Tiffany turns to unlock the door, but then hesitates, seeing the look (or lack thereof) on Lourdes's face.

"... We don't got to go in if you don't want to."

"You always have a choice with me. I'm serious. But... yeah, that's what I was thinking. That if you wanted to meet, you'd wanna do it in there. But if you don't want to meet, you don't have to. You don't have to do anything." It's similar to what Merlin had emphasized with her over and over again - telling her that she could make her own decisions, and that she had the power to control her own life.

And so Tiffany unlocks the door, heading up to the intercom and hesitating.

"... Uh, what do you want it to look like? Do you care?"

She thinks for a minute, then leans forward to speak. "Okay, uh, make it Lake May - the one in Pennsylvania, near where I grew up. Make it a nice day."

The Enclosure immediately changes itself into a tranquil lakeside scene - there's a little sand, more than a little grass, and low mountains in the background. It's early summer - the weather is perfect, and the temperature is warm.

"You've got a choice with me," Tiffany says, calmly but firmly. "I ain't gonna say you got a choice with the whole Barge, 'cause that's a lie. But I'm not gonna give you orders, ever. And if you wanna walk out right now, I ain't gonna stop you. You don't have to be in here. But..." She holds up the two files. "If you're gonna go, I want to give you our files - if you want 'em. I didn't read yours. But you should be able to read it if you want to, and you can read mine if you want."

"You don't have to read it. I guess some people just get curious about how the Admiral writes about them." Assuming the Admiral writes the files. Where they actually come from is, as far as Tiffany knows, a complete mystery.

"Can you do me a favor, though? Can you look at my eyes so you can see I ain't lying to you? Maybe you still won't believe, but I want you to see."

Tiffany's gaze is steady, and her expression is open. Her eyes don't flicker away even for a second as she talks.

"I don't want to hurt you, or use you, or order you around. And if you don't want to trust me or like me anymore, I'm not gonna get offended. But I don't want you to feel like you lost me."

Tiffany doesn't hug her, even though she wants to. Instead, she leans forward just enough to crane her neck up and perch her chin on Lourdes's shoulder very, very lightly. Barely touching.

"I will be the same. And if I fuck up, you can tell me and I'll stop and fix it. And if something else goes wrong, I'll fix that too. Whenever something bad happens, I'll fight and fight and fight until it's good again." Her voice is fierce and firm, and she believes everything she's saying. She can't promise that she can prevent bad things from happening, or that she can be an instant fix. There's a lot she can't promise, really. But this is one thing she thinks she can.

"Okay? It don't matter how big it is, or how hard it is, or how long it takes. I won't give up." Not on herself, not on Lourdes, not on this. It's all too important.

It's a hard, sad question.

"Yeah," Tiffany whispers, careful not to give an automatic nod, or do anything else to jostle their precarious position. "'Cause that's why I'm here. You're strong, and you know how to make yourself really... really hard. But if you gotta stop being strong for a while, I'll make sure you don't fall."

"... Yeah. You know, I really think I am." One thing she's learned on the Barge - sometimes, being stronger for somebody else is infinitely easier than being strong for yourself.

She isn't sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

"I got people who will help me when I need it, too. So that's gonna help."

There's a lot to talk about, Tiffany knows. But she also doesn't think there's any rush - and now is definitely not the time to delve into the heavy stuff.

"Maybe we could not do anything right now. We could do stuff later instead."