Gains and Losses- Chapter 13: "Firsts" (Havoc)
This is the thirteenth chapter of the arc called "Gains and Losses". It is
Havoc-centric. It is set in the mangaverse, so if you don't know what happens to
Havoc around Chapter 38, then read it before you start this fic.
Title: Firsts
Author: SeaweedOtter
Beta: The coolest Midwesterner I know, havocmangawip
Characters: Jean Havoc, Maria Ross, and the rest of the gang.
Rating: PG-13 for naughty naughty language!!
Disclaimer: Manga Spoilers... Set in the manga, a couple years after the end of
chapter 38. Maybe AU?
Summary: The longest of journeys begins with the first step.
Read all the chapters so far
HERE!
It was close to quitting time, and Havoc had managed to avoid the Fuhrer all day. It
hadn't been easy, and several time he had to resort to waiting down an adjoining
hallway until Mustang had finished talking to whomever had stopped him in the hall
for whatever 'vitally important issue' that seemed to plague the military this time.
He had absolutely no intention of letting Mustang know about what had happened the
night before. Just telling him about the stiffy a few days before had been bad
enough. This was ten times worse.
That morning Maria had done an abbreviated version of his morning exercises. She had
been pleasant enough and a bit on the talkative side. Havoc never claimed to be
terribly bright, but he knew neither of them wanted the awkward silence that hung
around them, threatening to stifle them if their conversation hesitated for even a
moment- if they had time to think about what had happened. So they talked about
everything but about what happened the night before. Mostly they talked about Breda
and Janet and how the baby would be coming home soon.
Havoc had been rather glad she had to leave early for an appointment with another
solider. He was left in the apartment, though. And it was quiet. Very quiet. It gave
him time to ponder the evening before. She hadn't been as shocked or disgusted as he
thought she would be. She could have run away or gotten mad that he would do that at
her place, but she was very understanding.
But why?
Well, it was obvious that they liked each other. But still, she didn't *SEE*
anything. He was under a towel. Although it didn't take a genius to know what he was
doing. Did she want to see more? Did she like what he was doing?
He shook his head. He certainly wasn't going to ask her that, so it was a moot point.
Havoc sighed and looked up at the clock. It was only five minutes until quitting
time. "I am going to head out. I will see you tomorrow, sir." He saluted Colonel
Polsten, his immediate superior, who saluted back.
"Have a nice evening, Lt. Havoc." He smiled and put his head back down, immersing
himself in his paperwork. Havoc grinned, his mind wandering back to the colonel he
knew that would never have devoured paperwork as much as his current commanding
officer. He and Mustang were about as polar opposites as two could be, but Havoc
liked Polsten. He was gregarious and funny, a lot more like Hughes than anyone else
he had formerly worked with.
His mind wandered as he rolled himself down the hallway and towards the exit, where
he knew a car would be waiting to take him home.
Home. What a strange word. He had never really considered anywhere besides his
parent's house 'home' before. How, had he found somewhere that would earn that
title? He had other things to worry about at the moment. He was nearing the moment
of truth. What would happen when he got home? Would she try to avoid him? Would she
make him talk about it? Or would she try to initiate something...
"No!" he said, shaking his head harder this time.
"No, what, Lt. Havoc?"
Havoc stopped dead in his tracks. He looked up to see the Fuhrer outside the
entrance of Central Headquarters, apparently stepping out to get a little air.
"Um... nothing sir." He saluted and quickly tried to roll past, towards the ramp on
the side of the building, but Mustang wasn't going to let him off that easily. He
quickly took a few steps forward and blocked Havoc's path again.
"Come on, Havoc. What is it? I saw you trying to avoid me all day. Something is up."
Havoc groaned. He had been so proud of himself. He thought he had been able to be
stealthy. He certainly had been good at prowling around before he was stuck in a
chair, and it had done his ego some good to know that he still had some of his
skills.
But egos can deflate as just as quickly, and Mustang bore witness to another chunk
of Havoc's pride being whittled away while stuck with useless legs.
"Sir, please. I promise I will talk about it another time, but I really don't want
to right now. I just wanna get home, have a beer and a cold shower, and go to bed.
It has been a long day." To Havoc's surprise, Mustang stepped to the side and out
of his way.
"Okay, Lt. Havoc. But I will remember this conversation." His serious tone made
Havoc shudder. He had no doubt that his former colonel would bring his up again.
Mustang put his hand on Havoc's shoulder and spoke quieter, his serious, almost
emotionless tone dropping. He leaned in towards Havoc's ear. "I am your friend,
Jean. If you have a problem, I want you to feel like you can trust me to tell me
what is going on."
"I promise, another time, sir." Havoc saluted again and rolled down towards the ramp
before he listened to the nagging voices in his brain to spill everything that was
thinking about Ross, and himself.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Havoc was more than glad that the driver could tell that Havoc wasn't in a talkative
mood that evening while he drove him home. It was a quiet, slightly awkward drive.
Havoc stared out the window and watched the blur of buildings go by for the short
ride back to the apartment complex where Ross lived.
As usual, the driver parked the car, got the chair out next to Havoc's door, and
opened the door, letting him transfer to the chair and shutting the door behind him.
"Thanks." was all he muttered before rolling towards the inevitable. His mind was a
whirl. What was he going to find? Ross had interacted with him in the morning
because she had to. Now it was their free time, and who knows what she had planned.
He had never thought to ask her what she did in the evenings after she got off of
work. Last night she had been working later than usual, but tonight was a regular
schedule, so he would see Ross like he never had before.
And it scared him.
He fumbled with his key chain until he finally found the right one.
Then it fell from his hand and bounced right behind one of his wheels.
"Shit," he muttered, trying to lean down to the side to get the keys. His arms were
long, but not quite long enough. His fingers brushed against the edge of the
keychain, pushing it slightly further under his chair.
"Fucking shit!"
Sweat formed on his brow from the exertion. He tried to maneuver his arm so he could
reach under the hand rest and lean down further, but there wasn't enough room to
move his body under so he could snake his arm down that way. "Oh, come on. You have
to be fucking kidding me." He sighed, banging his head loudly on the apartment door
out of sheer frustration.
A few seconds later, Ross opened the door, wearing a pretty red dress. She was
wearing a little makeup, and her hair was styled. Havoc looked utterly confused.
"A... date?" he asked quietly, hoping to God that his body wasn't betraying him yet
again at seeing how beautiful she looked.
She smiled and motioned her head backwards into the apartment, where he saw the
dining room table had been made up- with a white linen tablecloth, a tall blue
candle in the center, and two perfectly placed table settings across from each
other. "I just wanted to welcome you properly- to Central, and to my apartment. I
hope you don't mind." She blushed just a little and leaned down, picking up the keys
that she noticed glinting in the light and placing them gently in his lap.
"I... I... um... no...” Havoc stammered, looked at the keys, and then looked back at
Ross. She turned around and walked into the apartment, and Havoc followed behind a
few seconds later, closing the front door behind him. He smelt a light
fragrance-something like lavender, coming from a few other candles that he hadn't
seen before. They were sitting on the kitchen counter, behind the table. There was
soft music coming from the radio in the living room, and most of the lights were
off, giving the flickering candles a chance to bathe the room in a rather romantic,
low light.
"It... is... great... you are great... I mean you look wonderful... Um... that
is..." Ross put a hand on Havoc's shoulder, smiling and gently shushing him with her
finger.
"It's alright, Jean. Just relax, please. I felt so bad about... well you know." She
smiled and blushed more. "I just wanted to do something nice for you. I know you
have been in Central a while and I don't think you have had time to relax. So
please, just relax. Take a few minutes to get out of your uniform and into your
normal clothes. No need to dress up. I still have to finish dinner."
"Um... okay... er... thanks...” Havoc felt his face flush a little red. He smiled
softly, then rolled to his bedroom, where he closed and locked the door this time,
only the second time he had done that since the incident. He wished there was a
bathroom in there- he felt like he needed to wash the day away. But it wasn't, so he
carefully undressed and laid his dress blues on the bed, and put on a tight fitting
black t-shirt and a pair of khaki pants, the clothes that he had always considered
his 'dressing down' outfit.
It was about 15 minutes later when he emerged from the bedroom. At first Ross didn't
see him. She was busy placing plates of what looked like some sort of chicken dish
on the table. He gently cleared his throat and she turned around quickly, a broad
smile on her face.
"You look nice." She grinned and turned away, hoping the hot flush in her cheeks
didn't show. The tight black shirt left little of the man's upper body mass to the
imagination. Since being stuck in a wheelchair, his upper body strength had to make
up for his lack of lower body movement, and a body that had already been toned in
the past was even more well defined than before.
"Uh... thanks." He smiled. She had thoughtfully moved the chair away from one of the
plates she has set so he could wheel right in under the glass table. It only cleared
his legs by a few inches- almost the perfect height. He sniffed at the food but
didn't dig in, as tempting as it looked. "This smells great, Maria."
"It is a really easy dish, just chicken in a wine sauce with some mushrooms and
potatoes. If you cook, I can give you the recipe."
"I better not. Breda is afraid I will burn your apartment down."
Ross giggled and brought a bowl of rice to the table, then sat down. "I am sure you
would do fine cooking, Jean. I have faith in you, even if your best friend doesn't."
Havoc smiled back, immediately digging into his chicken. "He is my best friend, that
is why he *knows* that I probably would. I am sure he can tell you some stories
about when were in Basic together. I'm surprised he hasn't already!" He took a big
bite, his face lighting up. "Mmm! This tastes even better than it smells!"
"Thanks." She took a bite as well, smiling broadly. "And who says that he hasn't
told me stories? I know there was one time with a goat and some toilet paper... "
Havoc started to choke on the piece of chicken that he had just put in his mouth. He
coughed it down and gave Ross a wide eyed stare.
"It's okay. The general never figured out who it was, and your secret is safe with
me. Yet another thing I have that I can hold over your head!" She practically
beamed, and suddenly Havoc felt less hungry than he had a moment ago. "Come on, eat.
You big goofball, I am not gonna tell anyone!"
Havoc started back on his food, slower than he had been a moment before. Ross only
let the conversation die for a few moments before starting up again. "So, since you
owe me, I have an idea." Havoc stopped, his mouth still full of food, to give her a
confused look.
"Well, I really don't consider this a date, since we both live here and I am just
making dinner for both of us. But why don't we go out... on a real date? That is...
if you want to..." Ross' bravado suddenly waned, and her cheeks flushed a deep red
again.
Havoc swallowed loudly, careful not to choke on his food again. "I... um... would
like that... a lot," he stammered as he nervously rubbed at the back of his neck. "A
week from now, I have a day off. If... er... you are free."
"I only have one other appointment that day, but it is earlier in the day, so that
shouldn't be a problem. I'll call a cab to come pick us up at... say... 1900 hours?"
"Uh.. okay. I know a really nice Drachman restaurant on the other side of town. A
little fancy, but not too bad. My treat."
Ross smiled broadly as she said, “Hey, why don't we get a ride a little earlier,
maybe 1800 hours, and go to the park first? I bet I can come up with some stale
bread to feed the birds."
Havoc smiled and nodded, and took another bite of chicken. "So... it's a date?"
"It's a date, then. I am really looking forward to it."
"Me too."
They were quiet for a short time while they finished their meals. When they were
done, Maria took the plates and ran some water over them, leaving them in the sink.
"Do you want some help?"
"Nah, I will get them later. Let's just talk for a while." She walked over to the
couch and sat down, patting the cushion next to her. Havoc rolled over to the couch
and transferred onto it. It was the first time he had sat there, and he found it
rather comfortable.
"What did you want to talk about?" Havoc asked, one hand nervously scratching at his
face, the other flat palmed on the couch cushion. Ross took her hand and put in on
top of his, tracing his fingers with hers in small circles. He shivered, letting out
a soft gasp, and she immediately took her hand away.
"Are you okay?"
He nodded and smiled. "It is just that... well... certain places just seem like they
are more sensitive than they used to be,” he said and then paused for a moment.
"They aren't really, it just seems like for whatever reason, even a small touch can
really feel good. It isn't a bad thing. I just have to get used to it. Please... you
can put your hand back. I... I liked it."
Ross smiled and placed her hand on top of his again. She left it there, still for a
while, but eventually started to rub at his long, slightly calloused fingers. He
shivered again and smiled, content to sit in the relative silence of the radio
softly playing classical music. He had never gotten much of an appreciation for it,
figuring it was more Mustang's thing, but for this evening, it went together
perfectly.
A short time later, he yawned, immediately trying to stifle it with his other hand,
but Ross had seen it.
"You tired?"
"Yeah," he sadly admitted. He didn't want this to end, but ever since the incident,
he didn't have the stamina he used to, and he found himself going to bed a lot
earlier than he had before. "I am sorry. I didn't used to be such an early sleeper."
"It is okay. I understand. It has been a big couple of days, with moving and... all
that." She blushed a little, not bringing up the evening before.
He sighed and transferred back to his chair. "I promise, for our date I will stay up
as long as you want." He groaned and slapped his face, realizing how bad that
sounded. "I mean... I didn't mean it like that. I meant... "
"It is okay. You always seem so nervous around me. Please, just relax. It is fine,"
she said as she leaned over and gave him a short kiss on the cheek. "You sleep well,
Jean. I will see you in the morning for your exercises!"
"Okay... goodnight, Maria." He rolled towards his room and closed the door gently.
Ross smiled and stood up, walking back towards the dirty dishes in the sink.
"Goodnight."
Havoc-centric. It is set in the mangaverse, so if you don't know what happens to
Havoc around Chapter 38, then read it before you start this fic.
Title: Firsts
Author: SeaweedOtter
Beta: The coolest Midwesterner I know, havocmangawip
Characters: Jean Havoc, Maria Ross, and the rest of the gang.
Rating: PG-13 for naughty naughty language!!
Disclaimer: Manga Spoilers... Set in the manga, a couple years after the end of
chapter 38. Maybe AU?
Summary: The longest of journeys begins with the first step.
Read all the chapters so far
HERE!
It was close to quitting time, and Havoc had managed to avoid the Fuhrer all day. It
hadn't been easy, and several time he had to resort to waiting down an adjoining
hallway until Mustang had finished talking to whomever had stopped him in the hall
for whatever 'vitally important issue' that seemed to plague the military this time.
He had absolutely no intention of letting Mustang know about what had happened the
night before. Just telling him about the stiffy a few days before had been bad
enough. This was ten times worse.
That morning Maria had done an abbreviated version of his morning exercises. She had
been pleasant enough and a bit on the talkative side. Havoc never claimed to be
terribly bright, but he knew neither of them wanted the awkward silence that hung
around them, threatening to stifle them if their conversation hesitated for even a
moment- if they had time to think about what had happened. So they talked about
everything but about what happened the night before. Mostly they talked about Breda
and Janet and how the baby would be coming home soon.
Havoc had been rather glad she had to leave early for an appointment with another
solider. He was left in the apartment, though. And it was quiet. Very quiet. It gave
him time to ponder the evening before. She hadn't been as shocked or disgusted as he
thought she would be. She could have run away or gotten mad that he would do that at
her place, but she was very understanding.
But why?
Well, it was obvious that they liked each other. But still, she didn't *SEE*
anything. He was under a towel. Although it didn't take a genius to know what he was
doing. Did she want to see more? Did she like what he was doing?
He shook his head. He certainly wasn't going to ask her that, so it was a moot point.
Havoc sighed and looked up at the clock. It was only five minutes until quitting
time. "I am going to head out. I will see you tomorrow, sir." He saluted Colonel
Polsten, his immediate superior, who saluted back.
"Have a nice evening, Lt. Havoc." He smiled and put his head back down, immersing
himself in his paperwork. Havoc grinned, his mind wandering back to the colonel he
knew that would never have devoured paperwork as much as his current commanding
officer. He and Mustang were about as polar opposites as two could be, but Havoc
liked Polsten. He was gregarious and funny, a lot more like Hughes than anyone else
he had formerly worked with.
His mind wandered as he rolled himself down the hallway and towards the exit, where
he knew a car would be waiting to take him home.
Home. What a strange word. He had never really considered anywhere besides his
parent's house 'home' before. How, had he found somewhere that would earn that
title? He had other things to worry about at the moment. He was nearing the moment
of truth. What would happen when he got home? Would she try to avoid him? Would she
make him talk about it? Or would she try to initiate something...
"No!" he said, shaking his head harder this time.
"No, what, Lt. Havoc?"
Havoc stopped dead in his tracks. He looked up to see the Fuhrer outside the
entrance of Central Headquarters, apparently stepping out to get a little air.
"Um... nothing sir." He saluted and quickly tried to roll past, towards the ramp on
the side of the building, but Mustang wasn't going to let him off that easily. He
quickly took a few steps forward and blocked Havoc's path again.
"Come on, Havoc. What is it? I saw you trying to avoid me all day. Something is up."
Havoc groaned. He had been so proud of himself. He thought he had been able to be
stealthy. He certainly had been good at prowling around before he was stuck in a
chair, and it had done his ego some good to know that he still had some of his
skills.
But egos can deflate as just as quickly, and Mustang bore witness to another chunk
of Havoc's pride being whittled away while stuck with useless legs.
"Sir, please. I promise I will talk about it another time, but I really don't want
to right now. I just wanna get home, have a beer and a cold shower, and go to bed.
It has been a long day." To Havoc's surprise, Mustang stepped to the side and out
of his way.
"Okay, Lt. Havoc. But I will remember this conversation." His serious tone made
Havoc shudder. He had no doubt that his former colonel would bring his up again.
Mustang put his hand on Havoc's shoulder and spoke quieter, his serious, almost
emotionless tone dropping. He leaned in towards Havoc's ear. "I am your friend,
Jean. If you have a problem, I want you to feel like you can trust me to tell me
what is going on."
"I promise, another time, sir." Havoc saluted again and rolled down towards the ramp
before he listened to the nagging voices in his brain to spill everything that was
thinking about Ross, and himself.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Havoc was more than glad that the driver could tell that Havoc wasn't in a talkative
mood that evening while he drove him home. It was a quiet, slightly awkward drive.
Havoc stared out the window and watched the blur of buildings go by for the short
ride back to the apartment complex where Ross lived.
As usual, the driver parked the car, got the chair out next to Havoc's door, and
opened the door, letting him transfer to the chair and shutting the door behind him.
"Thanks." was all he muttered before rolling towards the inevitable. His mind was a
whirl. What was he going to find? Ross had interacted with him in the morning
because she had to. Now it was their free time, and who knows what she had planned.
He had never thought to ask her what she did in the evenings after she got off of
work. Last night she had been working later than usual, but tonight was a regular
schedule, so he would see Ross like he never had before.
And it scared him.
He fumbled with his key chain until he finally found the right one.
Then it fell from his hand and bounced right behind one of his wheels.
"Shit," he muttered, trying to lean down to the side to get the keys. His arms were
long, but not quite long enough. His fingers brushed against the edge of the
keychain, pushing it slightly further under his chair.
"Fucking shit!"
Sweat formed on his brow from the exertion. He tried to maneuver his arm so he could
reach under the hand rest and lean down further, but there wasn't enough room to
move his body under so he could snake his arm down that way. "Oh, come on. You have
to be fucking kidding me." He sighed, banging his head loudly on the apartment door
out of sheer frustration.
A few seconds later, Ross opened the door, wearing a pretty red dress. She was
wearing a little makeup, and her hair was styled. Havoc looked utterly confused.
"A... date?" he asked quietly, hoping to God that his body wasn't betraying him yet
again at seeing how beautiful she looked.
She smiled and motioned her head backwards into the apartment, where he saw the
dining room table had been made up- with a white linen tablecloth, a tall blue
candle in the center, and two perfectly placed table settings across from each
other. "I just wanted to welcome you properly- to Central, and to my apartment. I
hope you don't mind." She blushed just a little and leaned down, picking up the keys
that she noticed glinting in the light and placing them gently in his lap.
"I... I... um... no...” Havoc stammered, looked at the keys, and then looked back at
Ross. She turned around and walked into the apartment, and Havoc followed behind a
few seconds later, closing the front door behind him. He smelt a light
fragrance-something like lavender, coming from a few other candles that he hadn't
seen before. They were sitting on the kitchen counter, behind the table. There was
soft music coming from the radio in the living room, and most of the lights were
off, giving the flickering candles a chance to bathe the room in a rather romantic,
low light.
"It... is... great... you are great... I mean you look wonderful... Um... that
is..." Ross put a hand on Havoc's shoulder, smiling and gently shushing him with her
finger.
"It's alright, Jean. Just relax, please. I felt so bad about... well you know." She
smiled and blushed more. "I just wanted to do something nice for you. I know you
have been in Central a while and I don't think you have had time to relax. So
please, just relax. Take a few minutes to get out of your uniform and into your
normal clothes. No need to dress up. I still have to finish dinner."
"Um... okay... er... thanks...” Havoc felt his face flush a little red. He smiled
softly, then rolled to his bedroom, where he closed and locked the door this time,
only the second time he had done that since the incident. He wished there was a
bathroom in there- he felt like he needed to wash the day away. But it wasn't, so he
carefully undressed and laid his dress blues on the bed, and put on a tight fitting
black t-shirt and a pair of khaki pants, the clothes that he had always considered
his 'dressing down' outfit.
It was about 15 minutes later when he emerged from the bedroom. At first Ross didn't
see him. She was busy placing plates of what looked like some sort of chicken dish
on the table. He gently cleared his throat and she turned around quickly, a broad
smile on her face.
"You look nice." She grinned and turned away, hoping the hot flush in her cheeks
didn't show. The tight black shirt left little of the man's upper body mass to the
imagination. Since being stuck in a wheelchair, his upper body strength had to make
up for his lack of lower body movement, and a body that had already been toned in
the past was even more well defined than before.
"Uh... thanks." He smiled. She had thoughtfully moved the chair away from one of the
plates she has set so he could wheel right in under the glass table. It only cleared
his legs by a few inches- almost the perfect height. He sniffed at the food but
didn't dig in, as tempting as it looked. "This smells great, Maria."
"It is a really easy dish, just chicken in a wine sauce with some mushrooms and
potatoes. If you cook, I can give you the recipe."
"I better not. Breda is afraid I will burn your apartment down."
Ross giggled and brought a bowl of rice to the table, then sat down. "I am sure you
would do fine cooking, Jean. I have faith in you, even if your best friend doesn't."
Havoc smiled back, immediately digging into his chicken. "He is my best friend, that
is why he *knows* that I probably would. I am sure he can tell you some stories
about when were in Basic together. I'm surprised he hasn't already!" He took a big
bite, his face lighting up. "Mmm! This tastes even better than it smells!"
"Thanks." She took a bite as well, smiling broadly. "And who says that he hasn't
told me stories? I know there was one time with a goat and some toilet paper... "
Havoc started to choke on the piece of chicken that he had just put in his mouth. He
coughed it down and gave Ross a wide eyed stare.
"It's okay. The general never figured out who it was, and your secret is safe with
me. Yet another thing I have that I can hold over your head!" She practically
beamed, and suddenly Havoc felt less hungry than he had a moment ago. "Come on, eat.
You big goofball, I am not gonna tell anyone!"
Havoc started back on his food, slower than he had been a moment before. Ross only
let the conversation die for a few moments before starting up again. "So, since you
owe me, I have an idea." Havoc stopped, his mouth still full of food, to give her a
confused look.
"Well, I really don't consider this a date, since we both live here and I am just
making dinner for both of us. But why don't we go out... on a real date? That is...
if you want to..." Ross' bravado suddenly waned, and her cheeks flushed a deep red
again.
Havoc swallowed loudly, careful not to choke on his food again. "I... um... would
like that... a lot," he stammered as he nervously rubbed at the back of his neck. "A
week from now, I have a day off. If... er... you are free."
"I only have one other appointment that day, but it is earlier in the day, so that
shouldn't be a problem. I'll call a cab to come pick us up at... say... 1900 hours?"
"Uh.. okay. I know a really nice Drachman restaurant on the other side of town. A
little fancy, but not too bad. My treat."
Ross smiled broadly as she said, “Hey, why don't we get a ride a little earlier,
maybe 1800 hours, and go to the park first? I bet I can come up with some stale
bread to feed the birds."
Havoc smiled and nodded, and took another bite of chicken. "So... it's a date?"
"It's a date, then. I am really looking forward to it."
"Me too."
They were quiet for a short time while they finished their meals. When they were
done, Maria took the plates and ran some water over them, leaving them in the sink.
"Do you want some help?"
"Nah, I will get them later. Let's just talk for a while." She walked over to the
couch and sat down, patting the cushion next to her. Havoc rolled over to the couch
and transferred onto it. It was the first time he had sat there, and he found it
rather comfortable.
"What did you want to talk about?" Havoc asked, one hand nervously scratching at his
face, the other flat palmed on the couch cushion. Ross took her hand and put in on
top of his, tracing his fingers with hers in small circles. He shivered, letting out
a soft gasp, and she immediately took her hand away.
"Are you okay?"
He nodded and smiled. "It is just that... well... certain places just seem like they
are more sensitive than they used to be,” he said and then paused for a moment.
"They aren't really, it just seems like for whatever reason, even a small touch can
really feel good. It isn't a bad thing. I just have to get used to it. Please... you
can put your hand back. I... I liked it."
Ross smiled and placed her hand on top of his again. She left it there, still for a
while, but eventually started to rub at his long, slightly calloused fingers. He
shivered again and smiled, content to sit in the relative silence of the radio
softly playing classical music. He had never gotten much of an appreciation for it,
figuring it was more Mustang's thing, but for this evening, it went together
perfectly.
A short time later, he yawned, immediately trying to stifle it with his other hand,
but Ross had seen it.
"You tired?"
"Yeah," he sadly admitted. He didn't want this to end, but ever since the incident,
he didn't have the stamina he used to, and he found himself going to bed a lot
earlier than he had before. "I am sorry. I didn't used to be such an early sleeper."
"It is okay. I understand. It has been a big couple of days, with moving and... all
that." She blushed a little, not bringing up the evening before.
He sighed and transferred back to his chair. "I promise, for our date I will stay up
as long as you want." He groaned and slapped his face, realizing how bad that
sounded. "I mean... I didn't mean it like that. I meant... "
"It is okay. You always seem so nervous around me. Please, just relax. It is fine,"
she said as she leaned over and gave him a short kiss on the cheek. "You sleep well,
Jean. I will see you in the morning for your exercises!"
"Okay... goodnight, Maria." He rolled towards his room and closed the door gently.
Ross smiled and stood up, walking back towards the dirty dishes in the sink.
"Goodnight."