sink or swim

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

'I appreciate that.' He mumbles a touch self-consciously. Grudges were so often held these days that to hear someway simply offer him absolution was almost as contrary a notion as the Madame not knowing how to swim.

Again? he nearly asks, but as she explains Remi finds himself nodding. "Not wrong, but...surprising, I suppose." Following Maeve's gaze out to see, the alchemist lets his head tilt slightly to the side as if weighed down by memory. "For the last few years before coming here, the fort we were all stationed at was right on the ocean." He explains, his voice sounding distant as he imagined a different sea overlaying the one before them. "A commoner like me had little else to do with my spare time. I swam a lot." So saying, he blinks himself out of it and turns back.

"I can swim with you, if you like." He offers. Maybe he's just being polite, or perhaps it's penance. Either way, there's a boyish smile on his lips as his head tilts further now, this time awaiting her answer.