[ It does soothe Lestat a little to hear Ethan refer to his previous assumption as a mistake. It's too easy to harken back to that uncomfortable tension he'd felt around Ethan, torn as he was between considering him a friend and warning Louis about him to protect him. He understands better now, though, that Ethan's fury had come from a similar motivation to his own; if some creature had hurt Louis, Lestat would probably have a hard time trusting others of its kind, too.

He finds himself strangely surprised to hear that Ethan isn't a man who can boast having many friends… though, Lestat wonders if it's less a matter of no opportunity and ore the issue that Ethan won't allow himself to get close to anyone, wound up in the supernatural and hell-bent on revenge as he is. He feels adequately touched, therefore, to hear him finally admit that they are, indeed, friends. ]

Yes, I know what you mean. Louis told me when I first arrived that this place creates figments to mess with your head, and it armed me to not be so trustworthy and to not take everything I see as the truth, to not be so easy to effect, but... A place like this? It won't be long before it starts to resort to drastic measures and people get hurt. That, I'm sure of.

[ A small pause. He won't let Ethan's honesty go to waste just as he won't allow his own promise to become broken in it's infancy. ]

I will help you protect her, but I will also protect you, so that I need not step-in in the first place and risk her hatred of my kind as I've dealt with from you.

[ Another shrug. ]

Then everyone wins.