His smile dimmed a little at her refusal of food. But, if she already ate, he understood. He just... wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Maybe he had hoped too much to have another meal with her.<br/><br/>"Yeah, I did. I had my parents to help me out, though I handled the heavier things," Of course, his parents were getting up there in age. They were both in their 50's by now, while Alfred would be turning 25 soon.<br/><br/>He moved away from the kitchen, and went to settle back down on the loveseat, close to her. His arms were open, inviting her in to snuggle. Ordinarily, he'd just curl up with her, and be highly affectionate; but he didn't want to suffocate her. There had been a lot of time, and he wasn't sure if she would appreciate him going full on 'giant teddy bear' on her. So instead, it was just a silent offer. If she wanted to snuggle up, to get all nice and cuddly like they used to, all she had to do was scoot a bit closer to him.<br/><br/>"Where are you living these days? Are you close by?" Well, the conversation has steered away from what happened in the past, but it still seems like he is heavily focused on her, on seeing what she was doing. Part of him wanted to ask her directly about what had happened, yet he also wanted to just give her the opportunity to be comfortable enough to disclose it. It was a little war raging in his heart.