But after a moment more of staring, he presses his hands to his temples, and squeezes shut his eyes - and then takes in a single quick breath and drops his hands. He still doesn't look entirely the same. There's a focus in his face and his manner, a brisk sort of intelligence that isn't exactly at odds with his earlier arch nastiness, but which certainly didn't show up before. His voice is quick and his manner firm as he says to her, "You didn't ask to be brought here. Don't apologize to anyone, least of all to me."

And then he takes a breath, folding his hands on the table in front of him. There's a moment of quiet, and then he says, "The easiest thing to do would to be to kill someone in a way that would cause this sickness to activate. To see if they'll do this...thing." He doesn't look like he's joking.