A shudder passed through Gene at the thought of having a friend who could be discussed as a mind-reader. He knew it was hypocritical of him; he'd used his ring to look into and ensnare the minds of others before, but a habitual mind-reader...that was different. A man needed to have some secrets, after all, for his own sanity. Gene's mind was the only sanctum he had left, the only place he could have put together his plots and schemes with no danger of Zhang finding them and killing him.

But when he turned his attention to the rest of Anton's words, he found them reassuring, in an odd way. The reinforcement that maybe he wasn't inherently awful, that maybe he could turn himself around...it meant a lot. In some ways, it meant more to hear it from an impartial observer than it did from Tony, who was always too damn willing to see the best in people even when it wasn't actually there and had, if not the worst judgment in Keeliai, definitely secured a spot in the top five. And Anton seemed to have a good head on his shoulders.

There's no sarcasm, no evasion, no lies. All he says is "Thank you. I think I needed to hear that," and refills his cup, just a bit.