[No, that's actually fine. Dipper's a pretty tactile kid and he's not shy about touch. It's hard to be when you have a twin? Especially an affectionate force of nature like Mabel.]

[It helps and Dipper appreciates it. He's trying really hard not to cry in front of this grown ass adult, especially one of the ones he went on Mizukiquest with. Who saw him tackle a lot of the more gnarly stuff without too much issue. He feels weirdly ashamed that it's the boyfriend thing that threatens to be the straw that broke the camels back.]

Yeah, and I'm sure it'll happen again. It seems like the Grove really likes bringing in people I've met in Trench. I- I dunno, maybe there's something about it that feels like fate. Maybe we were meant to meet? It's kind of nice to think about, I guess.

[But okay. That's logical enough that it does help ground him. He takes a deep breath, steels himself.]

I hope so. I don't want ...the last thing I ever say to him to be that, at least. I owe him an explanation after trying to act like I didn't know him.