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Thorite flinched when he heard her voice, taking half a step back before he even really knew how he was reacting.

"Yeah," he muttered in response to the remark about him having lived. "Fortunate."

Part of him wondered what would've happened if he had just died then, and that part of him scared him. He looked at her with dead eyes.

"If you're here to just pick a fight again, I don't want to hear it," he said flatly. "There's been no souls taken tonight. By me, anyway."

The scary part of him wondered if missing quota would get him tortured and killed, or just killed, or something even worse. He wouldn't know. And the same scary part of him didn't care.

Just... wanted all of this to end, somehow. Either at the hands of the people that were supposed to be his friends, or the hands of his enemies. Maybe provoking Houshi would be a good thing, hasten that end that the scary part of him longed for, even as a better part of him said that was a stupid idea.

It was hard to listen to either voice, resulting in his almost robotic voice and movements when faced with trying to make the decision in front of someone who could very well make it for him.

Thorite blinked. Well. That was unexpected. His wisp burbled and flew around to bob around Houshi for a moment curiously.

"Interesting," he finally said. "Surprised you're not just going for my throat for existing."

He wanted to have the energy to be more nasty, more antagonistic, but mostly, he just felt lifeless.

"... Name's Thorite, by the way."

No, he supposed not every encounter had to be a battle. It seemed like she'd wanted it that way, the first night they'd met, but she was a bit different now. That was nice.

He smiled slightly at her in return before his expression changed to pure shock. "Has it been months already?" he asked a bit dazedly. "Time means nothing... But, uh, yeah. It, uh. Just followed me home. I haven't been able to come up with a name for the thing. I dunno. Just hasn't felt like the right time. Nothing has... fit, yet."

The wisp squealed, swirling itself around Houshi's head to mess with her hair before bobbing back over to Thorite and flipping his hat from his head.

"Though I'm considering just calling it Loki since it's so mischievious," he said playfully, directing his speech to the wisp itself as he picked up his hat and situated it on his head again. "Plus, matching names. Be kinda cute, huh?"

Thorite chuckled a bit, just shrugging as she corrected her mistake. It wasn't that big a deal, not really.

"Gee... Well... I'm probably not allowed to say this, but I'm glad you seem to have healed well," he said anyway, nodding at her. "Fighting that thing was...."

He shuddered, petting the wisp as it cuddled up to him again. "I'm just glad that the pieces of it are only mischievous and not, like, killer baby godzillas." He smiled as it settled in his hands, seemingly melting with happiness.

How was he the happiest he'd been in a while, standing here, talking to an enemy who'd beaten him up twice?

Maybe it was a sign.

He'd have to think about that more deeply when he was both alone and not in Negaspace, though. He was too irrationally afraid his thoughts could be heard while he slept in the barracks.

Thorite nodded, smiling at her a bit again.

"I... should go," he muttered, looking around. "Look, I... I promise to just go straight home. I know that probably means little to you, and if it would make you feel better, you can knock me out again or something."

His wisp burbled in alarm and he gave it some reassuring pets.