Without thinking, she flinched. The salt air, the soothing lullaby of the waves at her back, the steadiness of his voice had all eased her into forgetting that place. For a time she had felt it was a distant memory, a place she did not rightly belong, a way station in the midst of her journey. Now it all came rushing back: This skin, this fractured mind, this winding, desolate path. Her teeth sank into her lower lip, nipping sharply until she felt the stirrings of a smile.
"Alright," she said. She schooled her features back into that calm, collected mask. She liked his company, after all; perhaps even back in that void of a building, he might help her feel at ease. "No bacon, though," she added, laughing quietly. "I'd hate to undo all the good we just did."