Feeling Something... [Roderich & Braelyn-Complete]

"All right. Next Saturday at six, then?" He had to release her hand in order to enter the event onto that day, letting it occupy the space of a few good hours. Not that he thought he'd forget it, but...he liked being consistent with having everything down in his schedule.

Pocketing the phone, he glanced at her and caught her shiver. Puzzlement crossed his face, but she was looking away from him, so he couldn't quite make out what sort of sensation had come over her at that moment...maybe cold? It was still pretty warm out, but gradually starting to cool as the night wore on, so perhaps...

Impulsively, he draped an arm about her shoulders. His grasp was a bit stiff, but who knew, maybe it would offer a little additional warmth.

"Guess I will, then," he said. "If you don't mind."

”Umm…” As soon as he had placed his arm around her, she froze instantly. Never had she suspected the man to be so bold! It seemed that he was full of surprises… an interesting thought. Blinking a few times at nothing in particular, she reached up to subconsciously play with her braid but brushed against his hand on her shoulder instead. Delaying a moment before resting her fingertips on top of his hand, she overcame her bashfulness and gently leaned against him in return.

Turning her head enough to look at him, she hesitated before she said, “Saturday sounds great and I will have to get your address eventually. I will give you my number before we part and you can text me it I suppose.”

Shrugging slightly, she smiled at him tenderly but quickly had to look away to stifle a yawn with the crook of her arm. She knew that it was getting late and, though she didn’t want to this to end, she couldn’t ignore how tired she felt no longer.

“Pardon-moi, monsieur but it would seem that my day has began to catch up with me. I have really enjoyed this and I look forward to Saturday.” Raising an eyebrow, she continued in a softer tone, “Would you mind walking me back to my car?”

It hadn't occurred to him that that he might have come off as bold or pushy, and when he felt her freeze he almost withdrew his arm. Maybe the common gestures of affection he'd been used to six years ago were coming back too fast? But after a moment she seemed to enjoy it, so he kept his arm there.

"Sure," he said. "And I wouldn't mind at all."

He lead her down the path and out of the park, back to the street that the hospital was on. Personally, he had a prime parking spot in a lot behind the building (that was only marked as 'staff parking', but that had he had made sure was his after leaving an unpleasant note or two on the cars of interns that had taken it, rambling about his years' experience and ability to probably get them fired) but he wasn't sure where Brae's car was.

"Are you in one of the lots or the parking structure?" he inquired.

She remained silent as they walked back towards the hospital, occasionally looking at him to smile or admiring the sights around her. She really found that she didn’t want the evening to end but asides from her being tired, she also remembered that Roderich had an hour’s drive to his home. She thought of her own home, her condo, with it’s nearly wall-to-floor one-way windows overlooking the ocean, the second bedroom she had converted into a small dance studio, the colorful paintings of Monaco and of the sea adorning white walls… everything about her living space reflected her love affair with the ocean and the sun. Consequently, each morning she would step out onto her balcony from her bedroom to enjoy a cup of tea and watch the dawn’s light upon the waves.

At his question, she deftly spun out his arm’s embrace with a graceful, well-practiced twirl upon her toes and stopped perfectly to face him. Laughing at his expression, she grabbed his hand again and said, “It’s in the lot just ahead.” Taking the lead, she led him the short way to parking lot and upon entering it, she pointed towards her vehicle. “That’s it there” she said, referring to the red Lexus LS 460 L AWD with alabaster leather interior: a car worth over a hundred grand, a small fortune to some, a personal twenty-first birthday present to herself.

Turning towards him, she opened her mouth to speak but, pausing, said nothing, her smile faltering. Thinking about it quickly, she realized that she didn’t know what to do. Thank him, say goodnight and shake his hand? I think not… she thought dully, and not knowing what he feels about me only makes things harder. And hell no was she going to ask!

Her spin drew a few different emotions from him--aside from surprise, he felt a pang of attraction and perhaps a small flutter of desire. Her grace shouldn't come as remarkable to him, he thought, knowing about her ballet--but all the same, it did, and the lithe movement was beautiful to his eyes. He'd have to come see her perform sometime, seriously...

The sight of her car was a surprise as well--he'd figured someone her age would be driving something older and much cheaper. He let his gaze wander over it admiringly, trying not to stare too much, lest he provoke a conversation that would involve him bringing up his nearly ten-year-old Chevy Camaro (which wasn't in particularly bad shape, but also was hardly fitting to his salary. He'd decided to put off replacing it until a few years after buying his antique grand piano.)

"Well," he said, and, noticing her faltering, felt himself falter as well. For a few moments he only stood there, mentally debating. He couldn't leave her there without some proper end to the night. Even though this hadn't exactly begun as a date (and he wasn't completely sure whether it qualified as one now), he ought to do something special. He supposed there was always...

He lifted a hand, gently touching her cheek. It was an awkward gesture, his fingers just about freezing in place as they reached the softness of her skin, but he was so rusty at this and he couldn't trust his instincts. Hopefully she'd realize his intentions and let him know whether he was overstepping with what he wanted to do, and hopefully she'd do it in a way that wouldn't make him feel like a fool.

Moments of silence stretched between them after he spoke, awkward to say the least. He stood quite close to her, close enough that she felt his breath, and she clearly saw indecision cross his features. These combined only set her nerves even more aflame or maybe it was the heat of her blush that warmed her so… For whatever reason, she felt very warm.

Glancing away with her eyes, her gaze idly fell on her car and a sense of slight regret surged through her. Merde… she cursed inwardly, knowing that she had been too casual with showing him her vehicle; she could’ve lied. Usually, she didn’t like showing others evidence of her wealth, a topic that was incredibly private to her, and she was silently thankful that he hadn’t asked about it and how she came to got it. Truthfully, she hated to lie…

Pondering this, when she felt his fingertips upon her cheek, she neither gasped nor jumped in alarm, thankfully, but only looked up at him and met his eyes. Surely he saw the surprise that lay within them. Well… this was unexpected. It took a moment for the initial surprise to sink before she thought that it was odd that he hadn’t jerked away from being scorched by the heat of her flush. The amusing thought was all she needed to relax under his touch.

Reaching up with her hand, she gently wrapped her fingers around his, with the intention of removing his hand. Strangely enough, however, she found that the motivation to pull his hand away was absent so her hand remained upon his. Why did she have to be so shy all the time? A soft, barely audible laugh escaped through her lips at the thought and she closed her eyes, smiling. She couldn’t possibly begin to fathom what he was thinking about, but her smile widened at the possibilities.

Roderich reddened as her hand touched his, sure for a second that he had overstepped. But as it remained there and her eyes settled closed, it dawned on him that perhaps she didn't mind, that she wouldn't mind. Perhaps she would even enjoy it if...

Leaning forward slowly as not to startle her, he pressed his lips to her other cheek. He remained there for only an instant, rendering it more of a touch than a kiss, but when he withdrew he was giddy and tingling, not caring that the smile forming on his face was frankly bashful and the furthest thing from his usual demeanor.

"Good night," he said by way of explanation, folding his hands to keep from fidgeting.

Blinking for a moment or two, momentarily stunned, before she slowly reached up to touch her cheek and where he had kissed her. Looking up at him, his smile seemed more boyish than the man he was and his conduct was that of restless excitement. Nevertheless, his attitude was intoxicating and before she knew it, she was smiling brightly back at him once more. “Bonne nuit, monsieur. I really enjoyed myself this evening and I’m glad to have spent it with you.”

Retrieving her car keys from her purse she half-turned away from him and unlocked her car with her keys. Shouldering her purse and fingering her keys in her hand, she rubbed the back of her neck with her other and wasn’t really sure what else to say. Taking a step towards the Lexus, she turned over her shoulder and said softly, “Merci, Roderich. I will talk to you soon I’m sure. Until then, au revoir.” She began to walk away though something told her in the back of her mind that she had forgotten to tell him something…

He watched her unlock the car and start to leave, still senselessly smiling. He felt rather triumphant, and barely heard her parting words through the strength of that emotion. It was only when she began to walk that he snapped back to reality, giving a light sigh and turning to head to his car, content with how the evening had gone.

He heard her hesitate as some thought crossed her mind and faltered in his own step, not quite turning, just glancing back out of the corner of his eye to see if she needed something. It seemed impossible that anything else needed to be done tonight, but who knew--maybe she'd misplaced something, or failed to tell him something, or...

It had taken her a moment but Braelyn remembered what she had forgotten to tell him. Searching through her purse quickly, she pulled out a small piece of paper as she turned and jogged back towards him. “Roderich, wait!”

Stopping in front of him she handed the paper to him and grinning wide she said, “In my haste, I forgot to give you this.” On the paper, was her phone number from a previous occasion that she couldn’t recall at the moment but it didn't matter anyway. She waited till his eyes glanced down to the paper before she leaned forward and boldly returned the kiss he had given her. While his had been that of the lightest touch, hers was soft and she remainded there for a good second before she pulled away as she too whispered “Goodnight” as he had and began to step back towards her car.

Roderich blinked, stunned. The kiss took him completely off-guard and his face was beet-red as she pulled back. Small as the gesture had been, it ground his mind to a halt, taken aback by her boldness and the softness of her lips and the warmth and scent of her and a billion other details that he couldn't well comprehend.

"I--I--" he tried, but he couldn't form any words for a few good moments. He swallowed, forced himself to breathe normally, and then managed, "--I'll call you."

It had been ages since he'd felt this good simply from spending time with someone. He hardly knew what to do with himself, smiling as he stowed the paper in his pocket, smiling as he left. Yes, he would have to call her, and they would have to go out again. Definitely.