Adrien nodded, his smile widening; then a faint crease appeared on his forehead. "I just hope I'm not an annoyance to you", he said, his voice low.

"An annoyance?", Valerion said, his eyebrows raised. "No, not at all. Why would you think that?".

"I -- well, I did say it was a silly thought", Adrien said, chuckling awkwardly.

"It's alright", Valerion continued, a kind smile in his eyes. "Don't worry about that, really. Oh, anyway", he said as he stood up and started walking towards the couch, "do you want to continue reading?".

Adrien tilted his head. "Ah -- not particularly -- I was ready to stop, actually".

"Too many alien shenanigans?".

"Yeah - I think I've reached the limit of bullshit I can take in one day", Adrien said with a chuckle. He placed a bookmark between the pages, closed the book, and put it on the couch. "How come?".