Hi, not!Mom! He instantly relaxes slightly and then thinks oh, recognizing what she's likely describing. "I didn't realize that it worked on anyone but investigators, and that you could turn it off." Interesting. But then he moves on.

"Protect yourself from what?"

There is a note of cautious protectiveness in his voice. He doesn't trust her, even less so after what he has heard about her, but he can't but feel attachment, and feels that just by nature of what they are, a threat to her might also mean a threat to her marked or the travellers. Might being the key word, but still.