No Worries, This Dinner is Sterile [Roderich and Braelyn]

_{(Oh it’s really no problem. Have you noticed my posting regularity lately? lol I’m going to try and improve on that )}

The more they dance, the better Roderich improved on with his footing. Where he faltered or was weak with his placements, she gently corrected him and he quickly caught on to her instruction. I did not take long for him to smoothly flow through transitions and she saw that he wasn’t bad at dancing, just rusty, which was understandable. The more they danced, the more relaxed she became. Half closing her eyes, she responded to his lead flawlessly, her fingers becoming more comfortable in his.

It had been a while since she had danced casually, save perhaps when she was fresh from a shower, and to do so with Roderich was nice, relaxing… a joy. So absorbed Braelyn was with their dancing that she failed to notice Roderich’s gaze upon her, though his presence so near to her was an ever-present thought in her mind. Her skirt twirled as it usually did, perfect for dancing, and she saw the irony compared to what she had first thought when she arrived….

As the dance came to a close, Braelyn’s elation levels had increased considerably, though she had already been very happy, as an after effect from dancing. Roderich came to a stop, so did she. The music had been lovely indeed and it was a shame that it had come to an end. With her hands still in his and upon his shoulder, she turned her head to face him, their noses mere inches form each other.

In her elated state, this didn’t faze Braelyn, who smiled up at Roderich, with her eyes still half lidded, and said, “That was very well done, you dance wonderfully. I suppose your earlier doubts were in vain, no?”

"Thank you," he said softly. "I guess so."

There was, to his astonishment, nothing awkward about this moment. She turned and looked and her smile was honest and genuine, her gaze was dreamy and devoid of shyness, and the fact that he could feel the warmth of her breath and she could surely feel his didn't seem to register as a problem to her. He couldn't help smiling back.

He couldn't help kissing her.

He didn't make it quick. He took the moment as a chance to linger, to move slowly and gently against her lips. He drew his hand out of hers and let it rest with the other on her back, forming something like an embrace. He let his eyes flicker shut.

He wasn't sure if it was a sign of progress or just a product of this particular situation, with all its sentimentality and closeness and the strains of another waltz playing in the background, but when he parted from her he managed not to feel all that embarrassed, or as though he'd done something wrong. There were plenty of things he probably had done wrong--he probably should have hugged her more, stroked with his hands instead of simply leaving them there, not taken quite so long overall--but they weren't resting heavily in his mind. He felt unabashedly good, and his expression reflected it.

Any response to his thanks was lost. When had the last time she had kissed someone? Braelyn didn’t know… oh yeah. It had been her ex boyfriend and what a character he had been. At first, he had cast the seamless illusion of a gentleman but when he caught wind that Braelyn was the kind of person who liked to progress slowly, the end result had been the end of their relationship and Braelyn’s sore heart.

That had been a while ago now, so when Roderich’s lips had gently pressed hers, her guard down low with her elation and easiness from their dance, she didn’t know how to react, she froze. Surprise quickly flittered across Brae’s face, which parted her lips, unintentionally deepening their kiss.

She saw his eyes close, felt his warm breath brush past her lips, and it made… it made her want more, odd as that was... for her. Her surprise faded, her body relaxed and she followed his example by closing her eyes too, further pressing herself closer to him. At the back of her mind, her usually prude, self-conscious self was fainting at her actions; Braelyn ignored her head for once. She was enjoying herself, she liked Roderich, she admitted it, and she hadn’t been sure if he actually might like her back till that second.

Later she would be cursing to herself in both French, English, and any other language she knew as to what she was thinking… but in the moment, no thoughts passed through her mind except the awareness of Roderich’s body and her hands upon her back, gentle, static, and the source of countless tingles through her body.

She didn’t pull away until he did, the warmth of his kiss radiating throughout her being, reddening her cheeks thoroughly. Boldly when she reopened her eyes, she met his. A soft smile was splayed across her, brightening and softening her features, and whatever beauty that was there, that she herself didn’t see, must’ve been shining bright in that moment.

Braelyn, said nothing except finally averting her eyes downward, switching her balance from one foot to another in a dance-related habit, and ran her fingers down the length of her braid. What could she say?

Gosh, she was lovely. The smile that graced her face in that instant was the most beautiful he had yet seen on her. It was as though the kiss had been something singularly special--almost as though it had been her first, though he knew the chance of that was slim. There was a certain sense of newness about the situation in general, a kind of wonder and excitement that set it apart from the pain-tinged memories of his former fiancée, from the possibilities of heartbreak that he was all too familiar with. It was like starting over.

All in all, he mused as she averted her gaze, things were going singularly well. Braelyn had enjoyed the talk and the food and the music. She'd seen his quirks firsthand--his paranoid fixation with cleanliness, his carefully set rituals, even his potential for panicked action on that first day--and she hadn't written him off because of them. She'd seen him as a person, not just the nutty OCD workaholic that a lot of the staff probably viewed him as. She'd been unfailingly polite and considerate, kinder than he could have ever expected.

He had been lucky, meeting her. So, while she was lost for words, he dared to test his luck.

"Can I...try that again?" he asked. "I think I could do better."

She knew not what she was getting herself into exactly, but from the way she felt and from how he was looking at her, Braelyn no longer cared that she was daring into the unknown. Perhaps, that’s what enticed and excited her so. Being with Roderich, feeling the way she did, the way in which his kiss was making her, was so unlike what she was used to; her subcoincous craved for such newness. For as long she could remember, Braelyn had lived her life a certain way, mainly someone else’ way, and it wasn’t until just recently that she had endeavored to live by her own whims, own dreams, her own desires….

Lifting her head to look back finally at him, a moment before he broke the silence, she only had that slim period of time to admire his handsomeness before she was half-caught off guard, again. The bright burn that spread across her cheeks only ignited the light chuckle from hr lips; mon dieu, she was drowning in giddiness. If only her grandmother could feast her eyes upon Braelyn now… the old aristocrat’s cold gaze with its disdainful, judgmental stare. Those eyes had bore down upon Braelyn her entire life and she could imagine that perhaps the elder lady might even force a smile if she saw her rebellious and only granddaughter in the arms of a successful doctor.

Merde…. Now why did she have to think of her grandmother at a time like this?

The thought made her smile falter and waver and unease flickered across Braelyn’s expression; she quickly tried to erase all of its trace with a slight shake of her head and hoped Roerich hadn’t seen. Not wanting to be the one to have ruined their moment, Braelyn looked down at his chest, conceivably laying her hands gently against it by pretending to fix his collar, before she returned her eyes back to his.

“To try is to practice,” she said with a warm yet slightly teasing smile. “Practice makes perfect, does it not?” she barely managed to finish her coy question before she leaned forward and pressed her lips back against his, kissing him.

He was perceptive enough to catch the unease, and while he of course came to the conclusion that it was his fault--faltered for a second, his reservations catching up--her forwardness cast that aside. He'd expected to take charge again, but Braelyn saved him the trouble, with a flirtatious remark to boot.

He tightened his embrace, returning the kiss, his hands drifting along the fabric of her blouse. He initially was set on being gentle, but his feelings compelled him to be more forceful, caught up in the sensations. He was entirely red when he drew back a bare inch to reply--he knew it, and he knew he probably looked silly and would sound as much, but there was no one else here so he didn't have to dwell on that--his voice bridging into a whisper.

"Yes, it does."

And he closed the gap between them again.

By the time they broke apart again, Braelyn was near breathless and her blush was surely a mirror image to his. One of her hands had moved to brace the back of his neck; her fingers slightly tangled in his dark locks. Her other hand had remained upon his chest but had moved to rest closer to the mouth of his shirt.

His last words still rang within her ears and they spurred the smile from adding form her lips; how deviously vehement Roderich’s hands had become, which both had surprised and oddly excited her at the same time. She could recall that at any other moment when she had found herself in the embrace of a man, she had definitely acted far less bold than she was acting. Perhaps…it was the way she felt about him that enabled her to act so out of her usual shy, prude character? She honestly didn’t know but she was certain that she felt something genuine for Roderich, and that was fine by her.

With the end of their kissing, Braelyn found herself with a slight problem: she had no idea what to do next. She was still very near him: should she remain there? Move away? Say something but what?

A dulled melody saved Braelyn from her awkward decision when she turned around in the direction of the sound, her phone. From the ring tone, she knew who was calling and she was in no mood to answer them. Glancing back at Roderich and answering any questions that may have arisen from her ignoring a potentially important call.

“Don’t worry, I know who is calling and they’ll understand when I call them back later.” Stepping back a bit, as if to suddenly admire the room, she continued over her shoulder, “So, what to do now?”

Roderich blinked as the phone rang, unable to register for a moment where the sound was coming from. When his mind did reengage, his gaze followed hers, wondering who would be trying to get ahold of her at this time of the evening.

"Who was it?" he inquired, letting his grip loosen on her as she pulled back.

He didn't know the answer to her question, either. Where did they go from here? He didn't want to say goodbye to her just yet, but at the same time he had to rack his brain to determine his next move. He wished that he had more experience in matters like this, if only so that he could avoid these kinds of pauses. At least they weren't as unsettlingly awkward as they used to be.

"We could talk," he ventured at last. "I'd like to...get to know more about you. You told me a bit about your father before, but other than that I don't know much about your background."

She hadn't gotten too uppity about that topic, had she? If he recalled correctly, she'd shrugged off his pity regarding the man's death, asserting that she'd come to terms with it. He did have to wonder what other sort of family she had and whether she kept up with them, like he felt obligated to do with his.

She fumbled around in her brain for an answer before Braelyn said, “It was most likely my dance partner hoping to see if I was available yet to release details of our evening together. He was rather ecstatic when I mentioned it to him”.

It wasn’t a complete lie, she had discussed tonight with her dear friend but it hadn’t been him who had called. She knew very well who called and she felt the inkling of coincidence that Roderich’s suggestion was for the intention of learning more about her and her family. This, of course, wasn’t her most favorite topic but she did silently agree with him that they should get to know each other better; it was only logical considering that they were seeing each other in simple terms.

“Talking sounds perfect for I would rather enjoy acquainting myself more with you. What I mean is like exactly what you have just said. I do not know much about you either”.

The truth in this made her shyness rise up again, it wasn’t like her to kiss before getting to know the person well first. Truth be told, the thought that he wanted to learn about her personal history was something she wasn’t accustomed to. Usually, people that knew her quickly caught on that she preferred to keep her past to herself and never really inquired too much into it. The question here was: how much did she want to tell him? She didn’t know him that well, or even for that long, so how could she really know that she could trust him?

Turning away from him, she walked over to the bench of the grand piano and sat down, gracefully tucking in her ankles and folding her hands. Looking up at him, she gave him a small smile, and in sweet voice she said, “What would you like to know?”

_{~Sorry for the delay}

That was definitely a pause on her part this time, he noted--a hesitation before her reply. She'd claimed she'd known who was calling, then reduced her assurance to a likelihood. He felt a prickle of something unpleasant, thinking that she might be lying--something like jealousy, perhaps? Well, that was irrational. She was most certainly not the type to be dating someone else at the same time as him. More probable was that the caller was someone that she merely was having some disagreement with, something that she didn't want to dwell on.

But were that the case, if there were any chance of him alleviating her troubles, he wanted to know what was going on. He did want her to be able to talk to him, to trust him, though it had hardly been that long.

Well, they'd certainly gotten to some things more quickly than he would have expected.

"What's your family like?" he asked, going at first to seat himself on the couch a few feet from her, then deciding to sit beside her. "Mine is tolerable. We exchange phone calls and emails for most of the year, because all of my close relatives are over in Austria. They would have preferred for me to come back there after I finished medical school--I know my mother wanted me to settle down in private practice over there, but I preferred working in a hospital setting and had gotten attached to things in America. So that never came to pass."

It had been more people than things, really--the contacts he'd made in school and his fiancée at the time. But talking about his personal life was one among many activities he'd broached this night that he wasn't accustomed to doing. He was trying to ease into it--to hopefully set her at ease as well.


(Apologies for the lateness. I've been pretty busy, and I had a cold this weekend that was affecting my sleep. ...I think Roddy would be ashamed of me for contracting one earlier this year than usual. GOTTA WORK ON THAT HAND HYGIENE. XD)

At first she thought that he would sit opposite from her, but she felt a twinge of relief when he came and sat next to her. Though they sat close, she barely came in contact with her; her back was straight and her hands were folded neatly upon her lap. She was comfortable, listening to him speak was nice, though if it had been up to her she would have chosen a different topic. Not that it came totally unexpected.

From the sound of it, Roderich had a decent family life: they didn’t want him to stay away for long and she figured that they supported him morally. A soft ebb of what may have been envy slithered down Braelyn’s spine but she quickly dismissed it, chiding herself for being so selfish. She was glad to hear that Roderich had a good past and she was sure that he had a bright future.

“What’s my family like you ask?”

Her tone was distant, for she was thinking, ‘what should I tell him?’

She weighed her options, not taking much time, before she finally said, “My family comes from they refer to as ‘higher social standards’. As I told you, both my mother and my father are dead and my closest relative is my maternal grand-mère, but our contact is minimal with a few short phone calls a month. My family… doesn’t quite support my lifestyle, if I were to follow what they wanted I would be back in Monaco and not here in the States. I would be running the family business, replacing my mother but…”.

A small sigh gave Braelyn a brief pause before she shrugged simply, looking Roderich in the eye to be polite. “I did not want to. I want to follow my father’s footsteps, not my mother's”.

She intentionally left out the aspects of her life that involved her wealth…. And the fact that her grandmother had an actual list of men she’d love for Braelyn to meet. “To be honest with you, Roderich. Being here, in the States I mean, is the happiest I have ever been”, and she gave him a big smile.

Higher social standards--oh, he knew how that was, at least to a degree. His family had always been a bit picky about who they associated with, and his father's position had meant that he had spent many a party making polite, meaningless conversation with renowned doctors and scientists. He did have a deep respect for people that had gone far in their fields, but in past years there had been something rather irritating in having to listen to their numerous accomplishments, only to confess that his greatest had been something menial, such as recognizing a mistake in a patient's prescription that could have resulted in an allergic reaction.

Well, he did have a better response these days. If he had to pick something, he could name the flu outbreak that had occurred not long after he had first taken a job at Axis Memorial. He'd marched right into the administrative wing and laid down a set of strict hygienic precautions that had, in spite of much complaining and grumbling from his fellow staff members and a few instances in which his unyielding insistence almost cost him his job, cut the death rates almost in half in comparison to other hospitals in the area. He'd been very proud of that.

His family had been too, and he found it troubling that Braelyn's family didn't support what she was up to. She was doing something inherently noble--why wouldn't they like that?

"What sort of family business?" he asked. "I can't see how your line of work wouldn't be acceptable to them, considering the great amount of dedication nursing takes. You and I have both had to put in enormous amounts of time for our professions. Not to mention the fact that we're saving numerous lives, of course."


(Off hiatus now, yay. :3)

“Umm well…” What could she tell him? Or better yet, what did she want to tell him?

She had already said much more of her past than she had ever really told before, ever, and she was pretty sure that she had said enough about it for at least that night. Perhaps one day she would actually feel comfortable enough to tell Roderich everything; the thought was so far fetched that she couldn’t help that one day she wouldn’t mind that. Truly, these were a foolish girl’s thoughts. Yes, perhaps one day she would retell of her childhood, her years away at private school, and the countless hours she spent alone, studying, and of course to dance.

Back to Roderich’s question and his statement. He did make a very valid point, the profession that she had chosen was far nobler then being head of a chain of casinos. Mulling over how to answer him as she was, she failed to realize that she had begun to lean back slightly and her braid slipped form her shoulder and fell upon the keys of the piano.

The sudden burst of sound that erupted broke through the silence, causing Braelyn to jump and shriek in surprise, knocking into Roderich and nearly falling off the bench. Quite ladylike indeed…

_{Yay! And sorry for the short, no real monologue post}

He jumped as well--the tenseness that their conversation had been slipping into had been setting him on edge, and the brief cacophony cut through the air like a gunshot. When she bumped into him, he compulsively put an arm about her to keep her from slipping off the seat. Realizing his position and her awkwardness, he gave a laugh. It was more forced and high-pitched than he would have liked, but it managed to take some of the graveness out of the situation.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said, trying to keep his tone light. "If it's an unpleasant subject. There's other things we could talk about, like..."

He hesitated. What was a safe subject? Surely he had some stories he could tell her, something he could share...

"...Did you have any interesting experiences in medical school? I felt as though I was practically a magnet for unusual people back then. I had a roommate for a while that collected pieces of bones and tissue--he always insisted that they were from animals, but I'm certain he snuck a few things out of the pathology labs, too. We were in an apartment, and I swear, he had shelves and tables covered with specimens. He used to like to surprise me with them--honestly, waking up with a raccoon skull beside your pillow is not an enjoyable way to start your day." He shuddered. "I bet that thing was crawling with pathogens..."

Despite having her heart beat loudly in her chest and her cheeks burning with embarrassment after her braid’s attempt at playing Mozart, Braelyn was more focused on how she had managed to be surrounded by Roderich’s steadying embrace; if it weren’t for his quick actions, she would had surely had fallen to the floor.

A small laugh followed his example, the opportune moment for a well-needed subject change and she felt very appreciative when he said that he understood that perhaps she didn’t want to talk about the subject anymore. His story brought a smile back to her lips, the absurdness of the tale was fascinating considering that could very well understand how uncomfortable the younger Roderich must’ve felt.

As for a story of herself…. Well there was one that came to her mind and upon remembering it, a small burst of laughter bubbled past her lips.

“Now that you bring up the subject, Roderich, I do have a story that just might match yours, though now that I think about it, at the time I found it more embarrassing than funny”.

She went on to tell him of how when she was a student, her class was learning how to draw blood and they did so by drawing blood from each other over the course of six hours, called a Glucose Tolerance Test. She retold the experience and how a girl had fainted and another boy had accidentally dropped a full vial of blood on the ground. By the end of the six hours, Braelyn had drawn blood eleven times, having her blood drawn eleven times equally, and when she got into her car to drive back to her apartment, the real excitement began.

“To my surprise, I was pulled over by a police officer. He came to my window and began to tell me how one of my rear lights were out when he noticed my arms, which had obvious needle marks down both of them”, a small laugh once more breached her story at the irony of the memory before she continued. “Oui…. The officer didn’t know what to say at first and then preceded to ask me if I was currently under the influence. I was horrified! I then had to explain him how I was a medical student and what I had just gone through”.

Turning back to Roderich, she shrugged and finished with, “Good news is that in the end, he was as embarrassed as I was that he gave me a warning for the light and no ticket”.

As Braelyn recounted her experiences, Roderich had to smile at the memory of his own--it'd been years, but he could still remember training to draw and test blood and all the mishaps that came with it. He'd felt somewhat faint himself the first few times he attempted to stick a syringe into one of his classmates, especially when he missed the vein at first and was regaled with a wince or grunt of pain for his efforts. After a couple hours, he'd forced himself to focus more on the task at hand and successfully suppressed the faintness--the anxiety over messing up had lingered for a while longer.

He laughed as she came to the part with the police officer, remarking, "Oh my. Of all times to be pulled over. That is hilarious--I don't think I can top that."

He looked down at the hand he had resting in his lap, catching sight of his wristwatch. How long had they been talking and dancing and...doing whatever else?

"It's getting late," he remarked impassively, just to inform her. He certainly wasn't about to make her leave, but seeing that this had begun as a short, simple dinner invitation, he figured she ought to be aware.

At the mention of time, Braelyn caught a glance at Roderich’s watch and slightly gasped at the time. Where on earth had the time gone? When planning for the evening, she hadn’t expected to stay this late and well…. She didn’t regret the time she had spent here but she was going to do a few things at home before she crawled into her bed. With a sigh, she stood from the bench and turned to smile down at the doctor.

“Your right, it is getting late and I think I should be heading out, I would hate to impose my stay any further”.

Tucking a stray hair behind her ear, she cast her gaze around the room again, taking in qualities, colors, and aspects. Indeed, she liked his home. She could appreciate the time she had spent here, it was a nice change from her usual routine but everything ends and she needed to get home. Perhaps, if she was lucky, something like this might happen again but she wasn’t one to hold on to high hopes.

“Walk me to the door, Roderich?” she said and began to walk from the room.

"You haven't imposed at all," he assured her, and rose to walk at her side. He strode to the door, pulling it open and turning back to say his goodbyes.

"I enjoyed this very much. Perhaps we could get together another time, when our schedules permit? I could play some more pieces for you, we could work on that dancing..."

And the kissing, of course. He let that notion linger unspoken in the air, leaning forward to plant a quick kiss on her cheek. There was, of course, the associated twinge of awkwardness that only being caught up in emotion could cure, but by now that was overshadowed by the joy of the action. He was truly happy to be with her--given less obligations and the need for sleep, he could have easily sat with her for the rest of the night. It wasn't often that he felt this fortunate.

"Good night," he said quietly, all smiles.


(Ffff, I'm late again. Sorry about that. I do have the excuse that I was applying as a doctor character elsewhere? XD Evidently I've had enough fun with doctorRoddy to try my hand at an original character of that type. :3)

“Well I am truly glad to hear that and I agree. We will have to do something like this again and I would very much enjoy hearing you play more”.

With her purse in hand and boots on, she smiled comfortably by the door and proceeded even to blush in relation to Roderich’s well-placed kiss upon the rose of her cheeks. She truly had enjoyed her time spent at his home and did hope that more time would be spent together, but he did make a valid point. They both had demanding careers and the hospital was certainly not the ideal place for nursing a possible blooming romance. They would just have to see what the future held in store for them.

“Good night, Roderich and thank you again for the lovely evening”.

She waved pleasantly before stepping form the vicinity of the home into the warm night air and headed towards her car, unable to fade the smile form her lips.

_{{No problem at all! I’ve been busy myself, back at university ad all, and form the looks of it, this thread may very well be completed ^^}}