"Oh! Hershel, this is delicious!" Claire mumbled around the cookie in her mouth, her eyes lit up like those of a child at Christmas. "My favorite kind, too! How did you know?"

Hershel chuckled softly, "I always try to pay attention."

Claire swallowed the cookie and laughed, "That's so like you, Hershel." She beamed, making the whole room brighter. She was dressed casually, as this wasn't an actual date—rather, Hershel had invited his girlfriend to study together, and as the host, he had made dinner when they took a break—yet he thought she was beautiful nonetheless as she adjusted her wire-framed glasses to peer at her notes again, nibbling a second cookie as she did so.

"So, what have you been working on in the laboratory?" Hershel inquired curiously. He knew that she was working as assistant to a scientist, although in truth she was a gifted scientist in her own right. He was intrigued by the fact that even a mention of their unknown project made her excited and agitated.

"Well… We don't want this to be common knowledge, so don't tell anyone, but… It's a time machine," Claire revealed. "It will be, anway."

"A time machine? Is that even possible?" Hershel was a little skeptical, but if it was true… If they created a working time machine… What a breakthrough that would be!

"We're still working on constructing a prototype that functions," she explained.

"Fascinating," Hershel commented.

"Mhm," she hummed, skimming her notes before pausing. "Hey, Hersh-"

She was interrupted by a loud CRACK! of thunder that made them both jump. They hadn't noticed that it had begun storming as they spoke.

"Oh, drat!" Claire muttered, rushing to the window to peek outside. "That looks like it'll last for a while… It won't be fun going home in this weather."

"Nonsense," Hershel insisted. "It's not safe. You can wait to see if it dies down, and if it doesn't, you're welcome to spend the night here."

"Are you sure that's alright?" she worried.

"But of course," he assured her.

They spent the next hour studying together, although they got off-topic quite a few times by proposing puzzles to each other, while the storm raged unabated. It was getting late.

Claire yawned, "I hope you don't mind if I sleep on your sofa." She hadn't argued too much with Hershel about leaving. She had already learned that he could be quite stubborn at times.

However, Hershel frowned, "I think I do mind, actually." As his confused girlfriend opened her mouth to speak, he continued, "A sofa is no place for a lady to sleep. You can take the bed."

"I couldn't do that! It's your bed!"

"Please, I insist!"

Claire sighed, then teased, "You know, we could share your bed."

Hershel sputtered, turning bright red, "I-I hardly think that's…!"

Claire giggled, "I'm only joking. Calm down. I'll take the bed." She stood on tiptoe and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You really are a true gentleman."

Hershel couldn't help but smile. He didn't think of himself as a gentleman, exactly, but that was what she called him.

"But I'm making breakfast!" she announced.

"Come now, I can't ask you to do that!"

"You're not asking, I'm telling!" Claire smiled. "It's the least I can do."

"As you wish."

The two embraced before heading to bed—or, in Hershel's case, the sofa—to fall asleep to the sound of rain pattering on the windows.

A/N: Consider this my apology for "Nightmare". These two are just so cute and it hurt so much that Claire had to die… So I had to write about them. I hope you enjoy~