Natalie tugs at the necklace he made for her for Christmas, not enough to pull the weapon out, just fiddling with it before she looks to him again. She feels immensely guilty even talking about her family around him, so it takes her a moment to find the right phrasing for all of this.

"My mom's getting this really shitty treatment that's supposed to screw with her brain and causes some memory loss," she mumbles, making sure no one else hears her. "No magic necessary. Apparently she agreed to it, so like ... I'm kind of at a loss, being all the way across the country and dad keeps saying, like, yeah it's for the best, but I don't really know. I -- don't." It takes a great deal of effort to finish that small spiel and she slides her shaking hands into her jacket to hide them and keep them still.