Julien didn't look up from his book until Alfie actually spoke, and when he did it was with a slight jump and a heavy blink like someone coming out of a deep sleep. "Oh, Alfie! Hi, yeah, I did." he said unintelligently, the fog of studying clearing slowly from his mind. "Sorry, just-" he bookmarked and closed the textbook with a heavy thunk, crossing his arms over it to stop any temptation of opening it again; it wasn't that he was rude, it was just that his concentration on one subject could make him forget about other things like eating and socialising for a while. "-just some light study... hey, you said you wanted to show me something? Is everything okay?" It was a loaded question these days and he hoped that nothing had happened to Alfie's family - the boy didn't seem upset and he wasn't sure that Alfie would have wanted to tell him like this if something had happened.