[Hei's mind works in terrifying ways and goes places that no people who aren't sociopaths should attempt to follow him to.]
To catch the nightmares that Contractors do not have? [He's not teasing.} That's a good thought. Maybe we should exchange these in Starfleet, also, for the nightmares that we also never have.
[Not to imply that he doesn't believe Hei. From what Pavel knows about Contractors, he can't imagine how they would dream. Dreaming seems as if it would require more creativity and fancifulness and carefully buried fears and feelings than a Contractor possesses. They aren't like the people he worked with at home. They might say that they don't have nightmares--who wants to admit to being haunted by failures and deaths?--but they only act as if they believe each other out of politeness.]
Thank you. [He may have done so inadvertently, but Hei as good as called Pavel a teammate. This isn't necessarily a good thing. Regardless, Pavel is touched and inebriated enough to reach over to squeeze Hei's arm in the sort of casual, friendly gesture that marks his relationships with almost everyone who isn't Hei.]
no subject
To catch the nightmares that Contractors do not have? [He's not teasing.} That's a good thought. Maybe we should exchange these in Starfleet, also, for the nightmares that we also never have.
[Not to imply that he doesn't believe Hei. From what Pavel knows about Contractors, he can't imagine how they would dream. Dreaming seems as if it would require more creativity and fancifulness and carefully buried fears and feelings than a Contractor possesses. They aren't like the people he worked with at home. They might say that they don't have nightmares--who wants to admit to being haunted by failures and deaths?--but they only act as if they believe each other out of politeness.]
Thank you. [He may have done so inadvertently, but Hei as good as called Pavel a teammate. This isn't necessarily a good thing. Regardless, Pavel is touched and inebriated enough to reach over to squeeze Hei's arm in the sort of casual, friendly gesture that marks his relationships with almost everyone who isn't Hei.]