in which the chemicals dwindle
Norepinephrine produces a racing heartbeat; dopamine, a feeling of bliss.
Wally's heart beats achingly quicker, watching her scrutinize a vocabulary list. Looking up, she smiles wanly. "You know, oxytocin and vasopressin receptors are absent in other mammals. That's why they don't keep mates."
"You're getting better at this."
She's not done, continuing, "'Amaranthine', 'monogamous' — all ways to say 'forever'. Can this last forever?"
The speedster glances askance, cracks a joke without realizing it. And there is no dramatic music sequence; but the next day, she doesn't ask any more science questions, and it occurs to him that the last question she asked him is the one he should have answered.
However, these chemicals soon dwindle; love becomes a past infatuation.
Follows up from Chapter 3 "Chemistry".
Have I broken your shipper's heart?
m.e.