"Hungry?" repeated Aldo. "No, no..." He flashed a brief, awkward, fake smile in an attempt to reassure Vashti. "Maybe later. I'm um, I er--I don't have too much of an appetite, y'know, in the morning." He mentally hit himself over the head and sheepishly watched Samantha, and then North, enter the space. "But that just means more for everyone else. I, um... I've gotta go and-" What was a good lie? "-take out some trash," he finished in a half mumble. He made his way toward the kitchen's exit, his heart fluttering at Vashti's previous closeness to him, and turned his head back to her briefly to blurt, "Sorry about all this crazy...stuff," before slinking out and heading outside into the morning snow. 

He planned to stay until his head was clear. He'd felt Sam's curious gaze and it had been incredibly successful in intimidating him, although he would never admit that for a million and a half years. He took a seat on the porch and closed his eyes, focusing on the cool mountain breeze that tickled his skin. "Whew," he muttered. Yup, he would [i]definitely[/i] be dead in a year.