"Hm, and it's only going to take time until they see that I'm not dragging any weight with what I have proposed here. I do not wish to scare them off the idea. What can be done about this is simply giving it time. Show them that New York is habitable by civilized vampires, ones who don't shy away from the rules I have come to embrace, and a safe haven. Hunters here - the human ones - won't fuck with what is a self-policing group. I'll give it a year, and propose it to them again, this time with evidence that leads them to understand that I'm not doing this for my own benefit, but for the good of others, both vampire and human alike."
He smiled then, a tiny, wry smile. "And this is why you lived for as long as you have. You're quick on your toes. Even Pam wouldn't have thought to put it that way."