Thom shrugged, seemingly fairly unrepentant about that time in Sylthame. Sure, there had been a moment, just a brief moment, where things might have gone a little too far, but they hadn't. One could say that the rain had stopped them, or you could look to a higher power and say fate had stopped them, for one reason or another. Whatever you believed or looked for, nothing especially untoward had happened. Still, his mind did occasionally drift back to that day, for one reason or another. "Well, if I'm the tease, I must remain utterly impressed by the levels of your self-control." He let his voice drop, leaning into that 'tease' role with a little snap of his teeth in her direction. "Having all of this standing drunkenly in front of you and yet maintaining your composure enough to deny it." In truth, they had both pulled away in the end, retreating from temptation. It had been for the best, but that didn't mean that the memory wasn't a frequent visitor in his dreams.

Regardless of teasing, he couldn't deny the fact that without really even trying, they had come to understand each other fully. And it was in the quiet moments that he felt that most clearly, those times when the two of them sat or lay side by side without really having to speak a word, because both of them already knew what the other would say, where there thoughts might stray. So he knew that the thoughts of the truth serum bothered her. She had spent some time considering the possibilities there, and to have those hopes dashed by something so inhumane would naturally hurt. So the best thing he could do was to gently and patiently steer her thoughts further away from it for now, towards this new endeavor.

"Well, I can't promise that I'll give you all the free time in the world for your research." Thom chuckled, hand playfully brushing a little further up her leg until it was resting gently on her knee. "I should start to act like a proper suitor eventually, shouldn't I, plying you with honeyed words and stolen kisses until you absolutely can't refuse me any longer?" Of course, she wasn't entirely innocent of stealing kisses either, as she was quick to prove, another low chuckle slipping out of his lips as her fingers ran through his dark hair. "Of course, I suppose propriety would demand that we see our courtship through to the inevitable conclusion before seeing that last step, wouldn't it?" Of course, he intended to marry Temperance Towers. That had never been in doubt, even as he remained uncertain of how necessary that might be. He was determined not to have any of his children be labeled 'bastard', but when she kissed him like that, let her hands explore, the temptation only grew.

With a small sigh, he slipped his arms upward to her waist, pulling her up and into his lap where he could hold her properly. "I haven't found any new leads, I'm afraid, but those asking do seem to agree that it was a rather... unique disappearance, at least in Nevermere, and assumptions might be drawn that it might be best to find leads elsewhere. Since I don't exactly have a network spanning all the kingdoms, however, it may not be a mystery for me to solve at this time. All I can do is wait and see if anything new turns up..." He let out asoft sound of frustration, letting his head rest on her shoulder. "Of course, that doesn't make the thought any easier to bear as to what might have happened, does it?"