"He likes meeting new people," Drex explains. (Which isn't entirely the reason. She looks like she could use something to hug.)

She pets him, and does relax a little. (She seems not to notice the tension draining from her shoulders.)

After a few seconds of that, she looks up again, clearly expecting them to say or do something.

Esca shuffles close enough that his body is resting lightly against her legs, not leaning on them, just a warm, solid presence, tail thumping slightly on the ground.

Drex looks back to Aaren and raises an eyebrow.

Aaren steps slightly closer, and sits down beside Drex - very obviously leaving an escape route for her should she want it.

"Hi," he greets. "I'm Aaren, I was a bit worried when I found you behind the dumpster. I couldn't get you to come around, so I called Drex."

Okay. (The escape route isn't really useful - she's not sure she can stand at all, and very sure she can't move quickly enough to get away from them if they don't want her to - but it doesn't look like a trap. She's not sure what to make of it.)

"Aaren," she says, after a few seconds of consideration. "'Rex. 'Niece."

Aaren smiles warmly. "'Niece, is you? Thank you for telling me." (And that seems open, and honest, and genuine.) "The giant fluffball currently trying to invade your lap is Esca."

"Esca." She pats him on the head again, a little gingerly. "Dog."

From the quiet woof, and the way the steady thump of Esca's tail speeds up, he is definitely pleased with the pat, even if it is gingerly.

"I think I know the answer to this question, but: do you have somewhere safe you can go? That isn't behind a dumpster."

Drex looks over to Aaren.

She tenses up again.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to check." Pauses. "What happens now is up to you, but I'd like to give you some options if that's alright?"

'All right' is obviously not a description of anything that's going on here. But she's listening, anyway.

"As I see it, there's four options here: Firstly," he holds up a finger, "we get you a hotel room for now, and you have time to figure out where to go from there. Secondly," a second finger, "Drex lives with his partner on a...commune of sorts, and there's a spare room there for you if you'd like it, although there's a lot of people who come and go. Thirdly," a third finger, "I have a spare room, that you're more than welcome to, my house is a little quieter than Drex's, but I have a teenage daughter, and her best friend is over fairly regularly as well." A pause before he lifts a fourth finger. "Fourth, I give you all the money in my wallet, and you're free to leave and do whatever you want with that. No catch, no strings."

She sighs and curls in on herself, giving Esca an apologetic pat when this disturbs him.

He's not too disturbed, and shifts with her, nuzzling her hand, obviously trying to be comforting.

"...smaller bits of information," Drex suggests.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I forget to make sure people are following me." Pauses. "Would you mind if I went over that again one at a time?"

She looks up again. It seems a little like she's trying not to cry.

He isn't entirely sure how to handle this, but he knows that leaving her here, or getting her a hotel room, at least tonight, is less of a good idea. "Okay. How about this: you come back with me or Drex tonight, get a good night's sleep, and make a decision in the morning?"

She thinks about it, or at least huddles noncommunicatively for a few seconds, and then looks to Drex to see what he thinks of this proposal.

Quietly encouraging and welcoming. "Your choice," he says.

She gives a slight nod. "'Rex," she tells Aaren.