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[parodeity]

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[parodeity]

Maybe if I had any interest in talkin' to most of them again. Like, it'd be chill to hit up Megido but most of 'em are people who awkwardly tried to be a pain in the ass to all of us like once and who then proceeded to die. A lot. No real time to get attached.

[ the classpects he remembers mostly thanks to lectures. ]

You told me I wasn't cool.

[splinten]

[A short pause.]

That was a right thing to say.

[Not inflected as a question, but a question. He didn't think of it in those terms, though he understood it as part of what was behind Dave suddenly hugging him. Now, though, he is seeing it framed that way.]

[parodeity]

[ dave runs a finger down the cover of the book in his lap. ]

You meant it as a good thing. [ his friends had said it before, too, but always teasing. and usually followed by an admittance they did actually find him cool to some degree. ] You didn't care that I didn't...you didn't see it as me not measurin' up. You said I was stronger than I realized and a better person than you'd imagined him being.

[splinten]

Yeah. I still do.

[All of it. Dave is stronger than he thinks. He isn't cool, even if Dirk adores him and thinks he is awesome in so many ways. He is a really, really good person.]

[parodeity]

I...expected that meetin' to go a lot differently. It was a right thing to say.

[ he'd expected bro. he hadn't gotten him. ]

[splinten]

Okay. Good.

[There is a pause as he reflects on his own awkwardness.]

Neither of us is in any danger of thinking the other cool at this rate.

[They are both so lame.]

[parodeity]

Eh. I'll never tell you if and when I do think that.

[ it comes with one of his rapid-fire casual smiles. ]

You definitely don't need to know that kinda thing.

[splinten]

What the Hell, man.

[Dirk seems relaxed about it too. After a pause, he decides to sit down beside Dave, close but not too close. Within reach.]

I love you, Dave. Thanks.

[parodeity]

It's only fair.

[ he's thought dirk was cool before but he'll never share, okay. dave's quiet for a second, gaze slanting to the side. ]

I love you, too. But why "thanks"?

[ a heartbeat. two. he leans over to the side and drops his head onto dirk's shoulder, slouching against his brother. ]

[splinten]

For a lot of things. [So many he can't put them all into words. They end up expressed in stupid ways, in dumb presents and awkward gestures. In this.] For... being pretty much the best thing I got out of that stupid game.

[Dirk hesitates for a moment.]

Uh. Can I put an arm around your shoulder? If that won't make you uncomfortable. We could just put in a rule where you move my limbs where you want them until you're comfortable with all this again.

[Is Dave sure the 'cool' thing is ever a risk.]

[parodeity]

[ dave freezes at best thing because he's not sure he can ever buy being anyone's best thing and he's not sure how to take it, any more than he was sure of how to handle dirk saying he was important or any of the rest of it. it's the same song, but a new verse.

but okay. a question. ]

Your answer to way too many things is puppetry. [ just saying. he has to give the question a brief moment of thought, but: ] The arm thing would be okay.

[splinten]

[a pause]

It... did not occur to me that that would be an accurate term to describe what I just asked. Sorry, dude.

[HE DIDN'T MEAN TO SUGGEST PUPPETRY... But. Okay. He manages to put his arm around Dave's shoulder and tug him in for a weird not-quite-hug thing. An awkward clingy brotherly gesture.]

[parodeity]

[ the nearest they have been to a hug in

A WHILE... ]

I think it's one of your dumb quirks? Puppetry is just a Thing with you. It's kind of hilarious, in a way?

[splinten]

[Mission accomplished, really.]

How is that hilarious.

[What is funny about this.]

[parodeity]

Just...you do it completely without thinkin' about it or intendin' to? You like, frame the world through puppets. It's just absurd?

[ why is dirk the way he is ]

[splinten]

I occasionally lean on puppets as a metaphor for understandin' something, but I don't frame the world through puppetry. The last thing that came up was you framing it as puppets, not me.

[Why does Dirk get stubborn about things like this.

Possibly because it's Dave and he's kinda ashamed of his love of puppets when he's talking to Dave.]

[parodeity]

Occasionally? It's what you called the warpers first off.

[ like. just saying. ]

[splinten]

They're literally empty vessels being manipulated by an outside force.

[And therefore it was called for.]

Also, I didn't call them that. You did.

[Because... Dirk tried not to say it.]

[parodeity]

Yeah but you made them sound like puppets before I ever said that.

[ SO THERE? dave shuts his eyes although he feels like rolling them. ]

[splinten]

[Rude. Despite the dumb argument, Dirk relaxes a little. In a very, very slight move, he leans his head on top of Dave's.]

I will allow that my perspective on things may have been influenced by spending my formative years with a puppet as my only real companion.

[parodeity]

[ ah cal. still hate that guy. ]

So you're still sure you wanna do this?

[splinten]

Absolutely.

[No hesitation.]

This is where I want to be.

[parodeity]

Okay.

[ he'll keep trying to believe that part. ]

What time should I be countin' down to for doomsday scenarios, anyway?

[splinten]

Which kind of Doomsday Scenario? We're living with an overabundance at present.

[parodeity]

I meant the clock countdown to d-day i.e. when you move in I guess??? Like what time tomorrow is that happening. Is it happenin' completely at random, or.

[ A SPECIFIC TIME... ]