"...maybe we should go somewhere else and I should try to explain this in order."

"Sure, this isn't the most comfortable place for explanations, anyway." She squeezes him in the hug, then releases him. Her hand finds his and lingers there for a little while after, then she smiles wryly and releases that, too. "Lead on, then."

"I actually believe that they might have set up a temporary waypoint on the airship. Let's glide there."

She nods, then asks, "What's a waypoint?"

"It's an asuran invention that allows quick transit. Any functioning waypoint can be used to go to any other waypoint, if you've been there before and can identify it. I have a few keys that will let you follow me even though you have never been to any waypoints in Divinity's Reach."

"Oh, that's convenient, all right. Sounds good. Carry me away, oh Commander."

"As my princess wills it." But first he's going to fetch his spiky armour bits to store them in an enchanted bag. And then: arms?

She distracts herself with the weight lightening enchantment while something in her stomach does a lovely little flip at 'my princess.' That... certainly feels different than before. Less affectionate teasing, more sincere affection.

Arms!

"Your princess?" she wonders, going for wry or arch and... only really making it to 'barely concealed delight.'

He just smiles and steps off the edge of the floating rock, freefalling for a bit before activating his glider again and pointing northwest.

When he jumps without a glider, she gives a little startled yelp, clinging to him in alarm. "James—"

And then he activates his glider and she finds herself laughing dizzily with delight and relief and how much she really, really wants to kiss this smug bastard.

"You're—you—" she begins, but she can't get much of anywhere in that sentence, she's too busy laughing.

He can't help but start laughing, too. Onwards he glides, towards another of those magic lines, one that's going up, which he catches and which starts lifting them.

"You're—you're so lucky you're gliding right now, I will do terrible things to you later, you charming jerk!"

"I await this moment with bated breath." He gets out of the magic line when it starts curving a bit too northwards, then catches one updraft, and then a second updraft that takes them above the clouds—

—and there's the airship, up ahead.

"You will rue this day. Rue it," she informs him sternly, which is undercut by another giggle. Then she leans into him and tries to catch her breath and enjoy the view and the feeling of gliding.

"Okay," she admits, upon seeing the airship, "that's pretty impressive."

"I cannot claim responsibility for it, much as I might want to."

"It's still lovely. We didn't have anything like this in Orr, I was starting to worry that it was all doom and gloom here in the future. That—doesn't feel like it's running on magic. Or, not entirely, anyway. How...?"

"Technology," he shrugs. "Captain Almorra might be able to tell you more, it's not really my field of expertise."

Nod. "I am terribly curious, but I think I might want to prioritize catching up on magic first. When it comes to that subject, I despise not understanding everything going on."

"I'm sure the Captain will take you up anytime." As they approach the pointy front of the airship, James slows down and eventually descends to land on it. He gently sets Vetareh on her feet and starts walking towards the main body of the ship.

She takes a breath to collect herself after being put back on her feet, because she would like to not be giving James a look best reserved for a bedroom while in public, and then follows after him.

    There is a door on each side of the ship, and James takes the one on the left. There are a few people inside, but the one closest to the door, a grey charr, salutes James. "Commander!"

"At ease, Captain. Before anything, let me introduce you—Captain, this is Vetareh; Vetareh, Captain Almorra Soulkeeper."

Vetareh gives a warm smile, and inclines her head politely.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance. The Commander found me in a cave."

    "Did he? Good on you," says Soulkeeper. "It's an honour to meet anyone the Commander considers a friend."

James looks at the charr again. "I found Canach—alive—and we ran into Minister Caudecus."

    "Did you get him?"

"No, unfortunately he managed to escape, but we captured one of his main lieutenants, Lady Valette Wi of Divinity's Reach."

    She growls. "The rot runs deep in that court."

"Deeper than I expected," James agrees. "We are going to find him."

    "Good. And did you find out what was behind that blast?"

"I'm afraid so. It seems that the White Mantle have been experimenting on the Bloodstone for a long time, here, and eventually it gave—but Lazarus the Dire, a mursaat, somehow absorbed the released energy and returned to life."

    "Burn my fur, I thought they were extinct!"

"Me, too. He seems not to be interested in the Krytan throne, though, and mentioned seeking 'nobler pursuits.' We can only speculate about what that means. We also intend to find him and question him."

    "Let's not make the mistake of trusting the mursaat; it did not go well last time."

"We will not. Now if you'll excuse me, Vetareh and I have matters to attend to in Divinity's Reach."

    "Understood. The Pact will stay here for the time being to see if we find any more survivors or kill any more White Mantle scum."

No wonder everyone sticks with 'Commander,' he's good at this. It's not hard to just stand back and let him be in command and pretend to be pretty and attentive wallpaper.

The charr goes off to do something else, and James looks at Vetareh again. "Okay, so, that," he points at a floating rock with a blue light coming from it, "is a waypoint. Here..." He reaches inside one of his bags for a marble-sized squareish wooden object with a rune inscribed on it. "I'm going to step into the waypoint and, after I disappear, just come after me while holding this. It'll be obvious what to do." He offers her the object.