He may not have the signs, but he very much is one. Merely trying to keep up his recovery, even here. It's slow-going, but he has no one to please here but himself. That helps, somehow.

"This is the place with the dragons, true..." His shake is gentle, but equally firm, and he pulls away before too long to push a hand through his hair. "It's mostly the weather, I guess. Some people take sides, but I haven't been here long enough to know all the differences."

Which further pushes the narrative that he's new here, and well. He is, relatively speaking, he's just not as shiny as she is.