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She almost had thought he would be escorting her to the dead body. Death meant getting intelligence, forming conclusions, following leads...not looking after someone. There was no awkwardness felt from her about vein pulled along, only a sense of resignation that no vacation was safe. Probably not even off duty either.

Stormy clung to his fingers with a surprisingly steady grip, feeling his tremble with a small frown. Maybe he was just as upset he couldn't relax...And then she realized that they were at last alone. She swallowed and kept her composure, letting out a deep breath. "Yeah...Some cruise, huh?"" Stormy commented with a weak smile. Her ice cream was melting into the cone.

"So um...how have you been?" Wow that was lame. Wow like she hadn't been talking and texting. Wow.

She half chuckled. "Hopefully not...Unless it's modern day Sherlock." The noise felt distant as she ate more of her ice cream cone, pulling her phone out not to answer but to see what Nevada wanted. The preview mentioned her going towards the dead body...Stormy made a musing noise.

"Not sleeping well, or just tired of people?" she asked instead rather than answer his question, adding gently, "If you want to be alone, I can leave. I know that feeling of needing to be alone very well..." Especially with the new drama. His hand got a small squeeze in return and she didn't know why.

"Oh, I dunno! You're British and smart, I could be Watson for you," she chirped. "I'll even do the limp like the newest BBC version, and you can stay your dry humored self and...yeah." She didn't know why she was trying to joke; maybe to alleviate the subtly rising tension before it reached a fever pitch like it had in the infirmary. If she stayed cool and light, everything would be just fine. Stormy didn't want to throw more on either of them now that it was evident there was something going on upon this ship.

She wanted to fiddle with her fingers or bite her nails, but neither was possible with he ice cream cone. Her brows knitted as she slid her hand out of Gale's and fished a napkin out of her little purse. "There we go: don't want that going on your handsome suit," she said as she wiped the drops of ice cream off his hand and then pressed it to the cone. "But I'm sorry to hear...Can I ask why?" Maybe he'd gone on another mission after Jake's and gotten stressed...Or maybe, she hated to think, it had something to do with their last encounter.

Her hand curled back close to her chest at Gale's last comment, at once touched and wary. She believed him, truly, and past experience lent to his assertion. But the past had a way of messing with her--no doubt Thane touching on certain memories to make her purposefully uncertain--and so her smile was with mixed emotion as she dipped her head coquettishly. "That's very kind of you...I'm glad someone on the island tolerates me." Stormy gestured with her head down the hall. "D'you still want to sit down somewhere? We should get some fresh air."

"You should eat some more of that before it drips all the way down~ Or I'll eat it for you!" Holmes and Watson! Will and Elizabeth! Even if she didn't feel half as cool as the pirate queen, Stormy laughed at his joke, because they really were sort of partners in crime: whether it was making an escape out of the infirmary, testing new equipment, or keeping track of each other on the battle field, they'd managed to pair off pretty well.

So maybe, if she took a deep breath...

Storm made a soft musing noise and nodded, as she didn't know how to approach such a cause. "I...should probably talk to you about that mission," she said a little softly. "Some things happened after you were forced away, and I haven't been sleeping well either." Not that insomnia and nightmares and a brain that refused to sleep was new for her, but it was an unpleasant experience doubled by the fact that Thane's assertions about the fallacy of friendship had been, in that moment, almost horribly true.

Gale's offer was odd to handle. On the one hand, Stormy wanted to investigate what a full hunter's room looked like and see if it could really accommodate three people...On the other, Gale wanted to talk to her in his room. And give her something. Alone. It wasn't supposed to be anything, of course she didn't think he'd try, but...God, she touched her cheek lightly and felt how pink it was getting; Gale's blushing affliction seemed contagious today. Ophelia bought her ice cream, Nevada wanted to stay roomies, Gale was looking out for her.

It made her, strangely, want to cry. Not so strangely, it also made her clingy.

But she smiled instead, brighter than before, because she knew that mask so well and hated so much to make people fuss.

"I was wondering what the rooms looked like..." She hesitated, then offered her hand again. "And you know, curiosity's my biggest purpose. Let us go then, you and I~"

She hummed a little to herself as they walked, even going so far as to swing their hands a little. It was a childish motion she couldn't let go of, a small comfort on a large boat that held a secret that might--would spell trouble for them all. The jazz music was out of range now, but she still kept her steps light, the rhythm and the melody having not quite left her mind; it clung like water droplets on a cup. She wished in a petty way that the screaming had not come from the lobby . . . Maybe she could have danced a little more. Maybe she could have asked--

"Whoa." Stormy peered into the room with wide eyes, a look of wonder crossing her face. She was almost afraid to step in and disturb the peace of such a comfortable looking layout. "They're not kidding about first class . . ." Delicately, like the room was just an illusion, she stepped in, clutching at her purse and ready to investigate. And also take her shoes off for a bit and wiggle her toes.

"If there's a reason for me to go full hunter now, I think for perks like these I'll try even harder," she commented happily, lapping up her ice cream before it could drip to the floor. "I don't even want to know what my room would be like . . ."

"I told you to eat," she chastised him teasingly, reducing her ice cream to a mold of the cone before nibbling on the waffle itself. "And you were talking about a Vermonster earlier!" She caught sight of the bag, but not quite what store; and perhaps it was better to delay that knowledge until he decided to present it to her, though it was hard not to try and peek as her curiosity often demanded.

As Gale set about cleaning the spill, Stormy ghosted further in, examining the curtains and furniture with a smile. Everything was a soft sort of color, which was nice . . . relaxing even. This was as good place to talk as any. She was set to settle down on the sofa bed when her eyes strayed to the balcony. Stormy paused, pondered, then slipped off her shoes and tucked them out of the way. She might not get a chance to do so again . . .

And thus she made her way to the balcony outside, sliding the door open with barely a sound. There were chairs, but Stormy was more interested in the vista Gale had. The crash of the boat against the waves, the wind teasing her hair, the undulation of colors in the sea . . . She was almost mesmerized and felt a calm come over her from the repetitive and slight motion of the boat. Taking the chance, Stormy pulled her phone out and quickly typed out a response to Nevada before she worried.





And then the phone was tucked away once more into her purse. Stormy began to finish off the remains of her ice cream as she enjoyed the view, leaning against the balcony to take some weight off her bare feet and musing.

"Mmm." Her gaze was still cast out to the waves as if waiting for something to leap out: a whale, a dolphin, the fin of a shark, a clump of sea weed, or perhaps something more impossible like an island nation on the back of a turtle, a spaceship come free from the innards of the earth, a leviathan breaking the surface with a mighty roar. All of it she saw in her inner eye, and it all looked wonderful in its own way; there was a dreamy sort of smile on her face. The sunlight made her want to curl up and sleep like a cat, to perhaps try and lucid dream that image to life . . . But the pressure lifted with Gale's presence.

"It's nice out here. It's not quite like a beach because there's no sand and you can't touch the water, but being near it is . . . calming. It's motion that has the illusion of going nowhere: waves and waves forming and crashing, almost looks the same each time, almost like they're trying to get up and move on. But there's an undercurrent that catches you by surprise and pulls you in. It's not still; it's always moving towards something."

Gale might recognize the look in her eyes as the one that had been present when she had gone into the house rant in the town. She'd been deep in thought, and though she'd only been describing the ocean, she had to wonder if there was some sort of connection to their present situation.

"What's on your mind?" Stormy asked, giving him a sidelong glance as she nibbled her cone. She wanted Gale to lead, that she might learn more about his thought process by following where he wanted to go first. There was no awkwardness coming from her now, only a subtle sense of serenity.