Am carrying on with the multichaps I've got going, just that real life is being awkward.
This doesn't really take place at any specific point, but Harry and Ruth haven't been on a date or anything. Hope you like.
Flirt
Ruth raised her eyebrows as Juliet's replacement passed her on the way out of Harry's office. She could have sworn that the woman actually winked at him.
"Can I help you, Ruth? Or should I call you 'Hero of the Hour'?" asked Harry in a friendly voice – the whole team was feeling incredibly affectionate towards Ruth today actually. Probably something to do with her single-handedly managing to save every one of their lives in a feat of born spook-ness that had surprised even himself.
She passed him the files, a modest grin and the hint of a blush adorning her face at his rare show of open professional pride. "Just need a few signatures for Debra."
"Debra…?" He looked nonplussed.
"Langham, Harry," she said in disbelief. "In HR. Debra Langham."
Harry pulled a guilty face and flipped through the files, searching for the crosses he knew that Ruth would thoughtfully have added for him, so that he wouldn't actually have to read what he was signing.
Whilst he was occupied, Ruth craned her neck to watch the new Security Coordinator exit through the pods.
"What's she like?" she asked.
Harry didn't look up from the files. "Alright, I suppose. She's no Juliet – but as yet, I can't work out if that's a good thing or a bad thing."
Ruth smiled. "I think she fancies you."
Harry's grip on the fountain pen tightened ever so slightly. "Is that so hard to believe?" he asked, trying to sound light-hearted.
She laughed, immediately calling him up on his offended tone. "Calm down, Harry; I was laughing at her, not at you."
Harry raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Why's that?"
"Oh, I don't know," sighed Ruth, settling onto the arm of one of the sofas, and tucking her hair behind her ears. "Throwing herself at you like that. She's so confident that she's 'seduced' you, and yet so very wr–" She stopped suddenly, aware that she probably shouldn't be talking in such a way about her boss' new boss.
Harry grinned at her, and she saw that he didn't disapprove.
"It is a little funny, isn't it?" he said, closing the last of the files, and perching on the edge of his desk.
Ruth smiled shyly back at him, nodding.
"So," continued Harry, "What would you say was the right way to go about 'seducing' me?"
And just like that, the atmosphere in the room turned on its head.
Ruth was silent for a long moment.
The question was hideously inappropriate, and both of them knew it; but perhaps in their bizarre world, with its odd little rules, this was what passed for making the first move. Perhaps they weren't supposed to dance the usual dance of first dates, and phone calls, and flowers. Perhaps it was all supposed to start like this.
It might have been all that she had just reasoned, or perhaps the giddiness still left from her actions earlier that day, or maybe even a moment of temporary insanity; but she chose to answer him.
"Well, I know you like strong women, but not people who challenge you for the sake of it. So, I would tell you that you were wrong about something, and have a damn good argument to back it up with. And maybe a Kevlar vest."
They both noticed that she was not simply talking about method, but about how she herself would implement it. Neither decided to mention the fact.
She continued.
"I wouldn't go overboard – you're one of those men who keeps his brain slightly…higher up…than most women expect, so you wouldn't fall for the obvious. I would be myself, because I know that you'd see through it if I wasn't, and be unspeakably disappointed. I'd give you your space when you wanted it, and I wouldn't try to make your decisions for you, but I'd be warm, and open, and there when you needed someone to listen to you."
She took a breath, her tone changing abruptly.
"What about me? How should someone go about seducing me?"
Harry didn't answer for a moment, his head still reeling from what he had just heard. In fact, he wasn't sure that he could bring himself to string together a coherent sentence at all, but he knew how much courage it had taken Ruth to say what she just had, so he started.
"I would talk to you about you, about what you're interested in. I would find out your favorite book and read it. I would never make the mistake of patronizing you, because I'd appreciate just how exceptionally wonderful you are. Most of all, I would bear in mind that you need someone who goes slowly – not because they're lazy, or nervous, but because they appreciate the journey as much as anything else. So I would 'woo' you. In fact, I would spend three bloody years watching you from afar, and learning you, and just being happy that you were around. And then, I would accept the fact that perhaps I need to wait just a little bit longer."
Ruth hadn't realised it, but at some point during his speech, she had forgotten to carry on breathing. Inhaling deeply, she gripped the fabric of the sofa, and tried to think of something to say. And failed miserably.
She couldn't believe what she had just heard. He had put his heart on the line by giving her the startlingly honest answer that he had, and she was touched. Hell, she was more than touched – she was bowled over. She was astounded.
She was terrified.
And she still hadn't said anything.
Harry saved her.
"I'm done with these, Ruth. You can take them to Ms. Langham now."
Ruth nodded mutely, taking from him the files that she had completely forgotten about, and scurried out of the office, her eyes still wide.
Harry smiled to himself as she left, and sat back behind his desk. He had, of course, known that his words would terrify her, but at the same time, he had known, just as certainly, that he had to say them. Just like he knew that she would go home and smile to herself over it all.
He had not even had time to open his inbox when Ruth's head appeared around the door once more.
"I was ah…talking about me and you, by the way, not being hypothetical," she murmured.
Harry grinned widely at her characteristic need for complete clarification. "I know, Ruth. So was I."
"Good. Just wanted to clear that up." She blushed profusely, and disappeared once more.
Harry sat back proudly in his seat, allowing himself the indulgence of a satisfied smile.
It had been an eventful evening.