He really shouldn't take threats so lightly, but in the absence of being able to do anything about them, he finds it easier to roll his eyes. Yes, she can probably kick his ass. No, he's not going wilt away into his house and let her wander the darkening woods alone over it. "If I try anything stupid," he promises, "it'll be more like trying to stand my ground against a badger or pretending I know how to climb trees."

Aurora gives her best behaved greeting, tongue gently out and testing the tips of the girl's fingers before bowing her head to be pet. She seems calm enough, Kira doesn't think he's meant any direct harm. Arrivals are tense, even if you aren't searching for loved ones.

Casey, almost ironically, had been running around after a dog. If only this one could be that easily placated. "If your friends were here," he asks, just to ask, "what do you think they would seek out?"

People haven't arrived in groups for a long time, and even then it wasn't usually friends and families. He thinks he's going to be the person around when she accepts that they're gone, more so than the guy who helps her find anyone.