The dog resumes a more dignified position and remains standing by the shelf, staring at Lirael. No panting, and no noise since its first bark. Some breeds are like that, and some dogs not friendly by individual nature, but this one is still pretty weird.

Meanwhile, Kai takes her in at a glance, guilt growing. She looks like she's only a teenager, and given how timidly she speaks, he might have frightened her a lot more than she frightened him. The clothes he lacks any context for, but the important bit is that they're both lost. Being a people person by necessity as much as by choice, he tries smiling at her, a carefully calculated degree of friendliness that falls between 'greeting a visitor to archive' and 'meeting an acquaintance's younger sibling for the first time'.

"Well, this isn't good," he says, but he doesn't sound very worried. "I'm not sure what could have happened. I'm Kai, by the way. Nice to meet you. Apart from the circumstances."