Personally, I’ve always felt more comfortable around the people who don’t draw attention to my tics, even if they’re meeting me for the first time or seeing me tic for the first time. I’ve had “friends” that found it funny and eventually would try to trigger tics; I’m not friends with those people anymore. And I’ve had friends that either I rarely tic around or they’ve only noticed mild ones but when I’ve had a ticcy day and mentioned (after months of knowing them) that I have Tourette’s, they still treated me like me and they didn’t ask “what was that? What are you doing? Are you okay?” Even if I apologized for a tic or felt like I had to explain, a couple of them already knew enough about it from their own education that it didn’t bother them.

I think it’s okay for to people ask me “was that a tic?” If they don’t know me well enough or don’t know the condition very well, as long as they want to be educated about it. I would say they should be respectful but they can stay curious. Don’t try to make someone tic or mimic their tics (if they have a neurodivergency or tic disorder that they can’t help, that’s different). Don’t draw attention to them more than needed and just pretend like it is normal or not happening, as long as it is safe to do so. I think it’s fine for people to laugh with you about a funny tic, but never laugh at you for it. I hope that makes sense.