It's painful to realize how very alike they are in so many ways, and to realize he very much does not want that life for her. He sets his cup gently down on the desk next to hers, then lowers his hands to his sides and twists his wrists in a graceful, sinuous motion that isn't strictly necessary, but has millennia of habit behind it. Power flickers in his palms for a fraction of a second and he's standing there in his mask and robes.

"I lived in this mask for years, the men and women I led-" Almost all older than him- "would not have recognized my face were I to set my mask and robes aside. Even after I awoke a century ago, I only set it aside to don another mask." Another twist of his wrist and he's back in his impeccable suit and wire-rimmed glasses. He reaches up and removes the glasses, that he very much doesn't need, and tucks them into his breast pocket. This is him. Not Hei Pao Shi, not Professor Shen, just Shen Wei, a very imperfect man.

"It is... difficult, to let that go," he admits.