Five in the morning, the kitchen, the pan already on and two mugs out. Teo has been home since four and has not been to bed, and the ward is still on him in the way he stands.
He puts a plate in front of you before he says anything at all, and then sits down opposite, which he has not done all week.
"Can I say a thing?"
he asks, and waits for the answer before he goes on, which is the whole of his character in one movement.
"Nobody in this flat has asked you about the break-up. That was my idea, on the second night, and I have been the one who found it hardest."
He turns his mug a quarter turn.
"I am going to tell you why, and then you can eat, and then you can tell me to stop talking."