Dustin grunts his acceptance around a mouthful of food, not even bothering to watch Link's reaction beyond the start of a shrug. Of course he doesn't know. Why wouldn't Link be the most Link he's ever been inside a dream? After his long walks around the other two liminal spaces, Dustin can't muster the energy to be angry about this anymore.

Plus, it's actually really difficult to be angry about much of anything when the food he's eating is so damn tasty. Dustin makes a concerted effort not to look too eager as he tucks in for another heaping forkful of mash, and for a few minutes, he's content to just power through his plate like he hasn't eaten in his entire life. Some of this is probably being driven by his actual, real life hunger, he imagines. The food replicators in the Calibrations room provide enough protein to keep him going, but the output is so dense and flavorless that it feels like he's barely eaten anything at all.

It's not until he's scraping the mashed potatoes from the bottom of his plate with the side of his fork that, urged by some remaining curiosity, Dustin speaks up again. He's had time to think, and now he has a theory.

"...Do you remember your time in the castle?" he asks, glancing up with a slow arc of his eyebrows.