[He didn't fault her, and he figured that good ol' Jack had made contact with her anyway. Their little partnership would continue la-dee-da. All the storybook adventures would benefit from those two, but that certainly didn't mean that he wasn't interested in investigating where they were at.]

Always were the tired optimist, Ana. [Which made him wonder why she had decided to come to this place, unless there was motivation to keep their world from potentially being consumed.] Nice cat ears, by the way. Bastet, is it?

[He poked his little dragon, but it persisted to climb back into his lap for a lay down, now hopefully nosing at his pant's pockets for treats.] And now you're here collecting tea leaves? Always coped with tea over alcohol in the later years.