It wasn't really a good argument and she knew it. Soma pressed her lips together, expecting an immediate rebuttal. No doubt he was going to say something about how well the last time she'd decided to go off while injured had turned out (although he'd been the one to drag her off to their destination that night, so maybe the comparison wasn't as fitting as she thought it was).

But the Once-ler didn't say anything at all. Instead, he pulled something out of his pocket--a pebble? It was hard to tell in the dim light--and stared at it for a moment. Then he sighed, moving behind her and beginning to push in what could almost be considered a gesture of surrender if she weren't still so sure he was going to find some way of talking her out of it.

"What was that?" she asked instead, a little warily. "The...thing. In your pocket."