Conflict between Jade and Davesprite. Something that will last. It's an argument. It doesn't start out as anything significant. Jade enters the room Davesprite's in and starts talking about (something). Eventually he says something that she really disagrees with, so she calls it into question. He responds defensively. Being a COOL GUY and majority Dave Strider (who has all those experiences with his bro), he isn't emotionally affected by her questioning what he said. This frustrates Jade: can't he see he said something bad? It escalates from there. Jade pushes how what he said was wrong. Davesprite stays defensive. Eventually, he gives up, and admits he might not have said the best thing possible. It's not obvious to Jade whether he actually means that, or is just trying to get it over with. In fact, he does, to some degree, but he doesn't think he said anything so significant to warrant Jade's outburst. He expresses that to her, but Jade takes it, perhaps rightfully, as minimizing his fault and turning the situation onto her. In the moment, Jade is frustrated. She's outwardly confident on her viewpoint, but internally she's squashing arguments her own mind is raising against her. She feels she's being rational about that - she can't afford doubt when she's supposed to be really certain in what she's arguing, right? There's no real resolution here. Davesprite explicitly calls off the argument; he's tired of the conflict. She realizes neither of them are getting anywhere. He leaves her. She slumps onto the couch after he's left. Jade reflects, her own steam dissipating a little. Was Davesprite right? She did make a big deal out of one thing he said - perhaps more than was necessary. Yes, what she said was wrong, but could she have just calmly told him that? Did she blow it way out of proportion? Her thoughts here echo the things Davesprite said closely; she's seriously considering what he said. She wonders if he didn't do the same for her. Most of all, though, she's frustrated with herself. She feels she let the argument get out of hand, and she blames herself for cutting off the ordinary conversation she'd originally meant to have, and - key point here - for Davesprite leaving her. She got in the way of him just enjoying the day or doing whatever he was in the middle of, with a discussion that boiled into a fruitless argument, and he ended up leaving her alone. During all this, John is in the adjacent kitchen, cooking. He's stuck out of their argument entirely, not really knowing what to think or how to make himself of any use within it. When Davesprite leaves, he's heading into the kitchen. Jade hears him kaplomp into a chair in the dining room, just outside her view. After a moment, John glances toward him and says he's cooking rice for supper. Davesprite doesn't respond, and John turns back to focus on his cooking. Jade sees this all, John's voice catching her attention. She doesn't respond to it. She can't stand to talk to anyone right now. She wonders if the way she grew up has fated her to never be capable of actually talking to anyone, about stuff that seriously matters to her anyway; to never truly have any friends in the real world. > --- The last supper. John prepared it - some kind of vegetable and one of those boxed rice mini-kits (not Betty Crocker) that happened to be kept in the ship kitchen before they arrived. (He probably has similar stuff in his own house, but in this fic he hasn't yet been to LOWAS.) It's pretty tense. Jade is still thoroughly distraught, if a bit tired - upset and frustrated at herself but not with the same energy she had just after the argument. Davesprite isn't really saying much of anything. They've all gathered to have supper together. Jade has trouble just looking at him, let alone reading his eternally neutral Strider-brand expression. John still isn't really sure how much he should be partaking in whatever's going on between the other two. He's tentatively trying to lighten the mood, or at least to get either of them to talk, preferably to each other, even if he doesn't really know whether that's a good idea or not. Jade's still down, but she puts in the effort to talk. She complements John's cooking, but it comes out weaker than she'd intended, or at least she thinks so. But John smiles, and thanks her. He remarks he's really gotten boxed food down to an art over the years. (In all honesty, he has: he put his own spices and tweaks to the recipe in. Not dramatic adjustments, but enough to give it a certain Egbert flair.) Now that Jade's made the first move, Davesprite ventures to say something too. Even if he doesn't understand why, he sees Jade is upset, and there is some semblance of guilt in him there. He doesn't want to make things worse. In actuality, he adds only a comment in agreement with Jade: "It's good." John thanks him. Partially sub-consciously recognizing that Davesprite is another real person who's actually there, Jade looks up from her food, toward him. She's trying to understand what's going on inside his mind. He's got the usual neutral face, though held perhaps a little more still than normal. His wings are tucked in, and he's a bit hunched down. His sunglasses make it impossible to tell where he's actually looking, but his head is tilted down - more toward the center of the table than his plate of food. (Do sprites eat? Yes, sprites eat, if at least just for enjoyment.) Jade sees he's feeling some kind of guilt, or at least being more careful with what he does and says than normal. This mostly worsens things for her, though. Instead of appreciating that he's trying, and that friendships are difficult and complex but that there's hope that things might improve between them, Jade finds her guilt renewed: she made things difficult, she got in the way, she made this supper tense, she upset Davesprite. Just at the moment Jade is reenveloped in that, Davesprite turns his gaze toward her. He dares something he thinks might help - he twitches a smile ever so slightly. Jade almost immediately realizes she's been staring at him and abruptly looks away, back to her food. What is he saying? Jade has no idea how to read the gesture. Urgh! She wishes people would just speak what they're trying to get across. Frustrated at everything, she shoves a particularly large spoon of rice clean into her mouth. John stifles a laugh. Jade notices and glares at him - but realizes that.. really isn't called for, and consciously relaxes herself. She supposes the sight of her stuffing her slightly canine mouth with rice would be a bit of a funny sight, and she knows John isn't trying to be mean or anything. She smiles a little, and takes a gentle, much smaller - dare she think "petite" - spoon of rice. She's tilted her head right toward her spoon as she raises it, but her eyes are angled straight at John, searching for a reaction. And there it is: John actually does a little laugh now and is grinning, not held back. Slightly startling Jade, Davesprite quietly clears his throat, just loud enough to grab her and John's attention. He raises his eyebrows just over the rims of his shades. John glances towards Jade, but she hasn't even thought to consciously be upset at Davesprite, not at that moment. He looks to Davesprite, who has lifted a dainty rice- spoon, a little clumped ball at its end, and presently has the spoon flipped upside down, contents suspended thanks to the majyyks of sticky rice. He melodramatically, slow-motion puts his lips closed against the spoon, eyebrows still raised, and pulls out the spoon, totally rice-free. Jade actually does a little snort-giggle. John smiles wide; she catches him, entirely friendly, rolling his eyes. John sighs, relieved. He says something dorky/Egbert-brand - he's really glad he has the both of them here on the journey, and as friends in general too. Davesprite nods. He says he shares the sentiment. Jade looks at the both of them, and smiles: "Me too."