Telling a Story Through Touch - Part 2
In Bride of Re-Animator, Dan is mad at Herbert. Every interaction between them has an undercurrent of tension. They are clearly close to each other as friends who have bonded through trauma - Herbert is more relaxed with Dan than we've ever seen, and Dan lets himself be weirder with Herbert than anyone else would suspect. But Dan isn't happy with Herbert, and Herbert knows it.
He is much less touchy with Dan now. All the casual touching is gone. Even in moments when he WOULD have reached out to Dan, when he clearly WANTS to, he is hesitant to do it.
He even goes so far as to AVOID touching Dan when he easily could. When he hands Dan the heart, he slides his hands out with as little contact as possible. And when he takes it back, he is careful to try not to touch Dan's hands too much.
The only times he lets himself fully touch Dan are when he's desperate to get his attention.
He sees that Dan is still able to be happy with OTHER people, and it tears him up. He doesn't understand what it is that other people seem to have that Dan loves, or why he lacks it.
The whole plot of Bride hinges on Herbert's attempt to make Dan happy with him again. When he finds Meg's heart in the morgue, he cradles it in his hands for a moment - it isn't Meg he's subconsciously caressing.
Until he can FIX their relationship, he can't be as comfortable as he used to be in just resting a hand on Dan's arm or pressing against him.
When he messes up, he EXPECTS Dan to hurt him, because that's what people DO when they're mad at him.
The turning point comes when they're finally about to complete their Work.
When Dan grabs his arm, Herbert automatically assumes the worst.
Dan goes all in. He's on board. He's not mad anymore, and he's a part of this.
And the surprise and relief and LOVE Herbert feels in that moment is so clear...
It's only after this, after Dan has finally shown a willingness to commit to the partnership, that Herbert (hesitantly) does this:
It's the first time he's reached out to affectionately touch Dan since Meg died. And Dan doesn't pull away or lash out at him.
And when Dan presents the results of their work to Herbert,
Herbert grabs his hand in triumph.
It's not perfect, and there are still issues. They aren't back to where they were, and probably never will be. But it's a start.
