Dreams, sometimes, are not confined in sleep. They have the propensity to bleed into reality, clouding his senses with two-toned light, color, and sound. With sluggish movements and the distorted passage of time. It happens, sometimes, where Neil cannot distinguish if he's awake or still trapped in the unconscious.

Here, sitting between another's legs, resting in that person's arms, Neil finds that his world is changing. Transforming. Everything--their breaths, the subtle movements of their bodies, the sounds of vowels and consonants--slows to a crawl. Neil squints at Alex, as though trying to make sense of what is being said. Trying to gauge if he might have fallen asleep.

And don't get him wrong. It does make sense that there would have been more. More to it than a simple brain surgery, especially when Neil looks at everything from far away. That-- That person wouldn't be satisfied with a piece of grey matter, would he? It's like a habit to him (like with Neil) to collect trophies, and brains were never the end goal of his exploits. No, that was born from another's request.

No, here, unlike with Nadine, asking why is pointless. Neil would rather--

"Finished me off," he starts, his voice and throat parched. His entire countenance unreadable. "That's what you mean?"