The grin grew with food like that but only a little, only a turn up of one corner and then it fell away again, keeping himself cloistered; he didn't want this to go bad, didn't want this to turn into a monster of his making like the last one had done and he had more reason to fear that now, knowing that this wouldn't be their last conversation.
He tucked his hair back behind his ear, apparently a habit he had (and one that he'd only picked up since he'd chopped all his long hair off after he'd left school) and answered sounding oddly guilty. "I was... distracted." Even his voice sounded like an apology.