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[parodeity]

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[splinten]

We can what? [There's a pause. A frown.] You said 'if I want a schedule.' You were going to offer me a bargain to make me stop.

[parodeity]

You said you hate it when I do that.

[ but also he doesn't actually have a bargain worth making here because every day he could give dirk is better spent with like. anyone else. for dirk. ]

[splinten]

That would be because I do.

[The frown softens, but it's still there. He wants to say something but he knows Dave won't take it. Still, he has to say it. Isn't that what his Bro stood for? Fighting the losing battle because you have to. Because it's the right thing to do.]

All of those are things we can do before or after the hours we use for movie night.

[parodeity]

Ok. We'll defer that train wreck until December.

[ whatever train wreck he's referring to. ]

If you don't want to give them up we don't have to. Just...we can just keep it casual. So it's okay to break them. That'd be better. If it's not a promise it doesn't matter if we have to reschedule.

[splinten]

[The other thing could be answered to but.]

What trainwreck.

[Now what.]

[parodeity]

...Nothing?

[ fuck ]

[splinten]

Wow. I'm completely persuaded.

[being exhausted and sad doesn't stop him from being sarcastic. IT ONLY MAKES HIM STRONGER]

[parodeity]

...I'm probably not going to spend huge amounts of time at our birthday party?

[ especially if it's a combo party. ]

I was going to offer to...stick around then instead of ditch.

[splinten]

[A few things occur to Dirk here. Some are the reasons why Dave wouldn't be there. There are other matters as well.

One, however, is most prominent.]

You are offering to stay in a place you don't want to be, for me. After I explained I didn't want to spend time with you if it made you miserable because it was toxic and lonely.

[Dave.]

[parodeity]

Hey, I stopped myself before actually offering.

[ he only got...halfway through the offer. ]

I don't get why you have such a big deal with this - you do shit you don't want to do for other people, too.

[splinten]

[He almost gets his hackles up and starts defending and then he realizes it's pointless and also slight of hand. So, instead, he makes himself not do that.]

You're ignoring nuance, but yes. There are a few reasons behind it. Do you want to know the major one?

[parodeity]

No.

[ he imagines it's because bro always let dave do things he didn't want to do. or required it. ]

But tell me anyway.

[splinten]

Because of all the things I really don't want to do, being responsible for your unhappiness is top of the list. Prince of Heart means I should see it coming. Mostly, it makes me need to send you an urgent text message which is usually pointless since we're in the same room.

[parodeity]

You're suicidal right now.

[splinten]

No. [He's okay right now. He's calm and he's thinking and he is resting his head awkwardly on a bed.]

A while ago, though, yeah. Before you told me you wanted to cancel movie nights. For another dishing of irony on tonight's overdone menu, that helped me get out of it. It was around when I mentioned drowning.

[Dirk grew up alone in the middle of ocean. Of course whenever he thinks of dying, he thinks of giving in to the sea.]

[parodeity]

Why the fuck did that help.

[ no, wait. he actually works through it. ]

Because I wasn't tellin' you at all.

[splinten]

[Nailed it.]

Then it just took a system reboot to refocus, to use inappropriate computing metaphors that are probably not awesome for my self-image. Anyway, I'm okay now. It would be dishonesty even past your usual level to say I'm good, but I don't want to make creative use of a sendificator so I'm calling it a win.

[parodeity]

[ when he slows down, he usually isn't too bad at figuring it out. ]

Creative use of a - oh.

[ goddamnit dirk. dave seriously debates demanding dirk never make anything remotely resembling a sendificator ever again, but opts not to. ]

You're kind of the furthest thing from a robot. Thinking in those metaphors doesn't change that.

[splinten]

My friends used to joke about me being one, entirely because that's basically what I pretended to be. They've more or less worked it out by now.

[He thinks some people make that mistake though. He doesn't mind as long as the people who matter most realize.]

You didn't scold me for automatically choosing head-removal. Nice restraint holdin' back on it.

[parodeity]

Why the fuck would you have chosen anything else.

[ so dry ]

In actuality I've probably got more robo-tendencies than you do. You're just kinda awkward.

[splinten]

[He remembers the descriptor Dave used for his Bro. He doesn't want Dave using it for himself.]

You don't really. A true robot would totally get rid of the processing that you can only ignore. You're as human as I am.

[parodeity]

If you say so.

[ some days he still feels like an afterthought rather than a person. dave reaches out, but it's to awkwardly put two fingers at dirk's carotid artery. neck still connected, pulse still going. ]

Are you going to be ok?

[splinten]

[The gesture is surprising. Dirk doesn't pull away from it, and it isn't uncomfortable. It's just that he usually gets it from Jake.

He wishes he could undo what he did to them both.]

Yeah. Sorry for the decapitation joke.

[parodeity]

I'm the last person you need to apologize to. I could do it all over again.

[ he absently counts the heartbeats. ]

No hesitation.

[ probably it says something unfortunate about him. ]

[splinten]

[It's a good way to keep time. As strange as it is, Dirk doesn't mind sitting there and letting Dave feel his pulse beat away. It's steady and calm, now.]

The hesitation isn't the part that matters.