We're kinda bad at sharing our feelings

[forsometimenow]

Who: The crew of the good ship Wonderduck and visitors
Broadcast: N/A
Action: SS Wonderduck, planetside
When: The whole month of July

[IT'S A WONDERDUCK MINGLE.

Say hello to our new shipmates, play with fluff slugs, do what you wish.]

Comments

[frigidaire]

You do the same thing.

[ Isaac almost feels bad. After all, he's been reprimanded by his friend before for saying stupid stuff before. ]

I mean right there. Like yeah, I'll agree your brother sounds like he was a major dick but I'm not exactly trying to be a dick to you, dude.

[feathery]

See what I mean. He's got the benefit of predictability.

[lol his bro was anything but predictable. Davesprite is being disingenuous. It's a joke inside of a truth inside of a joke, mise en abyme style.]

[frigidaire]

[ Isaac recognizes it for what it is, at least. He's not always the best and brightest but he tries. ]

Sure, whatever you say. I haven't met the dude, I don't know. We both suck, the end.

[feathery]

[Davesprite just gives Isaac a wary (if also slightly guilty) look. He gets the sense he fucked up, stepped maybe a little too far over the line, but he also doesn't feel like that's entirely his fault. So it's a combination of uncertainty and him feeling like he was unfairly cornered that keeps his mouth shut for a change.

How awkward is the silence that ensues. Pretty awkward, right?]

[frigidaire]

Sorry.

[ Isaac isn't sure what he's apologizing for necessarily, but it feels like it's the right thing to do. He pushes up from his place on the floor, only to take a few steps and plops himself onto Davesprite's bed. ]

My jaw's fine. You're strong, though. Remind me never to fight you or become your enemy or something.

[ #priorities ]

[feathery]

[He winces a little when Isaac apologizes to him.]

Nah, I probably... I shouldn't have said that.

[He absently rubs his own jaw.]

It was a shitty thing to do. But sure, I'll leave you notes. Memos. Gonna have to buy your own stationary if you got something special in mind, though.

[frigidaire]

It's not a big deal. I wasn't being cool either.

[ Isaac flops onto his back, because he can't ever just hold still like a normal person. ]

Right, I'll make sure to waste my money on some post-its for you or something. But for real, pretty sure it's impossible for us to be enemies, so I'm just not gonna bother.

[feathery]

[That gets Davesprite to arch an eyebrow at him.]

You think so?

[He just sounds kind of surprised.]

[frigidaire]

[ Isaac looks at Davesprite like he has six heads. ]

Yeah. You're my friend. You kept me from full moon eating people and I saved you from curry, so pretty sure that's a solid friendship, dude.

[ How dare you even question, Davesprite. ]

[feathery]

Curry that you knocked me into in the first place.

[Just gonna point that out first. There is still probably some orange mixed in with his feathers.]

[frigidaire]

Okay, yeah, you caught me. Knocked you into it on purpose. Probably a secret villain after all.

[ Oh my god get over it, Davesprite, it was an accident. ]

You got some in your feathers still, dude.

[feathery]

I knew it.

[Look, this is a much safer reaction than uncomfortably acknowledging the fact he has fucked up multiple close friendships already.

He chucks a pillow at Isaac, before he glances around at one wing. He picks at it.]

I'm probably gonna have curry in my feathers until the day I die. [Again. No, wait, that's definitely way too morbid.]

[frigidaire]

Yeah you will. That stuff reeks, too. And don't taste it. I don't even want to know what aliens put in their curry.

[ No, really, the look on his face is a pretty disgusted one at the memory alone. He chucks the pillow back at Davesprite. ]

[feathery]

[Wow, now who needs to get over a thing.

The pillow hits Davesprite in the head because he's still too busy picking at his wing. His fingers don't come away orange, but he does pull a couple feathers loose.]

You say that like it's worse than what Atroma's already been feeding us.

[frigidaire]

Dude, it's disgusting. My throat burned for like three days.

[ Because woofs jump into curry mouth open, apparently. ]

Did you just pull your feathers out? [ It looks painful and gross, okay? ]

[feathery]

A bird's gotta do what a bird's gotta do.

[He keeps scratching at it, though.]

I still don't get how you swallowed curry. It's not like the vat was that deep.

[frigidaire]

You were covered in curry and I had to save your feathery hide. That stuff got all over me.

[ Isaac eyes his friend's wing. ]

Dude just take a shower or something, scrub it out. It's gross you're picking dried curry out of your wings.

[feathery]

You make it sound like I haven't tried. I must've taken like three fuckin' showers in succession right after I fell into that sauced up cesspool.

[He was a wet, unhappy bird that afternoon. But he stretches out the wing, feathers spread, even as he keeps plucking at it.]

See? That's not curry.

[Sorry about the gross keratin sheath coming off these feathers, Isaac.]

[frigidaire]

[ Isaac sits up so he can lean closer to the spot Davesprite is picking at. When it's clear that it's not curry coming off his wing? Isaac frowns. ]

Yeah, great, thanks. I wanted to see that. That looks awful, dude.

[ Maybe he threw up in his mouth a little, maybe he's just being really dramatic. He's being dramatic. ]

[feathery]

[Davesprite responds by buffing Isaac in the face with said wing and flopping over. How the hell that's comfortable with one wing bent beneath him is a mystery, but he does it often enough.]

You're the one throwing around accusations in the first place. Respect my right to look like total shit.

[frigidaire]

[ Rude, birbsprite. Isaac makes a few spitting sounds, because he really doesn't want those gross wings in his face, okay? ]

You can look like whatever you want, dude. I don't care. Dye yourself curry orange for all I care.

[ Whatever makes his friend happy, after all. ]

[feathery]

Pass. I already spent three years like that, I don't need a redux.

[But he's quiet for a moment after that, just staring up at the ceiling.]

How long do you think they're gonna keep us.

[Wow, that wasn't out of nowhere or anything.]

[frigidaire]

[ Davesprite can never get on Isaac for his weird topic changes ever again. Isaac laughs. ]

You think I know that answer? Dude, I don't know. Could be a week, could be another year. One of us will leave before the other, though, probably. That's how it seems to work around here.

[ Which is kind of a weird thought. Never mind the existential bs he went through not too long ago. ]

[feathery]

I didn't ask if you know, dude. Just what you think.

[But he sighs and looks over at Isaac, before he looks away again after a moment with a stilted shrug. It's hard to shrug when you're lying down.]

It'll probably be you. [He says it like it's no big deal.]

[frigidaire]

I don't know that there's any real logic or whatever.

[ Isaac has known Davesprite long enough now to know there's probably more to that statement. They've had a lot of conversations like this recently, haven't they? ]

So who knows. We'll probably end up back here, our luck.