"O-oh, um-" Great, now the pressure's on. "I don't - I don't know. Tell him, uh, the cats are still watching me. But I'm okay."

This is so awkward. He'd rather just talk to Tim. Talking to him is hard enough, talking to other people is even harder, and doing this awkward channeling thing is pretty well beyond him. On top of that he has nothing helpful to say.

"And uh, tell him," he adds hastily, uncertainly, "...tell him thanks."