Some part of Duke made sure to take careful note of those warnings and bits of advice, especially with regards to physical transformation (some day, when he was attending his high school reunion as his once-again teenage self, he was going to remember this conversation and want to punch a wall). Even while he raised a disbelieving eyebrow and took a bite of his sandwich.

"You know, they used to try this 'magic weirdness' boogeyman crap on us when I was a kid back home." He smirked faintly. "I'm a little old for the 'Troubles talk' now, though."

Duke had actually believed in the Troubles well past the time when most of his friends had stopped. He'd made a promise to his dad, after all, and then all but immediately had watched the man die. That tended to have an impact on a kid.