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[The song winds down and she stops dancing on silence's cue, her head cocked slightly to the side, her eyes cast in a curious gleam. What exactly he has in mind is lost on her, but damned if she doesn't want to find out. Still, there are limits to how much of herself she's willing to give away in public. The mood of the dance is easy enough to explain away, but walking off together this early into the event – even if just to take an innocent stroll around the premises – creates implications that she's not quite ready to deal with yet. In part because they're at least a little bit true and impossible to shrug aside now.
So before breaking apart, she says, softly:]
I'll be waiting by the entry hall.
[Which she follows up with a more normal-toned.]
Thank you for the dance, Lion. Your footwork is impressive.
[Having taken a step back, Jeremiah turns a considering eye to her in turn. He can only guess what her expression means, but her willingness isn't the least bit in doubt and that's enough. He's just not thinking about others anymore, beyond the opportunity to show off together. Any eyes on them aren't looking for a scandalous piece of gossip about a princess of Britannia and her current company. Tonight, as any other night, they're another two more people on the island.
And if they'll make assumptions otherwise, well, let them.]
I would say the same for you. It's always a pleasure to be well-matched on the dance floor.
[Modest as he can be, with the mood he's been in since arriving. Jeremiah bows as is customary, though his smile is no less familiar as he straightens. From a slight distance, he realizes he's never made a like comparison, even if her dress gives him plenty of options.]
[A smile – halved and impish – followed by the faintest of nods, and then she turns and walks away, weaving through the crowd of dancers awaiting the next song, then slipping out through the door. There's a flutter in her chest that would have bothered her once for the way it distracts from so much else, but this time she allows it to expand unimpeded, as she had done all those weeks ago in the cave.
Its fluttering then, though of a different nature, had freed her, too, and for all the traces of her former life that she wears either like badges or like scars, that freedom to be herself is at once the most daunting and the most enticing.
He'll find her where she said she'd be, stark dress and starker hair standing out against the subdued walls. As prone as she is towards filling any gaps of inactivity with one productive thing or another – perusing the network, answering messages, doing what little research she hasn't done yet – this time she's just waiting, focusing on nothing at all aside from how this mood began and how it might end. When Jeremiah arrives, that focus draws her to him like it's magnetic, and she moves to meet him halfway.]
Where will we be going? Or do you intend for it to be a surprise?
[Jeremiah doesn't keep her waiting for long, just gives it enough time so it's not glaringly obvious that they're leaving together. Not that he's becoming any more worried about whoever may be watching. He might even invite the attention, were it not for the charade they've been playing at. Cornelia might intend to keep it going and he'll gladly follow suit, but the smile he ends up giving her as he approaches is far warmer, more familiar than would fit.
As if he could be sorry. Forget even his ego; he can't help but feel some kind of special with her waiting for him, greeting him as she is, looking like a vision in her evening wear.]
I actually haven't decided. I thought we might simply pick a direction and go about the perimeter. See what we find.
[Secrets and back entrances, overgrown landscaping under the moonlight, perhaps nothing. It's not what he's the most concerned with. Even if they continue to act as strangers, it'll be nice to have a little space, a little quiet for just the two of them.
Offering his arm, his smile doesn't wane.] Shall we?
[No, the game is over now. The waters have been tested and she and Jeremiah aren't sinking beneath them, but are buoyantly bobbing above. So she meets familiarity with familiarity, warmth with warmth.]
An adventure then, is it...?
[And while normally adventure carries much different, much more dangerous connotations here, such thoughts only exist as the faintest twitch at the back of her mind. They aren't scouting unknown territory or wandering headstrong and foolhardy into a blizzard. There are no monsters prowling the area, no traps or tricks or pitfalls. For once since their arrival, she's all right with accepting that they're just two people and this is just a quiet evening.]
We shall.
[And she takes his arm, falling into step beside him.]
Something of the sort, depending on what we may come across.
[Or it might not become much of an adventure at all, which sounds just as fine by him. Given everything involved in the "adventures" he's had so far here, relative calm couldn't go amiss. He could always be wrong; when they're graced with these sorts of celebrations, it all-too-often seems to come with traps or a catch, but nothing has befallen him so far.
Either they're safe or whatever it is simply hasn't happened yet. Hoping for the former, Jeremiah leads them outward to the grounds beyond the temple.]
I've been well, largely keeping to my engagements with the greenhouse and the stables outside town. [Blissful stability in a productive routine, perhaps his best defense against going crazy here.] And yourself?
[Said warmly, almost wistfully. Her own transition into a less hectic life hasn't been quite as settled. Or settled at all, really, when at the end of the day her hobby is patrolling and doing her damnedest to build up war readiness against a still incomprehensible enemy. But she is who she is, and as much as she might have changed, there are some things about her that will always remain constant.
Thus, her response:]
I've been speaking with Lloyd about exploring underwater. We won't get anywhere here until we determine the point of entry, the nature of any barriers keeping us stranded here, and where those monsters that attacked the hospital came from.
Perhaps more so now than I was, at the rate I'm going. I'd certainly never tended animals before coming here.
[As he says humorously in turn, but he also no longer finds the necessity of their self-sufficiency as depressing as he used to. If anything, he's continually impressed by the progress other residents make, patchwork as it may have to be. Jeremiah won't be the first person to admit he's acclimating after all, but he can see it happening within himself, towards the better things people are bringing forth.
So of course, his face lights up with new interest.] The ocean, then? That's an excellent idea, considering how little it's been tapped for information.
And how important it seems to be to the Augur, [She says, carrying Jeremiah's line of thought to its natural destination.] Or perhaps it's best to say how important it is to the island itself.
[A pause, contemplative. Though she's mulled over the ocean's many possibilities time and time again, it's never really produced results. Under other circumstances, she might have let the feeling shift her mood back towards where it usually falls when she's facing up against a grand threat with no idea of where to begin, but she doesn't want to darken the evening's mood. Doesn't want to deny either one of them a more relaxing time for once.]
New arrivals rise from there; enemies as well. I daresay it may be holding more secrets than anything else here.
[Jeremiah nods several times in agreement, looking more encouraged than dampened by discussion of the things keeping them captive when the discussion itself is about progress. Even with his own far-flung goals, this seems more tangible, more immediate. Freedom will take the efforts of many, but he also has a particular amount of faith in his cohorts.]
It must be, considering those very facts. It's certainly an effective place to obscure something important, perhaps even more so than the fog.
[Unlikely that it's not with fewer challenges to traverse, but again, he has faith. Cornelia seems at her most driven when in pursuit, and Lloyd won't stay still once something gains his interest.]
He wants to begin by sending a remote controlled submersible down into the ocean's depths; once we've determined what's down there, the intention is to explore even further by sending a team down in the Gawain, which will be fitted with modifications to make it viable as an underwater vessel.
[And for the first time in a while, she actually sounds somewhat enraptured by the potential to accomplish something here. Trapped for nearly a year in a drought of information, she latches onto this plan as if it will provide her with a sustenance she's been sorely lacking.]
[Well that answers one question he had. As delightful as the idea of something like Cornelia herself navigating the unseen depths in a tiny submarine sounds, an unmanned one is undoubtedly safer for an initial scouting.]
It sounds like a perfect place to start.
[Jeremiah means it, but particularly due to how she speaks. It's a glimpse of the energy he'd been used to seeing her carry around, now that she's got a footing somewhere; it's impossible not to be heartened by it, his smile wide.]
A craft with combat ability likely would be the best choice for a deeper dive. If there are things that are key to the functions of the island, I'd expect defenses to match.
[Leave it to him to sound more excited than concerned about that.]
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no subject
So before breaking apart, she says, softly:]
I'll be waiting by the entry hall.
[Which she follows up with a more normal-toned.]
Thank you for the dance, Lion. Your footwork is impressive.
no subject
And if they'll make assumptions otherwise, well, let them.]
I would say the same for you. It's always a pleasure to be well-matched on the dance floor.
[Modest as he can be, with the mood he's been in since arriving. Jeremiah bows as is customary, though his smile is no less familiar as he straightens. From a slight distance, he realizes he's never made a like comparison, even if her dress gives him plenty of options.]
I'll meet you there, Miss Swan.
no subject
Its fluttering then, though of a different nature, had freed her, too, and for all the traces of her former life that she wears either like badges or like scars, that freedom to be herself is at once the most daunting and the most enticing.
He'll find her where she said she'd be, stark dress and starker hair standing out against the subdued walls. As prone as she is towards filling any gaps of inactivity with one productive thing or another – perusing the network, answering messages, doing what little research she hasn't done yet – this time she's just waiting, focusing on nothing at all aside from how this mood began and how it might end. When Jeremiah arrives, that focus draws her to him like it's magnetic, and she moves to meet him halfway.]
Where will we be going? Or do you intend for it to be a surprise?
no subject
As if he could be sorry. Forget even his ego; he can't help but feel some kind of special with her waiting for him, greeting him as she is, looking like a vision in her evening wear.]
I actually haven't decided. I thought we might simply pick a direction and go about the perimeter. See what we find.
[Secrets and back entrances, overgrown landscaping under the moonlight, perhaps nothing. It's not what he's the most concerned with. Even if they continue to act as strangers, it'll be nice to have a little space, a little quiet for just the two of them.
Offering his arm, his smile doesn't wane.] Shall we?
no subject
An adventure then, is it...?
[And while normally adventure carries much different, much more dangerous connotations here, such thoughts only exist as the faintest twitch at the back of her mind. They aren't scouting unknown territory or wandering headstrong and foolhardy into a blizzard. There are no monsters prowling the area, no traps or tricks or pitfalls. For once since their arrival, she's all right with accepting that they're just two people and this is just a quiet evening.]
We shall.
[And she takes his arm, falling into step beside him.]
How have you been, Jeremiah?
no subject
[Or it might not become much of an adventure at all, which sounds just as fine by him. Given everything involved in the "adventures" he's had so far here, relative calm couldn't go amiss. He could always be wrong; when they're graced with these sorts of celebrations, it all-too-often seems to come with traps or a catch, but nothing has befallen him so far.
Either they're safe or whatever it is simply hasn't happened yet. Hoping for the former, Jeremiah leads them outward to the grounds beyond the temple.]
I've been well, largely keeping to my engagements with the greenhouse and the stables outside town. [Blissful stability in a productive routine, perhaps his best defense against going crazy here.] And yourself?
no subject
[Said warmly, almost wistfully. Her own transition into a less hectic life hasn't been quite as settled. Or settled at all, really, when at the end of the day her hobby is patrolling and doing her damnedest to build up war readiness against a still incomprehensible enemy. But she is who she is, and as much as she might have changed, there are some things about her that will always remain constant.
Thus, her response:]
I've been speaking with Lloyd about exploring underwater. We won't get anywhere here until we determine the point of entry, the nature of any barriers keeping us stranded here, and where those monsters that attacked the hospital came from.
no subject
[As he says humorously in turn, but he also no longer finds the necessity of their self-sufficiency as depressing as he used to. If anything, he's continually impressed by the progress other residents make, patchwork as it may have to be. Jeremiah won't be the first person to admit he's acclimating after all, but he can see it happening within himself, towards the better things people are bringing forth.
So of course, his face lights up with new interest.] The ocean, then? That's an excellent idea, considering how little it's been tapped for information.
no subject
[A pause, contemplative. Though she's mulled over the ocean's many possibilities time and time again, it's never really produced results. Under other circumstances, she might have let the feeling shift her mood back towards where it usually falls when she's facing up against a grand threat with no idea of where to begin, but she doesn't want to darken the evening's mood. Doesn't want to deny either one of them a more relaxing time for once.]
New arrivals rise from there; enemies as well. I daresay it may be holding more secrets than anything else here.
no subject
It must be, considering those very facts. It's certainly an effective place to obscure something important, perhaps even more so than the fog.
[Unlikely that it's not with fewer challenges to traverse, but again, he has faith. Cornelia seems at her most driven when in pursuit, and Lloyd won't stay still once something gains his interest.]
And what did Lloyd suggest?
no subject
[And for the first time in a while, she actually sounds somewhat enraptured by the potential to accomplish something here. Trapped for nearly a year in a drought of information, she latches onto this plan as if it will provide her with a sustenance she's been sorely lacking.]
no subject
It sounds like a perfect place to start.
[Jeremiah means it, but particularly due to how she speaks. It's a glimpse of the energy he'd been used to seeing her carry around, now that she's got a footing somewhere; it's impossible not to be heartened by it, his smile wide.]
A craft with combat ability likely would be the best choice for a deeper dive. If there are things that are key to the functions of the island, I'd expect defenses to match.
[Leave it to him to sound more excited than concerned about that.]