For a while he just... stares at her, an ambivalent expression on his face. Was he grateful for her coming around and bothering him and being annoying when the sight of most of the people he used to talk to made him want to heave? Not really.

Was he grateful for the sentiment? Well, he wasn't normally a very sentimental person. But the rest of his mental processes had already been torn down at least twice by now.

"...I've seen you in action. If it was the other way around we'd both be screwed."

He wasn't smiling, and in fact had let a stray eye return to his work as he started moving some tools around. But there was still a twinge of biting snark to it like there used to be.