Ernest frowned a little, and gave her a nod of agreement. Now, he couldn't go feeling guilty about it, but perhaps she had just given him a little insight into why Isabel might've taken the whole thing a little harder than he'd anticipated. Loneliness was a terrible thing, he knew that well enough. "Yes, I think you're probably right. And a lot of misdirected blame when the wish doesn't go exactly as intended," he added, remembering how she had been blamed for other people's poorly worded wishes. It was a damn shame, really. Maybe he shouldn't have been so hard on the girl.
Ernest tilted his head curiously, lapping up every word of her story and eternally grateful to her for the respite from dwelling on wars past. "My God, you're quick-witted. And kinda dirty," he told her, with a large grin that would show his approval. Both of the change of subject, and the details of her story. "And speaking of licking. You never did get to show me exactly how body shots work," he told her, as if it were a terrible gap in his knowledge of the era and not a kinky game.
So, she was 29. A couple of years older than she had been back on the island, which meant she had either forgotten it all completely, or she was a different Abi. He would likely never know which it was. "Well, if you're 41, I'm... 119?" he teased, of course knowing that he was long dead in this time. "It gets confusing when you're switching timelines all the time. If it was linear, I'd be 47, but I think I must've passed 50 already really." He'd gone back too far when he returned, and he had to account for the years on the island.
Ernest nodded along with her as she spoke about writing and literature, and understood exactly what she meant. She grabbed onto his head, and he leaned forward as she positioned him. "Going like a freight train," he smiled fondly, really enjoying the feeling of her little heart pumping away like that. A reminder that she was very real, very alive. "I'll be honest with you, too. About the writing, and whatever else, as best I can," he told her. It might have sounded a strange assurance, but he knew that his reputation tended to include his past dishonesty, so he felt like he wanted to tell her that. Especially now, feeling her pulse and knowing that he never wanted to betray her. He hoped that Kat was wrong, that she wouldn't feel betrayed if or when she found out the truth about his connection to her.
Like her, he stayed in the moment slightly longer than necessary, and made sure to gently run his thumb along her jawline before he pulled his hand back. He lifted his coffee cup as a more natural transition, but his body was still positioned leaning to her, like she had a magnetic pull on him.
"Damn. Well, I take it all back, screw the space station, I gotta get off!" he joked lightly. He caught the look in her eyes, and almost dared to hope he might get something from her right away. But of course. Abi never gave much away easily, but damn it if that wasn't what made him want to work for her in a way he rarely bothered with any other woman. "And how am I going to earn it, huh?"
"Self-preservation, I get it," he shrugged. "They were the reason you didn't feel safe to lay it all out there, but it's easier to blame you," he added. He understood how a rocky childhood could do that to you - a lack of consistency, unsure when you were going to be abandoned again, you had to toughen up fast in foster care. He didn't think he was meant to know her well enough to say any of that without sounding presumptuous, though.
"There are a few different parks and what have you. You'll find places to run wild when the rush hits you," he told her. "But I'm aware I've fed you cake and two coffees. Are you about to bounce through the ceiling? We can take a walk or something if you want."