[Eley looks at him at that, partly triggered by the hand on his shoulder but also from those words. That Rudy should consider him as something irreplaceable touched him in a way that only being a Spirit could. No Spirit wanted to feel as though they were unimportant. They were all born for one purpose that nobody else could do after all.

Eley still wasn't sure about this love business though or what Rudy was implying.]

Sort of... then you 'sort of' love me? I had thought it something that was either one or the other. You either love someone or you do not. Is that not the case?