Comfortable would definitely be a stretch, it's true, but it wasn't always as bad as the taste she got. He'd have books, he was fed and mostly kept healthy... Occasionally he'd even get to socialise a bit. But he was still trapped, and still mistreated if he disobeyed.

He smiles at the beast. It seems to ask quite a bit like a puppy, which makes it likeable. "Nice to have someone from home," he comments. "So, I take it your universe is rather different from this one."