Sometimes, she feels like he hates her; as if he just wants her to stop talking, to disappear, so he doesn't have to deal with her anymore. Other times, he treats her like she's the single most interesting person in the world, and that he never wants her to stop talking. It's a weird balance, because even though most of the time there's a friendly in-between that shows he's committed to their conversation, but not really interested in listening to her talk forever, often times she can either feel animosity or admiration radiating off of him. It's even stranger that she can tell just by the look in his eyes which way he's feeling about her at any given moment.
Whenever she detects the hatred, she tries to break off the conversation as quickly as possible, but in a way that shows he's the one with the problem, not her. Sometimes, she'll even call him out on his nasty disposition. "Just because you don't like what I'm talking about or the way I'm talking about it doesn't mean that you have act like you despise me."
It's a lot easier for her when he acts like he finds her amazing. She can keep the conversation going on just that feeling of being found funny for quite a while. She feels her confidence level rising by the minute, and she continues on and on, eventually annoying him or making a fool out of herself, and then he's back to making her feel like scum. When this happens, he'll usually just cut her off with a curt "You're funny," and walk away in a manner that suggests that he thinks the exact opposite of her.
They're at their best, though, in that friendly limbo. Sure, it's not as thrilling or exciting as hatred or love, but their conversations can continue on for what seems like years when they're in this state. Both of them are contributing to the conversation, making equally funny and intelligent remarks, and both are happy to indulge the other in making them feel like they belong to something. And, in a way, they do belong to something when they treat each other in this way. They belong to the mutual love, hatred, and in-between that comes from friendship.
