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 Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 10:51 am
"So..." Chance said, trying to piece together Dawson's haphazard words. "Someone called you that? A...'wifey' or 'wife b***h?'"
He leaned back in his chair and idly stirred the ice in his glass around again. "I don't see why there has to be that distinction. There's nothing wrong with being a man who makes life easier and good, it just means you have a good thing about you. Whether that makes you a good woman is also relatively irrelevant, since while I don't see things that black and white, you are, in fact, a good man."
A pause.
"Not shitty," Chance added, just in case that wasn't clear enough."
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 11:40 am
Dawson made a whining noise in his throat, frustrated with himself. Failed communications. He tapped on the table, debating. "Here." He fished out his phone and scrolled back to the tweet that started it all: what exactly is a wifey? Worried that Chance would judge him (despite knowing he was probably the least judging guy he'd ever met), Dawson passed it over for him to read. "That'll be better than anythin' I say." Seeing as he always managed to mangle it up. And then he went back to contemplating and draining his drink. kuuropii links will go up later /o/
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 12:25 pm
Chance reached out and took the phone from Dawson's hand, tapping on the screen to scroll down it. It took him a few moments to read everything, and by the time he was finished, the food had been delivered, steaming hot and smelling delicious.
"So..." said Chance, tapping a finger against the side of the phone, a thoughtful look on his face. "You think you're a shitty man because someone made some lameass comment about caring being a 'womanly' trait?"
He squinted at the screen. "This Chelsea person said you were a b***h, but doesn't actually tell you what she means by that, only to say a 'b***h is a b***h,'" whatever the ******** that means."
Chance set the phone on the table and slid it across the table towards Dawson, picking up his fork.
"This...it bothers you a lot, doesn't it?" he asked carefully. "This whole...conversation with these people on Twitter."
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 12:40 pm
Dawson made a low hrm sound, like a non hostile growl. It could have meant anything, but it was the dejected look on his face that colored it. "Capn's took me by surprise," he mumbled without looking up from his food. "Shouldn' have." Grasping the sandwich in both hands, he leaned over his plate and took a big chomp, eager to eat his feelings away.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 12:52 pm
Chance pushed his food around without really eating it yet, cutting his fish methodically into smaller pieces.
"You mean what she said about you being weak if you believed what the others said?" he asked, reaching for the salt and pepper.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 1:50 pm
"Mmhmm." He felt some of the sauce drip down to his chin and attempted to lick it up without much success. The sandwich became very interesting all of a sudden.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 2:11 pm
"Claude's great and all, but I don't think she quite understood that it's not quite so easy to not think about something someone has said," Chance said, a little dryly. "Speaking from experience with the captain, she most likely didn't mean any harm, though, she looks out for you, doesn't she?"
He finally ate a bite of his fish and chewed slowly. "Do you feel weak?" Chance asked curiously.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:16 pm
"I guess." The beer was starting to settle in now, making him feel fuzzy but morose; guess he should have checked the alcohol content more closely. He finished the last of his first mug and scooted it to make room for the second, content with just two words for an answer that could have been in response to either question. If Dawson's spiraling mood didn't clue Chance in to the rest of the reply he didn't want to put words to, nothing would.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:24 pm
This was not a side of Dawson he was used to seeing. Chance watched him for a long moment, his thoughts working to put together the despondency in the other's stature, the slumped shoulders, the hasty and messy consumption of alcohol.
"Is it the whole...feminine thing?" Chance asked hesitantly. "You don't feel like a man because you're a bit more sensitive than most?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:55 pm
Dawson snorted. "A bit, he says. Helluva lot more than a bit, bruh," he replied sullenly. "People walk all over me n' I let 'em. Cain' start complainin' tha' the boots sting, now. Cap'n was just pointin' out the truth." But he realized he was starting to be a downer, and so after the first gulp of ale, he forced a smile on. "s**t, yer sittin' here n' not tellin' me off fer bein' a pissbaby. Too polite fer it." Dawson reached over to try and pat Chance's arm. "You a good guy."
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 5:45 pm
He rested one elbow on the table again, leaning his head against his fingers, absently pushing his fish around the plate. It smelled amazing, and tasted even better, but Chance was preoccupied with Dawson's dilemma, his unhappy state, which felt strangely unsettling.
"I don't lie," he said, after a moment. "You're not a pissbaby, whatever that means. I just think you think you are. That whole...being a man thing, it doesn't matter if you're sensitive or not, you're still a man even if you're sensitive or whatever."
Chance forked a bite of food into his mouth, chewing slowly. "I don't walk all over you, do I..?" he asked, tilting his head, because this was a question he had not considered before and now was exceptionally curious as to the answer.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 7:23 pm
"Whut? Nawww." And even if Chance did, he would never say. While his was a culture of honor sort of childhood, Dawson was very mild-mannered for the most part--otherwise the fight with Chel would have been drastically different. A lot of things would be drastically different, in fact.
He laughed quietly to himself, sounding hollow."Sounds stupid, don' it? You jest sat there n' talked 'bout a real problem, n' m'over here a'whinin' 'bout stupid s**t no-one's gonna care 'bout. R' stopped carin' about five minutes after it happened." That was the rule Maebe had put to him anyway as far as how long things lasted on Twitter. "s**t, I should jest...I shou' shut up n' move on."
He had yet to look up from his very interesting sandwich, which he took a giant bite out of and chewed very slowly. Dawson wondered if he looked like a sad cow doing so.
"Mm-mm, this some damn good stuff, Freddie. You gonna leave room fer dessert, orrr...?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 7:30 pm
He seemed to visibly relax at the reassurance, Chance's shoulders lowering a little. A single shake of his head indicated his disagreement with what Dawson was saying, and Chance idly rubbed the fingers of his free hand along his temple.
"It's not a stupid problem if it bothers you," he said, frowning just the smallest amount. "I think you're plenty masculine, if that helps at all. I mean, I could give a s**t what exactly I am, but you seem pretty secure in being a man, whereas I just sort of do whatever the hell I feel like."
His eyes flickered down to his food, and then back up to Dawson, the frown slipping up to a slight smile.
"I'm glad you're liking it, and I definitely can't say no to dessert," Chance said mildly, taking another few bites of his fish.
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2015 1:28 pm
He made a series of noises that could have been either him agreeing or him enjoying his sandwich a little too loudly. It was a little hard to tell. The poor waiter was pulled over so Dawson could order a third drink, hiding his tipsiness as best he could, and he looked to Chance for ordering dessert because he couldn't possibly decide. "Thainks, Freddie," Dawson said with a relaxed smile, and it was clear the alcohol content was definitely higher than expected because somehow his accent was starting to get thicker. His second mug was half gone and his face was starting to warm up. "Yew shou' give a s**t 'bout yerself, though. I do. I give pleeeenty a'shits 'bout people, 'specially m'friends." His second attempt to reach out and pat Chance's arm was a little more haphazard. "Wha' goes on in tha' cloudy head a'yers anyway, huh?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2015 1:51 pm
The alcohol was definitely getting to Dawson now, as much as he was attempting to hide it. Chance's keen eyes flickered over his flushed face, the empty mug; and the accent was a little more difficult to decipher now, slurred and messy sounding.
A smile tugged at his lips. "I give a s**t about myself," said Chance mildly, which was true in a sense, even if not really entirely true. "You just magnify that caring, whereas I keep it hidden," he added, winking teasingly at Dawson as he took another bite of his food.
His gaze flickered briefly to Dawson's attempts at patting his arm and then back up to his face, Chance letting out a little hum of curiosity.
"Not much, other than stars and other such nonsense," he said lightly. "But I was also wondering what exactly your definition of being a man is."
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