Appealing to her vanity, whether he meant to or not, was always a surefire way of gaining Helen's attention. She couldn't help it. It was in her nature. She did, however, intend on learning more about Patroclus. Actually about him and not just what he thought about her. She could read into what he thought about her from the way he was with her.
"I'm glad," she said of the swordfighting. She hesitated for a moment, almost not daring to say next what she thought, for fear it would not be accepted somehow. "You do know you're beautiful, too, don't you?" She shifted, allowing Patroclus to sit up more comfortably as she gazed down into his eyes, blue meeting blue like a melding of oceans. "Yet sometimes you seem not to realize certain good things about yourself. You doubt yourself and you don't value yourself nearly enough. Why is that?"