"... Hey, Benton?"

"Yeah?"

"... Am I stupid for wanting him to show me any emotion?"

"... Yeah, kind of."

"... I know..."

Aster sighed, and Benton side-eyed him before talking again. "But you aren't wrong for wanting that. He's your brother, and having your own family treat you so coldly is really hard to deal with. With Bipolar, it's probably even harder for you than it would be normally. But still, you know you can't blame him either." At that, Aster hesitantly nodded, and Benton continued. "He has Schizoid Personality Disorder and Empathy Deficit Disorder. He's physically unable to do so, so asking him to fake it is what's wrong. He may have done it for your parents, but he was never obligated to. He just felt the need to do so for his caretakers, and the ones who brought him into this world." Aster thought for a moment. "But... It's not fair... Why does it have to be this way? I'll never have a connection with him again, and after learning the one we had as kids was fake, it's just even more... I dunno. It just sucks." Benton gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry to be that guy, but...-"

"Life isn't fair." They said in unison, slightly surprising Benton. Only slightly. Aster continued, not meeting his eyes and instead choosing to stare at the stars overhead. "I know... But that doesn't mean that makes things any better. I just can't bring myself to accept it, y'know? I can't... Not yet. And even when I do - IF I do - it'll still just suck as much as it just sucks now." After finishing that thought, he finally glanced over at Benton, meekly awaiting his response. To his surprise, Benton was... smiling. "Well, that's why you have me and Sam, right?" Aster was taken aback. "Wh-Wha..?" "We're here to support you through anything you need. We're your friends, after all." Aster had a hard time fully accepting that, looking back up. "But... You're the only two friends I have... Because of my episodes, barely anyone actually sticks around, and Maple sure as heck doesn't..." "... Sooo what you're saying is we're not enough for you?" "Wh-What-!?" Aster was shocked, gasping as he got up and snapped his head back toward Benton just to see the smug yet lighthearted grin on his face. "... Oh..." The blue reptile immediately got flustered, suddenly unable to look Benton in the eye as he realized his friend was joking.

After a bit, the orange-red reptilian creature felt slightly bad, placing a hand on Aster's shoulder. "Hey, relax, you know I don't mind." He still wasn't able to get Aster to stop looking away, and his friend even made himself as small as he could. "Sure, but... I always end up saying something offensive, don't I..?" "Sure, you may be an over-energetic annoyance sometimes, and sure, you may be an antisocial shut-in sometimes, but it isn't your fault. You have Bipolar one, for God's sake, it's literally what's meant to happen to you. And still, your manic episodes can be pretty d*** funny." Benton chuckled a bit, but Aster didn't seem to find the joke so funny. His smile softening a bit, Benton decided to slide a bit closer, taking one of Aster's hands in his own. Needless to say, Aster was taken off guard. He tried to subtly remove his hand from Benton's grasp, but his grip on Aster was firm. Although timid and blushing, Aster slowly met Benton's eyes, who locked eyes back. It was at times like this Aster wished he wasn't bisexual.

"Come on, Aster, at this point you're just trying to make things seem bad. We're here for you, and we're always gonna support you no matter what. I need ya' to get that through your head, okay?" Aster sighed, staring down at the grass. "M'Kay..." That seemed to satisfy his friend, as his smile grew once more. "Good. Now get all of those dirty thoughts out of your head. I have a wife, you know." "B-Benton..!" Aster immediately got flustered again, yanking his hand away and shoving both in his pockets as he twisted his head in the other direction. He didn't want Benton to see how hot his face had grown, but it was too late. "At this point, you're gonna turn into a tomato before anything, Aster," he teased, earning a small embarrassed whimper of sorts, and he finally decided to back off. "Sorry, sorry, it's just too funny."

Aster merely sighed before desperately trying to change the subject. "... It's fine... How about we go and visit Sam now? She said she wanted to just hang out today." Benton sensed his desperation but didn't comment on it. "Sure. Just try not to fall for her as we-" He devolved into laughter when Aster gave him a helpless look and began to protest. "B-Benton, stop..!" "Okay, okay, sorry... Heh heh, as I said, it's just too funny to resist, you give the best reaction sometimes." Aster defensively folded his arms against his chest, and his friend decided to make one final jab. "Besides, I know you mainly do it doing your manic episodes," he paused. "... A d*** good flirt, though-" He was barely able to finish his statement before Aster cut him off. "Alright, that's enough, I'm leaving, we're going to Sam's place, now!" Abruptly standing up, the blue creature speed-walked away in embarrassment. Sighing, - but still smiling widely, - Benton got up and began to follow. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry, that was the last one for now."

"... Mhm..."

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