Helen has a complicated relationship with physical contact that feeds directly into both her moods and her sense of control. If she has a bad day, one where something upsets her or she feels as though she has lost control, she tends to wall herself away. Any kind of contact is out of the question. If control is hers and she feels as though she can risk being open with someone, then she absolutely will be. Physical contact is fine in those instances and she will absolutely initiate a hug or a hand on a shoulder or something usually fairly small.
However, she doesn't allow herself this close to just anyone. Nikola managed to worm his way through her walls and her guard over the centuries and somehow it all led up to this. Her kiss down in the main lab before she sent him away and blew up the Sanctuary had been a start. This is a promise. This is more than she has given anyone in a very, very long time.
For a few minutes, she just revels in the feel of choosing intimacy like this, of allowing herself to feel and embrace something like this. It was her choice to kiss him in the lab and it is her choice to kiss him again now. Somehow, she didn't think he would protest and she isn't disappointed. His response echoes her beginning and for a time, she simply follows through, a part of her jealous over the fact that his healing will cover the result of this venture, whereas her bruised lips will show plainly in the morning.
Not that she would change this moment for anything in the world.
After a time, she has lost count of exactly how long and that is impressive in and of itself, she finally pulls back, her eyes slowly opening so she can see his reaction. This is a part of their relationship that is new, unexplored, and as much as he may have needled her and poked her and flirted incessantly with her, neither of them expected that it would come to this. Not until a few weeks ago. They would dance around each other, flirt, she would roll her eyes, he would push, she would place a line in the sand, he would toe the line, she would tell him no, and they would go back to work.
But this... This time, she hadn't said no. This time, she had said yes. This is permission and it has turned their sense of "normal" upside down. Well, except for the part where she has to pull her arms away and make him work for more physical contact because that is how they have always worked. She doesn't just give this sort of thing away, not even for her closest friend.
"So..." she finally says, her voice soft as she tries to catch her breath. Unlike him, she actually does need to breathe. "Springtime is just around the corner. How do you feel about Vienna?"
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However, she doesn't allow herself this close to just anyone. Nikola managed to worm his way through her walls and her guard over the centuries and somehow it all led up to this. Her kiss down in the main lab before she sent him away and blew up the Sanctuary had been a start. This is a promise. This is more than she has given anyone in a very, very long time.
For a few minutes, she just revels in the feel of choosing intimacy like this, of allowing herself to feel and embrace something like this. It was her choice to kiss him in the lab and it is her choice to kiss him again now. Somehow, she didn't think he would protest and she isn't disappointed. His response echoes her beginning and for a time, she simply follows through, a part of her jealous over the fact that his healing will cover the result of this venture, whereas her bruised lips will show plainly in the morning.
Not that she would change this moment for anything in the world.
After a time, she has lost count of exactly how long and that is impressive in and of itself, she finally pulls back, her eyes slowly opening so she can see his reaction. This is a part of their relationship that is new, unexplored, and as much as he may have needled her and poked her and flirted incessantly with her, neither of them expected that it would come to this. Not until a few weeks ago. They would dance around each other, flirt, she would roll her eyes, he would push, she would place a line in the sand, he would toe the line, she would tell him no, and they would go back to work.
But this... This time, she hadn't said no. This time, she had said yes. This is permission and it has turned their sense of "normal" upside down. Well, except for the part where she has to pull her arms away and make him work for more physical contact because that is how they have always worked. She doesn't just give this sort of thing away, not even for her closest friend.
"So..." she finally says, her voice soft as she tries to catch her breath. Unlike him, she actually does need to breathe. "Springtime is just around the corner. How do you feel about Vienna?"