[ as is the norm with josh, if the conversation doesn't eventually circle around to how much sex someone is or isn't having, he's probably been replaced by a pod person. that's just how it is. he doesn't make the rules.
and maybe it's the steady haze of alcohol, but josh can't help but react poorly to that—it just seems so simple from his perspective, such a tiny, fixable thing. chris is going off-script and josh can't process it. ]
Not right? How can it not be right? She's smart, she's sweet, she's exactly your brand of nerdy-hot. What's not to like?
[ a sharp-edged part of him wants to snap yes, totally, now just get on with it already! and you're never gonna know unless you try! not because he wants to hurt chris' feelings, but because he—he really thinks it'd be good for chris, to get a girlfriend, to finally get laid, to have someone like ash. someone who can care for him in return, who won't drain him dry, who won't lie to him or hold him back, who'll be able to get out of bed on bad days even if she's sad and function like a normal human being. chris deserves that much.
but there's a time and place to be a sarcastic, pushy wingman. chris is struggling, just like him, and josh can't bring himself to put the wind out of his sails. with effort, he shuts his mouth, lets his eyes fall to the coffee table for a brief moment, presses his lips to the cool rim of his glass. not long enough for chris to take his silence as an answer, but long enough to get himself together, push through the cotton in his brain. even though things aren't... going to plan, it's okay. it's just the same old, same old. and that's fine. it doesn't mean anything. they can still have a good time.
drawing his gaze back up again, josh plasters on a reassuring grin he tries his hardest to feel. he nudges back, pressing the ball of his socked foot into chris' thigh. ]
Not to me, Cochise. We're partners. If you're a shithead, that makes me one too, right?
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and maybe it's the steady haze of alcohol, but josh can't help but react poorly to that—it just seems so simple from his perspective, such a tiny, fixable thing. chris is going off-script and josh can't process it. ]
Not right? How can it not be right? She's smart, she's sweet, she's exactly your brand of nerdy-hot. What's not to like?
[ a sharp-edged part of him wants to snap yes, totally, now just get on with it already! and you're never gonna know unless you try! not because he wants to hurt chris' feelings, but because he—he really thinks it'd be good for chris, to get a girlfriend, to finally get laid, to have someone like ash. someone who can care for him in return, who won't drain him dry, who won't lie to him or hold him back, who'll be able to get out of bed on bad days even if she's sad and function like a normal human being. chris deserves that much.
but there's a time and place to be a sarcastic, pushy wingman. chris is struggling, just like him, and josh can't bring himself to put the wind out of his sails. with effort, he shuts his mouth, lets his eyes fall to the coffee table for a brief moment, presses his lips to the cool rim of his glass. not long enough for chris to take his silence as an answer, but long enough to get himself together, push through the cotton in his brain. even though things aren't... going to plan, it's okay. it's just the same old, same old. and that's fine. it doesn't mean anything. they can still have a good time.
drawing his gaze back up again, josh plasters on a reassuring grin he tries his hardest to feel. he nudges back, pressing the ball of his socked foot into chris' thigh. ]
Not to me, Cochise. We're partners. If you're a shithead, that makes me one too, right?