Seeing his parents again, it was a prospect that had by no means crossed his mind over the years. "I never really wanted to see them again." While he was casual about the fact that he had in fact not elected to visit his parents, her suggestion of meeting them together seemed to genuinely shock and perhaps even unsettle him. "You want to meet my parents? Together?" It was as if he was having trouble believing that she was serious about this and needed confirmation. In his mind it was hardly a risk worth taking, even for formality's sake.
And while his composure had recovered from how significantly this idea startled him, it was an eventuality he had neither anticipated or looked forward to now that it was in the cards.
He was secretly hoping this was just another ruse of hers to mess with him, to prove she could unnerve him in ways nobody else could. But there was every likelihood that she might resolve to seriously consider this idea even if that was not the original intention, purely out of whimsy.
"Fine.. we can think about that later. For now, let's go say hello to your family. Properly this time." Ditching the mask and becoming more comfortable with their language would more than certainly make this a less intrusive visit on his part, but this was also a hopeful thought in the back of his mind. There was nothing holding any of her family members back from resolving to dislike him regardless of how he presented himself. And at least in that eventuality, it would be something he was relatively familiar with.
