Her voice brightened his face. He turned to the side and smiled up at her as he patted the chair. "Oui, sit...sit." A friendly face in a dozen of indifferent faces certainly made him feel a bit better. "I was jus' thinking of you," he said, a hand brushing through his hair as he smiled at her. "And, oui, I am out in the open...I was told by someone I should try it. It could help...or some such."
Admittedly, he was getting better at blocking things out. A lot of things.