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She hugged him, hugged him and shook her head before resting her forehead against his neck. He didn't seem to understand what she was apologizing for. "I'm sorry for wanting it. I'm the one who's dense, the one who's slow." She was clutching at his shirt, hands balling up into fists, and she was glad she could bury her face against him, no eyes to meet that way. "I should have realized that you weren't...interested in that sort of thing."

She closed her eyes tight, determined not to cry. "I'm sorry. I'll," with great effort and a deep she relaxed her shoulders, "cheer up." Her fingers uncurled, and she smoothed out his shirt, hands running down his sides. "I didn't ask you here for this. Not only, anyway."

His words caused her to freeze up just a little. "Just...?" Her words were quiet, not more than a whisper. "Just what?" It could be so many things, really. And from where Sherry stood now most of the possibilities were painful. That was her fault, she supposed. What had began as a simple desire, a simple want had grown into a frustration... and then turned into something on which she used to measure her value. It was stupid, she knew. Hell, she had never put much thought into the needs of a physical intimacy, of that nature, before. So if Jake didn't, that was fine. She still loved him, she would still love him. And he loved her, he told her so, and she believed him; he showed her he loved her a million other ways. But here she was, making a mountain out of a molehill, making Jake all kinds of uncomfortable again.

"No," she said, small smile on her face as she shook her head, "It's okay. It doesn't matter," she said, smiling as she took a step back. It really shouldn't matter. His decision, and he didn't need to justify it to her. Not at all. Even if she did want to know. She smiled at him, wanting him to know it was fine, really. One hand moved to brush his cheek.

And then she withdrew the hand to wipe at a tear as she turned toward the bed. "I wanted to talk about this," she said, gesturing to the book that rested on top of her blankets.

Time. Sherry could handle that. She'd been rather petty and silly selfish, hadn't she? She already had him, as much as he was willing to give, and that should have been enough for her. It was more than enough. She just...had to squash her stupid insecurities and remind herself just how luck she was. Which was easy to do when he put his hand on hers and smiled at her like that. Oh, geez. She WAS going to cry again.

So it was a good thing she could focus on the book. "It's about strange and mysterious places." She stepped over to turn one of the pages. "Like the place where your dagger came from. That's mentioned in here, vaguely. Or at least, I think that's what the reference was to." She couldn't be certain, not without going back. But that wasn't what had her interest right then.

"But there's a new place." She looked back at him. "I was wondering if you'd like to join me for a bit of field research."

"That's why I'm asking you to come along!" She grinned at him, shaking her head. "If you want to. I know they are not always super exciting, or super safe." Her gaze went back to the book. She didn't want to go leading him into danger unnecessarily. "It's seems to be some kind of cave. It's mostly underwater, but it seems to have been a place of vast knowledge. It just...really wanna check it out." It was hard to explain, but she really, really liked these neat old historical places. Well, any but that tomb.

"It wouldn't' be until the day after tomorrow, either, so, if you're busy..." She shrugged, and mentally kicked herself for offering him a million outs. She didn't want him to stay behind, not really. But she also didn't want to be pushy.

Sherry bit her lip and flipped another page, waiting for an answer.

She smiled at him, even if he was messing up her hair. Not that...it was in a super fancy hair-do anyway, heck, no one would probably even notice. But she was happy for the contact.

"I'll send a text, but be ready the day after tomorrow. Like I said, it's mostly underwater, so I'd plan to get a little wet." She wasn't sure how wet. Surely the portal would put them inside it. Some minor wading might occur. "Bring your torch. And thanks for agreeing to come. I don't really want to go alone."

She was still smiling at him, for another moment or two, before she looked away. The urge to hug him was strong, and she bit her lip and told herself no. Things were going to change, and he was going to dictate stuff like that. So she kept talking instead.

"Your room in tip-top shape yet? Need any help?"

"Good, good," she said, nodding, more to herself than anything. And then she blinked at him. "The bottles?"

Her gaze slid over to the dresser, a large empty space to show where her small collection had once been. She shook her head slowly, looking from the dresser to the floor. "No. Most of them didn't have names, just little things I'd picked up cause they were pretty. And the ones that did... I don't know if I could remember them. I bought them for the bottle mostly. At least in the beginning." It made her sadder than she liked; losing them. Silly, since they weren't anything important. "Why?"

Sherry looked at him, a little bit confused, and certainly with watery eyes. "I...just really liked them." She felt silly being so sad about them being gone.

"And what does? Give us a chance to get off the island, I mean?"