Illegal Thoughts

10

Lewis

"Wait, Kathryn!" He called as she walked off.

"What is it now?" She groaned as she re-entered the room.

"I'm coming with you. It's unsafe."

"I'll be fine."

"If I'm not coming, you aren't going."

"Fine." Kathryn frowned.

"I'm not exactly happy about it either, but this is for your safety."

"Really, Lewis? Is it? What is in the town nearby that could possibly be so unsafe?"

"Not what, but who. There are some... traffickers in the area that prey on lone women."

"Oh..." Kathryn looked at the ground, scratching her neck.

"Exactly, now let's get going."

"How about we just stay here... I don't want to be in that area, alone or not."

"That's fair, we can stay in."

"Still shopping online though!" Kathryn grinned and walked out of the room.

~~~

The following week, dancing was starting to get better. Lewis decided to introduce a simple underarm turn, which went much better than he expected.

"You're doing better," Lewis commented, a small smile on his face as he turned her. Her form had improved, too. She let him lead, and wasn't as stiff as before.

"I've been practicing," Kathryn replied.

"Have you been practicing your Russian too?"

"конечно."

"Good."  They stopped talking, continuing to dance. The only sound in the room was the music, but, other than that, it was quiet. Yet, they felt comfortable in their silence.

Lewis would never admit it, but he didn't mind her. He enjoyed having company in his home since it was always so lonely. Kathryn also wasn't a bad Russian speaker, despite having just started. It was nice to be able to hear even a bit of decent Russian once in a while.

As soon as the music had started, it stopped.

"We're all done with lessons for today," Lewis concluded.

"Wonderful," Kathryn smiled, exiting the room to change out of her workout gear.

Lewis couldn't help but smile at the progress in both her lessons and their friendship. They'd started to get along more, and Kathryn wasn't as accusatory.

~~~

Since Christmas was drawing near, Lewis and Kathryn had taken on the task of decorating the mansion (though, Lewis' magic had done the heavy lifting). 

"Why does one need such a huge Christmas tree?" Kathryn teased as she hung ornaments.

"Because it's fun." Lewis replied, fixing some of the ornaments at the top, standing on a ladder. Could he do this in an instant with his magic? Absolutely. However, decorating the tree is one thing Lewis loved doing as a kid, but had stopped because his parents simply hired people to do it for them.

"Is it not a bit overboard?" 

"Not denying that, but it only makes sense to have a giant tree when you have this much space."

"I suppose."

~~~

When they'd finished decorating, Lewis had made pizza from scratch, and the two had a movie night, where they watched multiple holiday movies from the comfort of a pillow fort they'd made on the couch.

As Elf played on the TV, Lewis felt Kathryn rest her head on his shoulder, before promptly realizing that she'd fallen asleep. So, he grabbed the remote and turned the volume down, not daring to move too much to avoid waking her.