[ Please!!!! Fizz!!!!! It should be so much more difficult for someone to get in Regis' good graces, and yet. Regis doesn't have a heart, not in a human-anatomy sense, but he feels something in his chest constrict when Fizzarolli tries to be delicate with him. As if he, Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy, higher vampire and immortal, was ever built to be handled with care.

A breath that he doesn't need to take, and he softens in return for Fizzarolli's smile. Unbidden, he feels himself leaning over in his perch to rest his palm on the crest of his companion's head, between the two protrusions that he assumes are horns, and carefully smooths the fabric of Fizzarolli's hat. If Fizzarolli will let him, that is. ]

I cannot imagine, [ he says, trying to emphasize how serious he is about this, ] that you could ever make things harder for anyone. You astound me.

[ Another pat, again, if Fizz will let him. Regis gentles, though the expression borders on slightly melancholy again. ]

The reason for my abstaining is sordid and unpleasant. I don't mean to generalize, but the principle reason behind most individuals' decision to stop something altogether is if said something caused them to make grave errors and lapses in judgment. I doubt you would've been so kind to me if you'd met me a few centuries ago, alas.