[Normally, he'd shrug Archie's hand off. Out of annoyance of the perceived pity, or just because he doesn't like being touched; it doesn't really matter either way. But he doesn't this time, too tired to make even the smallest effort for a shrug. And maybe also a sense of affinity, considering they've both made themselves vulnerable to each other tonight. (Later, Nanu will blame it on his exhaustion and the late night. But it's still there.)]

[Another deep breath, accompanied by a shake of his head.] I don't need to tell you how senseless it is to assign a non-combatant to a dispatch team. You're not stupid. You can guess what happened.

That thing... It was just trying to get back home. To its own world. It just so happens it's a chomping, rampaging gob on legs, bent on destroying and eating anything that gets in its way. [Absol, in the same vein as Archie, rests his head on Nanu's leg; unusual for the normally aloof harbinger.] Well, we didn't just find the damn thing. It came to us. And thanks to a slip of hesitation on our part, the girl--

[...]

[He grits his teeth, the hands on his crossed arms gripping just that much harder.] ...There wasn't anything left. And you know what? If she hadn't been there, it wouldn't have come to us. Because that thing—it was following the scent of its home world. Those wormholes, you see, it slathers that scent all over anything that goes through them. Or anyone.

[Finally, he turns back to Archie.] What a coincidence. Huh? That we had just the right kind of bait.