Well. A compassionate front was infinitely more manageable than an intimate break. Unless these individuals held the right prompts (doubtful, given the scenario), Nigredo could get away from this encounter unscathed. Confused and possibly uncomfortable, but relatively unharmed. Therefore, he opted to continue being cordial.

"It's fine," he replied evenly. "Thank you for your concern. Though, to be honest, I didn't expect you to--" Here, he forced a hard swallow. Feigned discomfort could elicit a certain conversation path. "--visit me after that."

Whatever 'that' happened to be.