He listens. And for once, he doesn't just interrupt right away in the way that he does so many other people in his life, because this is a voice that hasn't talked to him in a tone even remotely resembling friendly or attached in years, and maybe because he's also still waiting for that spark of understanding. That moment of perfect clarity when both of them know each other, or at least see each other. He remembers the last time he experienced it on his end, with the crash of his laptop on his desk, the latter sturdy enough that not even a dent was made, allowing it all to be swept under the rug and for things to return to normal the next day. His eyes saw then, saw what he'd either neglected to observe earlier, or what Eduardo simply wasn't around to show. That he cared. Maybe didn't care for facebook in the same way or to the same extent that Mark did— for one thing, Mark's never worked so hard at a project for the mere sake of pleasing his father— but enough that he allowed friendship to tie into it. It's what Eduardo does. When he's invested, friendship permeats everything, brightens everything like a pocketful of sunshine.
And of course, Mark does the opposite. When he really cares about something, when he wants it to succeed, that's the time to cut the intricacies of friendship out entirely. He doesn't need Dustin to go around helping him greet friends who come to visit. He needs Dustin to be wired in, to be contributing the sort of code that his mind is best geared for, to be that programmer that no other can be. (And that's one of the beautiful things about code, too, that so many other fields are just incapable of mimicking. What people don't realize is that in spite of the aim code has of making processes as short and to the point as possible, there are always multiple ways of handling it, making it a language, one that every programmer understands differently. He didn't include Dustin in the project because Dustin was any better at programming than Mark himself was— the opposite was the case— but instead because no matter what, Dustin would produce unique work.) He doesn't need Sean to be patting his ass at every turn, even if the Napster founder seems keen on providing that anyway— instead, he needs someone that provides morale in the way that only Sean had been capable of drawing out in Mark. Confidence boosts are good for productivity.
He's starting to realize though— or maybe he's been realizing this for years, only never putting it into practice until he lost Eduardo, his voice markedly softer and having completely lost its edge— that maybe there's a value in the way that Eduardo does it all. And that, lord forbid, maybe compromise is okay too. It won't come naturally to Mark, catering business to a friendship, and maybe it's a moot point on an island where facebook doesn't even exist (even if, honestly, Mark's already starting to wonder what he can do for this island, because there must be something that they're lacking in that programming can do something to help, and he's taken a couple of hardware courses in his day too), but all that he can do is try. Baby steps. Nothing's going to change overnight, but above everything else, these days Mark is tired. And that needs to change.
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And of course, Mark does the opposite. When he really cares about something, when he wants it to succeed, that's the time to cut the intricacies of friendship out entirely. He doesn't need Dustin to go around helping him greet friends who come to visit. He needs Dustin to be wired in, to be contributing the sort of code that his mind is best geared for, to be that programmer that no other can be. (And that's one of the beautiful things about code, too, that so many other fields are just incapable of mimicking. What people don't realize is that in spite of the aim code has of making processes as short and to the point as possible, there are always multiple ways of handling it, making it a language, one that every programmer understands differently. He didn't include Dustin in the project because Dustin was any better at programming than Mark himself was— the opposite was the case— but instead because no matter what, Dustin would produce unique work.) He doesn't need Sean to be patting his ass at every turn, even if the Napster founder seems keen on providing that anyway— instead, he needs someone that provides morale in the way that only Sean had been capable of drawing out in Mark. Confidence boosts are good for productivity.
He's starting to realize though— or maybe he's been realizing this for years, only never putting it into practice until he lost Eduardo, his voice markedly softer and having completely lost its edge— that maybe there's a value in the way that Eduardo does it all. And that, lord forbid, maybe compromise is okay too. It won't come naturally to Mark, catering business to a friendship, and maybe it's a moot point on an island where facebook doesn't even exist (even if, honestly, Mark's already starting to wonder what he can do for this island, because there must be something that they're lacking in that programming can do something to help, and he's taken a couple of hardware courses in his day too), but all that he can do is try. Baby steps. Nothing's going to change overnight, but above everything else, these days Mark is tired. And that needs to change.