"Nice," Derek said, smiling. He had no idea really what she was talking about as far as her mission, but he was familiar with the area. "My sister still lives in São Paulo. I took up residence not too far from it. It's nice, though, that whole area. If you ever get a chance, you should take the time. You won't regret it," he advised sincerely.
Good answer, she said, and Derek laughed. "Yeah, well...only answer," he replied, "that wouldn't have my mother turning in her grave. I was raised in a matriarchal pack; the women were the ones with the power. Being in a time period like the fifties would've been like rage-inducing, to me. I couldn't handle that. You're a better person than I am for managing to stay out of trouble. I honestly don't think I could've pulled it off," he said with another chuckle, but there was honesty in his tone and mingling with the amusement in his eyes.
With a facial shrug, Derek lowered himself in the water again. "A few reasons, honestly," he admitted. "I always wanted to make a difference, I just never seemed to be able to do it without losing allies in the battle. This seemed like a way to do it without anybody ever getting hurt. And...to push on after my last breakup. We parted on good terms and everything — it couldn't have been helped — but that doesn't really make it any easier to let go of the first person you've trusted in a decade who didn't throw it right back in your face. I figured this would be a safe way to get back on the horse. Arva promised no one would try to hunt me and if I found out that someone was, she would send me home. So...that had its appeal."
Derek cleared his throat. "It doesn't hurt that it's a tropical island filled with beautiful women," he added with a smile. "...and I'm not getting any younger. I'm not old, or anything, but I'm almost thirty... I thought the last one and I were going to do the whole getting married, having kids, white picket fence thing and if extenuating circumstances hadn't gotten in the way, maybe we would've. The fact that I want kids, though, that hasn't changed and I doubt if it will. The opportunity to come to a place where half of the point is to do just that wasn't really something I could turn away from."
It was refreshing to be able to be honest with someone he barely knew and still feel like he wasn't compromising his safety or the safety of the people he cared about. Derek had a feeling he was really going to like it here.