He made the way back to her place wonderful. It had been a confusing maze in the morning, with an embarrassing number of wrong turns and hallways that blended together. But under his tutelage it was all decoded. She didn’t understand one word in three that he said but that was fine. She liked to listen regardless of comprehension. As they walked arm in arm he pointed out some landmarks that she was certain would help out for her next shift. She did her best to commit them to memory. Reciting them mentally over and over to help her dull brain hold onto them. She didn’t want to let doubt of her ability cloud the moment and the sweet aid this man was giving her. 

When he left her at her door she weighed her options. To shower like she wanted would take far longer than she felt comfortable making him wait. She still felt a little off-kilter about her realization and was still scrambling to re-adjust her thinking. All of which was putting some high color to her cheeks. She settled for just doing a quick clean up, gasping in horror when she saw the flour that still smudged the tip of her pug nose. She was mortified to think she’d walked the whole way home with him with that bit of white marring her nose. He must think she was a slob and that made the lack of shower bother her that much more. But she still didn’t want to keep him waiting, so a quick clean-up with a cloth and some water and then a change of outfit was all that she would allow herself. 

A forest green sweater richly textured with braids and twists paired with some chocolate brown leggings and some cute ankle boots seemed in order. The sweater hugged her curves, giving the softness an even more touchable appeal and the color did good things for her complexion and her eyes. She brushed her hair out of the ponytail it had been in and made quick work of putting it into two pigtails that curved around her plump cheeks. Then she indulged in just a tiny bit of makeup, a sweep of neutral color on her eyelids. Just enough to mark that this was an occasion she had made an effort for, ritual respect rather than vanity all done with a cheerful unconsciousness. That done she stepped out of her quarters and quickly walked to the lounge.

His reaction was very satisfying for all that she secretly thought him half-mad for it. She blushed anew, bit her lip and fidgeted with the edge of her sweater. 

“Sorry I kept you waiting.” She said, letting her eyes dart up to his face and then back down to the floor. “But I’m ready to um… er… step out.”

She walked to him and slipped her arm through his liking the little flutters in her tummy that the action brought on. 

“So where are we stepping out to?”