Desmond couldn't help but smile at the young djinn at that. "I would appreciate that very much, Tobias. I plan to do research of my own, but that will likely take time, and you seem to have quite the head start on me when it comes to these... computers..." he said, still not sounding very comfortable with the word on his tongue as he paused and frowned at the object. "Though even if both of us learn, it will hopefully give us something to talk about."
Quiet blue eyes watched Tobias as he spoke of his kind. Desmond was a natural listener, and it showed in the way that he seemed to be drawing in each detail of what Tobias said about his kind. Nodding now and again. "It is interesting to note what the difference in terminology is. I must confess that I was curious, but knew better than to ask when I met others of your kind. Not very many men come back from encounters with the djinn without having a horror story to tell. One thing I am curious about... the wishes. I have no desire for one myself..." that of course, was a lie, but Desmond knew better than to try to get what it was that he wanted the easy way, "But it is often said that misfortune follows the wish granted by a djinn. Is that due to the djinn themself? Or is it some part of the universe that automatically makes it happen?"
"But yes, I did not speak long to your kind, and my contact with them was usually enough to ensure them that I did not want to meddle in their affairs, which I believe is why I emerged from such meetings... unscathed." he said simply. Though, when one met creatures which could do things such as shape the very world itself, how sure could one really be that they had walked away from such meetings unchanged without their knowledge? Such things were once on the tip of Desmond's brain, but now were things that he did not really think of very often any longer.
Catching the look of regret when Tobias mentioned his 'other notions', Desmond simply quietly smiled at him. "Life is often a painful experience." he mused sagely, though he politely did not ask what other notions Tobias had, nor did he inquire into what pain might have made him change his mind.
He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows as Tobias told him of the fact that breeding was only really something noticed in the higher eschelons of his society. "I would say your race is fortunate in that aspect then. Vampires hate me, because of what I am. And humans, well... humans very often tend to hate anything that is different. It is interesting that while I slept they finally managed to overcome the desire to enslave one another simply because of a difference in skin pigmentation..." he said quietly. "Or at least, they have tried to overcome it..." Desmond knew better than to think such things were true everywhere. The world simply wasn't that... good.
"If you think that no creature is an abomination, you do have a lot to learn about life." Desmond said simply, watching Tobias. "But I think you are right in the fact that no species is that way simply because of what they are. It is the individual creatures that are the abominations, though I have found certain breeds tend towards such ideals more than others."
"You are lucky to have parents to embarass, Tobias. And you should remember that age does temper a rebellious nature and instills wisdom that is hard to see in youth. Sometimes the friction between generations is simply that the younger generation has not yet had time to catch up on all of the lessons that the older generations have learned. Sometimes such learning comes too late..."
"So tell me," he said, trying to change the subject off of such serious matters, "what classes are you taking here? Is this your first year here? Or do you have recommendations?"