When Aaron asked him if he'd ever go back to Hawaii, Copper actually had to stop and think about it; it wasn't such an easy question to answer. "I don't know," he answered after a few moments. "It was beautiful, and I really loved it there. I could have stayed a month longer, but then we would have had to go back because I would have started to miss my family and my cats and my friends. But I don't know if I'd go back. The memories...they might be too bittersweet." Again Copper paused, looking off past Aaron, lost in thought about the past, but then he came back to himself. Blinking a few times, back in reality, Copper answered, "I don't think I'd ever go back." There were things Copper didn't say to Aaron, things like I'd miss him too much and I already miss him too much. These were things Copper only thought, and his smile was a little sad just then. But yeah, this was not a topic he wanted to elaborate on, though he did admit, "It was nice. I loved being married." And then his fingers went to where his wedding ring used to be, where it sometimes still was (though wasn't today), and he wished he could feel the solidness of it now. Maybe it would have helped ground him. Surprised by what Aaron said, Copper asked, "Really?" He hadn't expected that, and for a second he wasn't sure what to say. But then he replied, "Sometimes they're really good, but...sometimes they're not." Sometimes you lost everything and didn't know how to keep going.
Talking about swimming was much easier for Copper, and he was smiling again now. "Alright, maybe I was a little better than okay," he admitted, smile growing. "I wasn't the best though. But you know, it was never about that for me, not in soccer either. It was just about having fun and being part of a team. That's something I've always liked." Nodding at the other, Copper said, "I'd definitely love to teach you. Sometimes I think about like advertising for swimming lessons, not for pay or anything, just because I like doing it. So I'm definitely be down to teach other. And I won't let you drown." What Aaron said next had Copper grinning, cheeks a bit flushed as he thought about the implications of what the other said. "I think I'd be down for that too sometimes. Maybe..." He didn't know how serious Aaron was, but it felt nice to flirt, even if it was just for fun.
Yet again, Aaron surprised him, Copper's eyes widening when he heard what the other used to do. "Wow," he said after a moment. "I've...never met one of those before. Well I mean once at a bar actually, but I didn't know it until after I told them I was married. I thought they were just hitting on me." This didn't feel like the right thing to say, so Copper went on, "That's cool with me though," and it was; sex work was real work in his opinion, as long as it was what the person wanted to do. "I can imagine you'd meet a lot of creeps that way though," he added. Copper thought about it, about how a lot of the guys would act entitled, like they owned Aaron because they were paying him, and the thought made him angry. "I hope you like what you do now," Copper said quietly.