Cobra could see the beginnings of a smile forming on the Lane Hacker's face after his last comment. At the same time, and with her eyes still fixed on the emptiness of space outside Ames, Liz reached into a pocket of her trousers and pulled out the same device she had removed from her right eye socket. However, she would place it on the table and not wear it just yet. Moments later she did the same with the grey scarf that had covered her face just a few hours ago.
"I wonder how your more regular company is, Damien," she finally spoke, making it clear that she had caught up with the Commander's tone, "you seem to be having almost too much fun at the moment." The Infiltrator allowed herself to make a humorous comment, something that was not only unexpected from Cobra's point of view but was also not part of her usual tone.
"You have my gratitude for this," Liz pointed to the credits that he had left on the table, "but next time I'll pay - I don't want to give the impression of being a damsel in distress, I'm far from it."
While there was a hint of seriousness in her tone, the phrase was delivered in a way that both expressed her genuine gratitude and humoured the situation. A clever play on words and tone to get her point across without offending her company.
"Perhaps it would be wise if we said our goodbyes in the next few minutes. I've been away for a while, and not only do I have business to attend to, but I also have prying eyes on my back almost all the time. I'm sure a man of your... esteem can understand that."
Raising both hands as if surrendering to the comment about him having too much fun, Damien would then slowly stand and wait for his acquaintance to join him. Before speaking, he nodded once and thoughtfully. "I'll see you when I see you." He had stripped away any formality and used as few words as possible, while also denoting that he had no expectations for when they might meet next, if at all. As for everything else she had elected to say, Damien deliberately neglected to comment, feeling the rest went without saying or was open to exploration, as the case may be.
And in the moment, that would have seemed to Liz like that was it, especially as he took his first step to walk past her and leave. This was until he stopped immediately after that first step, and met her eyes with his for a mere second or less. Following this, and with confidence and no intention of rushing, he leaned in and pecked her cheek. It was only after conveying this gesture that he continued to walk away at a relaxed pace, slow enough that Liz could have caught up to him if she had anything else left to say. But that would have betrayed eagerness, something which was as of now out of character for her, or so Damien surmised at least.
Whatever the pretense may have been, their meeting here was over.
