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[parodeity]

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[splinten]

Psychology was not my rodeo jam, but I hear dreams are supposed to go better if you treat some of the underlyin' causes. [Guess it's two kids and a cat cuddling now?] We could look up how humans treated chronic nightmares, maybe. Or I could try to refine my Heart powers to turn me into a badass dream warrior, wrecking your nightmares' shit. That one is a little more dubious, and also potentially not something you'd want.

[parodeity]

I feel like the last thing you need is to see what I see at night? [ not all of it is memories of bro, but a portion is. the rest is dave dying in a fuckton of ways (relaxing), and puppets, and the things the happened in the game, and his loved ones dying. ] Anyway, I feel like if I go to bed now I'll dream about him tonight. I usually do when I fuck up enough to get hurt in a strife. Which is like, no big deal? Dreams never hurt anyone.

[splinten]

You had to know that last sentence wouldn't get past me before you said it. [Of course dreams have hurt people? He doesn't even mean weird dream bullshit.]

[parodeity]

Ok, comparatively to everythin' else in my life, dreams have been like a mediocre concern and it feels dumb to express a distinct disinterest in goin' to bed on account of 'em.

[ not that dave is renowned for his sleeping abilities but hey ]

[splinten]

I'm genuinely surprised you think you can get that one past me either.

[Dreams are obviously a place where Dave re-experiences traumas.]

[parodeity]

[ dirk gets...a baffled frown. ]

I'm bein' serious? They're like, barely relevant compared to the bullshit I've lived through.

[ he does not consider re-experiencing traumas in dreams to be a worthwhile complaint? for him. obviously if someone else had that issue it'd be magically relevant ]

[splinten]

You've been through a lot of bullshit, right. Then you re-experience that bullshit, remix-style, in your dreams, continuously, long past the initial experience that affected you. They become one of the mechanisms by which your bullshit continues to attack you.

[Therefore.... they matter?]

[parodeity]

Ok, but they like...matter less. They're just me obsessin' over shit that's over and done with.

[ like dirk's whole headless horseman fiasco, and...everything bro. and - yeah lots of options here. ]

Like what would you even do for the smaller-scale shit there? You haven't lost your head again but that's still a thing my mind goes shit Dave major concern here about?

[splinten]

You're remembering that specific instance in the face of a general fear: me getting hurt. Maybe by your hand, which would imply there's the physical component of danger to me, but also the psychological component of being afraid you cause me pain. It isn't a crazy thing for your brain to be worried about when they're both concerns you've actively expressed to me.

[More than once, for that matter.]

[parodeity]

[ he...has never analyzed it since he mostly tries Not To Think About It and hasn't bothered to let rose in on this. ]

Oh. [ that sounds. reasonable? is dirk faking sounding reasonable. it sounds like a real thing? ] Sometimes it's not just beheadin'. ...That was weird to admit wasn't it. Do you want to talk about another series of nightmares, or a movie, or the cat?

[splinten]

I don't find discussions of my beheadin' very uncomfortable, you're probably flabbergasted to hear. [He thinks Dave even knows he did it twice so] Do you wanna talk about the other things it is sometimes?

[parodeity]

I would personally appreciate it if you would endeavor to find the idea of you bein' beheaded more, like, unpalatable and uncomfortable?

[ AS AN ASIDE. ]

Uh. I don't know? Do you...want to hear about it? [ that's weird, dirk. or. not weird? ] Once I sped up your time into nothin'. It's never - I never want to.

[ that seems important to note. ]

[splinten]

I know you don't. They're nightmares. [He squeezes Dave's hand.] So that one. Was it losin' control of your powers, or was it somethin' else?

[parodeity]

Losin' control. [ a shrug. that's probably an easy fear to identify. ] You know, the kind of fucked up thing is I never dream about killin' Bro, though?

[splinten]

Why is that fucked up? It sounds like it's more or less psychologically impossible for you to imagine that, which makes perfect sense.

[parodeity]

Because...I love you?

[ so it'd be swell to stop dreaming about killing dirk instead of like, someone he's not hella fond of nowadays? ]

[splinten]

[Dirk... still gets hit by hearing it because he's a sucker. He rubs the back of his neck.] That being as it is, why would your mind, which is constantly anxious about losin' me, have nightmares about losin' him? It'd be preferable but it doesn't make sense when your mind is lookin' for something to slot into the 'super scary shit' buildin' block in your dream.

[parodeity]

...I feel that "to cut me some slack" should be a viable answer here?

[ maybe not one that makes sense or which will save him from stupid dreams but. it should be an answer. ]

But, okay. So I'm terrified of losin' you and hurtin' you. That ain't about to stop anytime soon, or like, ever.

[splinten]

Potentially, we could try to work it down from 'constant fear' to 'thing that is frightening when the possibility that comes up.' I think that's how this sort of thing is supposed to work.

[like he has no idea but he assumes]

[parodeity]

Ideas for that bein'? Also, how's the level on your side.

[ is dave doing better or worse by the stupid strider metric ]

[splinten]

Levels of what? I don't have nightmares.

[By the Strider Metric, Dirk is still kinda a hypocrite.]

[parodeity]

[ dave finds the energy to jab dirk in the ribs. not hard enough to jostle the cat though? ]

Terror of losin' and hurtin' me. How constant it is or isn't.

[splinten]

Ow. [He could have dodged that (could he have) BUT CAT]

How are we scalin' this?

[parodeity]

Dude. Stallin'. I've done it like five times today in this conversation alone, I do recognize it.

[splinten]

I don't usually worry about you coming to physical harm unless I know you're going out somewhere specifically. Even then, I tend not to worry about you dying until I hear that you've been hurt.

[He has moved from Dave's stalling tactic to his Very Specific Word Choice tactic. He knows he's going to be called out on it, yet.]