"I see," is all he says at first, though his tone is neutral (perhaps even a touch sympathetic), rather than indifferent or particularly cold, as he takes the paints and begins the work. And though there's no hesitation in his movements, there might have been a low mutter under the Ascian's breath at some point that sounded a lot like 'It was going in this direction, wasn't it?'

Shaking it off with a private huff, he mulls over her response. It would depend on how close she'd been to them, but repeated loss was never a pleasant experience. A sensible choice to remain alone, he thought; anything else only brought pain. He knew that, and yet, always ended up failing to heed his own advice.

"So 'tis a matter of not wanting to spread your poor luck onto additional others. A commendable impulse, if so. But in that case, you should seek to Bond with those you mislike." A comment which gets a flicker of a smile from him. "Perhaps you'll incite them to leave, and in the meantime, you'll save yourself the awkwardness of occasional ferality."

It's also only partially a joke.