Charlotte let Ethan’s story and explanation settle, unsure of how to respond. She had heard of soldiers going AWOL before, and she never truly understood why, but then again... she didn’t know half of how scary it must’ve been. She was a generally open minded person, and before she jumped to any conclusions, or called him a ‘coward’ as many would, she tried to put herself in his shoes. He was young, and he had just recently lost both his arms and his legs, and no doubt some friends along the way. After he regained his limbs, they dropped him into the most hostile place ther possible could, and he was scared. Old memories were likely to come back, and he wanted out, so he ran. She can’t blame him for fear, everyone fears something. She has done things in the past that she regrets, wished she could take back. Shit happens, people mess up, life goes on and repeat.<br/><br/>She could tell that admitting this to her was very difficult for him to do, and she didn’t blame him. You don’t get many people around here that just accept an AWOL soldier, she’d seen one before and things didn’t end too well for him...or his family. They split up, they had to. But she wasn’t one of those people. She was Charlotte. He had been through so much so far, and there’s was likely more hidden behind his anger-fused walls. She didn’t realize she was lost in her head until she heard him accepting her abandonment of him before she was even able to give him her two cents. She shook her head as he cast his eyes away, trying to find his eyes. “I don’t think you give me enough credit. I’m not going to ditch you based on a mistake that you made years ago.. besides, everyone deserves a second chance. Well, a third chance.” She laughed a little, finally catching his eyes.<br/><br/>“If anything, I’d be more inclined to help you. You got off to a rough start, and that’s okay. Now you’ve just got to find your way back. But I mean, you saved me from getting most likely killed in that alley, I kind of owe you.” She offered him a smile, tucking her hair to move it out of her face. She trailed her eyes over his metallic limbs. They interested her, she was a roboticist after all. They had a glint in the sunlight, “Can I ?” She gestured to his arm, she just wanted to look. She hadn’t ever seen the military grade prosthetics, she tended to create her own.<br/><br/>She was honestly excited about then prospect of him working alongside her. She knew that he wasn’t a scientist, and that he may not have the steadiest hands, but he could help her a lot. Aside from that, she worked alone, it would be nice to have some company. He may even be able to get her sleep back on track, though she wasn’t thinking about that. He’d have to actually notice her issue anyways, and no one ever did.