"I'm only criticizing the people who are lazy on purpose" is just not the reassurance people think it is when nearly every disabled person has been accused of not really being disabled and just being lazy on purpose
you have to consciously unlearn racism and continue to watch for it because it will come out without realizing. because so much of society is structured around it. shrugging and going "i dont care" or "i dont know how else to say it" means you are okay with being racist and hurting other people with how much you dont give a shit about them.
dex who doesn’t really know how to say what he feels, so it comes out in actions that are quiet, precise, and a little too attentive in ways he doesn’t fully realize are romantic - like always remembering exactly how you like your coffee and handing it to you without asking, like it’s just something he already accounted for in the world.
dex who starts showing up in the small gaps of your day without making it feel planned, timing things so he’s around when you’re leaving somewhere late, walking you a little further than necessary even when you didn’t ask, and acting like it’s coincidence while his presence slowly becomes something you start to rely on without meaning to.
dex who pays attention to things no one else thinks matter, like the way your expression shifts when you’re overwhelmed, or when your voice gets softer when you’re tired, and he adjusts without explanation - quietly stepping in, removing friction from your day in ways that feel almost invisible but always intentional.
dex who doesn’t do grand gestures, but remembers everything small enough to feel intimate - what calms you down, what makes you laugh when you’re stressed, what you avoid when you’re anxious and he uses it carefully, like he’s building a version of the world where you’re always just slightly more comfortable without ever announcing he’s doing it.
dex who struggles to separate care from fixation, so his affection shows up as consistency more than anything else - he doesn’t disappear, doesn’t forget, doesn’t let distance reset how he sees you and even when he doesn’t say it out loud, the way he stays present, attentive, and quietly steady around you starts to feel like the closest thing he knows to love.
dex who remembers you in fragments - how you hold your mug, how your voice softens when you’re tired, the exact moment your patience starts to thin and those fragments stack in his mind until they turn into something strangely tender, because he starts anticipating you before you even speak, and instead of it feeling intrusive to him, it feels like responsibility, like keeping track of you is just something he does now.
dex who shows care in the smallest physical ways that almost don’t register as touch unless you’re paying attention, like shifting slightly so you’re not standing too close to a crowd, or stepping into a position where he naturally blocks something chaotic without making a scene out of it, and if you ask him about it he just tilts his head slightly like it’s nothing and says, “it was in the way,” even when it clearly wasn’t.
dex who gets dangerously close to care becoming obsession without realizing it, not in a loud or performative way, but in a constant, low-level awareness of you that never fully turns off, and yet even inside that intensity there’s something almost soft about it - because when he looks at you, it isn’t just fixation, it’s steadiness, like you’ve become the one thing his mind stops spinning around for long enough to feel grounded, even if he can’t explain why.
dex who starts remembering the smallest details that don’t matter to anyone else but somehow matter to him more than he expects - what makes you laugh when you’re stressed, how you fidget when you’re thinking too hard, the exact tone your voice changes into when you’re pretending you’re fine - and he uses all of it gently, without spectacle, like he’s quietly trying to build a version of the world that fits you better.
dex who becomes consistent in a way that feels almost intimate, because he doesn’t disappear, doesn’t forget, doesn’t treat your presence like something optional in his life anymore, and when you finally ask him why he always stays so close, he looks at you for a long second and says softly "my day doesn’t really make sense if i don’t know you’re okay.”
dex is already sitting at the café when you arrive, and the first thing you notice isn’t his smile or the coffee in front of him - it’s the coin moving endlessly between his fingers. it rolls across his knuckles, disappears into his palm, reappears again, over and over like he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it.
the poor coin is getting more attention than anything else in the world right now. dex stares ahead, jaw tight, shoulders stiff, shuffling the coin through his hands so quickly it almost blurs.
“so,” you say, smiling over the rim of your drink, “is that your emotional support coin?”
dex nearly drops it. “my what?”
“your emotional support coin."
he stares at you for a second before looking down at his hands. the coin is still moving.
“oh my god.” his face immediately turns pink. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”
“a little.” you laugh. “dex, that thing hasn’t stopped moving since you got here.”
he groans and drags a hand down his face. “great.”
“it’s cute.” you smile.
his expression somehow becomes even more horrified.
“don’t call it cute.”
"are you nervous?” the question makes him pause. for the first time all evening, the coin stops moving. he looks down at it, then back at the coin.
"I really wanted this to go well.” the honesty in his voice catches you off guard. suddenly the coin, the fidgeting, the awkward glances - it all makes sense. your heart feels strangely warm.
without thinking much about it, you reach across the table and gently take his free hand. dex freezes. completely. the coin slips forgotten into his other palm as his eyes widen slightly.
"you know,” you say, tracing your thumb across his knuckles, “this date was already going well.”
there’s a softness to him now that wasn’t there before. the coin hasn’t moved in nearly ten minutes. instead, his thumb has started brushing absentmindedly against yours. when he realizes what he’s doing, his blush somehow deepens.
"sorry.”
"for what?”
"I don’t know.” he laughs nervously. “everything.”
you shake your head fondly before leaning across the table. before you can second-guess yourself, you press a quick kiss to his cheek. it’s brief, sweet, barely lasting a second. dex immediately stops functioning. his eyes go wide. his mouth opens and closes twice. the poor guy looks like his brain has completely crashed.
you ask, trying and failing not to laugh. “you kissed me.” his voice comes out breathless.
"I did.”
his face is bright red now. for a moment he just stares at you before a shy smile appears. “thank you,” he says softly.
"for the kiss?”
"for making me stop being nervous.” your chest melts. you squeeze his hand gently beneath the table, and this time when he smiles back, there’s no tension left in it at all.
tangentwithtanner
jacobvanloon
prguitarman
turnnoffyourmind
