Julie, unlike her brother was more than a little fond of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry and one of her favorite things at the school was the Start of Term feast. The excitement in the air, the familiar faces and re-connecting and best of it all? The Food. Hogwarts food was good all year 'round but Julie was certain the Elves did a little extra for the Start-of-Term and End-of-Term feasts.

Settling down at her beloved Slytherin table, Julie let her eyes wander through the hall, not for anyone or anything in particular (save perhaps for new staff members or any changes to the Hall itself). Yeah, she felt good. Hungry, but good.

Vivian was glad to be out of the Hogwarts Express, in all honesty. Sure, she had been aboard the train since her first year but come on. The blonde wasn't sure how long she would last without having to get out of her compartment once in a while. She just couldn't stay still in one place, okay?

On top of that, the Slytherin was starting to feel the grumble in her stomach. She had candies and marshmallows in her bag, but nothing could ever beat the taste of real food. Despite being a little anxious for her fifth year, which was a really important moment in her life because of OWLs, she was definitely looking forward to the feasts at school, especially this one! Surely the house elves were being extra for the Start of Term feast.

Noticing the lack of people at her house table, Vivian sort of blinked, but was secretly glad there were loads of available seats for her. It was just a few of the perks of being early, of course. Going over to her usual seat, Vivian smiled at the Slytherin girl (Julie). "Hey!" She greeted. Otherwise, it would have been awkward to completely ignore as they were just two of the very few people at their table.

But where were her friends? Skylar, Junia, Liss, Olly, anyone?

Teddy entered the Great Hall, much more relaxed and familiarized with the environment than the first time she entered last year. She started to walk towards the Hufflepuff table, halting quickly when she remembered her and Lucy were supposed to be broken up.

She pivoted towards the slytherin table, placing a light hand on Julie's shoulder as she sat down next to the younger version of her. "Good blessings, Julie. How was your summer?" Her hand reached for a goblet. She hoped there was something to drink, she was very thirsty.

Having briefly lost both Liam and Nat in the commotion down by the train station, Cameron wasn't all too worried. They'd see each other again at the start of term feast surely. And until then Nat could take care of Liam. They could take turns. Without him noticing of course. Maybe they should make a schedule. Hmm. He'd have to discuss this with her.

Once he was at his house table, Cameron quickly spotted JULIE and made his way over to her, plopping down in the seat next to hers. The one that wasn't occupied, naturally. "Hey!" Hello! He grinned at her then offered the other girl (Teddy) a polite smile before turning his attention back to Julie.

HI! Long time, no see. Not really but you know.

Kei realizes as the tables fill in that, well...

He's afraid to open his mouth. There are so many people, so many potential new friends. He should be excited. But no, he's only anxious; it's a red-hot set of claws around his lungs that keep him quiet, head down.

He wants to talk ad make friends, but...all he can think of is his voice. It's going to get him laughed at, he knows it already

This was Maxton's third start-of-term feast, and by now he had well and truly learnt his lesson. The food took FOREVER to make an appearance. This time, the newly turned third year wasn't going to take any chances.

With the help of his dad and a few preserving charms back at home, Maxton had his own feast prepared.

He swiftly took a seat at the Slytherin table and proceeded to rummage around in the bag he'd brought along.

Mashed potatoes ... Carrots ... Yorkshire pudding ... A couple of chicken drumsticks ... Lots and lots of gravy ...

His plate was stacked full of yumminess and Maxton smiled proudly to himself. He was a genius.

Now to put to test that heating spell he'd been practicing.

The thirteen year old pointed his wand at his own personal feast and muttered the incantation under his breath.

Please work...

Despite it being far from her first time riding the Hogwarts Express, it honestly felt way longer than normal this year than in previous years. Perhaps it was the lack of having Vivian or Hattie or Brent to pass the time, or just the endless anxiousness she felt about being a fifth year, OWLS, Noah and Noelle and Ava's final year. Eager to catch up with Vivian for the carriage ride, she was surprised when she waited and no Vivian to be found. Had she gotten eaten alive in the Prefect's Compartment? See, this is why she knew she should have gone in with her. Just when she wasn't watching out, something happened.

But finally deciding to just head to the Great Hall, it was there that she saw the familiar blond head of dormmate for the past four years. Marching over to the girl, placing a hand on the hip, she sighed, "Vivian Fairfield! What do you think you're doing? Didn't we already discuss your VIP status for the term?" Yes, she was referring to the fact that she left her hanging on the transport from hogsmeade to the castle.

Oops, and she was being quite rude. "Hey Julie. Teddy." Sky greeted of the two girls. And there was one of her cutie C ickles! "Cameron! How was your summer?"

And there was Kei, an ickle she'd met at the fountain over the summer. He got a wave and smile. And wait, was Maxton Carden ... did he just bring his own feast? Staring at the younger snake, she blinked; well, that was taking the not-eating-Hogwarts food to an extreme level. Surely he was aware that opening feasts usually warranted the best food, even if you had to wait for AGES to get it.

Kyle ran up to the table with a big bright smile and shouted with glee: "Hiiiii eeeeveryonnnnneeee!!!" It was the start of a new term and he couldn't be happier. He had his wands, he had his books, he had his Potions ingredients, and he was ready to get into this school again! He'd been especially practicing his spells over the break and making sure they were perfect so that he could perform at least one or two wandlessly this term. He had been practicing one spell in particular, and while he had yet to be able to perform any spell wandlessly, he had high hopes for this one.

He looked up to the staff table, trying to see who was there already. The first one he recognized was the Librarian, who had helped him find books on wandless magic. And who he suspected gave him magenta freckles when he fell asleep in the library. Then, of course, was the Healer. He hadn't talked to him much, but he smiled at the brief interactions they did have. Professor Hirsch was there, of course. After helping him with wandless magic last year, now it was time to learn more about physical defense this year. But he wanted to discuss both with the Defense teacher as soon as the feast was over. The COMC teacher was there, and Kyle was grateful for that. He loved his kneazle, and even his dad seemed to be warming up to her a little. He needed to thank him for the dear pet he now had. And last but not least, there was the Headmistress. He didn't know her very well, but if last year was to speak anything about her, it was that the school was what it was because of her. Well, probably because of all the professors, but she ran it, didn't she? She chose the professors, he was fairly certain. And she deserved applause for it. He recognized most of the other professors too, but he hadn't talked at all with them.

Patrick walked over to the table after being sorted into Slytherin. He was getting excited for the year, all of the students were busy talking and catching up with friends. He didn't see many of the people from his trip in Diagon Alley and the train, but he figured he would eventually. Even though he hadn't seen any of his acquaintances he was excited for the term to start. He had enjoyed shopping for everything before school. Getting his books and supplies had been interesting. He didn't remember much about when his brothers were getting ready for school. They were so much older than him that it seemed like he was just a baby.

He sat down at the end of the table facing into the room so he could watch all of the students and gauge how the term would go. Watching people always intrigued Patrick, that might have something to do with the fact that he was the youngest in his family.

"GENIUS." Felicity's voice was loud and very American as she stopped dramatically at the Slytherin table. She'd been trying to catch up with Vivian and Skylar, but they'd rushed off ahead, the latter also seemingly keen to catch up. Now, however, she stood, shaking her blonde hair out and pointing at Maxton, whom she didn't really know but whom was now her HERO.

"See this?" she turned to Kei and Patrick, the ickle newbies, still pointing her unwavering finger at Maxton. "Make friends with him. LEARN FROM HIM."

And, with an end to the dramatics, she slipped into a seat near Sky. "Hey, guys," she said, grinning at Skylar and Vivian, and offering a little wave to Julie, Teddy, Cameron and Kyle, whom she'd didn't know too well, but knew by name and face considering that her dormmates knew them, and she'd been sorted with Teddy the previous year.

Liss's eyes, however, kept flicking back to the kid with the food, as her stomach rumbled.

Floating up through the Slytherin Table with his sword in hand the pearly-white and gaunt faced ghost by the name of Sir Bloodiness or the Bloody Baron's took in the sight of the snake student's present.

His wide staring black eyes immediatley landed on the loud mouthed Felicity as he grunted out. "Keep your voice down Ms Harrington! Who is this proclaimed genius?"

Gazing around the table his bloodiness floated straight through a scared looking boy Kei on his way to stop next to a boy Patrick that had just been sorted into the noble house of Salazar. "Welcome to Slytherin, young master?" What was his name?

Sniffing the air, the slightly transparent spectre turned his black eyes to the newly badged prefect Vivian and grunted. "Prefect Vivian, someone has brought food to the table...Why?" As in you should investigate my dear!

Letting his eyes travel over the student faces the Baron grunted out a greeting that was polite by his grumpy standards."Welcome to Hogwarts and to the great house of Salazar Slytherin! And to all returning students, I hope you had good summers?"

Patrick turned to look at Felicity who was yelling about a genius. He wasn't sure what she was yelling about until he turned his head to find Maxton pulling food out of his bag. He was more taken aback by the American accent than he should have been, but he figured he wouldn't meet too many people with a similar accent as him. "hmm, is it easy to do?" He mumbled taking in the actions of the boy pulling the food and looking over at Kei to see if he was as interested in the boy as he was.

His eyes went wide when the Baron began speaking to him. He had heard of the house ghosts, heck his parents had mentioned them to him. "Thank you sir, glad to be here." Patrick said attempting to use all of the manners he had.

The charm didn't exactly go to plan... his chicken was a little burnt but it would do. At least he wouldn't have to wait Merlin knows how long for the Headmistress to make her speech with an empty stomach.

He jumped in his seat when an older girl squealed and pointed at him, proclaiming him a genius. Well, that much was true, but he didn't want attention... he just wanted to eat his dinner!

"I get hungry quickly," Maxxie said sheepishly with a shrug and a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

He hesitated however, when the Bloody Baron popped up and mentioned his food to the Slytherin Prefect.

Surely he wasn't doing anything against the rules! This was a feast and he was eating! Wasn't that the whole point of a feast?

Kei jumps violently at the outburst, letting out the sharpest, high-pitched squeak he's heard himself make in a long time, prompting tears to pool.

Not now not now not now please please please NOT NOW!

And then the ghost- no. No, no, no. He doesn't like this.

Keep yourself together, man. He takes a deep breath and...nope. Can't help it. Those are most definitely tears.

It had become second nature to Abey to gravitate towards the Slytherin table whenever they had feasts. This, of course, was all pretty much down to all the things that had happened in first year; not being Sorted into Hufflepuff had led to tears and rushing to Slytherin relatives to be consoled, and then being ALMOST EATEN BY A LITERAL ACTUAL MONSTER ACTUALLY later in the year just made Abey more clingy with his family in general.

Things had, very slowly, got a little better in that respect... uh... maybe? More than a year had passed which meant that it got easier on its own sort of, but there was something about coming BACK to school after having so much time in the comfort of his own not-potentially-monster-ridden home that made him a little extremely anxious. BUT at LEAST there were lots of people at the feasts, and, when it came to Hogwarts, being around lots of people made Abey feel a million times better than being on his own.

Anyway. Yes. So. Slytherin Table. Abey was still drawn here because that was where Junia was. Or... where she was supposed to be. There were a lot of people, and it was kind of difficult to filter out all the noise and crowds in order to find her, so instead Abey ended up finding a space on the table with a lot of extra seats around him, assuming that he must have just got here before Junebug had and that she'd be here soon and had absolutely not left him here to go sit somewhere else without telling him she was doing that because that would be stressful and sad and then but oh Merlin what if maybe he was actually annoying her and she didn't want him sitting by her for the feasts anymore and he was actually just getting in the way and and and...

Doing his best to take deep breaths but not make it OBVIOUS that he was TRYING to take deep breaths, Abey gripped the edge of the table so hard it made his knuckles go white, and stared in the general direction of the Sorting. Up there were two more cousins, little Aaron and Alanna, waiting to be put into their own houses. Abey was cheering them on - in his head, though, obviously, because he was not about to be yelling and calling attention to himself in the MIDDLE of the SORTING - but, you know...

... quietly supporting.

The Hall was filling up, much to the delight of the Fourth Year. She couldn't wait to greet and meet-up with everyone from her best friends (Cameron, Jessa and Mairwen) to the Professors (Hirsch, Myers and the newly appointed Professor Reed to name the obvious). Connection, friendship, challenge- and most importantly given her rumbling stomach- food.

Julie grinned brightly as Vivian sat down and greeted her. "Hullo, you look so... " There wasn't really another word for it. "Grown, Vivian." Mature for sure, Julie was a fair shade of green about it if she was honest, which she was, you know ...To a degree. It was a compliment, Fairfield, she promised.

"Good Blessings, Tejashree." The younger girl said, mimicking the older girl's graceful example. She waved, though it absolutely wasn't necessary when the older Snake was so close by. "It was great. Super fun, but IO'm really glad to be back. I missed it a lot more than I usually do... Is that wild? It feels wild, how was your summer?" Julie languidly said, about to rest her head on her fist when the familiar form of one Cameron Temesis wiggled it's way to the seat beside her. "Why, hullo there," Julie preened, turning her green eyes from Tejashree to settle them on Cam. Yeah, they'd basically spent the summer together but that meant very little in the realm of friendship to Julie Bellaire. Honestly, it was a miracle her friends and family hadn't picked up on how attention hungry the 14-year-old could be.

Casually, she bumped her shoulder to his. Yes, hi, hullo.

"Greeting, Baron. Fared well this summer?" Julie being Julie was unimpressed he hadn't spoken to her first. Didn't he know who her grandmother was? Or had the ghost forgotten in his death-age? Hmph.

Oh, hey Miss Felicity. We see you. Julie gave the blonde a wink.

... Was that Abey? Junia's lack of presence had slipped Julie's mind and for many a moment she found herself confused by the Gryffindor sitting among them She tried to send a wave his way- He looked a fair bit of distracted, though, and Julie might have been many things (stubborn, nosy, arrogant) but she wasn't rude and didn't think it was a good idea to yell out the younger boy's name. A wave would suffice until she could shoot a discreet whisper over to Mairwen and form a plan, after all, she knew him better.

After his sorting, Ryder made his way quite proudly towards the Slytherin table. The nerves had disappeared into adrenaline and he his appetite was back full force. Though realizing that he had a last name that was called near the beginning of the sorting, he had a long while before he could eat. But that didn't matter. What mattered was that he was a Slytherin, not a Hufflepuff, and the cool gross looking ghost with the sword at their table. A quick glance to the Gryffindor table, where his brother would be, saw that they didn't have anyone as cool as this guy. Nice.

Second most importantly...

Where did that guy get food?!

This entire badge thing still needed some getting used to, though Vivian felt she needed to up her game. She was prefect, for Merlin's sake, and this wasn't how a student leader acted. Besides, this blonde normally never acted this way. It must be something about being a teenager, hmm.

Wait, what? Looked so grown? Vivian was quite taken aback by the use of the term. Eh, perhaps that wasn't a bad thing? After all, the blonde did want to feel a little more mature, so this must be a good first step towards that route. She smiled at Julie, taking it on a positive note. "Thank you, I guess. You look great, as usual," the prefect replied with a wink. Honestly, weren't all Slytherins stunning? "How was your summer?" She, too, noticed two other Slytherins, Teddy and Cameron, and so the pair received smiles from the blonde as they arrived.

... Aww, look at that little one! Vivian couldn't help but sympathise for him. "Hey there!" The prefect greeted him (Kei) with a smile. "What's up? Are you feeling okay?" The kid looked like he wanted the floor to eat him alive. Was he scared or something? Ickle Vivian wouldn't have known what it felt to be anxious around people, since she was obviously a loud extrovert as a child, but she didn't want to make him feel lonely!

And then that other kid -- Carden, Vivian believed -- had an entire MEAL in front of him. Honestly, Vivian was amused and so she smiled at him and sort of let him carry on. If he was starving, she might as well just like him eat up. Sorry, but this Fairfield wasn't going to allow any hungry kid to faint tonight. Nope, not on her first day of prefect duty. The hyper kid (Kyle) got an enthusiastic smile right back. "Hello!" Enthusiasm was contagious, okay?

But the newly-sorted Slytherins got special attention! Did they know Vivian adored young ones? All of them were now considered ickles for the blonde. "Welcome to Slytherin, guys!" The prefect said to the two ickles (Patrick and Ryder). "I'm Vivian!" And can I please adopt you both as my ickles? Pretty please?

You know what scared Vivian more than anything? Being called by her FULL NAME. And the blonde definitely knew who that came from, definitely not her mum. The tone and the voice obviously came from no other than the bestie. Blinking, the prefect turned around to face Skylar and offered a sheepish grin at the brunette. "Hey, Sky! Did you know it's nice to see you again?" Mhm, it definitely was! But being addressed to as VIP in front of everyone present made her turn slightly pink. Again. "Yeah, uh... sorry. But, on the happier note, I'm still in one piece!" No bruises or anything! Vivian Fairfield was safe. Hopefully, that made Sky feel a wee bit better because the blonde totally did not want to be full named again. And was that Junia's little brother? Vivian smiled as Abey approached. "Hey!" she said. "Junia's not here yet, but she's probably coming in a while." Probably with her boyfriend or Astrea, but well... still coming in a few, she hoped.

But thank you, Merlin, for bringing Liss so Vivian could direct her attention elsewhere. "Hi, Liss!" The prefect greeted. She hadn't been able to sit with her at the train ride, sadly, but she gladly offered a seat beside her now for the feast. And yes, Vivian definitely noticed how she obviously praised that Carden boy for bringing food. "Yeah, me too." Could the speech hurry up now? She didn't want to become a fainting prefect tonight, not at all.

... Goodness. First, Vivian got called out by Skylar and, now, the Bloody Baron was here! Merlin, this was a rather eventful first night back at Hogwarts, and dinner wasn't even here yet! "Good evening, Sir Baron!" She offered her best smile at their house ghost. Oh, so he was concerned with the Carden boy and his food? Err, well, Vivian honestly didn't mind. "He's probably already hungry, sir. We wouldn't want fainting Slytherins on the first night back, do we?" Right? But, you know, to change the subject as Vivian didn't want to be called out for doing nothing but being sympathetic tonight. "How have you been, sir?"

Still giddy from her sorting, Philippa bounded towards the table with a toothy grin and a bounce in her step. Reaching the head of said table, the little first year surveyed the table and tried to lower her excitement so she could think. Picking a seat was extremely important, as it would like be her regular seat and she needed it to be the very best one in the table! Papa said to make nice with her fellow first years at first, but Philippa wanted to meet the older students. Especially the girls, because they all looked so pretty and she wanted to be friends with pretty people.

Rearranging her hair and pulling down her skirt, Philippa checked that everything about her appearance was in place before cautiously approaching the gathering of older girls, then spotting a Gryffindor at their table. What was a Gryffindor doing here? Philippa eyed it him. Didn't Gryffindors have a table? And someone was crying?! What on earth were they crying about, didn't they know this was the best table at Hogwarts? Philippa knew it and she was new! It was just that awesome.

And the ghost!

The Bloody Baron!

Philippa had heard that one must get on the Baron's good graces quickly, because being on good terms with the house ghost can only mean good things and she wanted all the good things.

Deciding he would be her first greeting, Philippa found her seat right by the gathering at the table - and close to another first year who got sorted before her (Ryder) - and gave the ghost her best angelic smile. "Good evening Sir Baron! My name is Philippa Von Brandt!"

And, of course, smiles for everyone else she could see. Especially to the girl with the pin on her robes (Vivian). Philippa knew that meant prefect, and prefects were extremely important. She would be friends with this prefect. Mmhm. "Hi everyone! I'm Philippa!"

Have no fear, Junia Botros was here. Yes, it'd taken a bit longer than usual, but the boyfriend was very cute and very hard to say goodbye to-even if the distance was only just across the great hall.

Keen eyes that looked more green today than blue scanned the table in search of Junia's people and her lips quirked suddenly at the sight of them. Abey in particularly was a welcome sight, as the fifth year's nerves over Alanna and Aaron's arrival at Hogwarts had her slightly on edge. She was doing her best to hide it, but she could be transparent around him. "Waiting for someone in particular?" The brunette settled down beside him and stole his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze as her gaze followed his to the sorting ceremony. "They'll be okay. I mean, we're okay and we went through it. They'll get through it, too. It'll be fine." It would be, wouldn't it?

Deep breaths, Junia. Merlin.

The roommates were here and they received a wink and a wave from the Botros girl whose attention had shifted to those around her. Vivian had fallen into the role of prefect nicely, it seemed, and while Junia felt that familiar twinge of jealousy, she was proud that her friend was succeeding. If someone else was going to get the honor, at least it was someone she enjoyed and not someone completely awful.

The newest additions to Slytherin house received a semi-cheerful "Welcome," and a smile. If she had her way, her youngest siblings would soon be joining this small group so that she could look after them properly, as big sisters were meant to do. The younger returning snakes also received a smile, though she refrained from asking about their summers, as it seemed redundant and surely she’d overhear the information as the feast went on.

Junia had been so lost in thought that she almost didn't notice the interaction between the Bloody Baron, Maxton, and Vivian. Huh, bringing your own meal to the feast.. She'd seen snacks smuggled in before, but not a full meal. Was that gravy? She wasn't sure she agreed with the whole genius proclamation. A genius might have been a bit more stealthy with the whole thing. ”Great, now I’m even more hungry than I was before,” She said quietly to Abey with a sigh. Actually, she’d been too nervous to be hungry before now, so thank you, Maxton, for making her notice the slowly growing grumble in her stomach. ”I hope the speech is a short one.”

Eyes back on the twins, the brunette propped her chin on her hand and waited.

Kei looks up to the much more friendly voice, quickly patting his eyes dry with his sleeves. "I'm...I'm okay. Just, er, very overwhelmed. It's really loud, and my voice keeps...it keeps cracking and I don't like it," he explains weakly while rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, i know I should be happy, and don't get me wrong, I am!"

Everyone seemed to be getting restless and he was SURE he heard a couple of tummies around him begin to grumble. He almost felt guilty, but it wasn't his fault they hadn't planned ahead like he had!

He was glad to overhear the Prefect sticking up for him. He didn't want to faint from hunger but he didn't want to get into trouble either.

As he happily shovelled more mashed potato into his mouth, Maxton peered around at his housemates and couldn't help but notice that one boy (Kei) in particular was looking a little nervous.

Maybe he was just hungry?

"Hey mate, I packed some extra food. You want some? I could knock you up a plate."

He had packed the extras for his sister but he hadn't seen her around yet. She was probably moping around somewhere like she had been all summer.

Did they really have to be back? He wasn't at all ready or excited to be back. He was learning way more with his Uncle this summer than Hogwarts would ever teach him and now he was at the Great Hall. Something his Uncle said to do though was blending in. He wasn't blending in like he thought. His Uncle said he needed friends that could be good alibies if needed and truthfully Eddie didn't really have those because he didn't want them. He felt any type of relationship was just a dumb weakness and a distraction from what you really wanted. If a person couldn't do something for you they weren't worth it, but looking at it the way his uncle said they were doing something for him if he needed. The problem was what if they didn't?


He had observed enough to notice some things about the other third years and how they might be his friends so he had shoved a few water balloons in his robes before making his way towards the table. The question was where to send it. The staff table or another table? Maybe he could aim for his sister.

Taking a seat he noticed his brother at the sorting hat and of course he got Slytherin. Another Blaze coming to the best house. Sliding down he let Eivan in to sit with him, but kept his eyes on the table trying to find the ones that might be best for friends that he could use depend on.

If Oliver had his way he would be taking a nap right now but, alas, it was the first day back which meant feast. And since he was a prefect he really was required to go. He made a quick stop in the bathroom, rearranged his face into a smile, and made his way to the feast. It seemed things were already getting going by the time he got there. His eyes immediately landed on Vivian and gave her a smile. He had just seen her on the train but he was glad she had gotten there first and was at least doing what she was supposed to be doing. If he didn't feel quite himself at the moment at least he could count on her.

Oliver focused on the sorting, finding it easier to focus on something that wasn't the craziness of the table. He gave a little smile to most of his fellow Slytherins gathered but didn't really venture into a conversation with anybody. That seemed exhausting. The first years, though, he could manage them. It had been a long time now, but he could still remember what he'd felt during his sorting.

He looked toward two of the newly sorted ickle Slytherins (Philippa, Ryder and Patrick) and gave them all an encouraging smile. "Hey, welcome to Slytherin. I'm Oliver, one of your prefects." He glanced up at the arrival of the Bloody Baron. What was he saying? Oh, yes that kid did have some food. Where had it come from? Well...he'd addressed Vivian so she could take care of that, yeah? Honestly he wasn't bothered. If the kid was hungry let him eat.

OH NO WAS SOMEONE CRYING? Olly's eyes were roving over the table when he caught sight of another smallish boy who appeared to be crying. Honestly, same. Olly moved a bit down the table to sit near him. "Hey, you okay?" He asked gently.