate that from her cognition, but there was a difference again. A difference between logic and desire.

She desired him to tell her, how good she looked today, or another declaration equal to her declaration of coolness. She did not care about what Chaden was, she cared about herself.

Chaden knew that, he had been told similar things by others. He would go with his initial statement, observing what Lisaac would do.

He did think that Lisaac was pretty, but he did not state it, because he did not want to constantly tell her. Sometimes maybe, but not constantly.

Starting off with a compliment would set the wrong expectations.

If she would go away, that might be better, he had already had experienced people being like that, and did not encourage them. It was the frequency at which they came, that devalued them, made them less scarce.

Only like that his logic could be applied, as logic can only prevail without overbearing desire.

Lisaac did make up her mind. For such a cool athlete she might take her chances.

But she was not without pride. "What is good about me?", she inquisitioned.

It was a last attempt, a last chance given to Chaden. She would not be trapped in a onesided relationship to Chaden.

Chaden pretended to think, but he had already made up his mind.

"You have good taste.", he smiled and put one hand on his chest.

They laughed and were a couple after that. It was a very painless story, no scarcity driven desire, a logical interaction between two people that liked each other, but did not hunger for each other. This was an interaction between people that could feast on tiny snacks until they saw the one that might be enough for the rest of their life.

They had felt in each other this satiation, they knew what it felt like, they were experts.

Such was the life of Jocks, a life of human interaction, a life that could make things pleasant, that would be painful for others. Was this not the true way to live?

Without knowing Lisaac had extended the time that Sigmund would live himself.

A distraction, a purpose to become in the future maybe their way of transmitting the disease. But it would not come to that.

The age of the second rebranding neared its end.