[oh, good, he's probably been of the sweaty mess variety ever since they first shot up on this floating continent. Dave settles right into that half-embrace, head against the front of Ryuji's shoulder, a spot he is all-too familiar with by this point. at least ... they have moments like these to enjoy each other, before Ryuji's alleged destiny of becoming bear fertilizer.]

[that smooch only delays him for a few seconds, though; sorry bro, you gotta aim for the face if you want to completely throw his commentary off track. he looks up at Ryuji.]

I like how you tried to cut me off like I was gonna roast your ass for that Fabio bit. M'not, nothing you said was inaccurate. [oh ... that wasn't a criticism, that was just straight up hitting on him.]

But, that's exactly what I'm saying, too. Like, you usually introduce romance hats or whatever right at the climax, the exact second everyone's begging for it, right? [jesus christ, Dave, phrasing.]

[it's also sort of funny how, three years ago, he was simultaneously repulsed and morbidly curious about troll romance novels, while right now, he's making a genuine pass at trying to understand the story.]

Switching to trashy romance novel godmode right in the middle's just cheating minus the actual satisfaction of it. Man, I bet one of us could pull a better plot twist out our ass.