Alfred's face broke out into another wide grin when she mentioned the prospect of an upcoming expedition. He hadn't openly talked about his desire to go back and accomplish the mission the Sycorax had set out to do to anyone before her, and he wasn't even sure why he'd brought it up to her. He assumed anyone hearing him talk about it would think he was crazy. Even Pablo, who was on board with most of his plans, wouldn't necessarily be keen to revisit South America after their trek through the wilderness where they had faced the possibility of death on a daily basis. Every time that she mentioned it in an even remotely positive way, though, it sent a little rush of adrenaline and anticipation through him. He wanted to go back, and being around her and hearing her say things like that made him think it might actually be a possibility, some day.

"I'll do that," he agreed heartily. "Though it won't be any more exciting in person, I promise. Mostly what you'll see is a lot of taking bearings and making notes." He noticed, for the first time, that they were standing very close together. Had he done that when he'd crossed to where the charts were, or had she? He couldn't remember. Did it matter? He wasn't sure.

"What does archaeology look like in person?" he asked, while wondering if he should back away some. Probably — particularly now that his attention was on her instead of the wall, they seemed far too close for the bounds of propriety — but he didn't want to make it seem as though he was obviously trying to get away from her, or anything.