i think that one of the reasons skwisgaar and toki have trouble understanding each other (besides the rivalry/ego issues ofc) is that they have fundamentally different ways of expressing themselves

toki is like a dog, earnest and direct. if he’s excited about something it shows, if he’s angry about something it shows. he’s openly loving as he can be openly vindictive. he feels everything very intensely and is unable to hide it, often taking things literally. he can feel dejected very fast if he doesn’t feel like his affection is reciprocated.

skwisgaar is like a cat, can come off as mean and is not very honest. he exaggerates a lot in his speech, often passive aggressive remarks. the way he shows affection is by paying a greater degree of attention, to the point it comes off as nagging if the person isn’t aware of his nature. he’s deeply caring, however, but his quiet nature masks it.

and thus, you have a recipe for disaster. you have a person that does genuine gestures to show affection and a person that likes teasing as a way to show the same thing. a person that vents in the form of backhanded comments and a person that takes those as immovable declarations of hatred. a person that’s scared of being vulnerable and a person that doesn’t know how to not be so. a person that gets stuck on the words, and a person whose love is shown through his actions everyday.

they speak different languages and it’s why they can’t understand each other. instead of trying to meet halfway, they both expect the other to speak their language. it’s tragic because they really do love each other, they just don’t know how much the other loves them too.