Nott Senior's fingers had pushed their dirty way into every aspect of his son's and now his fingerprints were rubbing off on Ernie too, merely by association with Theo himself. Living under it was as though Theo was carrying a sack of rocks on his back twice as big as he was, but the start of emptying the bag and freeing himself was by doing this, trying to be normal and following through regardless of the weight. That Ernie reacted the way he did made it easier for Theo to carry the weight by not adding to it or making Theo more aware that it was there. Showing anything true of himself would always be hard, but that little slip had done more for the tiny thing between them than he could have guessed.
Theo entered the cafe and was relieved to be seated in a booth, casting a couple of quick spells so that he couldn't be pounced on unexpectedly without even realising he was doing so. He gave Ernie another one of those rare smiles and had a quick look through his menu, not sure what he'd be able to stomach. He wasn't expecting such a innocuous question and he looked a little bit like a rabbit in the headlights for a second before answering. "Oh, I, I spent it packing." He revealed. "I moved out of my flat and into a friend's place for a while. Other than that it was quiet though." he laid his bad hand flat on the table and it didn't shake, which he was pleased about. "And yourself? Up to anything fun?"