Valentine didn't seem any more interested in delving into the topic of whether or not the family they were referring to the same as he had in his head. Eitherway, he would have thought it didn't make any difference whether it was one or the other. On the other hand, all he would care for at the moment is feeling less unsafe.

The silence that could have followed would have been enough for Valentine if Rin hadn't throw a question his way. Maybe he would have preferred it. It was hard to miss how his shoulders seemed to straighten at the question but his back would have been the only thing the medic could see. The snake demon pulled his hands closer to himself, fidgeting at the sleeves of his jackets unconsciously. Somehow, it suddenly didn't feel warm enough.

"Orphanage," he responded curtly, his voice refocusing into the moment, but his eyes stayed lost in the flames. "My parents are gone. The closest to family I had were the kids the old orphanage back in Idaho but well... they're there and I'm here," he added. A sigh went past his lips. "Can't have everything, I guess."

The moment of silence didn't seem to make it better. Earlier Valentine would have liked it but after he had dropped that little detail seemed to have changed the air. The only thing he could tell himself was that he already didn't elaborate past it. Even he knew that wouldn't be a nice conversation to start with.

Rin's reply did startle him though. Reptilian eyes moved towards them, curious rather than the ones he had given them earlier. "Thank you," he muttered quietly before turning his eyes back to the fire. He couldn't be sure though if it was because they had at least offered, or because they seemed to have decided not to push the previous topic further. Although, he didn't wonder if they had heard him or not. The silence that followed didn't feel as uncomfortable.

"Mhm. Same as Shay," he confirmed. He took another moment to think. He hadn't really though that far in; for all he knew, all he thought about was just getting to learn everything as much as he could. It wasn't the question of whether or not he had thought of any options but rather, it was the question of which one. It was only after he noticed it seemed like it turned quiet that he realized he hadn't spoken. He hummed, "I haven't really thought hard about it to have decided for one. My options are kind of up in the air right now."

Valentine couldn't decide if he had been that easy to read or the medic had a very good eye. Perhaps it was both, but even then, he wasn't sure which one had really given him away. He wasn't uncomfortable in new places, in fact he liked new places very much and despite his insistence of disliking people, he liked being in good company. He didn't quite count being left on his own with strangers as good company though.

Green eyes looked back tentatively to the other person in the room. True enough, they didn't seem the type to be worried about, but Valentine had already admitted to being a bad judge of character to himself at least. He turned his eyes away, trying to find a window where he could see snowfall while his hand just tugged at his own sleeves. "I'm not good with being alone with strangers," he said honestly. "It's not your fault, though. I just get paranoid... and Shay sounds like she trusts you."

It was cold out, Valentine could see that clearly. He felt safer back in his room -- it was his own personal space at least, especially since he was isolated -- but it was likely he wouldn't be able to make it through that frozen path if he tried to make his way back to the orphanage. He didn't really have a lot of options here with that blizzard outside.

"That's... fine, I guess. I get why they wouldn't want some rando just wandering their house." Did he really get it though? He barely remembered having guests back home; he didn't know what his parents we like to guests since he was hidden away whenever there were any. He wondered if his parents were just as watchful when there were strangers over -- although he was pretty sure those people were not strangers to them.

Still, even if he did, having someone watching him made him a little uncomfortable. Talking alleviated it at the least, but neither of them seem to find anything interesting to talk about in the past few minutes. Valentine watched the frost in the glass quietly, letting his thoughts decide what to say next. "What's it like working for them? Shay's parents, I mean."

Valentine let out a laugh -- it was short and breathy, but it was the most he could get out at the moment that didn't sound anymore forced than what he felt like. "Shay's a breath of fresh air," he said, so casually. It hadn't really crossed his mind about anyone possibly listening in; his thoughts were scattered and he could pick only a few to pay attention to -- the idea of the house being bugged with recorders had not been one of those few. "Not a lot of people I knew back then looked at me and said the snake scales looked anything but disturbing or exotic. I guess most people in the island wouldn't consider it weird since there's people who looked even more inhuman than some patches of scales."

His eyes moved from the frosted glass panes to the person sitting on the chair across from him. There was a question in his eyes when he looked at them, as if he was sizing him up, trying to gauge a reaction or something. His tongue had flicked a few times but the residual presence of the demons that lived in the house were all he could pick up on. He couldn't say for sure which belonged to whom.

Searching for answers, he finally spoke the question in his mind, "Could I ask if you're actually human?"