one thing I noticed while writing out Ivan’s response to Kyle and reading his original message is the subtly self-depreciating ways they both talk about themselves. like kyle talking about not hating himself when ivan is around and thanking him for ‘putting up’ with him, etc, and ivan phrasing things like ‘you seem to think x about me’ or ‘you say i’m x’ to avoid saying outright that he doesn’t think x of himself.
dorky boyfriends with terribly low self-esteem