[He can get plenty of connections from there, vivid, real connections that turn to mental images in his head. For someone who's got the picture of Kara beating a schmuck to death, complete with a sort of flip book involving possible weaponry, he doesn't seem to have it going on when he looks at her. There's no judgment, no sizing her up, there's something much different: he relates. Not to the same extent, of course, but with certain experiences and that empathetic sponge of his...difficult not to.]

Monster's lost a good bit of meaning, too. [Less textbook this time.] But it's different when it comes from someone you think you know. Or knows you better.

[Ah, ah, that's the ticket, that's the part he relates to the most. The part that has something like a smile out of him when he stops to push aside a particularly thick, heavy, thorny bush to not just let her pass, but let her see. A small clearing in the midst of forest that only gets denser the further out they go, complete with one boulder. One boulder and some smaller rocks around it, nothing but the night sky above, and not a single city light in sight once she gets in a few steps.

It's quiet.]