"No," she argues, pushing back, but he keeps going over the top of her. She has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from saying that it is like that, was like that back home. People left, people disappeared, they defected. They died out on missions you weren't part of, you never saw a body, only heard a story. Or drew your own conclusions when they stopped showing up at breakfast.

Benedict is upset, and trying not to show it. Abby waits him out. She isn't looking at him either, she's picking bits off her bread but not bringing them to her mouth any more, opting to create a pile to the side of her plate.

"I get it. Okay? I do, I just—" How does she explain this? It's difficult. She's frowning thoughtfully. "Fenris told me about what happens when people are exposed to lyrium. When he was here, I mean, he told me, and it's fucked up. And we all just fucking died and came back." Though, not all of them did; Jude is gone, and what Ellie said is true. She is mad and upset, and burying it under other things, lashing out in a different direction. She breathes out. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you guys. And this lyrium shit feels bad."