[Stan thinks with a hand to his chin, in a gesture that makes him look like Ford for just a second. Then he gets up and puts himself directly in front of Dipper.]
I'm gonna try something. It worked when Ozpin was riding around in Ford's head so, y'know. Worth a shot.
[Corner of his eye though...after just another second of contemplation, he snaps his fingers and makes a single flame dance on the top of his finger.]
Follow this with just your eyes, alright?
[He starts in the middle of Dipper's vision, and then moves it slowly over to Dipper's left. Then, he leans in and and talks, but...not to Dipper. It's the closest he can get to looking this thing in the eye.]
Listen here, you little shit. I know you can hear me in there. I'm gonna need you to shut your goddamn mouth! I'm trying to have a talk with my great nephew and nobody invited you. So either you butt the fuck out or I'm gonna personally make sure you regret messing with my family every single second you're still stuck in there.
[Then he leans back and puts out the flame, signaling to Dipper that he's all done, and he looks at him expectantly. Well? Did it do anything?]
[That makes him blink, looking up at Stan as he comes over to him. The voice is still there, laughing, muttering to him, but he's doing his best to zone it out, to try and focus on Stan's words.]
[It helps at least, to give him something to focus on in an almost meditative way. Even with Stan's yelling his shoulders drop and he can concentrate.]
[The voice, however, which exists as an almost phantom at his side, comes to look Stan in the eye, thought it can't be seen. It listens to his words with a bemused expression, then leans in close so only Dipper can really hear what it says.]
[It whispers something, then disappears with a laugh echoing in its wake. Dipper snaps out of it as the flame extinguishes, but he looks awfully pale.
[Stan sighs, shoulders heavy. Since he can't hear or see the thing, he can only go off of Dipper's expression, and he doesn't look great. He's so pale, even after Stan tried his best thought.]
No dice, huh? What'd it say?
[He's going to keep asking until Dipper tells him. The kid will have to cave eventually, right?
[Stan sits back down on the bed, but there's a energy that wasn't there before. He's catching on that Dipper doesn't want to share, and he's absolutely not going to let it go.]
So. What did it say?
[Do you want him to keep asking, Dipper? Because he will! He'll keep asking! He can be just as stubborn!]
[The one thing that can wear down his stubbornness is a look like that from the kid he's basically been raising for a few years now. That doesn't mean he lets it go exactly, but his shoulders fall in defeat.]
I don't wanna make you say it. But I want you to tell me so I can actually help you. It could be telling you anything!
[It could be threatening to throw Dipper out the nearest window. It could be threatening to kill Dipper, or him, or Ford. Or all of them! It could whisper lies to him about everyone, tell him that he can't trust anyone. It could make him hurt someone. It could hurt him from the inside out. It could burn the kid's friendships to the ground, just for fun. It could be telling Dipper that he'll stick his arms in drawers again or go for the forks and knives. It could use Dipper's hands to bring a blade up to his last good eye--
There's a sharp spike of worry in him that seems to come from almost nowhere, but Stan keeps his face as neutral as he possibly can.]
...Look. Can you at least tell me why you don't wanna tell me? I mean. Dealing with it on your own doesn't look like it's going great.
[He feels that spike of anxiety, and though Stan is holding himself as neutral as possible, Dipper can still see through it, which also makes his shoulders fall in a mirrored sort of defeat.]
[He takes a deep breath.]
It is telling me pretty much anything. I don't want to repeat it, because it's not ...something you want to hear, okay? It's fucked up. It wants to drag me into corruption so I'm trying not to let it get to me.
[But it's hard, sometimes it really hits a nerve or two.]
It's ...if I had to guess, it's a manifestation of my worst fears, so it knows exactly how to get under my skin if I let it. It's just a ghost, though. It hasn't tried to take control of me, it just ...floats around me like a tool, while making the worst commentary possible on every little thing I do.
[A manifestation of his fears, huh. Dipper obviously doesn't want to tell him, and he gets that part honestly. If he had some ghost mocking him about his fears, he'd probably be yelling at it in public too.]
Alright, so...it's not a possession kinda thing. Good! Good place to start!
[The implication is there, even if Stan isn't saying it - of course that was his first assumption when someone told him Dipper was hearing things. They've dealt with enough of that crap that he's pretty sure that's a fair one.]
There's gotta be some way to get it to stop...what, haunting you? Is that what we're calling it? You can't just let it talk crap about you forever, 'cause it's obviously getting you down. And you still could've told us before.
[He huffs, knowing Dipper will be quick to twist it back on him, so before he can--]
--If not me, then at least Ford. Y'know, since he's got all the experience. He'd probably have done an exorcism or something before I even heard about it.
[A lightbulb seems to click on for him and he scratches under his chin.]
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no subject
I'm gonna try something. It worked when Ozpin was riding around in Ford's head so, y'know. Worth a shot.
[Corner of his eye though...after just another second of contemplation, he snaps his fingers and makes a single flame dance on the top of his finger.]
Follow this with just your eyes, alright?
[He starts in the middle of Dipper's vision, and then moves it slowly over to Dipper's left. Then, he leans in and and talks, but...not to Dipper. It's the closest he can get to looking this thing in the eye.]
Listen here, you little shit. I know you can hear me in there. I'm gonna need you to shut your goddamn mouth! I'm trying to have a talk with my great nephew and nobody invited you. So either you butt the fuck out or I'm gonna personally make sure you regret messing with my family every single second you're still stuck in there.
[Then he leans back and puts out the flame, signaling to Dipper that he's all done, and he looks at him expectantly. Well? Did it do anything?]
no subject
[It helps at least, to give him something to focus on in an almost meditative way. Even with Stan's yelling his shoulders drop and he can concentrate.]
[The voice, however, which exists as an almost phantom at his side, comes to look Stan in the eye, thought it can't be seen. It listens to his words with a bemused expression, then leans in close so only Dipper can really hear what it says.]
[It whispers something, then disappears with a laugh echoing in its wake. Dipper snaps out of it as the flame extinguishes, but he looks awfully pale.
no subject
No dice, huh? What'd it say?
[He's going to keep asking until Dipper tells him. The kid will have to cave eventually, right?
...Right?]
no subject
[He takes a deep breath, like a really good one, and leans back in his chair.]
It's gone, for now. It'll be back, but it ...it left.
no subject
[Stan sits back down on the bed, but there's a energy that wasn't there before. He's catching on that Dipper doesn't want to share, and he's absolutely not going to let it go.]
So. What did it say?
[Do you want him to keep asking, Dipper? Because he will! He'll keep asking! He can be just as stubborn!]
no subject
[That is a particularly pleading expression from Dipper. Whatever it was, it wasn't good.]
cw: eye injury mention
I don't wanna make you say it. But I want you to tell me so I can actually help you. It could be telling you anything!
[
It could be threatening to throw Dipper out the nearest window. It could be threatening to kill Dipper, or him, or Ford. Or all of them! It could whisper lies to him about everyone, tell him that he can't trust anyone. It could make him hurt someone. It could hurt him from the inside out. It could burn the kid's friendships to the ground, just for fun. It could be telling Dipper that he'll stick his arms in drawers again or go for the forks and knives. It could use Dipper's hands to bring a blade up to his last good eye--There's a sharp spike of worry in him that seems to come from almost nowhere, but Stan keeps his face as neutral as he possibly can.]
...Look. Can you at least tell me why you don't wanna tell me? I mean. Dealing with it on your own doesn't look like it's going great.
no subject
[He takes a deep breath.]
It is telling me pretty much anything. I don't want to repeat it, because it's not ...something you want to hear, okay? It's fucked up. It wants to drag me into corruption so I'm trying not to let it get to me.
[But it's hard, sometimes it really hits a nerve or two.]
It's ...if I had to guess, it's a manifestation of my worst fears, so it knows exactly how to get under my skin if I let it. It's just a ghost, though. It hasn't tried to take control of me, it just ...floats around me like a tool, while making the worst commentary possible on every little thing I do.
no subject
Alright, so...it's not a possession kinda thing. Good! Good place to start!
[The implication is there, even if Stan isn't saying it - of course that was his first assumption when someone told him Dipper was hearing things. They've dealt with enough of that crap that he's pretty sure that's a fair one.]
There's gotta be some way to get it to stop...what, haunting you? Is that what we're calling it? You can't just let it talk crap about you forever, 'cause it's obviously getting you down. And you still could've told us before.
[He huffs, knowing Dipper will be quick to twist it back on him, so before he can--]
--If not me, then at least Ford. Y'know, since he's got all the experience. He'd probably have done an exorcism or something before I even heard about it.
[A lightbulb seems to click on for him and he scratches under his chin.]
...Huh. Maybe that's not a bad idea.