He was about to get a little more annoyed - between the 'not as human as me' and the 'human skin' part - but she successfully completely derailed the train of thought with the word 'handsome'. Alex Kamal, despite being quite handsome, is really really not used to people actually thinking so.

So he just blinks at her, openly surprised for a couple seconds, and then gives her a sheepish, shy smile, the barest hint of colour on his cheeks.

"Well now, I don't know about that," he said, all the earlier annoyance completely diffused. "But no, I'm just human. Thing is, Mars ain't like Earth. Only got a third of the gravity and the horizon's a hell of a lot smaller - when you're even outside. Most of us live in domes, the whole time. So gettin' down on Earth... Not only does it feel like the planet's tryin' to crush your bones to dust, but anytime you look up into the sky it feels like yer about to fall into it. I'd heard about it, from other Martians, but. There ain't nothin' quite like bein' here yourself."