[A Secluded Desert]

As Xeni lacks Zee's talent for reading "worldlines" or even an awareness that this is an option for some, he entirely misses out on all of the unspoken reassurances to his immediate concerns.
This is kind of a shame, but - oh lord the rabbit really is watching why is it staring like that we are not a giant glass carrot man.

The poor fellow definitely doesn't spend precious thinking seconds gawping in a deeply unsettled fashion at the Rabbit Thing, instead of actually listening to Zee explain that her Garden isn't an existential threat to the world on its own. Not that he was truly concerned about that. He likes to think he can trust Zee to not lose herself that wholly. Again. So soon.
Okay, so it's still technically a risk, but that's why he asked at all in the first place. So that he knew that he still knew that, and maybe she knew that he knew that, but in an unaggressive way that doesn't imply he distrusts her and makes anyone exceptionally unhappy here.

Okay, thoughts are running away to avoid thinking about the problem at hand again.
He pulls his gaze (very reluctantly) away from the Rabbit Thing and back towards the censored ZillaZee.

At least this is a fairly simple question, that while he feels guilty about slightly overdoing isn't that bad.
Although. This also seems a bit like a leading question...
This makes the mage somewhat more overtly cautious, clearly expecting this to be going somewhere he's not going to entirely like.
"Hope you don't want a really specific answer, my clock died awhile ago. Couple weeks? Maybe a teensy bit more?
...how long have you been eating this patch of world?"

That last part is 5% petulant deflection, 45% poor attempt at humor, and 50% actual curiosity.