[ The heat in his cheeks doesn't escape her notice; unfortunately, it serves to inspire her own to return somewhat, and once again her gaze drops from his, a stubborn frown on her face. In some ways, she thinks, they're on opposite sides of the same conflict. While she wipes out Abyss operatives wherever she can, the name of her game is finding the information she needs to track them further— Diluc's vengeance, it seems, drives him in the opposite direction.

But just as she would never want him to try to change the way she handles things, she would never dare ask him to alter his.

A breath, and she makes herself look back up at him, her expression serious as she nods. ]

Okay. Good. I— [ another breath, the sound of it rushing from between her lips as she tries to find the right way to say what she's thinking ] —I have no right to ask anything else of you. I barely even have the right to ask that, but...

Thank you.

[ She's annoyed, she realizes. Not with him, but with herself. Far too easily has she walked into this trap, this fire that has scorched away the outer shell of ice that keeps her safe. And what if he gets hurt; what then? There's always going to be a part of her now that worries for him.

(It's a nice trade-off that at least for now though that said worry covers up the deeper-seated worries of being abandoned.

But that's not the point.)

She glares at him. ]

This was easier when I didn't like you.