[ she leans back to wait for kate to pull her helmet off, casual in body language, shoulders at ease. and when kate faces her, she squints. studies her. and then: ]

Hey, I was right. You're not very scary at all. Kind of cute, actually. [ a half-smile. she's seen so much stranger, really, even just in her own home world. ] A real shadow? Like the ones on the walls, or is it different?