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Turnabout.

[He just said, Hinata! Dirk takes out his katana and in a rapid almost-invisible motion suddenly Hinata has a plate of sliced fruit.]

You can't deny help when you were handing it out like the Salvation Army newspaper a week ago.

T-that's...!

[That's not what he'd meant?! But he falls silent, flinching just a little at the sight of the katana before suddenly the fruit is sliced? He could barely even see that, it's a little intimidating.

Instead, he just sighs, pressing his fingertips to his temples with a helpless laugh.]

Thanks, Dirk. I appreciate it, but you don't have to do all this...

I don't mind.

[He grabs a chair and drags it over so he can sit beside Hinata. Eat your friend or he'll be bothered. (He didn't miss the flinch.)]

As hard as it might be to believe, I actually enjoy being able to help my friends.

[Which... Hinata is? Dirk guesses. He isn't sure, it's hard to work out what 'friendship' is when it's just been him and Roxy and Jane and Jake their whole lives, but he thinks that's what's happening here. And he does like Hinata. So.]

That's not hard to believe at all.

[He just shakes his head at Dirk and worms his hand out from under the blanket, taking a slice of apple to nibble at. It's... kind of strange, having someone concerned about him like this. It's honestly kind of nice.

Yes, they're friends, Dirk. SHSL Harmless Face is always looking for friends.]

How are you feeling, though? Better?

It's mostly just congestion now.

[Cold symptoms. Nothing that isn't something he can deal with.]

Just kinda boring.

Ah, I'm glad it's just that.

[He shifts in the chair, setting the plate on the arm of the chair within easy reach of the other boy, and drags his blanket back up to his chin. Have some of the fruit, friendo, he'd be happier to share it.

In spite of how hot the blanket is making him feel, he's shivering. Fevers are the actual worst.]

I'm not taking you away from any of your projects, am I...? I could head to the lab if it's better for you.

[Dirk picks up the glass of water. He holds it out to Hinata.

Drink the water, Hinata.]

It's cool. We can work just as well here.

[He sighs at Dirk, but sets the half-eaten apple slice down on the edge of the plate and takes the water. Here, he's drinking the water. Only a little, though, just in case his nausea comes back.]

Thanks, Dirk. I mean it.

[And he sounds incredibly sincere at that. Well. He usually sounds sincere, but this time even moreso. People spending time with him when he's not feeling well isn't really a feeling he's used to.

He has to bring his free hand to his mouth to cover another hacking cough, then he glances toward Dirk again.]

Can you show me what you've done with the game...? I'd like to see.

[He doesn't appear to do anything, but his shades are on, so in fact what he's doing is copying the beta of the program over to Hinata's communicator. There is a chime to tell Hinata to open up the program.

It's super cute.]

URSULA suggested we design it to select for people's favourite animals if it knows what they are.

Oh?

[He carefully balances the water on the arm of the chair, near the plate, and taps his communicator to launch the program. Ah, it is cute...]

Was that your sunglasses again? How you transferred it?

[Considering he knows Dirk can code on them, it doesn't seem like a far stretch. Then again, Dirk could have transferred it at literally any time, Hajime could have been too out of it to notice a wireless download to his communicator.]

That's a good idea, though... maybe there's a way to have a select screen? So people can hatch different animals they like.

Yeah. My shades read my eye movements to take commands.

[It helps speed up the process of working a lot of the time.]

I'm not opposed to that. [Although. He thinks of Roxy and her endless Nintendos.] This isn't something I know a lot about, but I got the impression part of the fun of those kinds of games was the random chance in terms of selection. I can modify it to implement a rotating pool randomly selected with a linearly reduced chance of re-selection the more the same animal is found.

[Stop him.]

Dirk...

[Hajime takes that glass of water again, though this time it's not to drink, but to instead press the cool glass against his forehead. His head hurts as it is, please don't talk about things like "linearly reduced chances."]

That's not a bad idea, if you don't think it would be too complicated to implement.

[...]

Sorry.

[He will minimize the talking-in-nonsense-out-loud.]

But yeah, it should be easy to write.

No, it's okay, don't apologize. It just takes me a little longer to understand those kinds of things, you know?

[Of course Dirk knows. Dirk knows exactly how ordinary Hajime is. But he's refusing to dwell on that right now, instead glancing past the glass of water to meet Dirk's eyes again.]

I think that's a good idea, then. Let's implement it, and then maybe... have you gotten a chance to see about uploading the map?

Yeah, I've copied it in and linked it to the one in the tech lab. It should update automatically as long as you're within range.

[He is also casually writing in the code so they can do the randomized egg thing because multitasking with shades.]

That's great.

[He buries his head against his shoulder with another muffled cough, closing his eyes. No reason to keep his eyes open while they're discussing this? He believes Dirk when he says the map is uploaded already.]

I think something like that will make it easier for people to explore outside the base. If they can tell which way is home... it makes it a little less intimidating, I think. In the open ocean.

It might lead to fewer disappearances.

[Dirk brings that up in his usual monotone. It's still a point of concern. He doesn't know how people vanish, or why, and it unnerves him. He thinks it might be into the Void but it's impossible to tell.

Hinata don't hang out with Dirk he never makes people feel better.]

...Maybe.

[His voice is a quiet murmur in response, the slight, pleased smile that had been curving his lips fading at the corners. There's a harsh pain in the center of his chest whenever he thinks about that, and a shiver that has nothing to do with his fever shakes his body.]

Hey, Dirk... [It's still a quiet murmur, though he's opened his eyes by now. Not looking toward the other boy, but just staring at a point somewhere beyond him. The mural, probably, though his gaze doesn't seem focused on it.] Am I imagining it, or... have a lot of people who woke up on the Monolith vanished...?

[Faize, Lymle, Anna... maybe it's just his bad luck, but...]

...Yeah. You're right.

[It unsettles him. A common thread. No explanation. Could Hinata vanish? Dirk doesn't want him to. But there's no way to know, to help...]

...

[He pulls his blankets up closer to his chin, pressing his lips tightly together. He can pretend it's just to try to hold back another cough that shakes his shoulders, but that's not it.]

...I don't want to disappear.

[He can't help but say it aloud. Vanishing, disappearing, being erased; it claws at him in a way that hurts to even think about verbalizing, but he has to. Because if he says so, then surely, surely, he won't.

Good going, Dirk, he's Upset.]

Edited 2016-08-18 02:31 (UTC)

[God. He is so bad at people skills. And he's too scared to offer any real comfort. He's been rejected too much by the person he needs the most acceptance from to be able to do that.

Even so, very quietly, he reaches out to him with his voice.]

I don't want that either.

[But there isn't anything they can do yet. And Dirk has always accepted hopeless things for what they are. For a moment, he's silent. Then he takes up a slice of an orange and he holds it out to Hinata.]

[It's not much of a comfort. Or rather -- it's a comfort for the wrong thing. It's a comfort for Hajime's sometimes-still-lacking self-esteem, the feeling that people who are so incredible, so talented, wouldn't want someone like him to be around them.

But it doesn't help at all with the very real possibility that he might just... go out on an expedition, and never return. It makes him want to find someone to go with him, any time he might go out. But he also doesn't want to take anyone away from anyone else, either. If something happens...

He blinks, trying to focus on what Dirk is holding out to him, and reaches out his hand to take it before he really realizes what it is. Oh. An orange slice.]

Thanks. That... means a lot for you to say.

[So while he still looks miserable, he pops the orange slice into his mouth to suck on the juice. So of course now he just looks miserable and ridiculous, because no one can be taken seriously when they have the rind of an orange between their lips like a weird smile.]

[There's a pause. And then Hinata's communicator beeps. Surprise! Attached is a picture of Hinata, taken by Dirk's shades, right now.

Hinata deserves to also see what he looks like.]

[Now what's beeping, has Dirk been coding...

He pauses and checks, cheeks flaring a sudden bright pink as he spits the orange into his hand.]

S-shit!

[But he can't help but laugh, a weak, coughing laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.]

D-don't take pictures of me like that!

What's done cannot be undone, bro.

[Like he could delete the picture but he isn't doing that?

This is the best he can do. Dirk wants to figure out what to do. When he sees a problem, he figures out the solution and then just does it. But what's the solution here? Research? What is there to pick up? How people leave is as mysterious as how people arrive, and they've never managed to catch sight of that.

Maybe the Monolith needs a different kind of investigating. But right now, Dirk wants to focus on hanging out with a friend.]

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