[ It's a different kind of nervousness, to be sure. Maybe because it's just long enough that it clicks in his head all the ways he looks different. It catches him every time he notices his reflection in something. ]

...I'm not certain I can blame them.

[ Oddly he wishes he could offer something more optimistic, given who he is speaking to. ]

More will come. The Gate has allies in other places, if not citizens with families and other efforts.