[He does open his eyes curiously, and the expression surprises him before Ryan elaborates.]

Shit. [His brow furrows a bit.] I always wondered what manifesting was like for a telepath. Suddenly you can hear what everyone's thinking - how do you know you're not just nuts all of a sudden? Do you know? If you can impel people, when d'you figure out why people are all doing what you want all the time, or is that normal to you?

[It's his way of saying he understands. Putting it in terms he gets. You're living in a completely different reality.]

When did it happen? As long as you can remember?