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[parodeity]

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[splinten]

Yeah? I'd like to hear about it. If it's okay? Before I do the rest of it.

[There's more. All Dirk has discussed so far is what isolation isn't.]

[parodeity]

I don't know if you noticed?

[ a shrug. his grip on dirk's hand is a little more relaxed. ]

I like bein' around people, mostly. But I also like to - I feel better about it if I have an anchor.

[ he spends a solid portion of any given group gathering anchoring himself to rose's side. he's done it to dirk before, too. just gravitates over and relaxes more as long as that's a thing he can do. ]

The reasons we might not always be thrilled about crowds or even one-on-one shit are different. But I get it bein' a thing.

[splinten]

I've noticed.

[He pays too much attention not to. He wanted to hear it from Dave, though.]

They're probably different, but yeah. That's why the idea of moving away from the base didn't distress me. In a lot of ways, I'd sort of... prefer taking a space outside of that area. Whenever I've felt things were too much in the past, I just went to the Aurora.

Which, now that I think about it, is probably not the best thing to do? I just didn't know where else to go.

[parodeity]

I probably don't have super useful advice there. I, uh, agreed? To not go places alone. Not anywhere...dangerous, I mean. I go visit Trousersnake or whoever sometimes. Otherwise I just check out in other ways, I guess, which you...should not.

[ also dave should not. but details. ]

It's hard to think of you wantin' time alone, I guess, because you never...do that. Around me. You've never told me to fuck off or given an indication that would be preferable? Or that it was too much.

[ kind of like how it's impossible to consider dirk not being capable of smiling or laughter. he has a biased view of things. so: ]

So, I always figured you liked being around people.

[splinten]

[That's... kinda funny. Dirk is amused, in that light way of his.]

Dude. I like being around you. People, I could probably do with some more space from.

[parodeity]

It's possible your taste is abysmal. I mean, we knew that. You don't normally dress half this nice.

[ he feels like he should ask for a selfie or something to document this occasion but also, it has felt mostly inappropriate the entire time. ]

[splinten]

You were being an ass about toesocks.

[So he dressed fancy.]

The point is that sometimes I need to get away from people, but you aren't people. Having you in my space is reassuring instead of draining.

[parodeity]

What am I if I'm not a person? A cat?

[ that's not what dirk meant and he knows it. dave doesn't make the connection, verbally, that this is part of why living with dirk is less scary than other people. he's not a person, either. ]

Was that everything you had to say about isolation?

[splinten]

If I don't leave space for you on my desk, you just knock things off.

[SO. YES? DAVE, YOU ARE A CAT.

But Dave points to the rest of it. And it's hard, because he doesn't know how to put it. He doesn't know how to not make it a trap.]

Isolation is... it isn't a choice I get to make. I don't get to decide if I reach out a hand or not. I don't get to chose between talking to someone or not talking. No one forces me to talk, it isn't that isolation is having other people's company imposed on me. I mean it isn't a choice because it just isn't possible.

I don't know how much sense that makes. It's the lack of choice but it's because the options just aren't there.. It's... me building robots and pretending Cal is a real person, because I didn't have Pesterchum and I didn't understand Derse, so I had to make my own friends. You can reach out a hand but there isn't even anyone there to refuse you.

[parodeity]

Then stop puttin' stuff in my space.

[ oBVIOUSLY.

there's still no twist of the lips - at least not after his annoyed order to not. put stuff in his spot. but after that everything smooths out again, and dave just. thinks.

he's not sure what he thinks, but he tries to look at the picture dirk is painting all the same. ]

What was your apartment like? You saw mine. Not my room, but - the parts that mattered.

[splinten]

Uh. [He thinks about it. Wants to describe it. Keeps hitting how boring it was.] I could... show you? It'd probably bore you.

[It's empty and lonely and nothing he ever did made it less of either.]

[parodeity]

If you're okay with it?

[ he's curious. ]

[splinten]

I don't mind. I'm just not sure you'll find it very interesting.

[parodeity]

Do you ever find anythin' about me boring?

[splinten]

...No.

[Dave is a jerk.]

Then... whenever you want. However you want? Telepathy or dreampods. It isn't that engaging either way, so it doesn't really matter which kind of tour you want. The most dangerous things were just the ocean. And Squarewave, when he really wanted to rap battle me.

[god he loved squarewave]

[parodeity]

Dealer's choice.

[ whichever is easiest. he's not sure telepathy would have been easier for his. he'd be too worried about emotions slipping through. ]

I don't really have a lot of plans until, like, February.

[splinten]

[Dirk makes a guess on February. Under the circumstances, he feels his guess is not a thing Dave should be doing? But. They'll get to that when they get there.]

Dreaming would be easier for the physical aspect. [The emotional aspect, of course, comes across most in telepathy. But then, the dreamscape does some of that too, sometimes.]

[parodeity]

Your call. You let me pick for mine.

[ february is valentines and he'll organize something for everyone and might have calmed down enough to swap stupid valentines with rose and hotaru and whoever else. party planning is a good distraction. ]

[splinten]

[Yeah, that's his guess.

He gives it another moment of thought.]

I'll do the dreaming so you can get the physical space. And if you want the rest, I'll just... open that up for you, if you ask. [Dirk is still convinced Dave doesn't deserve having to suffer Dirk's emotions, but at least he is learning to ask if Dave wants it.]

[parodeity]

Okay. We can do that...whenever you want?

[ dirk actually might have plans with people, unlike dave who nebulously does whatever comes up. he should ask hotaru if she wants him to cook her breakfast again sometime. it was the first time he'd bothered with breakfast in a while, when he'd offered. ]

[splinten]

I can do it whenever.

[Now. In a hundred years. Whenever.]

[parodeity]

May as well, then.

[ do it now, he means. they keep flipping topics too fast like always, but at least he thinks ? they kind of agreed to do the thing they came here to talk about doing maybe but.

dave lets go of dirk's hand and sits up, and then. just will get out from under the umbrella thing dirk set up. ]

[splinten]

[Dirk takes apart his umbrella, puts it all back in the sylladex. With a nod of affirmation, he starts to fly off to the monolith.

Like, they could use the ones on base but that'd probably make Dave en more unsettled so. No.]

[parodeity]

[ good call dave would be iffy about using the on base ones so YET ANOTHER FAMILY ROADTRIP.

it makes him miss the actual roadtrips they no longer go on. dave will be minimally chatty during the trip, though if dirk gets antsy about silence he might express some dumb opinions about the starsky and hutch television series? ]

[splinten]

[At least there's that. The route to the pods is easy now, and Dirk doesn't hesitate to drop into his. Dreaming has always been a non-issue for him. When he comes out into the dreamscape, though, he does pause.]

There's a puppet warning. I had a pile of hats and smuppets at the foot of my bed, and Lil Cal usually was on my desk. There weren't really any anywhere else. It's your call if you want to skip my bedroom.