Zacharias looked at him again, their eyes meeting. His mouth curled into a smile then. "Good, that's good," he said approvingly. He nodded his head a little bit, to show his satisfaction.
He reached out and petted the thestral again. "Do they let you have books in here?" he asked, changing the subject completely. To what he hoped would be a safe subject, although it was becoming clear that he couldn't tell what a safe subject would be!
"Do you still like to read? You used to read all the time. Always with a book."