[He cocks his head, eyes widening in mock-incredulity.] … What is this? A sense of humour? [Such a rare sound - he hadn’t heard Hector laugh in years. Long has it been since he could stand before his fellow Forgemaster with neither of them lunging at each others throats; somehow, this tenuous peace is infinitely more uncomfortable to him.] Have you struck your head on something along the way?

[Snorting softly, he looks to Firebrand hovering at his side and extending a hand to scratch it fondly under its snout as one might a kitten.]

Mysterious forces, indeed… [He muses aloud, smiling mirthlessly at the thought of his own unnatural existence. Dead flesh reanimated once more. Did you grieve, he is tempted to ask on a whim, wondering with a sharp twist in his gut what he meant to Hector if anything at all - - but he bites it back, watching Firebrand's eyelids slide shut in pleasure as he continues to scratch.]