Really?

[ his impassive face breaks into a matching smile as he's looking over at her, a buoyant warmth welling up in his chest and between all the cracks in his ribs. maybe it's ridiculous to feel that kind of relief when it would've been apparent to anyone else that they liked each other, but it still felt like picking through a rusty vocabulary, re-learning a language that had fallen into disuse. some things about dating remain the same, while other things had changed so much in the intervening years, and it left him lost. and when the girl you like is also an international former assassin without a normal dating life behind her, what do you do?? ]

Back in my day, women weren't supposed to ask guys out. They could strongly hint and drop implications and basically steer the whole conversation that way, but it was frowned on for them to actually take the initiative to say the words. Which, honestly, is really stupid.

But man. If you had, you really would've spared me some nerves.

[ where his right arm is trapped under yelena and around her shoulders, his fingers curl against her bare skin, fingertips trailing down the line of her upper arm. ]

How's your stomach feeling?