He shouldn't read so much into everything. Eduardo is well aware of the fact, has said as much to himself more than once since he found Mark sitting on the couch all of a few minutes ago, but it's an instinct he can't quite turn off, so many issues still unresolved leaving him too touchy. Part of it, loath though he is to admit it, is aimed at himself, too; he should have thought to have lawyers read the contracts, for one, and should be able to walk away now, but he didn't and he can't, and that's not on Mark, but it's close enough. Though his own stupid fucking sense of loyalty is at fault for both, what hurts is knowing that Mark would never have returned the favor. It might mean a lot to Eduardo, trying to be the bigger person, but it isn't easy when that involves someone for whom it seemed to be so easy to set him up and lie to his face and write him off. The same things replaying in his head, over and over again, have him feeling raw, too vulnerable, and he hates it as much as he hates Mark for doing it to him.
So Mark mentions the Winklevosses, and the statement may or may not be a joke but is light-hearted all the same, and it's still Eduardo's automatic reaction to get defensive, teeth pressing to his lower lip to hold back too quick a response. If the restaurant were called the Winklevoss, it's the last place he would be taking Mark, and Mark should know it. (If the name weren't a coincidence, he would be leading Mark to his literal slaughter, and he isn't that cruel; he doesn't need to be personally acquainted with Cameron and Tyler to know that they would probably want his blood, regardless of the lack of economy. If the name were a coincidence, it would be an unpleasant reminder for both of them all the same.) He wants to tell Mark not to expect so little of him, but he doesn't, because it's the last thing either of them need, such an overreaction when things are already so fraught, tension still hanging heavy between them. However bad things are, he has the sense enough, the self-control enough, to know that. There's no smashing laptops this time, no wardrobe criticizing or feigned punches to Sean Parker's face. He's trying. They're on an even playing field, here.
"They'd probably take it as an insult," Eduardo points out, an evident dry, joking sound to his voice. "The bigger the tip, the worse it would go over. Whatever happened with them, anyway?" The question comes out before he can help it, but he doesn't see the need to look guilty for it. Try though he might to keep the subject temporarily away from the more serious matters they both know are at hand, it was an inevitability, with Mark's coming from a time later than his own. Anyway, as far as the topic of home goes, it's the least volatile, the one most indirectly related to their own issues, even if Eduardo supposes he got similar treatment to the Winklevii and Divya Narendra, in the end. Used as a springboard, then pushed aside, all credit forgotten. The thought makes him feel a little queasy, but he presses on, expression just barely faltering.
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Date: 2011-05-17 03:27 am (UTC)So Mark mentions the Winklevosses, and the statement may or may not be a joke but is light-hearted all the same, and it's still Eduardo's automatic reaction to get defensive, teeth pressing to his lower lip to hold back too quick a response. If the restaurant were called the Winklevoss, it's the last place he would be taking Mark, and Mark should know it. (If the name weren't a coincidence, he would be leading Mark to his literal slaughter, and he isn't that cruel; he doesn't need to be personally acquainted with Cameron and Tyler to know that they would probably want his blood, regardless of the lack of economy. If the name were a coincidence, it would be an unpleasant reminder for both of them all the same.) He wants to tell Mark not to expect so little of him, but he doesn't, because it's the last thing either of them need, such an overreaction when things are already so fraught, tension still hanging heavy between them. However bad things are, he has the sense enough, the self-control enough, to know that. There's no smashing laptops this time, no wardrobe criticizing or feigned punches to Sean Parker's face. He's trying. They're on an even playing field, here.
"They'd probably take it as an insult," Eduardo points out, an evident dry, joking sound to his voice. "The bigger the tip, the worse it would go over. Whatever happened with them, anyway?" The question comes out before he can help it, but he doesn't see the need to look guilty for it. Try though he might to keep the subject temporarily away from the more serious matters they both know are at hand, it was an inevitability, with Mark's coming from a time later than his own. Anyway, as far as the topic of home goes, it's the least volatile, the one most indirectly related to their own issues, even if Eduardo supposes he got similar treatment to the Winklevii and Divya Narendra, in the end. Used as a springboard, then pushed aside, all credit forgotten. The thought makes him feel a little queasy, but he presses on, expression just barely faltering.