Sitting solemn, Max waited until Melania's brother had passed by before letting his gaze follow the younger boy out of the room. Dinner had been... pressed, as was usual these days, with Oliver seemingly becoming more withdrawn, and Melania, in turn, responding to this shift in the only way she knew how, by loudly addressing it. That didn't exactly lead to the most peaceful of mealtimes, not necessarily filled with yelling fits, but not happy chatter, either. So, it was with an almost silent sigh of relief that half the tension was now currently retreating to his quarters for the night.

Momentary relief, that was. There was still Melania before him, stewing with exasperation and confusion. It created a pang in his chest to see his friend so visibly upset, and, for not the first time in the past couple of weeks, Max thought heavily about a certain piece of information that he was carrying that might help deflate the situation between his best friend and her brother.

Once again, Max felt the difficult rise to speak up fill his throat. That something, that life event, that Melania needed to be aware of... he blinked quickly, and immediately set to busy himself. Pulling his wand out of his pocket, Max collected the plates and sent them zooming toward the sink. But he couldn't bring himself to flick the water on, or begin cleaning up the kitchen (not that it was really necessary to, but seeing as he was living here rent-free, Max liked to do something to pay that back. It was just the right thing to do.

The right thing to do...

He would simply keep his cousin's name out of it. Yes, that would be better.

Max waited for one of Melania's lulls, speaking up quietly, but with purpose.

"Melania." He glanced down at the table before propping himself back up straight in his chair. Oliver's dog beneath him stirred, and even Uffizi turned her head toward him in relative attention. Max tilted his head slightly as he spoke. "There's something you should know about Oliver."