Yeah. You were willin' to put up with it.

[ and be uncomfortable and unhappy and just do it for dave and he's done so many things for bro he kind of hates the notion. his shoulders hunch more and dave considers what to say but it's always easier to run and if he can't run -

he can give in. that's an option still. his mouth's in a thin line and he's still looking at the floor, but. okay. absconding never worked with bro, its not gonna work here, so the next best thing is to shut up and take it and this is probably not an analogy he should be using in any situation, but - okay. ]

Fine. [ public or not, secret or not. the problem kind of is that he genuinely doesn't want what karkat's offering and he knows he can't actually be offered what he wants, which is...dropping it or magically not wanting anything but what has. but okay. right. surrender is an option. ] Pull rabbits out of hats if you want to.

[ he forces a smile, but it's directed at. the floor. ]

You both think this is the best option.

[ okay, look up, but don't look at rose. dave uncrosses his arms and jams his hands in his pockets, raising an eyebrow. ]

You're probably right. You can't both be wrong.