Alfred was briefly relieved to hear her agree, however begrudgingly, that she ought to leave. It was only a fleeting relief because he realized that he would have to take a step forward in order to get the sword back from her, and that would put him into a rather difficult position. If she hadn't noticed that something was off yet, she definitely would if he walked towards her, wouldn't she? Now that he looked at her more closely he wondered if she hadn't already realized what was going on — or if not what, at least that something was going on. Was it his imagination, or was she giving him a somewhat incredulous look? It was hard to tell when she was looking down like that. Merlin. How utterly embarrassing.
He stood awkwardly and tried to think of what to do next. He wasn't saying anything, because like hell was he actually going to address what was going on, even if she'd already figured it out — but on the off chance that she hadn't, he had no idea how to go about getting his sword back. He couldn't muster the confidence required to move behind his desk or sit down and ask her to hand it to him. Besides, that would seem rather arrogant, wouldn't it? Particularly after he'd just more or less rejected her twice — once on the subject of courtship and marriage and feelings and once more for the strictly physical kiss she claimed she wanted.
Damn it all, why couldn't this blasted thing just go down? He knew the answer, of course, and it was because his mind kept feeding it. Every subtle gesture that she made, every expression fed in to some slight variation on the same fantasy of him crossing the small room, taking her soft cheeks between his palms, and kissing her fully. Another real kiss, and potentially more. Now that she had brought the idea to the forefront of his mind, he could not see her nose twitch without imagining planting a kiss there; he couldn't watch her shift her weight from one foot to the other without intuiting the way he might move his own body to compliment hers, if he happened to have her in his arms; couldn't see her bite her lower lip without envisioning taking that same lip playfully and gently between his teeth.
Merlin, it had been so long.
"You're lying, aren't you?" he challenged, not pausing to think whether or not this was a good idea (it certainly wasn't). "About not wanting anything more than a kiss. I didn't think you were that type of girl."
MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER
He stood awkwardly and tried to think of what to do next. He wasn't saying anything, because like hell was he actually going to address what was going on, even if she'd already figured it out — but on the off chance that she hadn't, he had no idea how to go about getting his sword back. He couldn't muster the confidence required to move behind his desk or sit down and ask her to hand it to him. Besides, that would seem rather arrogant, wouldn't it? Particularly after he'd just more or less rejected her twice — once on the subject of courtship and marriage and feelings and once more for the strictly physical kiss she claimed she wanted.
Damn it all, why couldn't this blasted thing just go down? He knew the answer, of course, and it was because his mind kept feeding it. Every subtle gesture that she made, every expression fed in to some slight variation on the same fantasy of him crossing the small room, taking her soft cheeks between his palms, and kissing her fully. Another real kiss, and potentially more. Now that she had brought the idea to the forefront of his mind, he could not see her nose twitch without imagining planting a kiss there; he couldn't watch her shift her weight from one foot to the other without intuiting the way he might move his own body to compliment hers, if he happened to have her in his arms; couldn't see her bite her lower lip without envisioning taking that same lip playfully and gently between his teeth.
Merlin, it had been so long.
"You're lying, aren't you?" he challenged, not pausing to think whether or not this was a good idea (it certainly wasn't). "About not wanting anything more than a kiss. I didn't think you were that type of girl."
MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER