Ah, that's the catch, isn't it? That the students he connected with so closely over the past yea weren't actually connected to him. The emotional bond wasn't relevant in their conversation...he somehow isn't too convinced and it shows in the way how obvious the forced humming sounds.

"There's really not much to share on an emotional level," he clicks his tongue. "I am just an occasionally employed researcher who's looking into an abstract medium and while my goals stay quite magnamimous, I am not really in the position to burden others."

"That said," he turns to her this time- genuinely curious. "What do you think this is right now? A counselling session or us talking like old friends?