CHULANE
They sit, side by side, legs and shoulder near, and he can't help but wish it would never end. He was a traditionalist, he had grown up eating dinners surrounded by his family at the dining table, and it was something he didn't realise how much he missed until he experienced it again, here and now, with Kia. His heart leap and jumped in his chest as he came to the realisation that already, so easily, he had subconscious ascribed to her the family status, as a soul that aided the mending of the great wound his abrupt departure from his past world left behind. How long had it been this way? How long had her playful winks, warm embraces and chiming laughs been helping him survive, propping him up and giving him something to look forward to? Had it been since that fateful day in the street, and he hadn't realised it until he knew she reciprocated? Or had it been far more recent, and that was why he felt so relieved as he does now?
He did not know, and he didn't care to ponder about it further. All he cared about, all he wanted to think on, was how now, in this moment, they were together. Together together. Settling in, he picked at his meal, sipped at his water, his gaze rarely diverting from hers very long, his body overly aware of her nearness, her closeness.
He couldn't get the grin off his face even if he wanted to.
"Ah," he said in initial response to her question, taking a sip of water to give himself time to think about it. A touch of a blush might have coloured his cheeks, but in his defence… it was warm in here OK?
"Well, I was hoping you'd might like to come back to the lodge with me - for dessert." He spoke with carefully guarded tones, trying to hide the sheer overwhelming hope that was behind them. He looked at her quizzically, a 'brow raised in silent question - and then, with a stroke of courage rising within him, he reached under the table with a free hand, the one nearest to her, with the hope of resting it upon one of her slender knees. He gave it a gentle squeeze, before moving it slightly higher, up her thigh - though he would stop immediately if she gave any such signal.
He did not know, and he didn't care to ponder about it further. All he cared about, all he wanted to think on, was how now, in this moment, they were together. Together together. Settling in, he picked at his meal, sipped at his water, his gaze rarely diverting from hers very long, his body overly aware of her nearness, her closeness.
He couldn't get the grin off his face even if he wanted to.
"Ah," he said in initial response to her question, taking a sip of water to give himself time to think about it. A touch of a blush might have coloured his cheeks, but in his defence… it was warm in here OK?
"Well, I was hoping you'd might like to come back to the lodge with me - for dessert." He spoke with carefully guarded tones, trying to hide the sheer overwhelming hope that was behind them. He looked at her quizzically, a 'brow raised in silent question - and then, with a stroke of courage rising within him, he reached under the table with a free hand, the one nearest to her, with the hope of resting it upon one of her slender knees. He gave it a gentle squeeze, before moving it slightly higher, up her thigh - though he would stop immediately if she gave any such signal.
it is better to know some of the questions
than all of the answers
than all of the answers
