[ Her shoulders relax a bit as she sees their little safe haven not so far away, even if her expression remains mostly neutral at his question. It warms her heart, really, to just be thought of as a guest in all the little ways the people here show it. Encouraging her to try new things, including her, helping her... it means a lot. Her hand tightens a bit in his. There's something small and innocent about her next words. ]

I feel... happy.

[ It's said cautiously — tense with the expectation and fear that she will not be able to hold onto it for long. ]

But I am filled with unease, too. I do not think... [ She hesitates, just barely frowning in thought, wondering if it would burden him too much to say this. It always feels easier to be frank about these things in front of him, though. ] I do not think I could bear to lose it again.

[ Perhaps it's the first time she's been able to put a name to this dread she feels — a fear that any moment, she will get called back to the house, back to her service, and she will never see any of them again. She'll never feel like this again. She wonders if this is what he'd felt like, when he'd first escaped from his master and gotten the parasite — glad to experience the outside world, but terrified of things to returning as they were when it was all over at the same time. ]

And yet, I will be called back all the same, in time.