[ there was at least a 50% chance of Illumi totally ignoring that, based on his odd behavior before, so Bruno is fortunately not taken off guard by the rejection; he smoothly drops his hand and shoves it into a pocket, and decides to pretend nothing happened for both of their sakes. It's fine!! ]

Mm. And protection in a place like this means prevention, as well. People like us are probably in short supply here.

[ sending out vulnerable scientists without any guard - or at least without any sufficient guard - is a clear sign they're lacking in firepower. ]

Your ability back there impressed me.