"Thank you..." Jade said softly, breaking the silence that had been loud in her ears since she pulled him aside, "For snapping me out of it." she looked up from her ruby slippers into the orange-tinted shades on Davesprite's face.

"No problem, Harley. That's what we Knights do." he brushes it off as always, playing it cool.

"No really, Dave! You brought me back from the Condense's control. I-I'm just really grateful. You didn't have to..." the witch trailed off, not really knowing what to say to her ex. Really, the last time she even spoke to him was when he broke up with her.

He sighs. "Of course I had to, Harley. I couldn't just let you run around in Grimbark mode. That'd be hella inconvenient." Dave adjusted his glasses, avoiding looking at her,"And I guess there'd be people who'd miss you if your death was just."

Jade felt her cheeks warm slightly,"...Like you?" she asked tentatively.

Dave cleared his throat quietly,"Yeah...me too." he smoothed his finger over one of the feathers on his wrist, a habit he noticed he had developed, "You're a goddamn puppy, Harley. Everyone misses a puppy. No one cries when the guy dies, but when his dog dies its like watching Shamu in the front row."

She laughed, enjoying joking around with him again. It made her miss when they were together. "...Dave," she stopped, staring at him.

"Yeah?" Dave peeked at her from the corner of his eyes

"Why did you break up with me?"

A look of shock passed over his avian features, mouth parting slightly and feathers jumping. His eyes gave away nothing as usual, covered by his shades. "Why are you asking me this?"

"I just want...need to know." she breathed, stepping closer to him. The witch reached forward, searching for his hands.

"No. You don't, Jade." he clenched his clawed and feathered fists when her own slightly rough hands brushed them, looking to hold them.

Frustrated, she held her arms rigidly at her side. "But I do!" she insisted. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No. Harley. Just st-" his lips were pursed together between sentences. It was a familiar face. Back of the ship, he usually made that face when they spoke about the other Dave.

"Is this about Dave? What, did you think that I was only with you because I wanted him?"

"No-"

She lunged forward and took his hands in hers, curling her fingers into his. "Because I don't, Dave! I don't want the other Dave. I want you!" She gripped his hands tighter, leaning closer to him, despite the obvious discomfort on his face. "You are the only Dave I want."

He turned to look at her, his shades still hiding his eyes. They frustrated her to no end.

Forcefully yet gently, he took his hands from her grasp, clenching them at his sides. "Maybe I am the only Dave you want...

"You are!" she insisted.

"...But I'm not the only guy you want."

She looked at him in confusion, but the sprite could see the worry and guilt in her green eyes. "What...Dave, what are you-"she was cut off.

"I broke up with you because I'm a jerk, Jade." Dave said sharply. "I'm a selfish jerk, and I wanted you all to myself."

"But you did!"

He sighed, running his hand through his mess of orange hair. Slowly, the hand slipped down to his face. Dave slid his shades from his nose until they were off, folding and clipping them to the feathery neckline of his shirt. Jade gulped when he glared at her with his tangerine eyes, avoiding the gaze that she would usually hold. "I'm also proud, Jade. And I wasn't gonna sit around while you lied to my face."

She looked up sharply, "I have never lied to you, Dave."

"Yes, you have!" he yelled, a year's worth of anger and frustration popping up to the surface. The volume and sharpness in his voice surprised her, and she jumped back. But it was the hurt in his words that broke her. "You always lied to me and you didn't even know it! All that bullshit about me being 'the only one you want'! I knew, Jade! I knew that you were lying to me!"

"But I wasn't Dave! I swear!" she shouted pleadingly, as if she didn't want to hear those words coming out of his mouth. Tears began to collect at the corners of her eyes, something rare. Dave almost looked away from her, the sight of her moist eyes paining him.

"And it wasn't just me you were lying to! It was all of us-all three of us! Me, you, and John!" Her brother's name made her eyes clench shut, salty liquid running down her cheeks. "I know about you and John, Jade! I know it right now and I knew it back then!"

"Dave, stop it! Please..." she begged, arms wrapped around herself.

"You two and your secret rendezvous right from the start! Even when we were together, you wanted him, and he wanted you! And you told me over and over that you only wanted me, but I saw right through you. It was never true." the loudness of his voice had lowered considerably at this point, but tears still spilled down Jade's face, head lowered and arms wrapped around herself.

"No..." she whimpered.

"You didn't just want me."

"Stop."

"You wanted John too, Jade." he paused for a moment, taking in the sight of her curled up and crying form. "You wanted him in the worst way possible."