"Popcorn," he said, in answer to her question...kind of. "That's another of mine. To explain the disappearances." He was grinning at her proudly, looking all the world like a boy who had just finished his first clumsy building project.

His smile was also encouraging. "You try -- just make something up! About anything!" He was clearly a big fan of word games, despite his sporadic memory lapses and leaps of logic.