Rhetoric was a dangerous thing. It is difficult to argue a thing well and not come to believe it by inches.
That was the trouble with multitudes. It was admitting your power was limited, your reach finite, that your will would never be absolute… and that was a contradiction toward the nature of Sovereignty.
Somehow his expression made a laugh bubble up in her throat. She covered her mouth with her hand, tried to silence it, but it emerged anyway, her shoulders shaking. "Ah, I'm sorry, it's rude-I know you…"
He'd just shared his fears of rejection and…
"It is only a base beast, with a base beast's fears," Xuan Shi said, cracking a small smile himself.
Have we gotten any insight into what Xuan Shi crafts that isn't protective stuff? Barriers or panic rooms or whatnot - I think the only other thing on screen was him working with stuff to make people more efficient? Crew enhancement effects.
I would not mind being courted by you. So that we can see how this path ahead of us can accommodate our dreams."