[ Changing his whole self, living a whole new life — oh, she's so very close to the whole story. He doesn't mind telling it, necessarily. Everyone has things they hold close and keep tightly locked away from people they've only just met, until they're closer, until it feels safe and natural to reveal more. He doesn't think he's unique in that way, but the fact that he's regenerated so many times and had so many different faces in his life, well, that particular truth isn't one he finds any real need to hide at all. It's simply a fact of his nature as a Time Lord, it's only that he doesn't often think to tell it for one reason or another.

He only hesitates now as he considers how much is too much when you've only just met someone? Best not to overwhelm her all at once. He's made a bad habit of doing that here already and though it's somewhat in his nature, he's trying to temper his enthusiasm, if not his strangeness. That, he'll always and ever be.

He does smile gently, though. ]

I have a bit, actually, over the years. [ A bit. ] Though not how you mean, I think. A different life, quieter perhaps — something to ponder! I've been traveling the universe so long now, I'm not sure I'd quite know how to do anything else. Although, being here has certainly changed that trajectory.

[ Softly, he asks — ] That long now, do you feel...settled? Is that the right word for it? Is there a right word for it?

[ As he speaks, with just a few more brushstrokes, he feels satisfied with how the haunted house looks, smiling triumphantly and setting his brush down before gesturing at it. He'll let her decide, of course, if it passes muster. ]