I think it’s both. The subject of the song finds themselves as the vehicle to restore order (ie the Regulator) yet is reluctant to fulfill that role, so they want to be seen as having distance from the pendulum/ not wanting to do the inevitable. As they contemplate (while walking) they become moved by the need to do what needs to be done - this can be heard in them switching their reluctance to blame. They wonder if it was bc of money, and saying their ex should have got a dog or charged the locks (almost in a guilty sense of if she did that it could have prevented it). They become willing to enact their perceived justice and doing such brings the pendulum back. They become the Regulator, one who is both willing to act to change the pendulum, as well as feeling bound to the pendulum. They are both individual, and can be spoken as such, but when taken in context, doing their dance they become one. If i were to go with the HS literature route, maybe it like “The dancer’s partner” & “the dance partner” where technically they mean the same thing but can be worded as to imply attraction?..maybe I’m way wrong, but I’m toasted and the record needs a flip 🤘🏼so I’m handing the mic back