A pause, understanding in his eyes although his face was carefully neutral otherwise. "I understand." He did, it was in his voice. "I'm...not from that situation. I've never heard of it. It's likely we're not from the same universe."

Simplest solutions right?

"...but I understand a conflict where you keep losing people, and how it's gone on for so long you wonder if it will ever end." A full pause, lost in his thoughts for a bit as his head turned down. Studying his plate, then moving to eat some more. Unsure how to break that awkward serious moment.