It was, without a doubt, the longest she'd ever seen Connor go without speaking. Not that she minded, exactly. Sometimes, there was something comfortable about silence. Even companionable. It was only that she wished she knew what he was thinking. Trying to prove what she'd said happened hadn't actually happened? He liked to explain things in a logical, rational way. Unfortunately, she feared, the only explanation was the outrageous one. She was still having trouble accepting it herself. And she liked to give a lot of leeway when it came to benefit of the doubt.

When he finally started speaking again, she didn't have any closer clue as to what was going through his mind. She was going to have to watch him more carefully in the future. Even he had to have some kind of tell.

...right?

People just did. And Connor, despite his protestations otherwise, was definitely a person.

Which made her answer simple enough. "Like I said, we didn't want anyone else to get sick. That includes you. And...Connor. This plague didn't seem to care about species. It took us all down. Human. Alastrian. Orc. It didn't matter. I would never have forgiven myself if it got you too."