Sometimes I wonder. Do you think that Hawkeye was aware of Trap's coping mechanisms before this conversation? The fact that Trapper is so inclined to curl up in his cot when they have downtime, facing away from Hawk, sometimes not even sleeping, just totally checked out for hours and hours on end? Those dissociating depression naps?
And do you think that more often than not, when he sees Trap in that listless state, Hawk will go out of his way to tell him the most terrible, ridiculous jokes in the world because every time, no matter how much Trapper tries to fight it, in the end he's smiling and present? And Hawk will admit that maybe it's downright selfish of him to do it—that he doesn't want to be left alone in his thoughts either—but the fact remains that he loves Trapper too much to let him stew like that. Come hell or high water, he's gonna brighten his day.
