'Sponsors' makes it sound a bit more like a sugar daddy relationship, but maybe that's just his weird mind. Pause. He eyes her costume. "Can I ask about that, by the way, or is it too weird?" Boldly going where even Martel won't, evidently.

As far as his magic... he frowns and shrugs. "Maybe." It was almost certainly the final push for his Awakening, but he doesn't even want to think how long this has been building.