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When Isaac was finished up with his work for the evening he'd find Gretchen sitting against beside the lighthouse door with a covered bowl resting in the hollow of folded legs, and a serene smile resting on soft lips as she hummed softly to herself, gaze directed down along the path she'd had to walk to get there. It was still early enough that the sky held onto his robin's egg blue color, but it was going to lose that battle eventually. The clouds, few that there were, had a vaguely pinkish hue about them that promised a real stunner of a sunset for anyone that happened to be outside to watch it.

(You should be training, not wassssting your time with acquaintancessss.)

I need allies. Even to Gretchen the defense sounded weak, but she didn't care. She'd done her duty for the day, she'd worked hard, she'd even done a bit of training against a training dummy. It was time for a break.

(You are weak. You will alwayssss be weak.)

The smile twitched, but she held onto, humming louder as she waited for Isaac to finish up.

She did hear him. In fact, it was impossible to miss those heavy foot falls as he came rushing down the stairs, and Gretchen couldn't help but laugh, but she did try to stifle it against the back of her hand as he popped through the door to smile down at her. "Hey handsome." Instead of lowering her hand she held it up to him, assuming he'd help pull her up to her feet, and when he did she'd give a little startled sound at just how effortlessly he managed to lift her. God, he was so strong.

"I'm ready when you are," she drawled back with a grin, then glanced down at the bowl in her hand. "S'not heavy really, but if you want." There was about pound and half of halved strawberries and pineapple hunks all tossed together. Bright reds and pinks and yellows through the clear plastic of the cellophane that covered them. If he wanted to carry it she didn't mind, so she held it out to him.

She gave his arm a pat as she started leading the way down the path. It was the usual one they all traversed for lighthouse duty, til least til they came to a fork. Here they'd head off to the right, towards the water, though not down to the beach. "How was duty?"

Flushed cheeks had earned Isaac a curious look and a small smile from Gretchen, but not an obvious one. She hadn't expected him to fluster easily, looking like he did. It was surprising, and endearing, Though she supposed it wasn't completely unexpected. He had been nothing but a gentlemen when they'd fallen asleep up on the roof.

Her gaze lingered as he removed the band from his braid, letting the long tails of hair loosen as they walked, but hey, he had great hair.

"Seems old. Older than most of the other buildings here, I think." Her head cocked to the side as she considered it, expression pleasantly thoughtful. "From what I've gathered, a lot of stuff here's had to get rebuilt for various reasons. Maybe the lighthouse has just lasted longest?" Her shoulders rolled in a small shrug. One more of Deus' mysteries.

The path took them near the beach, but not to it. It wound up towards a grassy stretch of land that angled up on a slight incline. At some point the path itself disappeared, but Gretch knew where she was going by now. "Never been up here?"

The Death trainee paused at the question, glancing at him over her shoulder as strong hands came up to loop around the unraveling braid. She had to smile. "That's true," she'd agree, reaching back to circle his wrist with slender fingers. "But don't worry, I know where we're going." They weren't too far off now, she gave his arm a gentle tug to get him moving again.

Instead of leading like she had been, Gretchen fell into step beside him. Guiding now, instead, the soft touch on his wrist drifted up until she was tucking fingers into the crook of his elbow.

"I think you'll like the view, but it's very high up." A round about way of asking him not to stand too terribly close to the edge. Tempting though it may be, she wasn't sure she nerves could handle it. Even with their shields, a fall from such a height would, at the least, cause some very serious injuries. If they survived at all.

No, it was much better not to find out.

The closer they got to the top the more alive it all looked. The bead grass had given way to a lush field and colorful wild flowers dotted all over. Finally, with the sound of the waves crashing against rock far below, they mad it to their destination. Wild flora was growing right up to the edge of the cliff, so Gretchen approached it slow, her grip on Isaac's arm tightening as the green gave way to turquoise blue down below.

If Gretchen noticed the throat clearing--She did--there was no outward reaction toward it. Her hand was a still, warm weight at the bend of his arm, and the other now lifted to join it, resting lightly on his forearm as she took in the breathtaking view that was stretched out before them. It was gorgeous, and open, and just so very alive. The air was a mix of salt water and growing things, and Gretchen closed her eyes as she drew in a deep breath, holding it, before the gentle pull backward had her releasing it.

With a curious hum she glanced up at the man beside her, but his eyes were all for the scenery, and after a thoughtful second or two Gretchen's smile returned in full. When he asked his question she gave his arm a soft pat. "I like to explore."

Her head turned, attention drifting back towards the water. They didn't have anything like this in Kansas. "Some of the others'll point you in the right direction, if you ask'em." She'd asked. Quiet little corners of paradise were going to be essential if Gretchen had more hard missions to face down.

"Did you know," she asked after a moment, looking up at his face again. "That there's a waterfall in the jungle?" As of yet Gretchen hadn't wandered too far into the interior of the island. Jungles were knew to her, a little scary. "I haven't seen it yet, but I'd like to. I bet it's pretty."

She let him draw her back again, moving easily away from the edge and towards more solid ground. "Well, we certainly can't have that. It'd be a waste of perfectly good fruit." And they couldn't have that.

Her hand slid from his arm and down until she could slide fingers into his hand, leading him to a small stretch of ground surrounded by flowers and green, growing things. The bowl was lifted from his hand before she was sinking down to sit cross-legged, drawing him down along with her.

"I probably should have grabbed a fork or two, our fingers are going to get sticky." An idle concern, really. Nothing a good lick couldn't cure.

The plastic wrap, once peeled off, was folded up and tucked into a pocket. It was just too beautiful out here for liter, even if Gretchen had been the type. She wasn't, never had been. Never understood how anyone could be so cavalier about nature.

"Do you like pineapple too?" The question came along with a small offered chunk plucked from the bowl she rested in her lap.

There was a subtle tilt of her head as she took in the pink that colored his cheeks, the careful way he took the pineapple from her fingers so their skin didn't touch. It had her frowning, just slightly, as she tried to read behind dark eyes and strong features. Curious if her casual physical contact bothered him in some way.

"Have you tried kiwi?" Hard to argue with the hairy part, they did look quite odd from the outside. Inside though, they were all fresh green and juicy. "They taste great with strawberries, like in smoothies'n stuff."

She helped herself to one of the sliced berries, making a soft, appreciative hum. Not too sweet, not too tart, they were at that perfect point of ripeness where another day would had them going soft.

Personally, Gretchen liked dried fruit. Some dried fruit. There had been a company back home that had made apple chips, and she'd loved them. It was one of the more trivial things she missed most about having left Kansas behind.

"They're a very bright green on the inside, and very tasty." Her attention was all for the fruit for the moment. The kitchen served fruit on occasion, but it was usually apples, oranges, bananas. Things that were easy to get a hold of, or lasted.

She helped herself to a piece of pineapple, licked the juice from the tip of a finger before he was pulling her attention back to him with an unexpected apology. She blinked at him, a little startled, before her expression melted at the shock of color that had spread across his cheeks. "Hey, No. It's okay."

The bowl was lifted from her lap and placed carefully on the ground beside him as she rolled up on her knees.

Her hands sort of hovered beside his arm, not touching, not yet. "Should I be apologizing?" If she had crossed some line, she wanted to know. Considering how things had gone on the roof...he'd seemed comfortable enough then, when she'd lay in his arms, hand cupped against the side of his neck. "If I'm crossing a line, you can tell me. I won't be mad."

Now she let her hands fall to his arm, resting there gently.