[It certainly doesn’t make it lesser, but it’s in Dipper’s nature to try and brush things off when he doesn’t want someone to worry about him. Doesn’t want Falco to feel any worse about this than he might already, not when Dipper feels at fault for so much.]

[To his words, Dipper doesn’t quite let himself feel relieved. That wasn’t a complete “Yes”, though it wasn’t a “No”, either. And while he is relieved that Falco isn’t angry with him, he feels weirdly hallow about it, too. Surely he should be angry with him, right?]

[Those thoughts fall silent so he can focus on what’s being shown to him. He knits his brow in thought- until they fly up at the mark and it’s change. He doesn’t need Falco’s explanation to surmise that something’s escalated. Guilt hits him again, because that does seem to imply he made things worse, but he waits.]

…It looks like we both have a lot to explain.

[May as well come clean, too, honestly.]

I made some …incredibly stupid choices in how I handled things and you should know about it. I- [One thing at a time.]

Sorry, you first.