"What can I say," after swallowing a bite of food, "always a good place to start. It's like wallflowering without actually wallflowering, and I don't say something stupid in front of rich people I don't know. Seems like it's working." He's usually pretty social enough, but...impressions. They're a thing with consequences here.

"Does he not smile much?" he asks then after Aleron. "He looks like his face isn't sure how a smile works."

Yeah, Church. It's things like that that make it hard to let you talk to rich people whose impressions will have consequences. Exactly that.