[ Even if he'd made the decision to set them onto this path, what with backing down from it not being an option after months of - everything, her response doesn't inspire confidence. Not that it's unfair for it to do so, though as he watches Hilda reconcile this into Claude can't help but wonder why it seems so surprising to her.
Because that's part of the issue, isn't it? That, as she points out, there's been no dates before in any sense of Before? Still, he can't help the rueful smile that comes to his face immediately in the aftermath of her speaking. ]
I think it was pointed out to me before that war wasn't exactly the time for any notions of romance. The same can probably be said for any kind of strife since.
[ Dryly, since that seems better than his other reaction of wanting to drag a hand down his face as she continues to stare back at him like he's said something so completely unpredictable she doesn't know what to do with it. But he is watching her carefully still, feeling a bit like he's floundering around in a dark room looking for a candle to light in the form of clarity when that doesn't offer him anything but the confirmation she's genuinely puzzled.
But the why for that reaction even after their last conversation of dancing around a topic adjacent to this one where she'd had much the same flush and sputtering in response to what he'd said - hadn't he made it clear? Try as he might and though Claude succeeds in keeping his voice even, it's too difficult to not let trepidation in. ]
Would it really be so terrible if this was a date?
[ Maybe that genuine question is a better place to start. Maybe it'll unravel the rest of what's going unsaid when the last thing he wants to do is assume too much even as his mind is already turning over the possibilities he's now ignoring - not when that'd gotten them to a very different place when he doesn't want to repeat anything close to it. ]
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Because that's part of the issue, isn't it? That, as she points out, there's been no dates before in any sense of Before? Still, he can't help the rueful smile that comes to his face immediately in the aftermath of her speaking. ]
I think it was pointed out to me before that war wasn't exactly the time for any notions of romance. The same can probably be said for any kind of strife since.
[ Dryly, since that seems better than his other reaction of wanting to drag a hand down his face as she continues to stare back at him like he's said something so completely unpredictable she doesn't know what to do with it. But he is watching her carefully still, feeling a bit like he's floundering around in a dark room looking for a candle to light in the form of clarity when that doesn't offer him anything but the confirmation she's genuinely puzzled.
But the why for that reaction even after their last conversation of dancing around a topic adjacent to this one where she'd had much the same flush and sputtering in response to what he'd said - hadn't he made it clear? Try as he might and though Claude succeeds in keeping his voice even, it's too difficult to not let trepidation in. ]
Would it really be so terrible if this was a date?
[ Maybe that genuine question is a better place to start. Maybe it'll unravel the rest of what's going unsaid when the last thing he wants to do is assume too much even as his mind is already turning over the possibilities he's now ignoring - not when that'd gotten them to a very different place when he doesn't want to repeat anything close to it. ]