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

[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.

[feathery]

Maybe. Guess now's the time to start placing bets on who forgets what. I'd say whoever remembers gets to collect on the loser, but I'm not dumb enough to make a wager I'm guaranteed to lose.

[It's irreverent.]

But who knows. [Just gonna echo Isaac's own words right back at him.]

[frigidaire]

So can I get the bet in writing, though? Cause when you come back and don't remember shit, I'm going to have your signature or something. You're not gonna believe me. Maybe I'll tape some of your curry feathers to it, too.

[ Hey, he's gonna try to keep it light even if the concepts of existence and memory have come up again. He's just not gonna give it much thought. ]

[feathery]

I'll think you're talking about some other Dave.

[He says it offhand, almost like a joke, and sits back up.]

Just 'cause one of us signed a contract don't mean the rest of us are beholden to any pacts of dubious veracity. Or at least that'd what I'd tell you. Probably.