[He'd disagree on the thing in common. And what she says is nice, and kind, and it's just... impossible to believe. He knows he's arrogant, he's met himself. He also knows he has a terrible and unpleasant personality for the same reason.

He isn't going to shove that on Jade. Instead, he brings his focus in on something she said.]

I'm not sure I know what you mean about things feeling too big or too small to fit into. Are you talking about legacies?

While the game sells itself as a coming-of-age plot, that never seems to have felt right. Or maybe it is, and we never had that narrative experience without the chance to experience our quests.

[He considers it, not minding Miss Eyeroll here.]

I don't know if I ever considered myself not an adult. I can look back at myself and be like, 'yeah, that sure was a kid,' but I guess it's difficult to conceptualize yourself as such when you're supposed to be wholly self-reliant in terms of survival. I'm not sure if you felt the same way, given your own experiences with needing, and indeed wanting, to take care of yourself.

Okay, it kind of sounds like you're glossing over things here.

[Dirk Strider is the personal callout post for everyone he knows.]

And you think that makes you childish? Sorry, I don't think I'm following.

[Time's passage does indeed suck but also its non-passage sucks. Life sucks.]

I think that a lot of the time, not concerning yourself with what's childish, in terms of interest, is relatively mature.

Peter Pan wasn't childish because he refused to get adult interests. The problem there was that he wouldn't mature as a person. He refused to take responsibility or accept the consequences of his actions. He wanted to be mothered and do as he pleased. The fact that he fought battles or participated in politics didn't make him any less childish because all those things were games to him.

You're a responsible, considerate young adult who happens to enjoy a silly kids show. I don't think that's immature at all.

[He thinks she means it? That... means a lot to him. He isn't sure why, but it does.]

We're operating in the 1950s middle class tradition. As one dude interested in another dude, with a strong rejection of the consumer capitalist ideals and obsession with polished surfaces over interrogated realities, my courtship in this style is obviously ironic.

Equally obviously, Jake is completely and totally sincere.

[Dirk is deadpan, but. He adores Jake for that.]

Absolutely. Obviously, I mean that in the more complex sense of irony that allows for measures of sincerity, rather than mere basic irony that just shits on things because it's a stupid asshole's tool.

Partly. There are layers to it. It would be like giving someone a box of chocolates for Valentine's day. It's a disingenuous act on its own, because it's so cliche as to be totally meaningless. But if one performs it ironic and acknowledges that irony, and the acknowledgement of that irony becomes part of the communication between a person on their partner, then levels of sincerity and genuine emotion are achieved at the same time.