Blaise suddenly felt as though the world had shifted the wrong way. The edges of his vision turned black, as though he was looking at Sally through a spyglass.
"Your... concern... is meaningless to me," Blaise said. Speaking it felt like an effort, like he was fighting to get the words out of his throat. It was as though the little amount of strength he had mustered in an attempt to break through the Quarantine had run out, and the past few days seemed to catch up with him. He tried to remember the last time he'd had something to eat. Something to drink? Blaise couldn't answer his own questions.
"As is the need for me to... prove myself. Find someone else to show you magic tricks."