Brainy could almost hear Lyle or Ayla or...well, most of his friends chiding him for his terrible social skills and being so cold to one of these strangers -- so far from home.

"When I say 'pretending to listen' I am perhaps being slightly more...asocial than I should be and exaggerating my lack of interest. Slightly."

He looked at his drink and his expression softened slightly. It was easier to be sincere when he wasn't making eye contact.

"I do want to at least try to get to know the rest of you. But I despise small talk -- and it's not the most appealing idea to befriend you all only to send you away to your home dimensions when I resolve the issue that brought you here. I've already --"

He stopped. Just stopped.

Because he was going to say that he'd already lost too many friends and that was far too personal. Perhaps the alcohol had loosened his tongue a little too much. He had a tremendously high tolerance due to his high Coluan metabolism but those first moments after he first started drinking usually brought on a dull buzz even if it went away quickly.

He never really got used to it, largely because he partook only rarely.