Though SCUAN seems to follow SCOEN, they were actually using that plan.
SCOEN wants to show everything, while SCUAN doesn't reveal their cards.
When SCOEN asks “what do you want?”
SCUAN answers “what you want.”
In that moment SCOEN is confused whether they were followed or used.
Relationship playbook
Having coffee together is safest.
SCOEN decides the menu and SCUAN slips along, and for that one cup's time they don't argue over who holds the initiative.
Thirty minutes sitting across with phones down, with both folding their cards briefly: that neutral zone is where these two are close, even if they go back to their own calculators the moment they leave the cafe.
“When these two resolve not to doubt each other's intentions, there's reason enough to be together.”