Al had his fill of social interaction the prior day, but he didn't feel like heading all the way to his tree-house so he settled on holding up in his room with his sketchpad. He could have gone to the office for "For You" that George gave Al before he left the village, but Al always felt awkward being in the office building when no one else was there, like he was breaking some unspoken rule or something.
He felt badly about refusing to see Lily Luna, but he wasn't trying to be mean or hurt anyone's feelings. He just couldn't put up with the reminders from home. He needed time to sort himself. Too much had happened in a short period. He lost several family members, including his mum, but then people started popping back up and...he couldn't go through possible rejection again. He couldn't go through explaining things only to have it overlooked again. He felt like an awful brat, but when he did try to talk to family and friends, he couldn't help feeling brushed off or like it was in one ear, out the other, and he was tired of it, even if he understood how and why it kept happening. It was easier joking around or sticking to his stories and drawings. He got his feelings out there.
He'd never feel like everyone else. He didn't really care about fitting in, but he was sort of lonely. He had friends. He had family. Things were just...off. Was it the village? Or was it just him?
He didn't think about those things when he escaped into the worlds he built on the page, which is why only Eragon's barking alerted him to the knocking. He waited a moment, but when it seemed Jamie was either gone or not going to answer the door, he threw his notebook aside and bounced downstairs. "Down, boy!" He looked through the keyhole. He didn't think about doing that a few months ago, but now everything was different. Who knew what lurked out there? "Ana?" He opened the door. He smiled, but his eyes showed puzzlement. "How are you? Everything okay?" Ana wasn't the only one who caught something "off" in their conversation. He thought it had something to do with her shop, which he couldn't blame her for one bit.