[Though it takes Cade a moment, he does at last realize that Alistair is joking. He doesn't laugh, however, just wilting again and looking uncomfortable. It's so easy for people to joke about blood magic, but the uses of it to which he's born witness have been no laughing matter. His stomach turns at the thought, and he looks at the kitchen door, perhaps considering whether or not this conversation might have run its course.]

...that's not very funny, [he says quietly, making a baseline effort to prevent the chasm between them from opening wider.]