[ he justifies going along with this as being necessary in his head. after all, they're stuck here in this strange town together and it's not that big a place. the likelihood of running into each other is pretty high so trying to play the avoidance game will just be an awkward bother. plus, team-ups for quests happen all the time and isn't it better to have someone you know you can work well with? it's efficient and logical.

so that's a good enough reason to try and patch things up between them.

(and maybe that tiny smile he caught a glimpse of just now also makes it worth it. god, he's hopeless.)

... even if his best bro can be kind of a dick. THANKS JAKE. ]

My bro— [ wait, is it presumptuous to call dave that? shit. ] Er, Dave happened to it. Turns out an unbreakable katana can be broken by a Welsh sword? Who knew.

[ but he's gonna brush right past that while surreptitiously checking to see if the collar of his hood covers his neck enough to hide the new scar with his free hand. their disaster of a relationship started with decapitation so that's a subject better left alone, he figures. ]

But it's fine, I got Lil Cal back.

[ he's switching to his secondary strife specibus and TADAA, now he's holding the c-man instead of his shitty broken sword. look at that delightful puppety bastard's grin. ]