The reply fills in a few gaps, and the conversation starts to make a bit more sense with context. It's almost like talking with Thanatos as he had been when he'd first arrived, except that he had some understanding of why people did things even if he didn't have experience, whereas Ten-Nank doesn't have that all.

(He had time and space to work with Thanatos, to help him start seeing himself as a person a bit more. It's a little sad, and it makes him a little sad, that Ten-Nank lacks that understanding completely, but he's pretty sure trying to address that is not a good idea.)

So he moves with the flow of the conversation, answering their question - if what they want is information, then he can at least try to give a little context. "I do. It can be comforting to have good food, something you like or that makes you feel good, and a little comfort makes the rough parts of life a little easier to face." He looks over the spread as he talks. A lot of it is the sort of food Jingyi likes, he thinks, but there's definitely a few other things in there. Just how much does the ministry know about them, if the food choices are based on that?

He opens his mouth to ask that question, but another one makes it there first. "You mentioned beings from planets - are you not from a planet?" That has gone from job information to personal, hasn't it. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."