>>57924554
Yeah on the surface it looks like he was just being manipulative for no reason. But it's always the same thing with Ruby, he felt too vulnerable and regretted spilling his spaghetti, since confessing your love is embarrassing. So in a moment of autism he decided to just pretend it didn't happen. Both to protect his ego and because he truly got scared (he'd never genuinely been so in love before and didn't know how to deal with it). Of course lying to Sapphire just hurt her feelings, but that was collateral damage in Ruby's attempt to protect himself. He didn't manipulate her just for the lols (if he was in it for the lols, then that's what would've made him a psychopath). So he just prioritized his own emotional fear over doing the right thing (being honest for her sake) because he's a selfish coward. Not a psychopath though lol not even Ruby's that crazy.

But in the end it's still gaslighting regardless of his intentions. At least he finally stops lying and embraces the cringe of being a Sapphire simp by the end of ORAS, where he had a second ego death in the face of literal death by meteor. He even apologizes to her for the first time (he's never apologized verbally to anyone else before, that's how selfish he used to be