"I'm glad it's over," he answered, looking back over his shoulder at her. "I suppose it wasn't entirely terrible, as I realized at the end, but it would have been difficult to function that way."

Now they just had some small matters to deal with. "Do you plan to let me up, or am I due more assault?" A small pause. "Choose carefully, the fate of our dolphin swim might depend on it."

Ah, so he might be trying a little hardball.