He did smile a touch at the contact between the two of them. Her gentle touch did somewhat ground him briefly. But it didn't last.
"It's fine for the people who don't notice. The world around them changes and they'll never know they were inches away from losing everything. Derry kept losing children. Innocent bloody children" he said, before knocking back his drink. He refilled his glass straight away and paused to calm himself.
"Sorry..." he said, lowering his gaze. He could never make eye contact when he was being genuine with his apologies. His thank yous. Most of them meant nothing to him but when he actually meany it? When his emotions were genuine, he just couldn't look at the other person.
"There's always lives lost, sacrifices made. Especially when it comes to magic. I'm used to it, but being on the station has sort of made it new all over again..." he admitted. "Think I might actually like you lot" he smirked. "And I don't want to lose that... I've spent so much of my life pushing people away. I don't want to be the reason someone else dies. Not again"