[ she holds up his note. ]

So, uh, I really like handwritten notes - as you probably guessed from my writing, my world mostly uses digital, so this was, you know, special.

[ there we go, lead with something positive. She takes a deep breath to prepare for the serious part. ]

But I just wanted to know: Did you read my reply? The text, not the poem. [ quickly: ] Yes or no's fine if you don't want to get into it, just please don't find another wire to fix.

[ she winces, that last part having come out more needy than she wanted. ]