Mark's gaze rests on Eduardo for a couple seconds too long to be just a passing glance, the look in his eyes skeptical. In this, too, he's the same as he was before: wishing that Eduardo would just be up-front and blunt some of the time, that Eduardo would learn when to defend himself rather than cater to Mark's whims, but too unwilling to point it out now, for the way it might turn all their progress on end. It's true, though, that Eduardo can't keep on blurring his words, trying to make them vague. Mark can, conceptually, understand why Eduardo's chosen to do so. It's less abrasive. More compromising.
The thing is, though, that Mark needs to be put in his place. He doesn't want Eduardo to hold it all in, to wait until the tension builds and builds like a coil and everything suddenly then snaps, the crash of his laptop still so clear in his memory. Communication's always been their problem, and Mark's well-aware of the fact, knows that he needs to be able to stop and listen and stop barreling on ahead in the way that eventually gets him alienated from everyone. But some of that, too, has to fall on Wardo. They have to meet halfway. Tonight just might not be the time to hash all of that out. Mark's still reeling (although he doesn't show it, rarely shows it, chooses to suppress it all) from the force of this rapidly and haphazardly repaired friendship.
"Yeah," Mark nods. "Sure. I mean, whatever you want." It might seem like a flippant answer, the way the words quickly tumble from his lips, but to make any level of concession at all for the other person's feelings is not something Mark does regularly. It's why he surrounds himself, for the most part, either with people who don't care (Dustin) or people who'll just butt in and make sure they get their fair share (Chris). Wardo's always been the exception.
They weren't friends for practical reasons, Mark knows that much. Sometimes, he wonders to himself what it was, then. They're not right for each other in the conventional sense. And even if their personalities feed into one another, most would call that unhealthy, most would have ended long before a financial dispute.
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Date: 2011-06-24 08:03 am (UTC)The thing is, though, that Mark needs to be put in his place. He doesn't want Eduardo to hold it all in, to wait until the tension builds and builds like a coil and everything suddenly then snaps, the crash of his laptop still so clear in his memory. Communication's always been their problem, and Mark's well-aware of the fact, knows that he needs to be able to stop and listen and stop barreling on ahead in the way that eventually gets him alienated from everyone. But some of that, too, has to fall on Wardo. They have to meet halfway. Tonight just might not be the time to hash all of that out. Mark's still reeling (although he doesn't show it, rarely shows it, chooses to suppress it all) from the force of this rapidly and haphazardly repaired friendship.
"Yeah," Mark nods. "Sure. I mean, whatever you want." It might seem like a flippant answer, the way the words quickly tumble from his lips, but to make any level of concession at all for the other person's feelings is not something Mark does regularly. It's why he surrounds himself, for the most part, either with people who don't care (Dustin) or people who'll just butt in and make sure they get their fair share (Chris). Wardo's always been the exception.
They weren't friends for practical reasons, Mark knows that much. Sometimes, he wonders to himself what it was, then. They're not right for each other in the conventional sense. And even if their personalities feed into one another, most would call that unhealthy, most would have ended long before a financial dispute.
Friendships are strange things.