Cassie hesitated, tilting her head as she watched Eva carefully. She'd noticed the strange twist of Eva's mouth, but she couldn't figure out if it was because her words had hit home and caused Eva to reconsider or if she'd simply upset the older woman. Although tempted to press further, she opted instead to leave the topic alone. If Eva had wanted to talk about it more then she would have continued the conversation, but she'd attempted to redirect it instead. Taking her cue from Eva, Cassie allowed the conversation to be directed to a new topic without protest for now.

"Really?" Cassie asked, the interest clear in her voice. And, if you listened closely, you might notice a little bit of need too. At home, even before the war, she'd rarely had this much time to herself. When she hadn't been at school, doing homework, or with her friends, she'd busied herself in her father's clinic in her family's barn, where there had always been something that needed doing. Having this much time to herself was unnerving and left her feeling useless.

She wanted to be useful. She wanted to help. She wanted to feel like she was doing something worthwhile. Instead...

"How would I go about getting involved in something like that?" Cassie asked curiously. Then she paused and asked another question. "The tagging doesn't hurt the animals does it?" She suspected that the answer would be no, but it was always better to check first.