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[to be honest, there are a million places he'd prefer to be over sitting on this cot — like somewhere a lot quieter, listening to music and patching himself up like he's used to, and probably being kind of messed up over his own behavior, too.]

[he'd tossed himself out into the fray specifically because he's protective, and because there were people he was missing that he'd let down, and because there were people here that he desperately didn't want to let down, too. but then he'd gone and let a glaring vulnerability get the better of him, without really thinking on the consequences it'd have on the people he has grown pretty hopelessly attached to over the past several months. he knows he owes Rion an apology.]

[see, this is why John's the real hero, not him.]

Hey.

[Dave looks up from his laptop. speaking of emotional vulnerabilities, if he ever did find his shades, they're not anywhere in plain sight.]

[ She can only recall seeing him without his shades once, and that was in an entirely different world-- a claim that doesn't sound so outrageous, given that they're world-hoppers now, but...

It's still something worth noting. For now, Rion settles herself on the cot beside him and stays quiet for-- all of a few seconds. But being quiet isn't something she's all that good at, so it's not long before she opens her mouth again. ]

I'm kind of surprised you're still awake. The adrenaline hasn't worn off yet?

[one advantage to this shadesless business, at least, is that Dave is a lot easier to read without them. it's easy to pick up on entire thought processes that wouldn't be obvious otherwise in his eyes.]

[and right now? there's the tiniest crinkling of amusement. a lot of other things, too, but mostly amusement.]

Was gonna ask you the same thing, actually. You've gotta run out of energy and completely zonk out at some point.

I will, totally.

[ No denying here, and she's even grinning like she totally expects this to happen. ]

But a girl's got to check on her favorite Dave first. Nap after.

[oh ... that's a pretty high compliment coming from an idol Spice Girl, who he figures has probably met her fair share of Daves by virtue of that job title.]

She doesn't need to worry — he's cool. [he'd be saying that regardless of actual status, but. Rion probably knows that.]

[he closes his laptop and tosses it casually on top of his pillow, then swings his legs over the edge of the cot. he knows he needs to acknowledge his fuckup here, but letting his guard down and admitting he's way more sensitive than that gridiron coolkid shield of his might imply sounds.]

[wow. completely awful. how the hell does he do this? it sure is a mystery.]

... No offense, but I'm pretty sure you're like... kind of far off from cool right now. Which is fine! I don't think you have to be.

[ Well. Rion will try, but in the end, Dave is going to have to let her beat up his shields a little. ]

[boy, Rion has got a hell of a way of disarming him. sort of like Jade did, once upon a time, before she got bit by the kind-of-evil bug and they had one of the biggest arguments to ever grace their side of paradox space.]

[i'm not playing in the snow, he'd said once. he wound up in the snow anyway.]

[that is to say, ultimately, his reaction to Rion is probably a lot gentler than what it'd be if it were someone else. which is why he doesn't immediately quip with something funny, or snarky, or on-brand, to brush it off.]

[which is why he doesn't say anything at all, at first. Dave just sort of directs his gaze to some point on the floor past them, the gears behind his eyes turning like mad.]

I mean, shit always heals eventually. [it's unclear whether he means physically, or whatever else it is that he's missing.]

Look — I had no business dicking around out there like a jackass, like I stood a chance against whatever the hell sort of storm that was. And it was fucked up to drag you into it, too. So.

[so. he's sorry.]

...

[ Rion studies him, even as Dave stares rather fixedly at his feet or the floor or something that is definitely not her. It feels a little too arrogant to even say that she thinks she understands, or that she knows how hard it is to just tell someone that you're not okay, that you're messing things up and you're only just starting to realize that you can't even fix your own problems without help.

But that's just her own experience talking. She has no clue what Dave was thinking when he was out there, but she'd like to think she at least knows him well enough by now to also know that his reason for going out there had nothing to do with "dicking around like a jackass".

So, while she sighs quietly, she also reaches out to wrap both of her arms around his shoulders and pull him into a side-hug. ]

Remind me to tell you about the time I dragged an entire hospital into a dungeon-- sometime. Later.

But you didn't drag me into anything. That was my choice, Dave. And we both made it out of there okay, so...

[ So. She forgives him. ]

[Rion has no idea how completely on the nose she is about him. and if that's an experience they share, then it makes sense that she'd be able to see him struggling with the same things she did.]

[but those relatable problems aside, what sort of knight swoops in with the intention of protecting, then winds up screwing up so badly that he needs protecting himself? not the storybook kind that Sburb and other RPGs seem obsessed with, at least. Dave's complained about hating that title before, the idea of being a hero, because he doesn't think he can live up to it. that, and he's seen someone else ruin the title of "hero" even worse than he has.]

[but then, Rion suddenly has her arms around him, careful not to hit his injury, and that self-loathing train of thought pretty much completely sails off the rails. he pauses for maybe half a minute. then he lifts an arm to return it. it's ... the kind of slightly awkward one-armed hug you give someone when you're not really all that experienced in giving hugs, but the message of sincerity is there all the same.]

Gonna hold you to that — the story, I mean.

[and hell, Rion's already gotten pretty good at reading him, maybe she'll get that message, too. he's saying thanks, in his dumb kind of muted way.]

[ She has to wonder if she's ever going to really be able to tell the whole story in all of its entirety, without glossing over the more... troubling parts of it. It's not even that she thinks her friends would think of her any differently, because she's sure they wouldn't-- but it's still...

Another day. She's going to tell him, about how the people in the hospital were involved in a dangerous situation technically because of her, but now isn't the time to talk about it. ]

Yeah. [ softly, but there's a promise there, and quiet acknowledgment. He's hugging back, at least-- kind of. She'll take it. ]

I'll spoil it a little for you now, but the moral of that story is that good friends are going to be there for you, whether you do stupid things or not, whether you're fine or not. And sometimes they'll say supportive things to get you back on your feet, or tell you to stop it with that bullshit-- [ thanks, Kou ] or just-- be there.

And you, Dave, are a good friend. So as someone who wants to be the same, I'm gonna be there for you too.

[ ... this is so sappy, this is so sappy, how does Kou say things like this so honestly without wanting to bury his face in his hands?? ]

[one of Dave's best friends is both very shouty and obsessed with romcoms and romance novels, so even though this is very high up there on the list of sappy friendship things he's heard, it's probably actually somewhere in the middle when it comes to overall sap factor.]

[not ... not that he's been ranking them! besides, as bad as he can be at expressing sincerity himself, he recognizes it in others just fine. and he knows this is 100 percent sincere friendship being tossed his way, wrapped up in a hug and everything.]

[and even if he isn't always great at responding in kind, it at least gives him the courage to try.]

[.....]

Thanks, Rion.

Don't mention it.

[ And she'll give him one last squeeze before releasing him. She's still leaning against him, though. ]

We're both already super tired, so I think if we get into a cycle of thanking each other or apologizing, we're just going to wipe ourselves out.

Wouldn't be the goofiest loop I've been in.

[time loop. he means time loop.]

— I'll tell you about that sometime, too. Go ahead and get some rest.

[ ... yeah, he'd better. Because "loop"? ]

On you?

[boy, this is going to be a really bizarre storytime when they get back to the Temple.]

Uh.

[whatever ... Rion wants to do? he's okay with. Dave genuinely doesn't mind being a pillow if it means she gets some rest.]

... Kidding. I'll move.

[ Just. Give her a minute. ]

All right.

[of course, now it's just going to be an exciting race to see who falls asleep first. Strider vs Kugayama, 1v1, no items, no Fox, i forget the rest of the SSB rules.]

[though, mind, he is very, very experienced in keeping weird sleep schedules, staying awake at odd hours whenever the mood or inspiration to work on a new song or rhyme strikes, or just because. and —]

[yeah no he's dozing.]

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