Noah leaned back in his chair, and it creaked a little. He tipped his head and considered Jason. "Really, you don't owe me apologies for anything, Jason. As for school, that's understandable. If you can get caught up, I'll make sure you won't be let go for absenteeism. I think that you had a reasonable excuse, after all. And I can talk to your other instructors as well, see if I can't get them to give you a bit of leeway."
He folded his arms over his chest. "This isn't because you're May's son, by the way. I'd extend the same consideration for any of my students."
His eyes flicked for a moment to the picture of Julia on his desk, then back to Jason. "And as for avoiding talking to me--it would've been hard to do that since I've actually spent very few hours at the apartment. I've been busy with research and with writing a paper, myself. I generally leave a little after four in the morning, and don't get back until eleven at night. You couldn't have talked to me unless you were willing to track me down in several different places. So no harm done there. But I would like to have as good a relationship as we can manage, given that we are stuck with one another."