Did Stark just apologise? Really? That just happened. He apologised. For a minute Solomon watched Stark with a blank expression, his tired mind moving through the motivations and reasonings. Really, it was the part about Raine that told the most; Stark wasn't really sorry for Solomon's sake. It was to placate Raine in some fashion. Solomon didn't think she'd asked for this, but it was something a youth like Stark could come up with if he was feeling guilty or seeking to escape a lecture.

Solomon sighed and turned away to move to the chair and sit, reaching for his shoes. "Don't apologise unless you mean it," he said frankly, pulling one on to lace it. "Certainly don't thank me for something I would have done anyway. We were at war. Of course I 'had your back'. That's how wars work against a common enemy."

It was almost insulting, to be thanked for it as though it was unusual; as if Solomon would have actually stood aside and let Malicant win against all logic just because Stark annoyed him. Almost--Solomon didn't have the energy to take offence.