[So his guess was correct, then. They were the racehorses being bet on. The fact that his new... benefactors... had to play along for resources? That was valuable information.]

Believe me, I'm all too familiar with 'necessary evils.'

[He'd had about all of them he could stomach, and that was before somebody stuck a knife in his.]

If it's any consolation at all, I'm not being deliberately antisocial, I seem to simply not be anybody's favorite yet.

[With another grim chuckle, he adds-]

Perhaps once they get to know me.