The voice that spoke first was not the same one he'd heard before. It fell sweet on Sylvester's ears, even if it held a harsh tone. He was near the door when that voice called out his name. When he turned to the figure behind the voice, he was intrigued by the face that stood before him. Those ears were perked rather than pushed back in submission. Even though the situation had turned out differently than he initially thought, he felt a mixture of negative and possitive emotions. But most pressing on his mind was the hand extended to him. He accepted it with a firm, confident grasp and shook Max's hand for the first time. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mandeville-- Max. If we're on first name terms, please call me Sylvester." He didn't often let people shorten his name; it usually sounded feminine when they did. Only people he liked got to shorten his name.<br/><br/>Now that true introductions were out of the way, he felt a little obligated to honesty, especially because he'd just expressed a willingness to walk out the door no matter how badly he needed this. "I don't typically take kindly to deception, Max, but seeing the state of society as it is, I can't blame you for wanting to test someone before you consider hiring them." He kept looking at Max's ears... He knew it was probably impolite, but truthfully he'd never stood so close to a neko who wasn't wearing a hat or clothes to hide their inhuman features. He forced himself to look away from them while their hands dropped apart and he glanced over at a painting in the foyer. He wondered how many prized paintings were within the estate. Probably enough to give him goosebumps if the owner loved art as much as he did antiques.<br/><br/>"I appologize if I came off as rude or unprofessional. I have to say I'm relieved by this in a number of ways. If you're in this position, you clearly care a great deal about the business, and not just the money behind it." He already knew what problems likely faced a man like Max. Even if he was the most brilliant antique dealer, it didn't matter to most people as soon as they saw what he was or where he came from. It made sense to want to bring in someone who could take over the face to face meetings, while the Mastermind remained behind the curtain, pulling the strings.<br/><br/>"Please," he gestured toward the sitting room, his demeanor relaxed. Sylvester had submitted himself to giving up a job he was certain that he would have loved... And now he could barely convince himself that this was reality. He didn't even know for certain if Max would decide to hire him, but he would do his best to impress. "I'd be quite interested to continue with a proper interview. An opportunity to work for your company is one I would not like to pass up."