heartsplintered | Second Splinter ♡ Text|Action ♡ Backdate▶Dec01

[To anyone so inclined to come looking for him, Dirk's been out of the house most of the day just wandering, climbing shit, hanging out in trees, exploring. He's had Diva with him most of the day as well, and is currently sitting out on the lawn of Casa de Eglonde with him, leaning against the Ponyta's side because he's either an idiot or entirely dead set on getting frostbite, since he left his louder-than-a-traffic-cone jacket inside. His Wingull, as per usual, is perched in his hair, still wearing his silly little scarf. He stays there for a long handful of minutes before he pulls out his gear.]

I don't guess either of the pertinent birthday kids are here today, are they?
Well shit.
Happy Birthday to them anyway. Jake would have fuckin' loved it here.

[He fidgets for a while, and then presses a few keys to filter some messages.]

[Private to Kirigiri Kyouko]

Yo. Sorry to bug you, but while you're around, you got a minute?

[Private to Dave Strider]

I think we need a hot chocolate date or something. Or I at least need to be taught this culinary masterpiece so I can make some for my frozen-ass self.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

freshprints

I'll be there in five minutes.

[And she will, complete with obnoxious orange coat.]

From:

heartsplintered

[He feels sort of stupendously dumb, so when she gets out to him he's sprawled partially on Diva's back with his glasses resting on the horse's haunches, hands over his face and grumbling in idle frustration.]

From:

freshprints

[And here she is, not particularly dressed for the weather herself, given that she's still rocking her purple jacket, boots, and skirt, but hey. She got picked up by a tornado and beggars can't be choosers.]

You should put this on.

[She says, offering it up without preamble.]

From:

heartsplintered

[He moves his hands and looks at her for a minute, frowning.]

And we should get you one, yeesh. Your legs are gonna freeze off.

[He sits up to take the jacket, putting it on and scooting over.]

At least come sit, Diva's pretty warm. What with the whole fire pony business.

[The Ponyta knickers softly, huffing and settling his head back down in the grass.]

From:

freshprints

[Ah. All right, then; she settles in without complaint, pulling her legs up a little closer for added warmth, because now that he's actually pointed it out...YEAH, IT'S COLD.]

A classmate of mine inherited one of these early on in our stay here. We rode it from Cherrygrove to Violet.

[...]

Be careful riding her; the flames of their manes grow longer the faster they go. My classmate burned his face from it.

From:

heartsplintered

[He barks an abrupt laugh at that, patting Diva's flank and claiming his glasses to replace them on his face.]

There's a card game and a couple of video games and stuff where I'm from about these guys, and I like horses. I know a bit about him.

[A beat of silence.] You gonna be all right there? We could probably go find you a coat someplace, I mean. If nothing else, moving will be warmer than sitting.

From:

freshprints

Him.

[Well, that's what she gets for making name assumptions. Brief mental note, check mark the box, life goes on.]

Are you fussing over me because you're trying to put off bringing up whatever it is you wanted to talk about?

From:

heartsplintered

[A gentle shrug.]

Yeah, the-- I didn't name him. I mean, I did? But when I was here last time, apparently. Not sure what past me was thinking, but his name is Diva by Blood. I guess that's something to the effect of a race horse name. I just call him Diva.

[He makes a quiet little sound in the back of his throat and looks away.]

It's not even anything specific, I just didn't want to even try talking to anybody else I know. 'Cause anybody else I know is my brother or his friends and they're great but they all sort of know what I'm talking about and I guess the unbiased party thing has some major benefits right now. Or maybe I just don't want to talk to anybody that knows Jake.

[A beat of silence.]

Unless you knew Jake, in which case I'll literally go buy a gun to shoot myself in the foot with it.

From:

freshprints

I don't remember anyone named Jake. I'm assuming that's a friend of yours.

[She doesn't really look at him, or at least she doesn't turn her head to do it, but she's kind of scoping him out of the corner of her eye because that's kind of a weird place to go with this.]

A close friend, presumably.

From:

heartsplintered

One of my only. [He makes a face at himself for how that got phrased.] And close is an understatement.

It's his birthday.

From:

freshprints

[Eh, it's not that weird, it's not like she has that many, either.

...Not that she really remembers many people's birthdays in the first place, but.]

You miss him, and you're lonely.

From:

heartsplintered

[Why did he think talking to the Deduction Princess was a good idea.]

I didn't say that.

[He hunches his shoulders, frowning.]

But, yeah. Sort of. It's-- okay Jake is really complicated. [There's a huge part of their friendship he neglected to mention.]

From:

freshprints

And you want to talk to me because I don't know Jake, so I can't bring in any preconceived notions about him, you, or the complicated relationship.

[Which is fine, it's not like she's saying it judgmentally or anything. Just an observation from someone who doesn't always feelings that well.]

...

Is it a romantic relationship?

From:

heartsplintered

[He pushes his glasses up onto the crown of his head and drops his face into his hands for a moment, defeated.]

Am I that obvious.

From:

freshprints

It's the natural conclusion.

[She at least has the decency to tip her eyes down to her bare knees, sparing him the implicit scrutiny of being looked at for the time being.]

You can talk about him if you want.

[A semi-awkward beat passes, and then.]

If it's the way it sounds, there's someone like that for me, too.

From:

heartsplintered

[He groans softly and pulls his own knees up to his chest, setting his head on them and turning sideways to look at her, leaving his glasses in his hair for the moment.]

We broke up. I broke up with him, to be specific. The approximation of less than an hour before I showed up here, whilst we were under the influence of some crazy psycho-candy from an alien.

From:

freshprints

[...Okay, so maybe it's not like her circumstances. On the other hand, she threw the object of her affections under a bus and nearly got him killed, so...]

And you're regretting it?

From:

heartsplintered

[.... W E L P.]

I don't know, that's the thing. We were awful together, but I-- [He stops, huffing gently.]

From:

freshprints

...

[...]

But that doesn't mean anything when there are feelings attached.

From:

heartsplintered

[He hugs onto his knees and draws them closer to himself.]

...I figured I was over him. He was an asshole. I was an asshole. I'm still an asshole.

From:

freshprints

[...]

If that's the case, is it really him you're missing?

From:

heartsplintered

[Squint.]

What?

From:

freshprints

You said he was one of your closest friends, but rationally speaking you're aware that you were awful together because you're both assholes.

[She delivers that in a sort of deadpan that probably makes the fleeting obscenity sound really odd in her voice.]

Meaning that by breaking up, you've lost both a close friend and a romantic partner. It's possible that missing him is really just a proxy for the underlying problem of missing a sense of intimacy with someone you feel close to.

[WHICH MIGHT EXPLAIN WHY YOU WERE SO EAGER TO TALK TO HER, DESPITE BARELY BEING ACQUAINTANCES, UM.]

From:

heartsplintered

[His mouth opens.]

[And then shuts again.]

...I. Guess that sounds pretty pathetic, doesn't it. [He scratches at the back of his neck and stares blankly at his shoes. Nothing like being Told by someone you barely know to shut you up.]

From:

freshprints

[Oops, did she just do that SHSL Detective thing again.

APPARENTLY SO.]

Not really. Craving intimacy is a natural human response. If today is his birthday, you're thinking, "if we were together, and things hadn't gone wrong, we'd be happily spending the day with each other", aren't you? Moreover, you're torturing yourself by envisioning fantasies of what might have been, despite the underlying knowledge of what was.

[She sinks down a little lower, letting her legs stretch out a bit more so that her body is in wider contact with the warmth of the Ponyta, and crosses her legs at the ankles so her legs will stay a little warmer while she's soaking in the heat elsewhere.]

That could also be a way of punishing yourself for some implicit perceived inability to make the relationship work. Rationally, you're aware that this is upsetting and counterproductive, but you assume you deserve that as punishment for whatever ended the relationship, or for being the one who ultimately ended it.