#anyway I think they should talk about this but this turned into bdubs desperately deflecting instead

[theminecraftbee]

“So I’m beginning to think I’m the problem,” Impulse says, and given Bdubs didn’t even know he was there it makes him jump a bit.

“Hey! Don’t sneak up like that! We were just playing a death game, don’t go standing in my blind spot!” Bdubs shouts, pointing as he does.

Impulse snorts. “I think you’d recognize someone stabbing you in the back either way. I know I would.”

Bdubs scowls. “Hey!” He’s ready to defend himself—he’d have you know he didn’t stab nobody in the back this time around! He was loyal to Cleo and Scar until the end, no matter how many jokes about Etho they made! And, you know, just because he wanted Etho to be with him too—wanted TIES back because so screw him maybe he regrets Team BEST a little—wanted, wanted, wanted, wanted—

Bdubs pauses. Bdubs closes his mouth again and thinks.

“What do you mean, you’re the problem?” he says, instead of any of that.

Impulse shrugs lightly. “I mean, this time, it wasn’t you who betrayed me. No clocks involved at all, just good-old-fashioned letting down my guard. Stupid me, right?”

Bdubs frowns harder. “That’s stupid,” he declares.

“I killed you by the way,” Impulse adds. “I know it was unclear. I was excited about it.”

“Oh, yeah, I know, I figured out afterwards, really rude of you, you know, I was fighting someone else. Basically kill stealing. I’m impressed. Good job.”

Impulse blinks. “Thank you?” he says.

“You’re welcome!” Bdubs says.

“You were supposed to—”

“You aren’t a problem, you’re a solution,” Bdubs says, finally having figured out his response to the earlier statement. “Oh, by the way, Mom carved some new stuff on your clock. She called me her favorite.”

“None of what you just said makes sense,” Impulse says, frustrated. “Don’t you get it? I finally got back at you and I’ve realized that fine, I don’t need to blame you for stabbing me, apparently it’s my fault!”

“Hey! Don’t take away my brilliant decision-making skills! I stabbed you in the back perfectly on my own, thank you very much. And I stabbed no one in the back this time. I—I—you made it to the top two for team BEST you know! I mean, TIES? Don’t ask me questions.”

Impulse stares at Bdubs for a while. Bdubs stares back. He’s very handsome. Perfect to go with someone like himself. They were the most handsome soulmates, back when they did that, and now—

“You know what, I’ll never understand you,” Impulse says.

“That’s good. I’m trying not to allow that. People are looking right now and I’ve gone to great effort to hide everything that makes me understandable, this go around. I think what’s in my head should stay secret.”

“This was pointless,” Impulse says. “Why did I come over here? This hasn’t made me feel any better at all.”

“…I could give you a clock,” Bdubs murmurs.

Impulse laughs, and laughs, and laughs at that. Bdubs doesn’t think it was very funny, but to tell the truth, no matter how much he’s acting to hide the thoughts he would hope no one saw, he doesn’t find it very funny either. He just finds it sad.

Some things are just sad. He hates it.

He hates this.

He hates it.

It was a lot easier when it was easy not to care.

“You’ll get them next time,” Bdubs says. “You got me.”

“Hah,” Impulse says, wiping his eyes. “I guess I did.”