Elijah's stare was not lost to Anthony, no matter how much he tried to pretend it was. "Oh. Well—uh, thank you," Anthony stuttered, avoiding eye contact with Elijah. Was he embarrased? Shy? Who knows. But he was blushing, again. And extremely aware of that. But he seriously appreciated Elijah. He was so...nice. It both confused and amazed Anthony.

Elijah beamed as he shook his head. "No need to thank me. I wish I could do more. I don't want you to ever have a day without food or a roof over your head." It wasn't like Elijah was ever going to get married or even find love. Having a friend for a roommate seemed like a great option.

Anthony couldn't be more thankful and confused. He wasn't going to say no to this, but he was just. Confused as to why Elijah is doing all this for him. "I mean...you don't really have to do anything for me but you still do," he said. "so I guess that's pretty 'thanks' worthy." But what did he know about the logics of being kind?

There truly wasn't a reason. But then he thought back. "I guess I try to be kind to those that I'm close to and they so often don't need my help. You don't mind letting me help you. So I suppose.. that is reason enough?"

"I guess it is," Anthony shrugged. "I mean—it's not like you have to justify what you do, and I really appreciate all this, don't get me wrong." He immediately backtracked, as he started overthinking yet again and seeing how what he had said prior to that could be seen....badly. He didn't want to be rude to Elijah, even if on accident.

Elijah waved him off. "You are probably worried I have some ulterior motive. It's rare someone does something without reason. So I suppose that is my reason. I like to be nice, and I like having a friend. That is all there is for my explanation. So I am indeed getting something out of this too. "he chuckled awkwardly and started to resume eating.

Anthony accepted that explanation, not having anything more to say. Or maybe he just didn't want to say something further. Anthony also turned back to eating, passively letting the awkward silence between them grow, not doing anything to help it. Talking to Elijah was good and he genuinely enjoyed it, but all the talk about family and that changed his mood entirely.

Elijah lost the desire to speak. He kept worrying he said too much of was seen as weird. He kept his eyes down as he barely tasted the stew, his mind burdened with thoughts and worries he created. He only spoke when he noticed finally that there was no more cup of wine. "Did you want anything more to drink?"

It seems that they were at an impasse, then. Anthony raised his gaze to meet Elijah's as the latter spoke yet again. "Oh? No, thank you. I don't want to be a bother," Anthony said. Though the previous conversation had assured him that he was not, in fact, a bother, he still had that looming voice in his head that told him he was. Ugh.

Perhaps he could read Elijah's mind as the man shook his head. "It isn't a bother at all. I promise. If you change your mind, just let me know. I'll be happy to get you some more wine or tea or anything if I have it."