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"This is stupid." Nick glared at the fire.
"Would you— Would you stop saying that, please?" Dale mumbled, throwing more kindling into the pit. "Look, guys, I think that this is a good way - and a productive way - to get over the horrors of our previous bosses."
Kurt nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, no, I agree with Nick, this is stupid."
"Right! Okay!" Dale wiped off his hands, ignoring them. "Let's begin! What do you want to throw in the pit, guys?"
"Well, you, maybe." Nick chuckled.
Kurt high-fived him, not at all caring that Dale could see.
"Right. I'll begin, then." Dale stood, determined. "I'm throwing in this old stack of business cards from the Dental Office, and it represents how Julia's torment is over, and I am… cleansed of her actions."
"Cleansed? God, what are you, a hippie?" Kurt laughed, but stood up next. It may be stupid and pointless, but at least it was stupid and pointless fun. "Fine. I am throwing in this package slip I received from Bobby, who gave it to me after he picked up the package himself."
Dale clapped, and Nick nodded slightly.
"Nick, your turn."
"No." Nick flashed a saccharine smile. "This is dumb, and I'm not doing it."
Kurt rolled his eyes, "C'mon, Nick. Throw Dale a bone, he spent like an hour setting this up."
"With no help from either of you." He mumbled, bitter.
"Right. Well, I didn't bring anything from my job, anyway." Nick retorted, crossing his arms. "So, even if I wanted to, which I don't, I couldn't."
"Oh, yeah. I guess— I guess you do have a point, there." Dale mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. He hadn't thought this through as much as he'd hoped.
"That tie," Kurt replied, eyeing Nick's neck.
"What?" Nick's eyebrows shot up. "You want me to throw my best tie into the fire?"
"That's your best tie?" Dale laughed, looking at the pizza print tie. "Jeez, maybe it should go in the fire."
"No! I'm not about to—"
"Do it!" Kurt started chanting, and with Dale joining in, their combined efforts eventually sounded as enthusiastic as frat bros yelling 'chug.'
"Fine! Fine, Jesus, if it gets you two to shut up!" Nick stood, yanking off the tie. "I'm throwing the tie into the fire to show that I couldn't be fucked to act like I liked working under that sadistic bastard anymore!"
"Yeah!" Kurt and Dale clapped as the tie burned to ash.
Nick sat back down, grimacing but with a hint of a smile.
"Woah, guys, I think that was actually, like, super helpful, right?" Dale asked, face lit with a smile.
"Eh." Kurt shrugged, smirking just a little as he saw Nick grow more frustrated.
"No. It was not." Nick adjusted his collar. "And I don't have a tie anymore. I didn't even wear that tie to work until last week!"
"It's symbolic, dude." Dale insisted, letting his focus drift to the fire.
"Yeah, well, now it's symbolic of me not having anything to wear to work tomorrow!"
"Oh, relax, you can borrow one of Dale's," Kurt mumbled, slapping the shorter man on the shoulder.
"What? I don't have ties, I'm a dental assistant."
The conversation quickly descended into a half-hearted argument (ending in Nick getting a tie from Kurt), and then into chit-chat about their new and improved workspaces. Which, surely, would last.
Surely.