"What is a pension, anyway?"

She stared at him. "How do you not know what a pension is?"

He shuffled his feet, not looking at her. He mumbled something indistinct about not really having to worry about that sort of thing, what with his family, and the fortune (the fortune was probably now lining the public purse, or possibly a lawyer's office, depending on the outcome of the court case)

There were times when she felt the gap between them more than others. She took his hand - now wasn't the time to start comforting, there was no time for that. There never would be. "A pension is... It's a little bit of money that you put away. For your retirement. It's to take care of you, in your old age."

He looked up at her again. "Oh. So you're my pension."

She wrinkled her nose. "You - how am I your pension? I'm a person."

"You're what'll take care of me, in my old age. I'm older than you, so you'll have to take care of me." He smiled winningly. "I invest my affections in you, and I get the windfall - "

She muttered about him overestimating again.

"- when I retire."

"Is this how your family lost the money in the first place?"

"I was trying to be romantic."

She stood up, awarding him with a gentle smile. "Yes. You tried." She walked away, going to the shelf to find him a text. "But I'd prefer it if you studied the markets, not a romance novel."