Simple Complexity

Part 2

'Thanks,' Holtzmann said as she took her purchase from the street vendor, and turned on her heel, walking towards the Firehouse.

The morning was crisp and cool, and the streets were busy - but when was it ever quiet? New York City was most definitely the city that never sleeps, and Holtz passed commuters on their way to work, dodged tourists out snapping photos, and she walked swiftly back towards work. As she passed the long lines for hot cups of coffee she pulled her coat tighter around her, juggling her own two coffees, a muffin and a gift for Erin in her hands. She exhaled a little, and her breath escape in a white fog.  She thought back to the night of dancing with Erin, and it made her smile, her heart warm. She could feel the flush in her cheeks and as she thought back to their skin-to-skin contact, she smiled to herself.

They had both gone to bed late, finishing the movie and chatting about it after, the engineer loving how passionate Erin was about love and romance and the woman's heart yearned for Erin to fall in love with her. Even though she had told the woman she had never been in love she knew she herself was in love with Erin, it was definitely love, it had always been. From the first moment. From the first breath she took as Erin walked into Higgins Institute.

As Abby introduced the two women, she wanted to hate her, despise her be angry at her for leaving Abby all those years ago, but part of her stilled. She didn't believe in love at first sight, but this was love at something... She'd felt her mouth dry, her body wash with an almost heat, a want..need...maybe just a curiosity. The way Erin was so uptight, so prim, so proper.

But she was so smart, clever, always wanting to learn new things, make discoveries, study, research. She found her gaze always ended up on Erin. How she always wanted to show her new inventions, consult with her about her ideas.

When she developed the original proton pack, well one that wasn't a pack and her excuse of Erin having the longest arms was just that, an excuse. It was an excuse to be close to her, to speak to her, to have Erin be the first to try her invention. And she couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Erin was the one to get slimed, not once but twice. Holtz grinned as she got angry, how she stood there covered with ectoplasm, because even blanketed in the stuff she was still beautiful.

Holtz thought her tiny bow ties were stupid, impractical, but they suited her, they looked cute on her. The little tweed outfits made her even more desirable, made the blonde curious. But she hardly ever wore them now, only when she was heading to Columbia as a guest lecturer. The blonde loving see how she had changed, how she had become more relaxed. Her little suits and perfectly combed locks a stark change to her now jeans and hoodies, sneakers, and plaid shirts. Her hair often left loose or tied up in a ponytail. It didn't matter what she wore though, the blonde thought she was stunning, she was gorgeous and her favourite thing to do was to look at her, smile at her as their eyes met. Because it made Holtzmann's heartbeat in a way that never had before.

And for the first time Holtzmann wasn't interested in any other extracurricular activities outside of work. None. None whatsoever. No one whatsoever.

Now that they were all a team and Erin was her best friend her colleague, her family all the women were, there was a contentment between them. Almost like an unwritten connection. Erin and Holtzmann sought out the other when needing comfort, sometimes Holtz just needed the quiet of Erin as she read her book in the evenings. The feel of her warmth next to her on the couch was enough to settle her constant and at times jumbled thoughts. Her head filled with concepts, of designs and inventions and Erin needed Holtz too. She needed the silliness and comfort that Holtz provided, the smile she brought to her face. And as much as the blonde wished Erin was hers to call her own it was enough at times to have Erin by her side almost all of the time. And although Holtz knew that time was probably limited, she never let that invade her thoughts because when she was with Erin she was happy. The quirky engineer could be herself without judgement, and nothing that ever escaped the woman's mouth was ever laughed at, unless it was an intentional joke, and most of the time the joke was made so Holtz could watch Erin laugh. Erin laughing was Holtzmann most favourite sound in the world, she loved it more than the sound of the proton packs starting up, or the metallic snap of the ghost trap as it shut. She loved to watch as her mouth curled up, her teeth showed and her eyes creased and the blonde held the sound close to her heart, something else for her little box of Erin.