[ Astarion nods. He'll give him at least that, because he got a laugh for his joke. You see! It's all about stroking egos!

Or maybe, more importantly, people with like desires simply see each other for what they are. ]

I have. It's an experiment on tolerance with silver. There are still people who think we might be weak to it, no matter how much silver the House of Autumn Twilight goes around wearing. It's just a bunch of human rumors, trying to be optimistic about their chances against us.

[ He looks over at Akechi like maybe he should be sorry? ]

No offense.

[ Most people treat novices like they're more than humans, but his comment rather betrays his feeling that they're not. ]