[ There's the faintest pause from him when she mentions his flattery, a hesitation, almost, as if he mentally stumbled over something. Then again, being a lady's man has defined most of his life since he was a teenager now - something he was purposefully stepping away from now that he was here in a new world. Where his Crest didn't matter. Where he could be himself for once. Where he could actually choose to do that.

So the offhand comment still catches him off-guard for the briefest of moments before he chuckles and takes another sip of tea. At least it hadn't been purposeful - or malicious, really. He'd just told her his honest thought. Claire seemed kind. ]

I'm glad you've found that here, too. I wasn't sure if it was the same in the other Factions. There's been tension a time or two in Cadens but for the most part, they've been exceedingly welcome to all of us. And the other Summoned... it's easy to feel like a different sort of family here, I guess.

[ He didn't have a lot of positive connotations there, personally, but he knew what family was meant to be, in theory. ]