[NicknamedBob]

"We’ve been babbling about anything and everything for quite some time."

I was going to say, "Since before Vlad developed fusion."

But I looked at the situation more closely, and determined that it is even better than that.

Vlad, (David), has been with us from before the beginning, like the dialogue in "The Neverending Story":

The Childlike Empress: It was the only way to get in touch with an earthling.
Atreyu: But I didn't get in touch with an earthling!
The Childlike Empress: Yes, you did. He has suffered with you. 
He went through everything you went through; 
and now, he has come here with you. He is very close... 
listening to every word, we say.
[as he is reading, Bastian can't believe it]
Bastian: *What*? 

That's even better, I think.

[Darksheare]

Is this one of those “gravitationally dragging a reference frame with you” moments?