[ dave...stops staring at dirk's neck because that's creepy even if it's impossible to tell. there are a lot of options for what to say, so he settles on: ]

I know. [ about his priority, dave means. ] Don't worry so much. It really isn't a huge deal, I just don't feel like gettin' into some ridiculous memory chain here, even if you might not flip like you didn't with crude ogres. I'll admit I've been stressed lately, but it's seriously just bein' busy as fuck. The memories don't help but it ain't nothin' I can't handle. You already know the worst of it anyway.

[ except....................not, since he didn't mention anything after the panic attack about abuse, but whatever. ]