[Onni finds himself quite gratified when Nikolai simply listens to him, doesn't interject with anything stupid, and just takes in what he has to say. He does interject, though, saying very sarcastically that the ghosts and hallucinations sound tempting, and Onni replies with a very straight-faced sarcasm of his own.]

If you find ghosts and hallucinations tempting, maybe you'll like it here.

[Is there a distinct tone of judgement in that? Yes, yes there is.]

Though be careful, the ghosts are what did this to my face!

[Besides that, they'd reminded him of how the ghosts that had menaced Lalli and Tuuri and the others on the mission had been described, something unlike most other creatures out in the Silent World. It had been...particularly traumatic for him, because of that. Seeing those ghosts. Thinking about what they'd done to his sister and how she'd been injured. How she'd died.

For a moment, his eyes go red around the edges, because he's thinking of it too much, dwelling on it too much. Without a mission here, without something to occupy his time beyond making sure Brook doesn't kill himself, it's been almost impossible not to dwell on it.

If Nikolai is revealing anything about himself by making the assumption that it's a war at home making it dangerous, Onni doesn't get it, doesn't assume anything about Nikolai himself. Maybe about his world, but not him himself.]

No, it's not war. It's a disease called the Rash, which ended the Old World and corrupts the bodies and souls of the people who get it.

[His mouth tightens as he talks about it, his eyes flicking away from Nikolai, his even, steady gaze shifting for the first time.]

I only hope they decontaminated me well enough to make sure it didn't come here on my clothes.