[Nikolai has the grace to look sheepish as she pokes at one of the more questionable decisions he made that night. While he has little memory of, ah, getting a little too excited right there on the beach, the photo evidence stands as a testament to his reckless abandonment of propriety. And while he has repaid Alina with all kinds of favors in the intervening weeks, he doesn't bother to argue the point. He enjoys spoiling her with attention, now that she's so receptive to it.]

My judgment was drowning in a preposterous quantity of liquor. A rather gruesome death, drowning is.

[Over her head, he surveys the stretch of beach. Up the shore stands a cluster of wooden partitions housing showers, for beachgoers to rinse the sand and salt out before they leave. It's partially hidden by an explosion of bushes with broad leaves and bright yellow flowers. Nikolai cants his head toward the showers with a raised eyebrow.]

I have somewhere in mind...

[Drawing away from Alina, he turns his back to her and squats halfway to the sand. The look he tosses her over his shoulder is playful.]

Your steed awaits, my lady.