[i]"...only human, after all."[/i] She stared across the short distance between them, ignoring the sharp scent of burning flesh and the soot which stung her eyes and throat. He stared back, and she could feel his judgment. She could feel what she could only assume was pure hatred - if a machine could feel such a thing at all. The eruption of Solar Light which had just solved so many of her problems felt good. It was a natural rebuke against the crushing Darkness, the universe as a whole which insisted upon trying to snuff her out. The refugees who had been caught in the explosion as well, fleeing the Fallen? Well, they deserved it too. She couldn't defend them and herself at the same time. She had no obligation to them. Maybe if they were dead, a Ghost would find one or two of them and make them into Guardians - maybe they'd come back as something useful, as she had. Reality was, she didn't care either way. [i]"What?"[/i] Her voice was gravely. Scratchy. There was something in the soot which felt like sand paper in the back of her throat. She felt like her throat was closing, and resisted the urge to wipe her eyes on the back of her gloves. They too were stained with what remained of ally and enemy alike. It was the soot. She couldn't figure out just what she'd burned away which made her react this way - but if it was an allergic reaction, some kind of slow acting poison, she figured she'd just die and her Ghost would resurrect her yet again. Might be uncomfortable, but she'd live. Again. [b]He[/b] didn't answer her. He stared back with eyes which appeared as small white discs in his head. She couldn't tell precisely what expression he held---or just how she was so certain [i]he[/i] was a [b]he[/b], but she knew. The black paint of his face---the front chassis of his head---was unblemished. She could hardly see the sections which enabled Exo to have some semblance of expression. His 'mouth' was closed. The thin line present there also seemed judgmental to her, as was his silence. He stared back at her. She started to pick herself up, and then he moved. In a blur, she'd drawn one of her many sidearms from the small of her back. In a quicker blur, he'd presented his left hand to her. Palm out, fingers spread. Signalling her to stop. She didn't. She could see that her hand was quivering as she leveled the weapon at the Exo, but she didn't lower it even still. Watched his shining eyes jump from her face, to the weapon, and back. His head tipped to the right slightly. His eyes dimmed, angled sideways than upward then back to her. [i]"...d'ja just... roll your eyes at me?"[/i] Her throat hurt. It felt like something were trying to work its way up out of her chest, some sort of explosion she hadn't quite managed to pack into the one which had just turned her immediate environment into ash. The Exo squinted at her. Or rather, meaningfully placed plates slid down just a touch to cover the white discs shining otherwise steadily in his head. Then he moved again. His other hand came forward, this time with a weapon --- but it was hers. The grip was presented to her, the barrel facing him. One of her sidearms. The one she'd dropped just before she detonated. It was still smoldering. It looked half melted. But it was hers, and he was handing it back to her. [i]"You really wanna give me a weapon, after that?"[/i] She grated out. Blinked rapidly, trying to clear her eyes. She didn't like not being able to see clearly, and was determined to keep her eyes open. Didn't want him to get the wrong idea about the tears streaming down her cheeks, but it was either that or risk him getting the drop on her. [i]"Safer."[/i] His voice was a deep, synthetic rumble. His 'mouth' didn't move. She just saw white flashes from beneath the creases along his cheeks. It seemed his 'mouth' was fixed in a specific orientation. It didn't open or close. He had no attempt at a nose either. A purely plain, functional design - somebody hadn't bother to make sure the poor bastard could smile. [i]"Safer if you have this. Seen what you do otherwise."[/i] She glared at him. He stared back. She moved this time... and he didn't. She took her left hand away from her weapon, still shakily presenting the barrel to him with her right. He still didn't move. She pulled herself up from her knees, distantly aware of an uncomfortable crunch as she shifted. She didn't look down to see what that crunch was---it could have been vitrified soil, it could have been charred flesh, it could have been flaking bone. She decided not to care. Her throat hurt too bad for her to say anything about it anyway. She felt like if she opened her mouth to comment, that explosion would happen. Maybe she was starting to feel sick. Lack of oxygen. Breathing in flesh particles couldn't have been healthy. Her Ghost would let her know if it was anything serious, and her Ghost was still silent. Reaching out with the left hand, she took the offered weapon in her palm. Drew her hand up to bring sidearm into her line of sight so that she could survey it without taking her eyes off of him. It was mostly junk in this state. Her equipment was designed to be, though. Cheap parts, easy to re-fabricate or replace entirely. Easier if she still had something left, though, so she slowly moved to cram what was left of the melted tool into a thigh holster. He lowered his hands after she took the weapon. Stared at her for another long, tense moment. Then turned to leave. She heard his boots crunching whatever was beneath them as carelessly as she had, and something about that made her angry. [i]"I didn't mean to---"[/i] She blurted. That explosion just wouldn't keep to itself, and the sound made it start boiling out. He cut her off though, reaching behind him to hold out that staying hand again. [i]"Don't."[/i] Was all he said. She stopped. [i]"If you care, just don't do it again. Not much you could've done for them anyway. They're only human, after all."[/i] That rush of energy---she wouldn't call it emotion, not even to herself---overtook her again. How could be be so flippant? Certainly she was the same, outwardly, but... [i]"They're only human, but [b]we[/b] aren't. You're an Exo. I'm Awoken. We're Guardians."[/i] He'd taken another step or two, but he stopped again. Her right hand edged upward again slightly, ready to fire her sidearm at him if for some reason her blurted retorts brought him around to the notion that she'd just killed several helpless people while attempting to take out a few Fallen. [i]"Hnh."[/i] Was all which came out at first. [i]"Guess you're right."[/i] And then he kept walking. She decided right at that instant that she hated him. [b][i]"HEEEY!"[/i][/b] She shouted after him. Roared after him, dragging herself in the direction he was moving toward the edge of her smoldering impact crater. He didn't stop this time. He didn't stop for a long while, despite her shouting at him. At that, a few months in she began to suspect that actually he rather enjoyed the company. They were never particularly nice to one another. He was was silently judgmental, but patient. She learned quickly that he had a habit of getting himself blown away in stupid situations. He took to calling her Firefly. She took to calling him Atlas - because he seemed to always know where they were and where they were going. He was reliable, and somehow unoffending for a hulking Exo who was a passable killing machine when he wasn't getting himself blown up in new and exciting ways. Whenever she'd help his Ghost bring him back, he'd always make the same comment. [i]"Won't do that again."[/i] Plainly as though he'd just found out that trying to eat soup when it is still too hot is terribly unpleasant. She'd yell at him for it sometimes. To which he'd usually reply... [i]"Relax. I'm only Human."[/i] It was his favorite joke. It was never funny.