Oh no, it's...it's fine if you did. I'm a bit, ah, over my research being exposed to others.

[Truthfully, he knows Dipper's shown the journal to others, it just never got brought up. Ford drags a hand down his face, realising he must sound like an idiot, cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment. This would have usually been the point where he shut up when he was younger, embarrassed to go on further, but noticing her own bashfulness makes him feel a bit better, even if it's for the wrong reasons.

Ford's mouth quirks into a wry smile, crossing his arms a little languidly and inclining his head. He can certainly understand that, imaging how it must have seemed from her point of view.]

Well, we did live shorter lives back five thousand years. The average human life span was about forty, give or take. Heck, I'd be a local oddity myself. Still, I get what you mean.

[If he had never fallen through the portal, what kind of life would he have lived? Something quiet, but still always looking over his shoulder, watching for signs of Bill.]

I'm the same. If I hadn't fallen through the portal, I never would have grown past my hubristic thinking, never would have learned.