It was almost an unconscious gesture, the slight puffing at the compliment, the gentle and slightly narcissistic smile that teased the corners of his lips at the description. "Well, I am handsome." And while he didn't allow the curiosity to play across his face, he did wonder what Varric may have omitted about him. There were several things he could think of, and hope for, but he was almost hesitant to ask. Besides, there were far more pressing matters than one dwarf's opinion of a Tevinter mage.

"To err on the side of caution and feeling, I'm going to assume we're all real until proven otherwise." And yet the altus didn't sound particularly nonplussed by the concept of another option. It wasn't to say the idea of being a fabrication, however ludicrous a suggestion as that was, didn't bother him, but that evidence and discovery were far more important to him that getting all out of sorts about a possibility.

"We'll see what this information tells me." He nods his thanks at the water and has a seat by the fire. With the comforting glow close by he can think more clearly. "And that is unsurprising. They've...somehow distanced me from my body's own ability to pool mana from the Fade, and yet, unlike Tranquility, I am still in full possession of my emotions. The Fade is nearby, but not directly accessible. Perhaps...we're simply too far away for a mage to touch it."