"Oh," I said, then wondered how to tell Steve that didn't seem all that weird to me. I didn't want to make him feel as if his story wasn't significant, I just wanted to know that there were people here who wouldn't find it odd at all. People who had fought monsters, too. Sometimes on a fairly regular basis.

"What kind of monsters?" I asked instead. I would tell him about the Many-Eyed, but I could wait for my turn. I wanted to hear more about what Steve had been through first.