[ There's shock and surprise on Arden's end. Not only did he not mean to send those thoughts out, but this is someone he hasn't spoken to in awhile. ]

Ah... guess you heard that. ... I think people can change though. At least, I did. I didn't even think of them as spiritual at all, it's just a bond, whether I acknowledged it or not.

[ He'd started to be okay with that among the people from his own world. ]