It was dinnertime when Dirk finally realized what his older bro meant so very long ago.

Dave had been talking about his day with a stoic expression and about his conversations on Pesterchum. Finally he mentioned the stupid game he and his friends were going to play tomorrow.

It was called Sburb Beta.

Dirk sat down his dishes that he was using to cook a simple meal with and stared at Dave. Dave looked thoroughly confused. "Bro, is there like a ghost raven on my head? Is it layin' eggs and makin' nests in my hair?" jokingly, he ruffled his head. "Scram!" Bro shook his head.

"I just…" he cleared his throat. "You excited?" Dave shook his head.

"Aww, nah, it's a stupid-ass game and I don't know if I'm even gonna play it." Dirk came over and set his dinner in front of him.

"C'mon, is Dave scared of a little game?"

"Of course not, it looks really boring." inside Dirk was frowning. He couldn't let him go. He thought back to when he was sent back in time to go raise Dave, right before he left.

Dave was as old as him now. He had grabbed his hand just before Dirk was about to ascend to the platform that would take him back. Dirk was confused, but looked down at his brother/kid.

"Before I go… Tell me you're proud of me. Fuck being cool. Tell me you're proud of me and hug me and don't let me go, okay?" this wasn't helping Dirk's befuddled state of mind. He nodded hesitantly.

"Why?" it was a stupid question.

"Because I don't remember you telling me that. You die in this game, Bro, and I know that you know it. I needed to know everything was gonna be okay." Dirk was still very confused, but he nodded and started walking towards the platform anyways. As he began to feel the power generating, he saw his older brother smile as he remembered the night going a different way than the one he knew.

Dirk roughly grabbed Dave's skinny frame and squeezed him as hard as he could, nuzzling into his hair. Dave began to protest, telling him that "Shit in here was completely unironic," and that he "Never thought the day would come,". Dave started to realize that things were serious when Bro didn't let go.

If Dave's hair was a little bit wetter than it was to start out with, he didn't say anything.