I understand it.

[ though he hadn't been aware that specifically was a thing dirk feared. he knew dirk was worried about what was or was not bro about himself, but the emotionless rational machine had...not ever been a thing dave had really been able to comprehend. the nearest dirk had ever gotten to tripping him into seeing bro was telling dave he was overreacting to the reaper thing. and even then he hadn't been halfway there. ]

It isn't fake? I can tell you that much. If it were, I'd be able to tell, and I...wouldn't be talkin' to you about any of this. [ he tries to consider what it would have been like to meet bro as a teen, and how he would have dealt with that. with him being here, and -

dave stops trying to consider that. ]

When I've worried about you...not feeling that way any longer, it's never had to do with that particular reasoning behind it. About you...not caring about people and things. Also, you're as irrational as I am a lot of the time so I guess it never occurred to me to worry that you were like...too rational?

[ ... ]

I know what it feels like to worry about loving people well, too.