"I try to not suppose any sort of reaction," Krem said with a little shrug. That wasn't all it was, of course, but it was the fundamental element of it. He swirled his wine idly in his glass, looking at the way it clung to the inside walls of the glass and humming contemplatively.

"There are two here, and there were none back home. I couldn't dare risk it for so long, and then, when it was safe, they were all like family. I didn't go slowly, like maybe I should have."

His voice was colored with self-reproach, maybe a little regret. He had a lot of that. He had done so many things at such a rush, once he felt that he was safe and he could. Now where was he? Certainly not in a bad place, having dinner with a lovely woman who wanted to share her time with him.