13. "Expectancy is the atmosphere for miracles" -Edwin Louis Cole
December, 2005 - the same night
Drakken fiddled with the controls of the hover-car anxiously, glancing at Shego every few moments to see she was still fuming over the unexpected turn of events. It was uncanny how often the cheerleader was in the same area that they were. But she had no idea of his greater plan, so he didn't mind the defeat terribly. He had said as much to Shego, that it would put the teen off their trail, and she had acknowledged to the affirmative with a hum.
However it was the last she had spoken to him on the flight through the driving snow—an even worse blizzard having resulted from the weather machine's destruction during the malfunction—and she appeared to be more lost in a swarm of thoughts than he usually was.
He thought back to her hands covering his mere hours ago, held there with the faintest glow until his own warmed. He remembered her pointed statement after, that that was all she'd be warming, and couldn't decide if she had been teasing or upset. He bit his tongue to hold back a sigh. He never could tell with Shego.
He glanced at her again as he began thinking back beyond her generous assistance with his freezing, which wasn't quite as dire as he'd made it sound. She'd tolerated Commodore Puddles for three whole days before insisting he be sent back again. She'd bought him a second Christmas gift—after telling him there'd only be one—and it was thoughtful and attractive and possibly...sending a subliminal message? Far more subtle than his mother's obvious dyeing of the dog was, if so.
Shego had also wanted to attend his mother's Thanksgiving for a week, had been almost entirely polite there and deeply curious about his past life, and he had woken up one gray morning with her curled into his side on the sofa just like had happened at the lair—except there was no alcohol to blame. She had also given him the most thoughtful gift imaginable... Which had taken hours of her time to create.
His heart leapt as he allowed himself to entertain thoughts he had spent years trying and failing to eliminate. But...how could he know? He didn't dare take a chance and be wrong; the potential consequences were too risky...
As he shivered and considered the late hour, he got an idea. He licked his dry lips and took a breath.
"It's...ah...getting late. Would you like to stop for some...take-out? My treat," he finished in a hurry. His brow had broken out in a sweat in just those few seconds, and he smiled nervously as Shego turned to look at him.
"Sure," Shego said with a shrug after a few moments of assessing him.
Drakken swallowed anxiously and re-directed their flight.
She was watching him.
He wondered if he'd been too obvious at the Bueno Nacho, insisting on paying for her meal in cash, asking if she'd like a dessert, and then insisting they share something when she'd said no.
It was not nearly as sly an attempt at a date as had been the time they tried to erase Kim Possible, but he still didn't think she suspected anything. The more present problem, as they flew away from the Mexican restaurant with bad memories, was how to now have casual conversation like one did on dates.
But what could he and Shego discuss casually?
The blizzard had waned into a mild snowfall, still freezing, but in the direction of the lair the clouds had cleared, and the city lights were sparkling below like a swarm of fireflies over water as Drakken slowed the hover-car so they could eat. The chill was still getting to him, and Drakken wondered suddenly if he should fix his hair to look more presentable or if it would be too obvious.
"I...wish I had my scarf," he said, the words slipping from his mouth as the thought came to him.
He turned at the same time Shego did, she pausing in her chewing of a burrito when their eyes met. Drakken smiled innocently and wondered if he'd already bungled it. No, it wasn't an official date, but it was as close as he could get until he mustered the courage to ask her. As long as she continued to seem to show an interest... And if he could show her when she protested that she'd had fun with him on a not-date...
"Hair not doing it?"
Shego's question startled him from his thoughts, and he watched as she nodded to his tangled locks blowing around his neck.
Drakken felt self-conscious again and wondered if he should try to tame his hair into something more presentable. But then it might reveal he was anxious about it, if he did so right then. Instead he fell back to his natural lines of defense and scoffed slightly as he unwrapped his chimirrito.
"Not all of us have hair that can double, Shego," he said before shoving half of the spicy meal into his mouth.
Shego looked confused for a moment before appearing thoughtful, then set her burrito bag at her feet. Drakken's eyes widened as she gathered her voluptuous locks and wrapped them around her neck in the very manner he'd implied.
For a moment they both stared at her hair, and then they looked at each other. It was but a second before they had both burst into laughter, Drakken covering his mouth to prevent food from flying out and subsequently beginning to choke.
"Whoa, calm down Dr. D.," Shego said through her own laughter, slapping his back a few times as he hacked. "But you know what? You're right. This is warmer."
As Drakken stopped coughing his heart began pounding for an entirely different reason as Shego's hand began rubbing firm circles over his back and then gripped his shoulder firmly before she finally let go and went back to her own meal.
"Sorry it doesn't work for you," she said with a relaxed grin.
Drakken's skin was still tingling beneath his coat from her touch, and he guzzled some of his lemon-lime soda before getting his own food and nodding to her. He looked out the side of the hover-car at the snow falling silently over the city below. He chewed his chimirrito thoughtfully, wondering if the last few moments were evidence of things going well, or merely a fluke.
When he turned back he found Shego staring at him as she ate her burrito. She narrowed her eyes quickly as if in accusation, which startled him, but then began playing with the ends of her hair nervously. And Drakken wondered again if he was imagining things, or if there really was hope that she might feel...something.
He swallowed down the last bite of his meal and set the bag of chips aside, instead reaching for the plastic container in the larger take-out bag.
"Uhm," he began, and Shego turned back to him. He was lost for a moment in the way the tiny snowflakes stood out against her raven hair, and how her expressive eyes stared back at him from flawless green skin as she waited for him to continue.
"Spit it out, Doc," she said when he forgot his purpose entirely. She glanced down and played with her hair some more.
"Oh, yes. Do you...want to split the flan now?" he asked.
"We're flying."
Drakken took a deep breath. He may as well be bold, rather than drag it out, if it turned out things couldn't be as he hoped.
"We could stop for a few minutes to eat it. And...watch the snow fall."
He had envisioned mocked or blasted for the suggestion. What came instead was a quiet, almost detached, "Sure," from Shego right before he pulled out the dessert expectantly. His jaw almost fell open as she was the one to slow the hover-car to a stop, casting them into silence as they floated above the city lights.
Drakken anticipated more teasing as he struggled with the plastic lid of the flan container, but instead Shego was quiet as she grabbed both sporks and waited. When finally the caramel-drizzled custard was released, she handed him his utensil and then took a bite for herself. Drakken watched her savoring the dessert and his heart pounded. He took his own bite and then decided to be even more bold.
"It's, uhm...actually kind of pretty. The snow. Now that it's not giving me frostbite," he said.
Shego licked caramel from her spork and looked out at the flakes drifting down to the city miles below. She tugged at the ends of her hair with the other hand, the tresses still wrapped around her neck.
"Hm, yeah," Shego agreed a moment later with a half smirk. She looked back at him and her brow rose. "Still cold?"
Drakken wasn't sure what to make of the seemingly honest question. He nodded as he took another bite of the dessert, and then his brow rose as Shego released her hair and lit up the space around them with a bright green glow. Immediately the air began to warm.
Shego dug into the dessert for another large bite, glancing up at him as her smirk turned softer. And Drakken stared at her in awe.