I had not planned on a new shirt for Grace, but I liked that composition for panel two, and her regular long shirts / dresses looked weird, so... New shirt.
I wouldn't blame someone for thinking this is out of character for Tedd, but they're talking about a meeting with a magic scientist griffin from another world (sort of). Tedd wants to talk to that griffin, and desires affect judgement.
Tedd also doesn't want to worry about anything going wrong, but I cannot under-emphasize the "want to talk to a griffin about magic science" aspect.
--