Work Text:
Dex: nurse, can i ask you a serious question? no chirping?
Of all the things Nursey had expected when his phone buzzed, this is... definitely not one of them. The last time either he or Dex texted each other was a week and a half ago, when Nursey had wanted to get Dex’s opinion on a play but it was too late at night to ask him in person. They’d had a quick conversation, and then talked about it more with Ransom and Holster at practice, and that had been it.
He mentally races through all of the things Dex might want to ask him about. It’s been a couple of days since he came out as demi— maybe that’s what it is? Does he want Nursey’s help with dealing with a Ransom midterms anxiety attack? Does he want to ask Nursey about something that he thinks is contributing to their constant fighting?
Nursey braces himself for any of these options and replies.
Nursey: sure dude go for it
Dex is typing for a long time before he finally sends... a very long message.
Dex: i’m taking a class on poetry because i needed a humanities class for my requirement and if i don’t get it done frog year i won’t have time to do it later and it said it was an intro class but it’s obviously an intro class for people who’ve done a lot of poetry in high school and that was my worst subject and i was going to just get it done by myself but i don’t remember anything and i need to answer this short essay question about shakespeare’s use of blank verse and prose in his plays and i don’t even remember what blank verse is and i would just google it but something’s weird with my wifi and my roommate’s asleep so i can’t move things around to fix it so i’ve been writing my responses offline but anyway that’s why i had to text someone instead of looking it up myself
Dex: i just need to know what blank verse is, that’s it
That’s... not what he was expecting in any way.
The class must be Introduction to Poetry, obviously, and Nursey battles with himself about that for a few seconds before he starts to type. What eventually makes up his mind is the fact that probably at least ninety percent of the team knows what blank verse is, and he would assume he’s Dex’s last resort, but... obviously, if Dex is asking him, then he hasn’t gotten an answer from anybody else, which probably means he hasn’t texted them since it’s not that late, most of them are definitely still up.
So Dex has willingly texted him. Huh. That’s... a thing.
He responds.
Nursey: ok first of all blank verse is iambic pentameter except it doesnt rhyme, second of all i took that class first semester so if you need help let me know
Dex: thank you so much
Dex: i need to go finish this, see you tomorrow
Nursey: ttyl
True to his word, Dex doesn’t send any other messages, about poetry or otherwise.
And Nursey?
Nursey is left feeling like there’s been a paradigm shift. He’s not sure what it is yet, but something different is happening.