[Ahhh, so that's how it is. He's not entirely sure which way to parse the last bit!

But it's important to know when to show mercy, and Atem excercises it here. He dips down with a brief kiss to Ryou's mouth, a sssh!, before he goes on.]

I'm asking because I know what monsters are like here! Even ​ones who are committed to people they love see other people sometimes. It's really common...

[The hand that was across Ryou's chest comes up to trace fingertips over the hollow of his throat, light and gentle.]

But, we're both new to this. If things change, and you do want to date Annie, or Altair, later on, we can talk about it, but...if it's all right, I'd really like to keep you to myself, for now.

[Until he figures out how to relationship. Until he has an idea of what this is like, when it's just them. He doesn't want to rush this, he wants to figure out this level first. He doesn't want to feel as lonely as he felt when Komaeda agreed to talk to Lila. The situation isn't exactly the same, but...asking for time before they become swingers like the rest of Ryslig's adult monsters doesn't feel unreasonable to him.

He's, uh, internalized some ideas about social norms, from Lust and Black Hat and AM.]