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"That sounds like Eve, she's going to use that picture you know." Maria laughed as the sound of a tube pulling in and setting off bounced off the tunnels they were making their way down. "She's going to keep that picture and she's going to use it when she wants something. You know, she probably had a side-pool going with Bond, almost definitely Q and it wouldn't surprise me if they forced Tanner into it." Maria told him and in a way it made her feel sorrier for him because the odds were really never stacked in his favour were they?

Everything Maria said wasn’t exactly to his liking. He hated when Moneypenny got together with Bond and Tanner, and even dragged Q into their shenanigans, and when those were against Gareth – and in most cases, they were. That Maria didn’t seem to have a problem with it, did bother him a bit, too. As they waited for the next train, Gareth couldn’t help but just stare at the wall across from them, jaw clenched. There was nothing worse at work than having his own staff stabbing him in his back, and with everything that had happened in Italy, he constantly felt like looking over his shoulder, that the entire world was turned against him. Perhaps it was just paranoia.

She tried to follow his lips back when he stole another kiss but she as too slow. A pout came to her lips but it was clearly playful. "No but I did take a few mountain survival courses and that was part of it. Then there were all the times there was no place to land in those little planes..." She snorted. "And I mean when you're guys found me they had to do that reverse parachute thing where they hauled me up. THAT was way weirder."

The creases in his brow only deepened with his frown as he stared at Alex. “What kind of mountain survival courses include parachuting?” he asked in disbelief. Gareth followed her to the edge of the pool, placing his arms on it. “Have you, by chance, trained with the SAS?” he joked, chuckling. Really, there was barely anything with Alex that could surprise him. For someone so young, she had quite come around in the world. It was one of the reasons he loved her – she was strong and independent, she knew what life was like.

Maria laughed when he said waterboarding was illegal and she looked down, shaking her head softly. She put the piece of toast down and then looked back up at Gareth.

"Well, you're definitely not allowed to have a shag in the stables while on duty, if that is what you're asking. And it always depends on who catches you." An eyebrow was cocked up as he blindly dipped one of his soldiers into the egg - though not as extensive as Maria. "As far as I know..." Gareth added thoughtfully, "you staying the night in my bed could have got me into a lot of trouble as well." Thankfully, though, they hadn't been caught. It had been a wonderful night with Maria; first their pub crawl with his friends, then sneaking her into the barracks because she had been absolutely shitfaced and he would have felt terrible to leave her in her hotel room by herself. Well, technically he could have gone with her. But that idea hadn't even crossed anyone's mind back then.

Corinne listened as Gareth talked a little about his mother and then mentioned his grandmother as well. She liked the idea that both might have taught him something about cooking. “I don’t know that I learned all that much from my mother either.” She admitted.”It’s nice you had a grandmother around who could teach you as well.” She found she liked watching him cook, something about his comfort and ease in the kitchen softened him.

“To be honest,” he stepped closer to the stove again to turn the cakes around in the pan, one by one, “the most I learned about cooking, was in the army and when I was at home on my free days. Living alone, you have to learn to cook, or succumb to the masses of restaurants in the city.” For a brief moment a grimace was crossing his features. “And…as a young soldier, you don’t exactly have the money to go out for supper every night.” It hadn’t been tough times, but it had just been a lot cheaper and helped saving money when he was cooking and didn’t go out to eat. Not to mention the times he spent with his army mates, when they had just camped in the countryside and were happy just living off of cans of beans on the barbecue.

"It's not that they'd mind....." she began to explain, very keen to ensure Gareth wouldn't get the wrong impression about her mum and dad. "....more that, after all this time, they'd wonder why he'd never told them he favours men, more than women" Kit continued.

“Maybe he just…doesn’t think it important?” Really, Gareth didn’t understand the discourse over people’s sexuality. It wasn’t one’s entire personality. To him, it wasn’t important, and he thought it shouldn’t be for anyone else, either – and that people should really mind their own business.