I'm in my happy place- a fandom with no worries and some people who are enjoying and kind of understanding this. All is well with the world.

I just realized this chappie is filler. And filler sucks. –fumes-

Thanks for reviewing Andi Mack, MutantLover09, lily moonlight, Hordak's Pupil, Jag Lady, FernClaw

4. Relationships

Night was falling, and Dave was inside, finishing the vegetable stew and putting the pot on the table. Hal looked inside the pot and grimaced. "Again? How often are we going to have this? It looks so… nasty and disgusting."

The antihero gave his friend a nasty look, shushing him up instantly. It wasn't often that the engineer would end up dong dinner for the twosome, so he really didn't have much of a reason to complain. More often than not, Dave would end up whipping something up and lay it on the table in front of Hal. Needless to say, Dave wanted to complain about his own cooking as well, but he knew that if he did that, his friend would offer to cook.

And that was the last thing he needed.

The calming Chinese music in the background didn't seem to bother Dave that night as he sat at the table and stared at the stew on the table. "You know, you're going to have to try your hand at making dinner one of these nights. I'm tired of laboring over a hot stove."

"Funny."

Silence once more. Dave put down his fork and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. Hal knew this was going to end up as a conversation about something he A.) didn't like or want to talk about or B.) didn't want to hear about. Either way, he didn't want to get into yet another conversation with Dave with the posture he sat in at that moment. Hal rubbed his head at Dave's stare and gave him a mild glare in return. "Okay, what do you want to argue about profusely this time?"

Dave shook his head, giving a slight laugh. "I just thought it was funny you were talking to Meryl on the phone when I got back inside. Yes, I heard you on the phone," he added when he saw Hal's mouth drop open like a sinkhole opening. "It's hard not to notice when you look like a some sort of rabid fan of an anime."

The engineer blushed furiously. "We weren't phone flirting!"

The other man said nothing. He merely let out a small sigh and shook his head at Hal. He didn't know whether he was lying or telling the truth, but it made no difference now. The fact of the matter was, the two of them had been on the phone together for a little bit while he had been walking Aero. Dave raised an eyebrow at his companion and nodded. "Fine. Deny the phone flirting all you want, but I want to know something. Why'd you call her in the first place?"

Hal rubbed his fingers through his hair and looked lost for an answer for a moment. "Well, uh… I needed to tell her about some things. Things I don't think I should tell you right now."

"Feel like hiding something from me like everybody else?" he asked wearily. He had given up on the fact that people were going to tell him important things in his life. It was customary- in his mind- to keep things that were vital to his own well being from him. Dave watched Hal's face unfurl into one of surprise and slight fear. "Listen, everyone else does it when I'm on missions. Damn, Hal- just say it already."

The engineer put his head in his hand. "I just… look, Dave. I don't know if this is a good time to say it! Meryl told me not to tell you!"

Dave snorted derisively. "So you're taking orders from another woman?"

"No!"

Silence.

"Maybe…"

Dave rolled his eyes in exasperation, giving Hal a hard glare. He wanted to hear all of this. "Look, you may as well spill what happened. I know it was about Meryl and stuff, but come on, Hal. There's no point in hiding it."

Hal sighed. "You're right. You really wanna know? Fine. I talked with Meryl this afternoon after something came up on the Internet, and we babbled for a bit about possibilities of where the cure might be on the planet. We kind of…" He swallowed here, looking rather nervously at the table. "We kind of talked about your past relationship and how you two were together for a while."

The older man said nothing.

"What happened between you two?"

Dave grimaced. "I didn't want to get involved in her life. I didn't need to be involved. That last thing Meryl should have is her hero trying to involve himself in her life. Sure, we were together for a couple of months and all, but… it wasn't going to work." His voice got softer, more distant. "I thought I really did love her. But I think it was just some kind of… some kind of loving passion to be loved." He gave a soft sigh. "Kind of like how you felt when you loved Wolf for that while."

The other man turned away slightly. "Do you still love her?"

He heaved a sigh and got up from the table. "I don't know, Hal. I thought I didn't, but now everything else in my heart says otherwise. It feels like I'm in one of those stupid romantic movies or books where the guy ends up thinking about his love life and all that nasty crap." He looked disgusted. "What do you want me to say? I like her?"

Hal shrugged. "Just admit your feelings about her."

Dave picked up his dishes and ignored Aero's whining until he reached the sink and put his dishes inside it. He scratched his head in tired worry before crouching down and scratching her behind the ears. "I can't just admit my feelings, Hal. The problem in doing that is the fact that I show I have feelings about her. And you know I never tell anyone how I feel." He stood up and walked out into the living room, Aero obediently at his heels.

His friend said nothing. He scratched his head for a moment before eyeing the cell phone near the computer. 'Thank god for you, Meryl,' he thought. 'At least you still kind of care for him.'

"Hey, Hal. Anything good on TV tonight?"

The man grimaced at walked out into the living room as well, sitting down at the desk and shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know. Why don't you check and see for yourself?"

Aero gave another soft whine. Dave scratched her ears, taking solace in his furry companion.

Jeez, how many times are we going to see this dog? I'd love to tell you what is going on, but yeah. Some of you already know. If you know and you say it, I will stab you repeatedly with a spork… or my scythe. –pulls out scythe- WATCH IT, SOME OF YOU.