Sacharissa's own idea of morning lay somewhere between William's and conventional thought on the matter. If nothing else, she was awake and coherent. Frowning just a little, she tilted her head up toward him, not yet relinquishing hold of her pen. "And going where?" she asked.
She knew, of course. He'd made it clear there was to be yet another vacation.
"Out. Away," he said. "It's a makeshift press, it has less effective range. Takes longer to catch up. Do you have a swimsuit?"
As much as he was becoming attached to his post-edition trip to the beach, forcing himself to go cold turkey on newsgathering - even for just a day - made him a touch jittery.
"Then we'd better move quickly," Sacharissa said dryly. Getting to her feet, she sighed, dropping the pen into her bag before digging through it for the suit she had found the other day. "I've got one, yes."
She wasn't entirely fond of the idea of the swimsuit, but Maladicta had helped her pick it out and it wasn't as if she could swim in what she normally wore. Compromises had to be made from time to time.
"Good," William said, clapping his hands together once, apparently ignoring any lack of enthusiasm the sigh might have suggested. "Er, I mean, you don't have to swim-"
Which was technically the truth, as much as he might have wished it otherwise.
"-but, well, if you didn't have one then you wouldn't even have the choice. Er. I suppose you put it on before we go down, given the lack of changing rooms."
Maybe some should look into that. He found himself looking about to see if there was a pen within reach to make this note.
Reaching back into her bag, she pulled out her pen and tossed it to him. "Probably a good idea," she agreed. She had no intention of changing in public, certainly.
She moved past him through the doorway. "Give me a moment and I'll be right back. Have we got towels and the like?"
"Yes, although they tend to be bath towels pressed into service as the beach variety," said William, catching the pen and leaning over his desk from the back to make a note and then toss it into his chair1. "Not that it makes any difference, it just means we have to do without the woven pictures of dolphins and the like."
Sacharissa nodded as she headed down the hall. "Mmhmm. Maladicta helped me find it the other day." She wasn't about to point out that it had been at a time when she had ducked out of the office, just to catch her breath. Mentioning the press would only make them want to go feed it.
As they reached the stairs and started up, William tried to figure out what that would mean for the as-yet unseen swimsuit; would Maladicta have tempered her propensity for proprietry at all?
Not that it mattered. It was purely an intellectual exercise.
Purely.
"Ah, well, that's good. Box didn't give you any trouble?"
"Only a bit," she admitted. "Sequins and the like. But I think the pair of us coming at it at the same time sort of confused it. With two people to foil, it couldn't quite offend both of us at once."
"So together, you managed to outwit a cardboard box," William said. "Congratulations."
This wasn't entirely wry; that box was awfully crafty. Just the other day he'd been looking for trousers and it had kept giving him ones that looked normal at first glance but at further inspection were held together with some sort of fuzzy strips that tore away with ridiculous ease.
"It can be very difficult," Sacharissa said, teasingly warning as she waved a finger at him. "That box is nearly as stubborn as you. Although, fortunately, you've less of a taste for sequins."
"...it's going to give me nothing but sequins now, you do realize that?" William said, giving a suspicious glance into the laundry room as they passed that floor. "If I'm reduced to going about bedazzled, I will be placing the blame firmly at your feet."
Sacharissa pressed a hand to her mouth, wincing slightly. "Sorry," she said, lowering her hand. "Oh dear - sorry - it really is, isn't it? Going to give you nothing but sparkles and the like now, I mean." It would be funny at first, she imagined, but not for too long.
"Yes," William said, with a slight twist to his mouth. "Most likely. But don't worry about it, it's not like I have a shortage of clothes. It can't take the ones I have, after all."
She knew, of course. He'd made it clear there was to be yet another vacation.
But the press was waiting again.
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As much as he was becoming attached to his post-edition trip to the beach, forcing himself to go cold turkey on newsgathering - even for just a day - made him a touch jittery.
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She wasn't entirely fond of the idea of the swimsuit, but Maladicta had helped her pick it out and it wasn't as if she could swim in what she normally wore. Compromises had to be made from time to time.
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Which was technically the truth, as much as he might have wished it otherwise.
"-but, well, if you didn't have one then you wouldn't even have the choice. Er. I suppose you put it on before we go down, given the lack of changing rooms."
Maybe some should look into that. He found himself looking about to see if there was a pen within reach to make this note.
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She moved past him through the doorway. "Give me a moment and I'll be right back. Have we got towels and the like?"
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1Items of Moderate Priority.
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A few minutes passed before she returned, apparently no different than when she had left. "Shall we?"
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He blinked, suddenly as they walked. "...hang on, you have a swimsuit? I didn't know that you'd ever gone swimming."
One incident involving Sacharissa and water was disregarded; it didn't count as swimming and he wasn't about to think of it.
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Not that it mattered. It was purely an intellectual exercise.
Purely.
"Ah, well, that's good. Box didn't give you any trouble?"
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This wasn't entirely wry; that box was awfully crafty. Just the other day he'd been looking for trousers and it had kept giving him ones that looked normal at first glance but at further inspection were held together with some sort of fuzzy strips that tore away with ridiculous ease.
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