looks up from her paperwork when she hears the phone ring. Her stomach gurgled uneasily when she saw Basch's name on the caller ID. "Hey."

freezes when he hears her voice, but calms himself down. "Hallo." He said quietly. "Sorry I haven't called sooner." Work had taken over for_

a while.

tried not to smile as she set her pen down on the table. "It's fine."

still feels guilty. "How are you?"

"I'm well; I've been busy with a lot of work." She admitted, looking down at the stack of paper with a glare. She hated working. "You?"

could related. "Ja, I have been busy with work as well."

nodded, even though he couldn't see it. It was kind of nice to hear his voice. Maybe he wasn't going to disappear on her after-all.

looks out the window, cheeks flushing a little. "I miss you."

isn't quite sure how to respond to that, so she remains silent for a few seconds. "You're more than welcome to visit me if you'd like…" It_

wasn't as though it was *her* fault they hadn't seen one another recently.

does not blame her. He was just stating his thoughts. "Are you free now?"

looked down at the stack of papers that were due the following morning… "I don't have anything important to do."

would scold her if he knew. "I'll come then."

have plenty of time to finish them later. "Okay. I'll see you soon." She said with a slight smile; She would work until he got there, and_

finish it up after they hung out.

straightens up his desk, his stomach churning in his nervousness. But he was excited and eager to go. Once he was done, he set off to her_

place.

didn't get much paperwork done and opted instead to pace somewhat stiffly in the kitchen in rhythm with the dripping of the coffee pot.

shows up at her door with some flowers and a basket of goodies a while later.

quickly cleaned the kitchen and stuffed her stack of paperwork in to a desk. She'd work on it once he left. She pulled a tablecloth over the

kitchen table to make it look somewhat nice. She told herself that it was just like having normal company, and that she shouldn't feel so_

uneasy about seeing him.

knocks on the door, waiting nervously.

jumps and lets out a quiet shriek at the knock that pulled her from her thoughts. She took a deep breath and walked towards the door,_

opening it extremely slowly before staring at him with as blank of an expression as she could muster.

stares back at her, before finding it to be an uncomfortable exchange. He instead offers the flowers.

blinked towards the flowers before daftly asking, "Are they for me?" They were quite pretty, and she didn't get flowers often.

nods to her. "Of course."

looks at them with a small smile. "Thank you."

happy to see her smile. 'I am glad you like them."

nods. "They're beautiful." She said with a smile as she glanced back at him and realized that she hadn't invited him in and they were still_

standing awkwardly in the doorway. She tried to push away the feeling in her chest as her heart raced nervously and cursed mentally at the_

sensation, tightening her hold on the flowers very lightly. "Do you want to come in?" She asked him and moved to the side so that he had_

room to enter.

enters at her invitations, that feeling of nervousness and butterflies in the stomach quite prevalent. "Ja, Danke."

shut the door behind him and walked in to the kitchen to get a vase for the flowers. "Uh… Do you want some coffee?"

pauses. "Cocoa if you have it."

"Uh…" She frowned, she was pretty sure she did not have cocoa. "I don't think I have any cocoa… I'm sorry." She felt bad about it now.

doesn't mind at all. "Just water is fine then."

"I could go get some at the store if you'd like…" She didn't want him to feel uncomfortable here! She should have anticipated that he would_

ask for cocoa. Norway would have known to have cocoa.

shakes his head. "It is all right."

nods and sets the flowers down on the counter before getting him a glass of water. She then went on a search for some sort of vase to put_

them in.

takes a sip of his water, following her with his eyes.

relieved when she finds a simple glass vase beneath the sink and pulls it out. She filled it with water and carefully put the flowers in_

it, trying not to admire them too openly.

if he's supposed to hug her or something now..

sets the vase down and goes back to staring at him with a somewhat blank expression. She had no idea what to do at this point.

inching over very awkwardly.

why he is moving closer and continues to stare at him.

finally hugs her.

stiffens at the hug before awkwardly hugging him back. That was what she was supposed to do, right? It did feel kind of nice, and she kind_

of liked how he smelled; It reminded her of goats.

if smelling like goats is a good thing. A normal person wouldn't think so, but then again this was Thora and he liked her because she_

wasn't normal. Normal people would have never gotten this close. He releases her after a moment, his cheeks stained red.

"You smell like goats." She noted once he had pulled away. It may not have been the most romantic thing to say, but she did enjoy the_

smell. It was comforting.

tended to the goats before coming. "Ah? Sorry..."

blushed lightly and shook her head. "It's fine… I kind of like it. How are they?"

a bit relieved by that. Though he had to wonder how strange they were to a normal couple. "They are good. Jungfrau had a stomach ache eating

things she shouldn't be...but she is okay."

smirks at the thought. Serves the annoying goat right! She is pretty sure they act like a perfectly normal couple… Not that she knew_

exactly what that entailed. But she didn't think they were that bad. "That's good…"

doesn't think they are bad either. But he was still awkward. He had to get over it some way though. And he had to be loving...even if it_

not exactly something that he often, physically expressed. But he was trying. Or they would make no progress he was sure. "She has grown_

fond of you I think. Are you feeding her?"

"… Not often…" She didn't visit him very much, and he was usually there when she did. Though she and Jungfrau had been bonding lately…

that's good. He didn't want them to fight. "Don't give her too much then. She's getting fat."

doesn't think Jungfrau was getting fat! She is pretty sure the goat would be very upset if she knew he had said that. "Maybe you should_

play with her more."

wonders how she doesn't see it? "I play with her everyday."

shrugs.

sighs a bit. "Are you hungry, then?"

shakes her head slowly. "Are you?"

nods. "I brought fondue."

lights up somewhat. "Really?" She had enjoyed it the last time she had eaten it with him quite a bit.

thought she might enjoy it. "I had some cheese left over and thought it would be put to good use."

smiles. "That sounds great."

places the bags on the table. They held both the cheese and the special hot pots. "Shall we then?"

nodded and watched him set the bags down. She wasn't really sure what she could do to help, so she'd wait for him to say something.

sets up and pulls out a chair for her.

him a smile and sits down. She felt kind of like a lame host, but it was nice to see him again.

sits down next to her and waits for the cheese to heat up, before offering her the fork. "Ladies start."

nods nervously as she took it, she was trying to remind herself of all the rules for eating it. It had been a while since she had first_

tried it with him… all she could remember was switch forks on her plate, and for some reason she remembered not wanting to drop it.

watches her start, waiting for her to get hers before he starts his.

tries not to be too nervous as she took a piece of bread on one of the forks and VERY cautiously dipped it in the cheese, then pulled it_

back to her plate.

dips his own and brings it back to his plate, before transferring and eating. He was pleased she remembered.

watched him from the corner's of her eyes to make sure she was doing it correctly. Heaven forbid she do something wrong.

nods to her, smiling a bit at her clumsiness. "You're holding it wrong." He reached out to readjust her hold.

stared at his hands, determined not to blush. She nodded. "Sorry…"

nods to her. "It's okay. Now you know."

tries very hard to continue holding the fork just right, but has a little bit of difficulty with it as she dips the bread. Before she_

could stop it she watched as the piece of bread fell as though in slow motion, her eyes now staring at the fork as though it had betrayed_

her. He was going to kill her now!

does not kill her, instead, before he could think about it and hesitate, he leaned in and captured her lips with his.

dropped the fork and stared at him with wide eyes, making no sudden movements.

pulls back, redder than a tomato. He could hardly believe he did that.

gulps quietly and continues to stare at him, still a bit too shocked to actually *say* anything about it. Had he really just *kissed* her???

goes back to eating like nothing happened.

continues to stare at him, her face steadily growing redder as she mulled over what had just happened. "Did you… Kiss me?" Not that she_

really had to ask… But she couldn't quite believe it.

pauses, reddening. "Ja."

gulps again. "Oh…" She cautiously reached out to grab her fork off of the table.

hesitant. "May I...?"

"Uh…" She wasn't quite sure what he was asking about, or how to respond. Maybe if she acted like she didn't care the awkwardness would go_

away sooner. "If you want?" Her voice sounded much more unsure than she wanted it to. Dammit.

leans in to kiss her again, softer this time.

tries not to wince or tense up. She had kissed men before! She shouldn't feel so awkward about this! It wasn't even making out! She tried_

to lean towards him and shifted in her seat slightly to kiss him back. Why was her heart pounding so much?! What the hell was wrong with_

her?! It hadn't been this bad when she kissed Sadiq!! This was a hundred times worse than when he gave her the strange skin condition!

gently reaches up to cup her cheek, before pulling away once more...These...were his first kisses.

bit her lip and let out a quiet breath she'd been unconsciously holding. She couldn't tell if she felt relieved that he'd pulled back or_

disappointed… Or maybe all of these feelings were indigestion from the cheese! She liked that excuse best of all!

's stomach was doing flip flops. This was possibly the most awkward thing ever, and he wondered why he liked it.

"Um…" She mumbled, not looking at his face. "Should we finish eating?" Not that she felt particularly hungry any more, but it was a_

distraction from how nervous she felt.

nods. "Of course."

be extremely careful while eating now; she doesn't need a repeat of that… Her face couldn't get much darker, and she didn't feel like going_

in to cardiac arrest on account of dropping bread in the cheese.

keeping a careful eye on her.

can feel him watching her and it makes her feel even more nervous! She fidgeted in her seat before frowning at him; if he wanted to kiss_

her more he should have just said so! It would have been better than awkwardly trying to eat! "What?"

shakes his head. "Nothing"

"… Then why did you keep looking at me?"

looks away. "You look pretty today."

huffs. She always looked pretty, that was no reason for him to keep staring at her like she had something on her face! Though she did like_

receiving the compliment from him, and it made her cheeks tinge to a pale pink as she glared back at the fondue.

's lips twitch up at her glaring. He liked that too, he found it amusing and it suited her.

doesn't think her glaring is amusing, nor is she enjoying his attitude right now! She shifted awkwardly in her seat, now afraid to eat_

anymore.

looks back to his food and continues to eat.

returned to eating, now being even more careful as she ate.

waiting for her to drop another piece. He was almost teasing her now.

not drop another piece, dammit! She ate extremely slow, feeling his expectant eyes on her. It was testing at her patience…

sips at his drink before speaking. "Work has been bad?"

nearly dropped another piece when she heard his voice. She frowned and set the cheesy bread down on her plate to switch forks. "It's been-

busy..."

nods a bit, setting the drink down. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"