[Alex catches that grin, mister, however fleeting and quick you might think it is. It earns Derek another in return and he gives a half shrug, rolling with the sarcasm readily.]

I know, right? I'm amazed that people even speak to me with how foreboding and unpleasant my very aura is.

[The awkward silence and shifting is noted, but Alex is grateful when Derek moves easily onto another topic. Nick had been a fast and true friend and losing him to whatever fate his world had suffered .. yeah, it wasn't something Alex particularly wanted to muse too long about.

Then a soft laugh and he waves away the thanks with one hand.]

People were pretty welcoming to me when I arrived .. only right to do what I can. I'm not helping anyone, including myself, if I'm a passive aggressive dick. [Not that there were any of those here. Nooooooooooo, not a single one.

And then Derek earns a first class eye roll and Alex shakes his head again.]

Life's too damn short for all that petty bullshit .. seriously. I've lived with it my whole damn life .. being here .. [He gestures around as if to include the place as a whole.] Seems to at least have earned some fashion of a reprieve from all of it.