He laughed, then, at the teasing implication; almost seeming to relax more now that someone was gently taking the piss out of him. That glimpse of humour from the younger man was like a salve. It was back to more familiar territory, enabling the perpetually tongue-in-cheek and at-ease demeanour that Reyes always automatically projected. As far as he was concerned, just because you were potentially going to starve or freeze to death in a foreign environment didn’t mean you had to be somber about it.

“Good. Don’t bother saving my sorry behind. I can promise that it’s entirely not worth it.” Then his attention snagged on Nida’s first sentence, and one very particular, significant word from it: “And, wait, again? Do tell. That sounds like a tale worth sharing. Has this happened to you before?”