Gavin couldn't be sure if the sweat from his brow was due to the heat or his personal anxiety. Personal space was something he normally didn't think about nor had a problem with, at least in short intervals of time. Now, it was starting to really make him anxious, he was far from extroverted, and his conversational energy was distributed in small portions at a time. He started to get really nervous, he was injured and by the looks of it, the black sheep inside of this group of strangers that helped him. He was a fine judge of character, that had nothing to do with his anxiety...it was, her. His ears were red, normally that would mean he had the flu being baked in such an unusually hot environment. It was like watching an ice cube like himself, melt in the middle of a tempered frying pan. He had to ask himself, if he had any real choice in the matter in denying her proposal. He extended his left arm and received the apple from the adorable young girl. While he knew no one's name at the moment, they showed kindness and through his anxiety he'd do his earnest to shed the same without being too awkward. "Thank you." he said fleeting with a brief pause as he took a bite out of the apple. It provided two things he didn't have at the time, hydration and sustenance. He still tense, he tried not to move his dangling arm too much. The girl inquired about his health, and joining them, but would that be a good idea? "I was detained for questionable identity...you see I came to that world as an immigrant, looking for this group my hometown would rave about back home. The empire woman, and male that caught me attempted to pin me to some rebel faction. Initially, it was my own fault for resisting them, for personal reasons I can't discuss why I assaulted them first, but eventually I was cornered and forced to in a position where I gave the white flag. They weren't convinced and well..." Gavin trailed down, and looked at his right arm. "I did this to myself out of desperation, and sure enough they didn't execute me right then and there." he let out a sigh, before he took another bite from the apple and turned to the girl again. "I thank you for your charity, could you let me think about joining you? When my arm has recovered, i'll give you my answer then." He sounded a little shaken towards the end of that. His sister seemed to be his priority thought at the given time, his eyes dimmed a bit and all went dark. If someone said something to him just this moment, he was so far removed that he couldn't hear anyone speaking to him. ----------- //Salforge ----------- It wasn't much to truly dissect, but he was to a point more involved with the situation. The girl that Salforge caught a brief glimpse of...that he almost destroyed if not for the reflexes of one of the intruders. He had to reassess his priorities for the next encounter, it was all too wild to fathom currently. He'd invest his thoughts on this "pure of heart" it rang in his head, his memories from his past as an apprentice that preceded his career as a mercenary. She needed only say that, the rest, he quickly dissolved as a former student of DiZ. "That's fine, that information alone is plenty to ascertain what to do next." he harked in monotone. His eyes briefly fell upon Nomis from the corner of his eye, giving but a glance before turning back to Ryoko. "To think that even the empire has a mole on every street corner of every world with a grip of influence." He offered a clearly fabricated smile, his eyes always gave this away, they were cold and listless, also ruby red. "It's citizens like these that never hesitate to dip their hands into the dark pools, for a chance to consume light. Their greed is all too impressive, although hardly enough to merit something remarkable. Hah." He started to ease into his more comfortable means of talking, he mused here and there, then his sardonic personality began to bloom. Releasing a sigh, he felt his breath was ice cold, his body was far from warm, yet he never questioned what he already know and why it was. He placed his hand on his right breast, and purged a small hexagonal box. "This is probably the only time I'll ever show you this-" Salforge held it in front, "CI" was engraved on the front. "This is my heart." All jests and jokes aside, this was as serious as Salforge would probably ever be in tandem with the general. He'd gotten to know one of the general's quite well, he'd like to think he made an accurate determination of the short-fused Ryoko.