He gives a little chuckle — okay, Chloe's not wrong about that. "I've been trying to learn how to... cook?" He says the word like it's something new for him. "Vasya started up a little grouse farm for us, and... I've been thinking it'd be handy to learn how to prepare them better. Thought I'd try to find some things out here to put with it..."

He casts a glance around the snowy landscape; there's not much growing out here, but there are a few things to be found.

"There was another mission out of town, before this one?" He blinks at that, interested — and maybe a little desperate, if one looks closely enough at it. "Did everyone.. return all right?"