Julian’s a bit taken aback by the response he gets. Most people here, clearly not used to behaving in a civilized way, have responded to him in varying degrees of hostility and offensiveness. However much Julian thinks those types of responses are undeserved, a part of him is expecting the same from this guy. But no, the words on their own are refreshing; Julian does like being told he’s right. It’s the way Cole looks so sad that makes Julian shift uncomfortably, feeling a bit like he kicked a puppy. He tells himself it’s not his problem if the guy’s getting so worked up over this.

“Yes, you should. Fortunately, it’s not as if they’ll die from the bread. It’s a good thing your idea wasn’t to give them chocolate instead.” Most of the harshness is gone from Julian’s voice, and his tone is more matter of fact than anything else.

He crouches down to pet one of the cats, reaching to scratch its cheek behind its whiskers, but it shies away from him. Julian jerks his hand back, quickly folding his hands together as if nothing happened, but there’s still a brief look of hurt on his face before it molds into something carefully neutral. Cats hadn’t all been his best friends back home, but they had usually been a bit more curious about him, a bit more willing to like him. These cats don’t care about him at all. They haven't hissed at him, though, so they still make for more preferable company than many of the people he's met here.

“I’m being nice this time, but don’t think you'll be able to spend time with the cats whenever you want. If I’m here first it means they’re off limits.”