"Me too." Cliff laughed, then. "Rounder's been great! He's just been super uncertain of me, and a bit surly when I ask him to do things, but like you said, he's been treated poorly. So I can't even be mad."

He'd be pretty upset if he'd been treated badly, then once he came back to a safe and familiar place, be shoved at some new, weird kid and basically told to suck it up and do your job. He could relate to Rounder's issue.

As for the familiar, he gave a gentle and affectionate bonk to Fluttershy's leg, then repeated the gesture with Cliff, who crouched down to rub his hand over the familiar's surface.

"It's okay, buddy. I want to be friends, but we'll take it at your pace." He looked up at Fluttershy, then. "So what's your story, now that he's no longer out of sorts?"