[ this is approaching topics he isn't too comfortable with sharing. especially in a second conversation with someone. especially when that someone is, in fact, an alien with a history of murder. the shift in his attitude has to be palpable to loki; holden isn't much for subtlety, especially to more discerning eyes. ]

First contact came and went, [ he says, ] but that was pretty recently, all things considered. We're still finding out how big the universe is.