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[parodeity]

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[parodeity]

You'll have to tell me the idea in order for me to tell you what I think about it.

[ unless that was an attempt to get dave to promise to be truthful, in which case he. didn't do that yet but. ]

[splinten]

[no he's just flustered and nervous]

Give a dude some time to work up to being an idiot.

[But Dirk, it comes so naturally to you.]

Okay. Uh. I pictured it as two circles with a tangent line. And you pictured a balloon. You're trying to make yourself okay with balloons. What if... What if you didn't make yourself accept a balloon, and you didn't make me break my own circle. What if. We took out the tangent and then...

Would it be... He wants to be your friend, you know. He cares about you and just wants to be your friend. Would you consider getting to know him? And he gets to know you, too. You make your own indeterminate shape, and I stop living in a bizarre triangular conflict with my best friend and my brother because you can just decide for yourselves what kind of relationship you want instead of having all of your conversations mediated by me. You don't have to trust him, that isn't a requirement. Just... the flow of information becomes a thing determined by your relationship with each other, instead of mine with both of you.

Or that's stupid and I should restrict myself to a life of silence and drawing dickbutts.

[parodeity]

I don't...I've never minded the idea of gettin' to know him. I'm not opposed, that just...does not actually resolve the situation, you realize. I do not actually tell my friends everythin', or even everythin' they'd want to know. Gettin' to know me would not help the whole him trustin' you thing.

[ or the dave trusting dirk thing but he's just. not addressing that in full. ]

I'm fine with it, it's just that you seem to be shootin' yourself in the foot here. You can just do the tell him whatever thing.

[splinten]

I know it doesn't, in that I know you don't share all information with your friends by any means. But I think it would help him trust me in the sense that you'd be making choices about information for yourselves, instead of through me. You're both most worried about messin' up my relationship with the other, so what I'm trying to find is something that will take me out of it.

I wouldn't tell him anything from you since that would be your choice to make, just as it would be his choice to tell anything to you. The only things I'd tell him would be my things, which is what he actually wants from me. Neither of you would have to decide on trusting me based on whether you trust each other.

[parodeity]

In this scenario what exactly would you be doin' if I were to start consultin' you on shit like the Kharaa again?

[ dave files the question under "morbid curiosity". ]

[splinten]

I'd call you out on being an idiot for getting into a situation like that again. [First thing.] Then leave it up to you to decide if or when you decided to tell Jake about it.

[parodeity]

They haven't killed me yet in this timeline.

[ that's Suspiciously Specific Wording, but. ]

I...don't know how fast I'll stop worryin' about you tellin' people shit or deciding you need to. But okay.

[splinten]

That was very specific wording.

[wait.

what.]

Okay?

[parodeity]

You think it'll help the two of you, yeah? And I've never had an objection to gettin' to know...well, anyone. The only people who rubbed me the wrong way were, like, Komaeda et al.

[ does that count as good judgement or bad? ]

It...doesn't mean I trust you like I did, still. But I'm willin' to try it this way.

[splinten]

[GENUINELY didn't expect an okay so he's still. Kinda surprised.]

Okay. And I won't tell anyone anything you tell me. Okay?

[parodeity]

[ dirk he has no issue hanging out with jake he just doesn't want to tell. anyone shit. unless they reach some level of him wanting to tell them shit?? he already warned dirk that hanging out wouldn't equal sharing immediately, so. if dirk thinks it will help... ]

I'll try to believe that, yeah.

[splinten]

[His hope is that it will help two things. Dave's trust in him, yes, that's an issue. But also, Jake's fear and uncertainty about Dave. Sharing is important but he thinks that Jake and Dave actually knowing each other better will help them both.

Besides, of course he wants his boyfriend and brother to get along.]

Okay. Then... is there anything else there you want to deal with?

[parodeity]

I...don't know. On that topic.

[ he has zero interest in going into his feelings about trust any further because it all sounds terrible. ]

Next is trips.

[splinten]

We can come back to it whenever, then.

[Since that is how Dave is right now. He'll take the point they've made it to as some degree of progress. At least it, hopefully, means Dave will stop trying to force himself as much.]

On trips, I think it's for the best that I stay off of them until you reach the point where you can trust me with that again. Your decision made sense and I understand why you did it.

[parodeity]

Not to mention whatever "complicated" reason means you don't want to go on 'em anyway.

[ he decides not to bother asking for an explanation. forcing open shut doors has never been a hobby of dave's. ]

Works for me. [ he fails to mention he plans to make more of them and won't be taking rose every time because it does not seem 100% relevant. ]

[splinten]

[Very gently.]

Dave. You're deciding how I feel about a thing for me.

[parodeity]

[ he stills. ]

Which thing? I agreed with your assessment.

[splinten]

The thing where you think complications mean I don't want to go.

[There's a pause, then.]

Maybe it's your turn to remind me of the list.

[parodeity]

If you don't want to discuss said complications you don't have to.

[ that's not...reminding dirk about the talking about things clause at all. that is the opposite. that is not a good try, even. ]

[splinten]

[It is in fact the opposite, yes.]

You can't help me learn to talk about things more if you don't push me to talk, bro.

[parodeity]

But you don't want to talk about them? You wouldn't tell me about them last time, I figured it was a no-go this time too.

[ look ]

It's not the same thing as you tellin' me about feelings you don't mind sharin' but just forget to do.

[splinten]

It kinda is when my whole life I've been scared of sharing feelings that might drive people away.

So. Ask me?

[parodeity]

Well, maybe now I don't wanna ask.

[ ...

this particular display of immaturity lasts half a minute, before: ]

What're the complications.

[splinten]

[u tried]

Time travel still doesn't come entirely naturally to me. While I didn't have any initial objections, and I'm happy we've taken the trips we have, I'm not entirely sure how I think about it right now. Everything has been such a mess that I haven't really had the chance to sit down and decide what I feel about that kind of time. When I think about it as time sort of pocketed out just for us, I really like it. On the other hand, when I think of it as desynchronized time, it's harder to accept.

This isn't... this is new. I wasn't hiding this from you. It's something I started to think about before the Christmas trip you didn't take me on.

I... didn't want to tell you because we're already so precarious, I was scared you would just decide that time travel was bad for me and not give me a choice in it.

[parodeity]

[ while dave's expression seems completely neutral to the untrained outsider, there is a definite twist as he tries really hard to stop himself from saying something. it is always an effort that takes some. well. effort?

the something he forces himself not to say is pretty much about what dirk thinks he would say. he's also not sure if his own feelings on the topic would be good or bad to share. probably bad? bad. okay.

right. words. he should say some of those. ]

...All right. [ that's neutral enough there we go good show ]