[He tries to flatten his voice back out. High stress situation? Blank the expression, flatten the voice. It's mostly successful. Mostly.]

You couldn't have known then, and I treated you like you'd disregarded it.

I am fine. [Is he really? Perhaps not.] It's simply . . . That was when it would get . . . unpleasant at home. [His father hadn't been pleasant to him even when sober, but at least when there'd been no drink in him, it had just been words.]