(en el tramo intermedio de la noche)

"I imagine a phonic conspiracy between the world's languages. They make a conference decision that the phrase must always sound like something to be earned, to ve striven for, to be worthy of. Ich liebe dich: a late-night, cigarette-voiced whisper, with that happy rhyme of subject and object. Je t'aime: a different procedure, with the object and subject being got out of the way first, so that the long vowel of adoration can ve savoured to the full. (The grammar is also one of reassurance: with the object positioned second, the beloved isn't suddenly going to turn out to be someone different.) Ya tebya lyublyu: the object once more in consoling second position, but this time -despite the hinting rhyme of subject and object- an implication of difficulty, obstacles to be overcome. Ti amo: it sounds perhaps a bit too much like an apéritif, but is full of structural conviction with subject and verb, the doer and the deed, enclosed in the same word."

-It's a little strange. How do you say I love you in Spanish?
- Te quiero.
- But quiero is to want, isn't it.
- Yeah, it's also valid for that.
- But isn't there any other word?
- Well, we have Te amo, but nobody really uses that in Spain, it's only for songs or soap operas. Too cursi. Though it's the most similar to Je t'aime.
- And you can also use it for liking?
- No, no, that's me gusta.
- Me gusta tú mucho?
- Me gustas mucho. No need for the object there, it's enclosed in the verb.
- Wow.
- I told you it was complex stuff. But it's only to like, for to love we have me encanta.
- What?
- Yeah, like, I love your ass, Me encanta tu culo.
- Oh. Me encantas tú, then?
- Me encantas, sí. It's a little tricky. It's like I love you, but in the sense that i like you much.
- See, the other night you said I love you... and you were so drunk.
- No, but I meant it! I mean, I love your ass, your touch, I love your smell, I love your... everything. Then, I love you. Me encantas.
- Me encantas.
- Yup. And I want you, too.
- Te quiero, then?
- Yes... No! Well, whatever. You talk too much, bebé!
- Sorry. I'm going to shut up and kiss you, now.
- Très bien.