The Most Lamentable Comedy of Oswald and Livia with Short Stories and Poems

"Do you love me," she asked softly, "and will you forever?"

"I do, and I will, with all my heart," he replied.

"That sounds like something you rehearsed, something out of a book."

"I can prove it," he said.

He stared into her emerald eyes as he unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his manly chest. He gave the left nipple a quarter turn. A door flipped open over a small screen with oscillating lines of different colors and with dials underneath it. He looked down long enough to select one dial. The screen changed so that there was a single red line displayed. He looked back up at her and touched the back of her hand. As he did so, the line grew thicker and increased its rhythm.

"You can see for yourself," he told her.