[he listened intently as she told how her sister got cursed. That certainly was interesting. He imagined she probably looked like a saltwater Aquarian or mermaid in his world, a human top half with a tail bottom half? When Kat went on to say it was a task and not her family that turned her thoughts towards home, he didn't buy it]

Oh really? You asked what to do when you missed someone, not what to do when worried about a task you can't accomplish. [he gave a small smirk] but don't worry. I get it. I put on a tough guy face a lot too. Can't have people thinking you're weak and sentimental right?

[there were few people he'd trust with his feelings. When it came to others, he was a lot like Kat- he'd pretend he was some kind of stoic warrior with few emotions, unburdened with a weakness like feelings. The only emotion he freely expressed to most people was anger.]

I wish I could give you some good advice on how to keep your mind free of depressing thoughts day and night, but...truth is I haven't quite figured that out myself. I have found one thing helps a lot though...talking to someone. Just talking about anything other than what's bothering you, really. Your thoughts can't bother you much if you're having a conversation about something completely different.

[and, with that said...]

You wanna talk about something else?

[for some people it probably felt good to talk about their problems. But he'd found that sometimes that was just frustrating and only changing the subject could help him feel better. Maybe it was the same for Kat?]