parodeity | subnautica ic inbox 3.0;

Which requires, like, smart-person math. Not street-person math.

[ continuing the silly debate. ]

I think it'd be more impactful if you saw it.

People on the street cannot do your math.

[Why won't Dave believe him. He knows why but why.]

...You're gonna make it?

[dirk don't sound so excited]

Do you wanna call up everyone we know, 'cause I'm sure they can.

[ .............

well, maybe not john? sorry john ]

It ain't like I got a whole lot else on my plate aside from, like, farmin' and tryin' to teach the Kharaa to chill the fuck out. Which...I guess includes healin' the huge sick fish now, somehow? But it probably wouldn't be, like, that great. It'd be an ok way to kill time though.

We don't know people on the street. We know freaks of nature and weirdos. We are basically the least representative sample imaginable.

[yeah not john though]

I want to see it.

[HE REALLY WANTS TO SEE IT]

Right, who are all better at math than me, so there you go.

[ he wins!!!!!!!!!!!!! ok but realistically dave is. probably better at math than a lot of them. not science? but math. ]

I think you're gettin' your hopes up on quality here.

No, they aren't. [Like. They aren't?] You're definitely better at math than John, Rose, Kanaya, and Karkat. I'd bet you're better than Jake and Jade. You'd also have me and Roxy beat. None of us are idiots. [...Well.] Okay, maybe John and the trolls aren't as intellectually-minded. But Rose's thing is arts and humanities, and Jake and Jade are into sciences. Me and Roxy do tech and mechanics.

You're also totally glossing over what I think is your best quality, in terms of intelligence, which is your creativity and adaptability. You're maybe the most creative dude I know.

[Which leads us to—]

My hopes are fine. I want to see your movie.

But on that list like three or four people can do rocket science, you realize.

[ that's. the only defensive he can come up with because honestly, he's never even considered the remote possibility he might be better at a book-thing than anyone else except maybe. john? the fighting thing he's considered but powers complicate things - he's sure rose could kick his ass with her magic bullshit if she tried, and has never contemplated what adding his powers would be like, john's a fucking op menace, jade is even worse. dirk he can just about handle but it's not like that's a cakewalk. ]

Maybe? You always see a little too much.

People who develop expertise in a field get really good at that field, but that doesn't automatically transfer over to other fields. A rocket scientist can't do brain surgery. Unless they're a rocket scientist brain surgeon, which would be cool, but that would only happen if they also studied rocket science. We're all reasonably adept in the areas we've decided to work on, but I'm pretty sure none of us have mastered the kind of math you do like it's nothin'. I know I can't.

[If he practiced, maybe, but he can't juggle those huge numbers the way Dave did. That was something he exported to AR because a computer could.]

Do you not want me to watch it?

It's just...stuff I have to be able to do, though. It still doesn't translate to the kind of smarts I admire you for havin', was my point. Before, like, we started debatin' it.

[ he thinks that was his point, anyway. dave considers the question and shifts a little, arms crossing over his chest as he tips his head back against the couch. ]

Dunno. You're the only person who ever questioned me about "are you next".

My point is that it is the same kind of intelligence, and it will translate to practically applicable knowledge more and more if you decide to pursue that line of education.

[Hm. Well. For this at least, Dave sort of has a point.]

Sorry. I kinda got into the habit of tryin' to read someone through the lens of their work. I can try to turn the metaphorical blinders on for you if that's what you want. Mostly, I just enjoy the things you create more than anything else so I like to think about them a lot.

I don't think that's an offer you can actually carry through with.

[ it's dirk. he lives to overanalyze??? ]

But it wasn't a complaint so much as I don't know what I'd want to say. I'd have to think about it when I was more sure. [ and he isn't sure if it'd be something he'd want dirk to see or not. ] If you want to know about that ever I can probably tell you.

Sort of, but sort of not. Like how if I look at a vehicle, I can't not think about how it works and what parts it probably has, but I'm not actually going to know in more detail until I get inside. My offer was to refrain from trying to go under the metaphorical hood.

[That said, he briefly squeezes Dave's hand before letting go.]

Sure thing, though. Just let me know.

[He can stay away from it if Dave wants. He's understanding even, because he does understand. He hates himself a little for ruining good things for them both by seeing these things, and there's that stupid desperate clingy instinct but he tells that instinct to calm down because Dave needs space and privacy and if one version of Dirk Strider wouldn't give it, then he damn well owes it to let Dave have it now.]

I meant about the Halloween special.

[ to clarify.

the brief hand holding and hand squeeze doesn't really get much in return but dave doesn't, like, fight it? so. ]

[There's a pause.] Like, about what was behind that?

[ a shrug that functions mostly as confirmation while he watches the octopus continue to Not Win. this is bullshit. the shark isn't even winning either?

man the humans are gonna win just because the monsters take themselves out. and they weren't even in the title screen.

cheaters. ]

[Hm.]

Should we postpone that? Askin' right now feels like it would be takin' advantage of you.

If you want to stick a pin in it and bring it up awkwardly another time, yeah. It'd be harder for you like this anyway I guess.

[ to talk about anything. which dave supposes sucks for him personally because at least there isn't terror and every other mixed up feeling slamming around his head right now, which will be a thing whenever they pick up their discussions again, probably, since they're waiting.

but probably dirk has a point about waiting. probably it shouldn't ever be easy or not excruciatingly painful to talk about things. ]

What do you define as takin' advantage of me, anyway.

The normal definition? An altered state of mind that makes it difficult, if not impossible, for you to truly say 'no,' which would lead to you regretting the decisions you made. It's like if I got you drunk and then asked you to tell me things you would be uncomfortable sayin' otherwise.

Do you ever worry that just askin' me shit normally is takin' advantage?

[ since, like, dave does re: dirk. ]

Yes. A lot.

It's possible we're both always in an altered state of mind.

Because on the chart that maps out our weaknesses, 'Each Other' is pasted dead centre with arrows pointing to it?

I wouldn't call myself your Achilles heel, really, but I probably rank high enough to be like a hangnail. So yeah? I'm never gonna drink. Made jokes about drugs but never did 'em and never really had an interest. But you're exactly my brand of controlled substance.

[ it's a weird dave-ism and a wry note edges into his even tone. the things that fuck him up most will always be the people he loves. every defense he has against them is in the end mostly useless. it's an altered state of mind, except he's sober. ]

Of course you wouldn't call yourself that. You have a mind specifically organized to filter out how important you are to me.

[At this point, Dirk doesn't even sound annoyed.]

I always thought I was just broken for caring about the people I love the way I do.

[ dave shrugs and doesn't argue the point, since his half-protest that he is not dead centre in dirks list of weaknesses has been lodged. ]

I dunno how people filter it out. [ right now he could maybe, but would he bother? ] Sayin' no or sayin' yes, I never got how you could get in a state where you said somethin' just for you devoid of any other factors.

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