With a slight tug, before he goes back to stroking, "Because you bit me right after saying her name."

Alfred isn't slick either, but he's not about to call that out.

"Patia was...the sort of wizard most of them pretend to be. She wielded knowledge like a weapon, kept records of everything, never let anyone know what she was really thinking." It could be exhausting to deal with and made it impossible to trust her the way he wanted to, but...

"She'd know what to look for, and figure out how the pieces fit together."