Aleksei wandered into the room looking a mess. His cool clothes had been taken away and he clearly didn't care for the orange nonsense they had given him to wear. His long unkempt hair was falling all over his face. And he strolled in observing everything and everyone while pretending to be casual. 
Although, he was genuinely tired. And hungry. He had thaought it was odd that they asked him about his favorite food. But now seeing the various plates set up, he zeroed in on the plate of varenyky and sat down to eat. 
As he sat down he noticed Anisim. Something in the other boy's features reminded Aleksei of his family. Both his blood family and his now lost crew of fellow Americanized Slavs who had rebelled against the world with him. He thought the boy might be from a similar background, so he said hello to him in Ukrainian.