mylegacy | ic inbox / drift fleet

It'd only be a matter of time before you tried to pull some kind of Casanova bullshit with her.

She's got a boyfriend, Jojo. And she's my friend. And she's your friend.

You really expect me to believe you've only ever gone after single girls?

No, but I've never gone after a girl who's my friend.

[Because he's never had one. But. He wouldn't want to.]

[He considers doing something that's both mean and stupid. He probably shouldn't. But. Well.]

I wonder if you'd be this angry if I went after someone different.

I didn't get mad after you went after the waitress, did I?

[...Except that he did. Well, no. He didn't get mad. Did he? No. It hurt a little because it felt...intentional, but he didn't get mad.]

That's not what I meant. That's the same as usual. I said different.

What are you talking about?

You can't be this stupid.

[Except he probably can, can't he.]

[The answer to that is yes and no.]

Are you gonna say what you mean or just keep insulting me?

[There's a long pause, here, while Caesar decides whether or not to insult Joseph to distraction or actually say what he meant. It's a gamble. It seems like everything's a gamble, though. So.]

I'm saying I don't think you'd be this angry if it wasn't a girl.

[...Well, it's a really damn good thing that this is a texting conversation because Joseph drops the communicator almost as soon as he finishes reading what Caesar wrote back. He thinks maybe he misread it. He even moves down to the floor and turns the communicator over to read it again just to be sure. But there's no mistaking what he's written or implied.]

[Joseph can feel his mouth go dry. Even though he's sitting on the floor now, he feels a little dizzy, too. And maybe a little sick to his stomach. But wait, no. Slow down, Jojo. Just because A is true, doesn't mean B is true. Joseph slowly picks the communicator back up and stares at it for a little while longer before he starts typing, his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth in concentration.]

Wait a second, Caesar, is this why you didn't want to explain what Nightingale was talking about the other day? Because it's okay, you know. I don't care about that sort of thing and it wouldn't change anything since I'm not gay or anything like that.

[That's the right thing to say, right? Hopefully.]

I know you're not.

[And again, it's a really good thing this isn't in person, because Caesar's lips are a tight little line. Nothing's going to change. That's the whole point.]

Anyway, I wouldn't care what you thought about it. It's not really your business. I just thought you should know before you made a bigger fool out of yourself.

[It takes a moment, but everything starts sliding into place for Joseph. It makes sense now what happened in the restaurant. Caesar was obviously a little tipsy and signals got confused with everything they both were dealing with about being together again. He must have felt embarrassed at the mistake and got angry. And Joseph got upset about the waitress because obviously on some subconscious level, he got what was happening. He was just bothered by Caesar lashing out at him like that even though Joseph's not like that at all.]

Well good, I wouldn't want to give you the wrong impression and end up leading you on. That wouldn't have been very fair and I'd feel awful about something like that. [And he would, genuinely. Joseph breathes a small sigh of relief, feeling that the mystery's been solved and misunderstandings all around have been cleared up.] You should have told me sooner though. I feel like I'm the last person to know now.

[There's a long silence, then, when Caesar struggles, really struggles, not to track him down and scream at him. He doesn't want Joseph to know, but how can he be so stupid? How can he not know, when people who don't even know them seem to, when it's all Caesar can think about sometimes?]

[What an idiot. What a stupid person to love.]

Then you wouldn't be angry. If I was flirting with a man in front of you.

[It really feels like digging the knife deeper into his own back, but what the hell.]

Why would I get mad about that? If he falls for your cheesy lines, that guy's an idiot and it's his problem.

A girl, on the other hand, is just naive and probably isn't used to playboys like you. What can I say? I get protective when it comes to girls.

That's not my type. Idiots, I mean.

[What a fucking lie that is.]

Maybe I'll try it and see if you're telling the truth.

[Okay, why is he pushing this so much? Does he think Joseph's too immature or bigoted, or something? Caesar's gotta know that it really doesn't matter to Joseph.]

Whatever. Just don't do it when I'm eating. You know your lines in general are nauseating.

Seriously though, did everyone else know but me?

I didn't tell anyone. But apparently they knew.

Nightingale seems to have misinterpreted the situation completely.

Don't worried, I cleared it up for her.

[A moment before:]

Well, most of it. I didn't know you were actually gay, so I said you weren't. But don't worry, she knows you're not in love with me or something like that. ( ๑‾̀◡‾́)σ»

Actually, I'm more worried about Ino not getting it. She doesn't seem to believe me when I tell her, I don't know. Maybe you should talk to her?

[Yep. This is the worst thing that's ever happened to him.]

What doesn't Ino get?

And I'm not gay. There's a different word for what I am, I think.

Oh. Well, whatever.

[He didn't even know what "gay" was until almost two weeks ago, so... Words, man. They're just words.]

I really don't know what part she's not getting. She seems really stuck on thinking I get jealous when you pay attention to other people no matter how many times I say it's not like that or that I don't really care what you do.

She said that?

[Ino . . .]

Yeeeeeeep. She loves bringing you up in general, actually.

[This is not entirely true. Joseph brings Caesar up a lot without realizing it and with very little prompting. But because he doesn't realize it, it's Ino that's doing it from his perspective.]

I don't think she's really the type to be a gossip, but you might wanna talk to her about it anyway since she never listens to a word I say about anything.

Up to you.

I'll talk to her. I'd hate for her to spread rumors about you, after all.

[. . . some salt there.]

[Salt only vaguely detected.]

Hey, it wouldn't be just about ME. I'm telling YOU about this for YOUR sake, jackass.

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