Home is where you are is an easy thing to say when you carry your entire home with you wherever you go -- but Dain doesn't point this out. He's more interested in the sentiment behind it, and in Tuo's lingering gentle touch. Even in relative safety, he doesn't return the gesture, but his eyes close for a few seconds in grateful acknowledgement while the others speak.

It's doubtful that Lorne's extended family would all agree a Shepherd is welcome, but, again, Dain doesn't point this out. It's a familiar, well-worn, and completely understandable reticence, and Dain would rather let the offer hang in the air as though there are no strings attached. It's a generous offer to make.

"It would have happened," Dain disagrees quietly. "To someone else, or in a different manner, but it would have happened."