practicality

And of course, he was right about the worrying, but to her credit, she didn't dissolve into flailing concern all over him. Instead she just lost all of the blush color and a little extra and stared at him a moment getting her thoughts back in a coherent line. Finally she said slowly, "I hadn't been paying that much attention to the Network, but I did gather there was something odd going on. And you were acting strangely, but I figured whatever it was would wear off, and you wouldn't tell me where you were going. He, um, cornered you, I suppose, and you overreacted, thinking he was after you in a quite different way?"