This was nothing like your interaction though. Asking why doesn’t mean they don’t acknowledge the other person doing it for fun, it’s just that they are curious if there’s a reason.
-Haha, why?
+Found it cool and felt like it.
-That’s cool, I used to play X when I was younger but…
It can also just be a conversation starter, nothing wrong with asking why.
I think the face in the comic convey quite well that “haha why” was not a “wow, I’m interested” but “the fuck you doing, bro?”. Especially since it’s literally prefixed with “what the hell are you doing?”.
This was nothing like your interaction though. Asking why doesn’t mean they don’t acknowledge the other person doing it for fun, it’s just that they are curious if there’s a reason.
-Haha, why?
+Found it cool and felt like it.
-That’s cool, I used to play X when I was younger but…
It can also just be a conversation starter, nothing wrong with asking why.
Some people read “why?” as incredulity rather than curiosity.
You don’t think there’s a difference between “Why the fuck would you do that, you nincompoop?” and “Haha, why”?
I do, which is why I said that your example is not like the one of the comic.
I think the face in the comic convey quite well that “haha why” was not a “wow, I’m interested” but “the fuck you doing, bro?”. Especially since it’s literally prefixed with “what the hell are you doing?”.
Just because I type LOL doesn’t mean I’m LOL