Shrike looked away from her, "Its unavoidable, every fight brings a scar, every fight......the reactive armor is my very bones coming to my aid, extending in size out of my skin. And they hurt about the same, buts its okay."

"'It's okay'?!" Amalia repeated. "It doesn't sound 'okay'." She added, as she folded her arms. "Like I said before, ignorance is not bliss...my ignorance caused that scar....and you say 'it's okay'? I don't think it's okay."

Shrike sighed, "I'm going to have a scar for each of my fights Amalia, every single fight that the reactive armor comes out to save my life. In the end, all these scars do is give me pain, and a mark. I can live through pain. This is nothing compared to how hellfire felt against my skin."

Amalia shook her head, and walked right up to Shirke, placing her finger against the new scar on his chest. "That's not what I meant." She stated firmly. "This is what my ignorance caused...I don't accept 'it's okay' for it. Whether it's something that would have happened at any other point is irrelevant, as far as I'm concerned, that scar is something I caused, as surely as if Frost had struck you."

Shrike smiled, "Well that cold touch of yours helped the pain, so you helped me, there, we're even......" He had a slight bit of spinal damage from the day before that hadn't fully healed. His fight against the abomination had slightly shattered two of his lower disks.

"Hardly." Amalia commented with a stern expression on her pale features. She turned slightly and walked over to the desk. "I will find someway to make this up to you. No one should be hurt by my hand, my ignorance or otherwise, unless it's warranted."

Shrike thought for a moment, "And how about I do something that warrants you to smack me, will that make us even?"

Amalia looked over her shoulder at Shirke. "What would that solve?" She demanded, with little to no expression on her face.

Shrike got up out of his chair, "It would make us even, and I wouldn't have you being such a downer right now." He walked around the room, his hands behind his back, thinking intently.

A puzzled expression formed on her pale features, as her eyes followed Shirke. "I still don't understand how that's supposed to help." She said, as she watched Shirke walk around.

Shrike sighed, then smacked the pile of papers, causing the stack to fall right onto Amalia.

"What was that for?!" Amalia shouted after unburying herself from under the papers. "You really want me to smack you." She glared at Shirke. "Did you hit your head when we fought?"

Shrike just sat there laughing for a sec, "Cause I want you to lighten up, and you weren't doing that. Nothing says lighten up, like a heavy stack of tests."

"That's an oxymoron." The expression on Amalia's face vanished, as she sat on the floor, buried in paper. "Really, all you succeeded in doing, is making a mess." She sighed.

Shrike sighed, "And so I have failed." As he walked over toward his computer, he close lined himself accidentally with an outward staff of his, flying to the ground, "Godammit......"

Amalia couldn't hold in the laughter as Shrike clotheslined himself. "I'm sorry." She said, after she had caught her breath. "I just couldn't hold it in."

Shrike smiled, "You look cute when you laugh, you know that?"

Amalia ceased her laughter and glared at Shrike. "'Cute'." The expression disappeared from her face, as she stood up from the floor. "Please keep those kinds of comments to yourself." She hissed icily.

Shrike chuckled, "Come on, are you really gonna let me off with just a tiny little comment? Is that all you've got? Come to think of it, when your angry, you still look cute." He was trying to get her to air out her anger on him.

"You're still trying to get me to slap you." Amalia hissed. "And stop saying I'm 'cute'!" She protested.

Shrike grinned, "How about, you have a lovely set of eyes, and very kissable lips."

Amalia felt a chill down her spine, as the expression melted from her face. She walked over to Shrike and slapped him across the face as hard as she could, then walked to the other end of the room. "Happy?" She spoke coldly.

Shrike's face became a very serious one, "Not happy, just pleased that we could get that over with. I don't want you to end up thinking you need to do something to help me that may get you hurt. I'm a pretty good actor, aren't I?"