"You're uh, you're goin' like that?" He asked, genuinely confused. She looked like she was modelling a summer range for Abercrombie, not about to go on a forest expedition.
But, he figured, there was nothing he could do about it now.
"Alright, fuck it, whatever," he murmured, as he peeled off his t-shirt, tossing it casually onto the bed as he dug through his bag for a button-down shirt with long sleeves, and rolled them up, for now. He figured that if they hit any thick bush then he could roll them down and protect his arms at least - he also had a feeling that Emma's legs, lovely as they were, would end up scratched to hell by the end of the day.
Wasn't his fault, he'd suggested clothes.
"Hey, the negligee was for after," he said, walking back into the room as he began buttoning up his shirt. The timing was just coincidental, honest - but then, Cole had never been particularly shy about showing off his body. The ladies often seemed to like it, after all.
He hoisted the pack onto his shoulder, checking that the machete was securely wrapped up inside it, before motioning to the door. Granted, it didn't seem likely that they'd need one outside of a jungle, rather than a Washington forest, but still. Didn't hurt to be prepared.
It took them a good twenty minutes of walking to get away from the hotel and into the forest proper, and already, he was beginning to enjoy himself. He hadn't realised until now how claustrophobic the city had felt, with its sidewalks and tall buildings, token vegetation scattered here and there. Outside was his element, and he was openly grinning as they picked their way through the trails for now, up until he consulted the map and pointed them off-road.
"You ready, Ward?" He asked. "This is where it might get tough."
They began to get into it quickly. The trees multiplied, making it hard to walk in a straight line, while they had to detour around thickets of bush and bramble that grew up here, there and everywhere. Another ten minutes passed, and it didn't seem like they'd made much ground at all.
He paused for a moment, taking a long pull from his canteen, before offering it to Emma. The sun filtered through the canopy of leaves overhead, giving the world a surreal, greenish tint that somehow seemed to glow. Birds chirped overhead, and if he listened with a little of his magic to aid him, he could almost feel the life in this place. Insects burrowed all around them, while small animals shot in and out of the branches of the trees and foraged for berries and seeds in the vegetation.
He pulled out the GPS plotter that he'd packed in a flash of inspiration, and together with the map he'd pinpointed their location relatively quickly.
"Okay, looks as if we head due west for another mile or so, we'll start to get to where we need to be," he said, before turning to her. "How you findin' it?"