Arlene thought another minute. "Paranoia is a common symptom of mental illness. Beyond that, I'm no psychologist." Then, she remembered that politeness is appreciated by most people, so she continued, "It is nice to meet you, James. My apologies for what has happened to you. The sword, was it a gift? What's it made of? Iron? Titanium?" Now that she was talking about something she found interesting, it was a little hard to stop. "I can't tell. It must be an alloy. It looks heavy, but resistant to oxidation..." [i]Now's not the time, Ace. Shut up.[/i] She glanced from James to Lily, and after a brief pause to get her mind off of metallic bonds, she said, "Well, I suppose I'm ready to go, if both of you are." 
---
Dwayne was startled out of the worried tumble of fragmented, disorganized thoughts that sent his head spinning by a voice. He looked up, his heart racing, but he was somewhat relieved to see it was just a normal woman, not law enforcement. It took him a minute to process her words; all he could do while his terrified mind worked was stare distrustfully. Finally he mumbled very quietly, "I'm not lost." He wiped his mouth one more time, in case she'd seen any coagulated blood he'd missed. [i]Oh god, oh god, what if she knows...[/i] His next words were nearly choked or spat out. "I'm fine...cold..." He glanced around another time, expecting to see people who knew it was him. It wasn't his fault, though, it [i]wasn't[/i]; all he'd done was defend himself, right? Self-consciously, he straightened himself up, trying to appear normal.