[ On some level, he understands her, the way she's learning so much about connections, having friends, being someone who is so important to the people around them. Even after all this time, he's still not always clued in himself. But he'll absolutely make sure that she is. ]

Bit of a mix, sort of. Sometimes my friends...they move on. [ By choice - oh, how he wishes that happened more often - or by...the other thing. ] And then sometimes I'm alone for a little while before I make new friends and they come with me. I like that bit. The alone thing - tried that before, not good at it.