#sbrgq

@sbrgq SAID: would you cut it out? i'm trying to help you.

It had been almost instinctive, the man shooting in the booth as quickly as a bullet through air. He hadn't been sure just where the will had taken him, acting on an impulse to defend himself in a moment of sleep deprivation – from what, one couldn't quite tell. He's hyperventilating, breath practically taken from him as reality blurs back into clarity. His eyes are damp from the nightmare, though he immediately rectifies to wipe them with his sleeve frantically before the other can see it.

Stanford regains himself, averting his gaze as he reaches for his glasses, silent. He hadn't had dreams that bad since... he stops the thought, glancing between his brother and himself with a sense of sick foreboding he couldn't control if he tried. It had been so long since he had something to care about, other than himself, and now that he's found connection with something other than solitude, he remembers how much it can be hurt, and killed.

THIS IS A REALLY GOOD QUESTION and honestly, it's hard to pin down an Exact moment because i think there's several smaller moments that started building up more and more. though, i think the biggest initial one is when he jumped into gideon's robot to start fighting him. because that shit was fucking crazy and i think he really got the courage to do that with 1) how gideon was talking to him before this and 2) BECAUSE OF STAN IN DREAMSCAPERERS!!!!! i think learning that stan was proud of him and wanted to toughen him up and encourage him to fight back gave him the fire to really even CONSIDER doing something like that and i think it's great.

dipper's expression reads as nothing less than GUILT. stan had done nothing but try and be as good of a caretaker as he could possibly be, and what had he done in return? squander the freedoms that he was given by him? nearly trap ford on the other side of the portal? get mad at him when all he was trying to do was save his own brother?

" i'm sorry, grunkle stan. "

his tone is quiet for once - it has none of the typical energy. (he's tired, so unbelievably tired.) after a moment, he curls up, bringing his knees up and resting his cheek on them. he's small in the passenger seat. with his adjusting done, he tries to give him a reassuring smile.

"Catch a what?" He asks incredulously, as he turns his head to peer over his shoulder at his twin. Unfortunately, it's too dark to make out Stan's expression so he can't tell if he's joking. He hopes he's joking.

Sure, Ford isn't really as naive about crimes anymore, but he's never been in prison. Not for any longer than maybe a day, anyway, and that wasn't even an Earth prison. So did it really count? Stan, however, sounded much more versed in that sort of thing which was...concerning. He peers around the darkened corner again, looking for any threats. When Stanley had suggested they explore this abandoned house they came across while docked, he hadn't really expected to find much of anything in the way of the supernatural. But something had tripped his anomaly detector so they'd made their way through the creaky, termite-bitten doors to take a look around. Now, they were standing in the darkened hallway, checking each room. But...nothing yet.

" WHAT?? " dipper's voice cracks with his shout from the backseat of the car, as if the possibility of something like this happening wasn't something that he expected to happen on an outing with his grunkle. he gnaws on his lip anxiously. " you- you're serious, aren't you? " he turns his head to look out of the back windshield, scanning, as if someone could come out and spot either of them at any moment.