(no subject)

[interrogoiterum]

 Renee is contemplating going home.

She is doing this contemplation by being at the lakeside, where the larger boulders are, standing on one hand and bending her legs back towards her occiput. 

Hey, it helps her think.

Comments

[interrogoiterum]

"Everyone screws up. It's okay."

Renee smiles, still kind of puzzled.

"Am I missing something?"

[baptizemyself]

Funny. Helena can take on the baddest mob guys and the evilest supervillains, and yet somehow this - expressing her feelings to Renee - still seems like the hardest thing she's ever had to do.

She always tells her students that honesty is the best policy. Time to put that theory to the test. She takes a deep breath and bites the bullet.

"When I kissed you I did it because I wanted to. And I didn't know how to handle that.

"I know I don't deserve anything from you. I've messed up. A lot. I don't expect anything from you. But I just want you to know that."

[interrogoiterum]

Oh.

Oh, that.

Renee turns and gives Helena her full attention.

"Okay, apology accepted."

If that's what that was, and Renee interprets it as implied.

"Uh... are you saying it's the kind of thing you'd want to do again?"

[baptizemyself]

She nods.

"I'm just not... I'm not good at this kind of thing."

[interrogoiterum]

"Alright."

Renee moves to tilt her hat away from her eyes, then realizes she isn't wearing a hat. Instead, she holds both hands out for Helena's.

"Helena, would you like to have dinner with me, say - tomorrow night?"

[baptizemyself]

Helena looks confused, and doesn't take the offered hands - yet.

"Like... on a date?"

Just so she's clear.

[interrogoiterum]

"Exactly like a date," Renee says. "Maybe even with kissing, if you'd like."

[baptizemyself]

"... I'd like that. I'd like that a lot..."

She tentatively takes Renee's hands.

[interrogoiterum]

Renee squeezes Helena's hands gently.

And grins brightly.

"Took your time," she points out.

[baptizemyself]

"Yeah," she admits.

"I said I'm not good at this, right? Feelings, relationships... I couldn't even figure it out with a guy. And then you came along and... kinda caught me off guard."

[interrogoiterum]

"Catching people off guard," says Renee. "Gets me through a lot."

She leans forward, and lightly places a kiss on the side of Helena's mouth.

[baptizemyself]

The delicate touch of Renee's lips sends shivers down her spine.

"So... dinner?" she asks in a small voice, ignoring the part of her that wants more than just a chaste kiss; the part that wants to slip her arms around Renee and pull her close and -

And this time she's going to go slow. Do this right. And that means a real date. Which, come to think of it, Helena has never had before.

[interrogoiterum]

Helena is not the only person holding herself back right now. Renee is flushing slightly with the very excitement of it all.

"Dinner," she says softly, and grins.

"You're paying."

[baptizemyself]

"Seems fair. I think I can stretch to Burger King," she teases.

[interrogoiterum]

"Teachers' salaries that tight these days?"

For shame!

Renee draws back, touching her bangs like the brim of her hat as she turns to go.

"I reserve the right to a supersize meal."

[baptizemyself]

"If you're lucky I might even get you dessert."

As she watches Renee leaves she brings a hand up to her face and gently touches the spot on her cheek that Renee kissed. It still tingles.

Later the nerves will kick in and she'll start questioning whether she made the right decision. For now though, she feels like a school girl who just got asked to the prom.