some of him still couldn't believe that the water witch was there, that they were all sharing a group hug like they had years ago. He knew that talking would come after this and that he would have to come clean about why he had become strange all those years ago before he had left. He didn't want to talk about it, but he figured that an exception could be made since it was the girls that he'd be sharing it with. He knew if it hadn't been them, then he would had kept such things to himself, but ever since they were kids, he had felt close to the two witches. Though he had felt that his cousin was more like a second sister to him before that closeness had gotten anywhere near what it was now. Maybe that was why he had felt such guilt inside of himself for not speaking with them for so long. When he had found out that Marlow had joined, he had kept an eye on her, but the two never really took the chance to actually catch up in the way that he knew was probably needed.
He had been lost in some thoughts of not only recent things but also ones of the past. The way his sister grabbed his face seemed to add to those thoughts as his head nodded lightly. "I know I have, dear sister." His words had come out on the odd side because of how Iris was holding his face. A hint of the guilt he was feeling came to his eyes when he saw the tears in her eyes. Though the hint lessened slightly when he heard the young female say that she had missed him. He knew that he had missed her too, though a big part of him hadn't been aware of just how much until now. That fact was possibly why he had let her comment about him being stubborn and grumpy go.
His eyes looking at his cousin when she spoke of no sleep. He knew he'd be able to handle it since he had gotten used to going to sleep when the sun was already up after he had joined the Cirque. So an all-nighter didn't sound like any harm for the old warlock. However, the dream walker's words that did cause his mind to wonder was what he ended up asking on. "How many stages are in this mission, dear cousin?"