Her cheeks flush with some emotion she can't quite name, and she looks back down at her book for a few moments, hoping perhaps the bond will cut out and spare them both.

When it doesn't happen, she takes a deep breath and braces for the end of whatever understanding they were about to come to.

"I thought it better if it were someone I knew. There weren't as many Tian-aligned people here, and if I waited it might've had to be a stranger."

She can't quite make herself look at him, or speak the name she knows will hurt.