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[doihavetoexplainmath]

[There's no greeting or anything, just some changing and scraping sounds and a shot of a shadowy, faintly purple ceiling, and it cuts off four seconds later.]

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[doihavetoexplainmath]

"Other people are on their own." Bitterness from a few directions there, but all beneath the surface Entrapta's looking at, which consists pretty much entirely of righteous indignation.

[thebubblyone]

Hilda goes to put the kettle on.

"Is that how you're feeling too, Entrapta?"

[doihavetoexplainmath]

The transition is lost on her. "Huh?"

[thebubblyone]

"Like you're on your own," she clarifies, quietly.

[doihavetoexplainmath]

"All evidence suggests," she says airily. It's not a put-on. The power of friendship is just not a big motivator.

[thebubblyone]

"And that's never bothered you?" Hilda wonders, nudging gently.

[doihavetoexplainmath]

"Pros and cons. Lab partners have their advantages." It's not like she's planning on living entirely alone forever. She works fine with people. On a temporary, utilitarian basis. "On balance, I prefer being a free agent."

[thebubblyone]

"But you know that being a free agent and having people to go to when you need them aren't...mutually exclusive, don't you?"

[doihavetoexplainmath]

"Having people, sure, these things happen. Needing them is pretty reliably a bad idea." That makes a complete mess of everyone who tries it.

[thebubblyone]

Hilda just sits with that for a few moments.

"Do you like having friends, Entrapta? Not need or want or anything of that variety - do you like having them?"

[doihavetoexplainmath]

She isn't anti-friendship at all. She just recognizes that there are issues, and you ought to be careful about these things. "Sure, I just know better than to include them in my plans in any significant capacity."

[thebubblyone]

A quiet hum of assent. "What counts as 'significant'?"

[doihavetoexplainmath]

She does think about it. She fully intends to be sulky and uncooperative, but she really can't resist expounding on her ideas. "Outcomes that depend on their cooperation."

[thebubblyone]

Okay. Maybe this can be expanded on, eventually?

"Outcomes such as...?"

[doihavetoexplainmath]

"Long term projects, physical safety. Individual experiments are usually alright, that's more short term." What other outcomes are there?

[thebubblyone]

"What about just...enjoying yourself with them?"

Haha that can't be measured objectively, Hilda, don't be silly.

[doihavetoexplainmath]

Entrapta's oh, hey, you got it look is particularly withering, given her clear surprise that someone so slow could come to a conclusion, however belatedly. It's not personal. Everyone is pretty slow compared to her. "Right, that works just fine as long as you're not too invested."

[thebubblyone]

Hilda is so completely immune to Looks from teenage girls that it doesn't even register.

"And what does 'too invested' look like?"

[doihavetoexplainmath]

This seems like a fairly circular conversation. "If anything important that you have planned depends on someone else's showing, it's generally a bad plan." She speaks a bit too slowly, consciously, definitely explaining things to an idiot.

[thebubblyone]

Hilda judges at about the same time as Entrapta that she is clearly treading through patterns that have been stomped into place for some time now.

"Well, that's not true at all, but I suppose that's why you're here, eh?" Hilda says cheerily, and offers her a very small cup of tea.

[doihavetoexplainmath]

"I do base this on observation, you know." Sulking. But she accepts the tea.

[thebubblyone]

"I know," Hilda says mildly. "But observation isn't objective when it comes to things like this, love. You'll have had your own experiences, and they change your perception."

[doihavetoexplainmath]

"Some sciences are softer than others." She shrugs. Nothing to be done about the innate failings of sociology.

[thebubblyone]

"I'm not talking about sciences," Hilda says, a little more firmly. "I'm talking about people, Entrapta. I'm talking about you."

[doihavetoexplainmath]

"The division is artificial." People are science. Lots of sciences.