He wondered if it was wrong to be so happy. He reminded himself that he had the right, neigh, he had the obligation to be miserable. But he couldn't help feeling just that much lighter when she was around.
She tucked her hair behind her ear, exposing the slight flush of her cheek. Oh, that he was a glove upon that hand…
He immediately chided himself for such intense stupidity. He was acting ridiculous, she was just some girl, even if she was a pretty one.
She smiled, "I have to say, I'm impressed. You really are good at laying plans."
He scoffed, unfolding the paper before him, "I'm not an idiot."
She elbowed him, "You can turn anything into an insult, do you know that?"
"I'm a clever man, of course I do."
"Oh yes, positively brilliant."
He looked up from the paper with a smile. She smiled back, and the sheer magnitude of the moment sent his insides spinning. He looked away, feeling guilty. It felt uncouth to be so happy. He cleared his throat, "Anyway, if we stick to the left, we should have a clear shot straight to their rooms." She nodded, watching his finger trace over the lines he had painstakingly etched out in pencil.
"And after?"
"After is easy, don't worry."
"You certainly never seem to."
"I'm a busy man, I don't have time to."
"So tell me, are you actually so vain or it just an act?"
"Depends."
"Depends on what?"
"On whether or not it counts as vanity if it's true." She laughed. He liked that.
"So if I were to say I was the coolest person in the room?"
"Vanity."
"Wow," she drew out the word with a laugh, "okay then."
"It simply isn't true. That's not my fault."
"Smartest in the room-"
"I doubt it."
"Am I at least the prettiest?"
"I feel like just saying that is the definition of vanity, regardless of whether or not it's true."
"But is it?"
"Hard to say. I am a very handsome man, after all. If I left the room, sure."
She elbowed him, hard. He smiled as he rubbed his arm.
"Too bad not all of us can have such rugged good looks."
"Rugged?" He raised his eyebrow. "That seems a bit much."
"Sure, you've got that 'devil may care' attitude. That 'bad boy' vibe. You're one leather jacket away from full father disapproval."
He laughed out loud. She smiled again, "You know, if you found the time to laugh more often, you might just have a shot at being the prettiest person, period."
"That was an incredibly lame thing to say."
"See, this is exactly what I mean! You need to calm down."
"No, I need to get back to planning this incredibly important and amazingly dangerous mission."
"Dangerous?" She cocked her eyebrow.
"Sure, plenty dangerous. If even one thing goes wrong, we could end up…" he deepened his voice dramatically, "in detention."
She smirked, laughing, "I was right, you are bad."
He winked at her playfully, but his insides somersaulted, exuberant.
