Alexander gave a soft snort of a chuckle at her comment about King James. He wasn't buying it, he knew she was just trying to make him feel better. At the same time, it was all too common in his own time, he just would've tried to be a little more discreet about it.
"Oh, yeah? Huh. It gets me into all kinds of trouble," he told her, as he leaned forward to look at the photographs she was showing him. "Sure. What's not to like," he shrugged. He couldn't have guessed at any of the significance of her sharing - to him, he was a dear friend that she has lost, and not gotten over at all. It just highlighting how cruel this world was.
"Mmm. He had a lot to deal with already, you know? He's got me, but he lost everyone else," he explained. His mother, aunts, grandparents, friends... his whole little life.
Alexander would have questioned her comment about the coffee, but he was far too lost in his own anxiety by that point in the conversation. She grabbed his hand, and just for a second it panicked him even more. His heart leapt with fear, and then her words followed and the feeling seemed to settle again into more of a sadness.
"No, you're not an asshole. You're just being realistic," he conceded.