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Tarrant slides in the tent's entrance, at some point whenever we're game for such things, tugging it closed swiftly behind him so the seals meet against the cold. He's smeared with the occasional vague splotch of machine grease.
Corian looks up with a brief smile of greeting, though she waits until the seals are closed before she speaks. "Did it go well, cha'trez?" She's busily dealing with some of the day-to-day maintenance stuff, 'stuff' that should be left vague so she doesn't have to think of anything.
Tarrant tugs back the hood of his parka, and the starts to slowly shed it.
"Oooh, warmth finally, ooh. Yeah, well enough. I got those preliminary
scanning units hooked into the comm system while supposedly helping on their
backup generator. And I made a couple credits too." That last is said with a
mischievious grin as he rummages for a cloth to swipe the grease from his
hands.
"How resourceful," Corian murmurs, a hint of amusement in her eyes. "Did you have any difficulty with communication?" She flips a few switches, then nods at the data from the aforementioned preliminary scanning units. "Good," she murmurs, before her gaze flicks back to you and she smiles.
"I didn't have the first lick of an idea of what was going on, talk-wise." Tarrant admits, looking a trace sheepish, as he then makes an attempt at swiping the grease from the sleeves of his parka. Managing that task he then drops down cross-legged onto the floor. "I'm sure they had no problem buying the idea I'm more than a little slow. Various gestures got the idea across, and I got a tape of the stuff they said, if you want to scan it for more than idle chatter and random insults of my intelligence."
Corian chuckles quietly at that. "Actually, yes, I would appreciate that. If nothing else, that would let me fine-tune my accent. I did a bit of walking about earlier, but the wind was not especially conducive to listening."
Tarrant pokes a moment at his wrist-unit, then pauses. He rubs the poking hand
against one sleeve to warm it up to continue the poking with more skill. Yes,
see, skilled poking is key. The unit disgorges a sliver of crystal, which he
agreeably pads over to store in the reader. "It's in the a-slot for whenever
you want it. The more information the merrier, eh? Quicker we find this
target, the quicker we can get back to places where people can feel their
feet."
Corian inclines her head, with a murmur of thanks. She reaches for one of your
hands, apparently with a view to rubbing it, and/or some other form of warmth
sharing. She, after all, has been here long enough to get something close to
warm. "Finishing this quickly would be good. It would have been helpful," she
adds, with a shake of her head, "If they had been able to give us more
specifics on the target's location."
Tarrant seems more inclined to try and interlace his fingers through yours, more interested in the closeness to you than the actual heat. "I think I finally understand why they couldn't. This place is -weird-. Between the time I left and the time I came back, there were a dozen new neighbors, and some of our old ones weren't the same as they were before. About the only landmarks that hold still seem to be those signposts."
Corian ponders that for a moment, thumb rubbing lightly at the back of your hand. "I suppose they weren't underestimating the transient nature of the population," she murmurs. Closeness is a good thing, apparently, as she shifts a bit closer. "I will have to get a closer look at those signposts at some point--there is something about the structure of the words, very odd."
Tarrant appaears rather torn on the issue of closeness however, as he shifts up a hand as if to forestall further movement. "Hon, as much as I'd love to just hold onto you, I'm a cube of ice, you'd freeze like as not, poor love. And it's cold enough here already without making you more miserable." He nods to the latter, "Want me to snag some scans or holos of the ones I see? In case I pass some you don't? To add to the overall database?"
"Please," Corian says, with a nod. "That would be appreciated." She snags a
blanket and apparently ignores your words about iceness, as she slips the
blanket around both you and herself, snuggling close. "This is the quickest
way to get you warm, though," she replies, with a smile. "And I will have to
go outside again at some point, so getting a bit chilly now is not such a bad
thing."
Tarrant all but melts at the inclusion of blanket and you, and all but against
his will shifts his arms around you, snuggling in close. Well, melting's
probably an appropriate word considering his earlier comment about being ice.
"Crazy lady," he murmurs, although the tone is painfully appreciative. "Yeah,
much as it'd be nice for us to just be able to stay in here, it's just not
going to happen. Oh, I am reminded, I passed the place we need to hit for
dinner. It has seating in there, and it was warm enough it was melting all
the snow off the roof."
Corian offers a rather innocent look as she cuddles close. "Well, as your wife,
I do believe that I am required to be crazy," she informs you, with a quirked
smile. "And a warm place for dinner sounds -wonderful-. We should certainly
go there, of course, cha'trez."
Tarrant's brows lift in a tired but vastly amused expression at the look of
innocence. "Oh, see, now I'm not -even- buying that look, my heart's star. I
know better than to think you less than entirely devious." He does look a bit
sheepish, "And to get there we pass three of the happy posts you want to get
the look at and all. Efficency's kinda' key, considering the weather. We're
to go get snow soon."
Corian's cheer dims just a hair at the mention of snow. She doesn't like snow,
no. "Well," she says, shoulders squaring somewhat, "We will have to work
quickly, then. And when the snow hits... well, I suppose we will just do as much
as we can from inside the tent." She chuckles very quietly, though she says,
"Entirely devious, of course, cha'trez--you know me too well. But that look
works on most others, at least."
Tarrant leans down enough to attempt to filch a kiss, by way of apology for his
unpleasant words. "Once we're sure of the taps we can hide in here all we
like until we get a fix on the target. And then a quick bit of work and we're
offworld." Okay, so killing somebody's probably a good bit more than a 'quick
bit', but Tarrant's already brought up one unpleasant subject, he apparently
has no intention of pulling up another. "It works on me too, just in a
different way," he notes with an amused grin.
Corian does hand over the kiss with a brief smile, and a look of understanding
for the evasion. Yes, she knows just what will happen, but seems just as glad
not to have it spelled out, as she's not been involved in this particular
aspect of the Department's work very often. "That shouldn't take -too- much
work," she murmurs. "Perhaps we will be able to finish it before the storm
hits."
Tarrant manages to stifle a sudden yawn, brought on from the slow warmth after
the morning's cold. Sheepishly he nods, brows furrowing a moment in
consideration. "I guess we should check what the receivers I laid down
earlier have come up with, and see if it's scored any red flags. That way I
can add some new ones in a target area if we have one. It's still fairly
early afternoon. Plenty of time before nightfall."
Corian inclines her head, echoing, "Plenty of time, yes. And I do think that
avoiding work after dark, if we may, would be an excellent idea. As you said
yesterday, it will be -cold- once the sun goes down. Oh, and there is food,"
she adds, gesturing towards a container of such. "It is not exactly exciting,
but it is warm."
Tarrant nods in slow thoughtfulness, though he doesn't budge from the curl of
blanket and you. Food is one thing, his wife and heat are an altogether
different matter. Food can be handled after moving becomes needful. "Did you
see the scanner this morning with the temperatures last night? I think it hit
points either of us would just drop straight over in." He stifles a quiet
chuckle. "They didn't need agents, they needed polar bears. It would've had
the same effect, really."
"I saw," is Corian's rather wry reply. Hey, she answered wryly, only Riley's not here! "I am very glad that the tent is heated, otherwise I do not know that I would have been able to stay here, even with the blankets. I do believe that polar bears would be better, though, yes."
Tarrant doesn't quite manage to restrain a sigh, but edges away from you. Carefully tugging the blanket around he tucks it neatly around you. "They could cause havoc just as easily, that's a certain. But I'd better get back to planting things, neh? Before it gets as cold as all that?"
Corian suggests lightly, "Maybe you should eat something, cha'trez? But, yes,
dealing with that would be good, though I wish it were warmer out there. And
I can listen to that tape and then go see the signs and a few other things as
well."
Tarrant goes in fact to rummage for said food as it's mentioned. "Yeah, I'll
snag something quick enough. Want something?" He also considers the various
package and rummages for another pair of socks.
"Please," Corian replies, with a nod. She gets out from under the blanket with
a hint of a sigh, folding it and putting it atop the air-mattress with the
other blankets. She starts various preparations for note-taking from the
recording you made. What fun.
Tarrant scoops foodage into various thermal bowls, adding various odds and ends
from the stored gear to try and make it a little more palatable, as well as
rummaging up some of that local tea. Padding to you he offers a bowl and a
cup. "Well, it's always an adventure, eh?"
Corian takes the bowl and cup with a murmur of thanks. A bit of poking into the bowl's contents reveals the added stuffs, and she offers you a smile. "This is much better, thank you, cha'trez. And it is an adventure. At least," she adds, smile turning a bit whimsical, "We will not be bored."
Tarrant eats the food substance mechanically, interspersing bites with the
process of shedding his boots, adding extra socks, and then tugging them back
on and refastening them against the weather. "Heaven help us to be bored," he
murmurs with a broad grin. Settling aside his bowl and such into the
appropriate area he chuckle-sighs quietly. "Off into the wild yonder I guess.
See you soon my love?"
Corian nods amiably, stopping in her various stuffs to claim a kiss. "I will be
outside before too much longer. And there is always the radio, of course. Do
be careful, though, cha'trez."
Tarrant returns the kiss with care and nods before moving to drag on his parka
and gloves. "I will, and you my love." And with that, he slips through the
door as quickly as he can to keep out the chill.