"You damn him with your kindness," he says, if only because he would not make the admission of how good he is, but Jesper is his and he expects others to recognize that he truly does only surround himself with the best. "Though I'd love to see his face if you called him good."

Both delighted and shot down, likely.

That nearly gets a smile - by which it was that it wasn't a scowl. "There are times when I wasn't sure his ego was going to fit through a door, I admit."

But for the snarl and the actual jokes about Jesper's ego, his heart leaps into his throat at that name. For a moment he can't move forward. "I... I most certainly do know her," he manages, moving forward at her gesture.

Hating that he is having harder time hiding his limp without his cane, but he's had practice and every step is careful, deliberate and heading to find his way to his people.