His own sister complex prevented him from reading too much into those tones. Let's face it... his sister in any iteration is amazing. Having Zahra corroborate softened his opinion of her. Beating Atem would have held more weight for him, if he knew who that was. Still- it sounded impressive. "She figured out how to defeat the Winged Dragon of Ra?!" That really got his attention as he clenched a fist and leaned forward hanging on every word. "I always knew she had it in her...... ya know.. if she wanted ta take up dueling dat is." Dialing it back a little. "Sounds like it was no small feat taking down dat Atem guy either."

"Ritual and fusions huh?" Looking thoughtful as he tried to envision the monsters themselves. "Hey- I'm no stranger to fusion monsters myself so maybe she got that from me." Sounding hopeful, but then he remembered something Zahra said earlier. "Er.... or I guess not in your world since..... I... don't seem to be in da picture." It was a little sobering actually. "she beat Kaiba?! Before me?!" Should he be proud or jealous? Proud right? This is his sister... but... he'd been working so hard and even he hadn't pulled it off yet!

"Course I am! I couldn't be prouder." Beaming at that. They had apparently found some common ground. "Serenity.... she's always been da better Wheeler, ya know?" It felt a little weird admitting it to this odd Téa but there you have it. "I mean.. as a person and everything. She encourages me to want to be a better person myself..... "