Under Control.

chapter six.

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Nora and Julian made their way from the gallery, downtown, mostly in amiable silence.

There was a smattering of polite conversation — Where'd you grow up? (Him, here; Her, mostly Europe, sometimes here) Siblings? (Her, no; Him, yes — but, it's complicated), and School? (Him; private, weird, and college dropout; Her, public, also weird, and recent graduate) — plus, some more in-depth curiosities.

They covered how Nora and Fab knew each other, how long Julian had been living with Albert, and touched on parents and apartments and the rumours about the thing that had happened at the rave over the river, last week. But, for the most part, it was just chatter. Nothing substantive. And none of it had done anything to quell Nora's unspoken questions about why and how she'd come to find herself in her present company.

For his part, Julian had found that he'd able to relax some since his moment had outside the gallery, earlier on. Nora was easy to talk to, and he liked talking to her. And if there was anything he was good at without having to think too much about it, it was navigating the city. Which had come in useful on their meandering commute, since Julian had noticed that Nora was still a little hesitant when it came to winding her way by feel through the busy streets. And so, it had felt good to be able to lead them on an easy path as they weaved their way together towards home.

Back above ground and off the subway, out into the newly fallen night, the pair of them snaked through the bustling rush hour crush, with Nora still happily following Julian's lead.

As they walked on, arms brushing against each other's from time to time as they squeezed together and ducked their way through the crowded sidewalks, Julian managed to steal from her a couple more bright bursts of laughter from Nora as he gave tell about a few of he and Albert's tamer misdeeds at school, and one or two about the misadventures of the hyperactive drummer they now had in common, as well. And so in kind, Nora let Julian in on the finer details of the night she and Fab had initially but not-quite met — including several interludes into various illegalities that he had not been expecting to tumble from her pretty mouth.

It was comfortable and fun and easy, and then, every so often, she'd bump into his body while avoiding another, and Julian's skin would spark alight.

He wanted to think on what it might mean altogether too much, while at the same time, not at all, both at once.

He wanted to try touching his skin to hers again, just to see if it would keep happening, or, if Nora felt it, too.

He wanted to interrogate his body and mind and the ways he couldn't help reacting to her.

And, he wanted most of all to find a way he could convince himself to write everything off as being just nerves about what he still had left to say, and nothing more.

For her part, Nora, despite still wondering in the moments in-between about what this night was all about, was finding that Julian made for better than decent company.

She liked the way he cared about what it was he had to say, and how he said it. She liked how she could tell he wanted to make sure she wasn't having a terrible time by his side. She liked that he listened, and thought about the things she said before he answered her back about them. She liked the way he smiled with his whole body, his whole face, and the way laughter rushed out of him when he gave way to happiness.

She liked him.

And while Nora was been pondering that surprising revelation, Julian was weighing up the differences between what a dinner and just-a-drink, might mean.

A sit down meal felt too formal to be doing with a girl he'd met all of a handful of times — no matter what his subconscious might have had to say about how he felt, regardless. But then, a take-out left too much to chance — he didn't want to risk Nora taking off on him as soon as she was back within spitting distance of her apartment, and not just because he hadn't gotten to the point of anything, yet.