This is, in theory, everything that he's ever wanted. Everyone thinks he's normal. He's like any other kid, headache aside. Nobody is fussing over him as if he's a chronically ill, fragile kid who might keel over any second. No one's talking to him about powers in tired or accusative tones. This should be perfect. Instead, he finds himself weighing his options, thinking over what Ice Bear said, because this atmosphere where people just roll with weird things... that means he could make friends, right?

He shakes his head. "No, Marie. I don't want you to feel guilty for something that might be about me. I am trying to help people back home. And, um. I'm not normal. That's why I can get kind of isolated, I guess. It's weird and complicated. But maybe Ice Bear thought we could be friends? So he looked at both of us because of that."

Alex directs his gaze back to his food, eating another delicious bite of latke before carefully pouring just the right amount of syrup onto the pancakes. "I don't need anything else. This is fine."