"Hold on, Dom, I completely forgot to give this back to Raoul." Kel looked at him apologetically and picked up an envelope, "Just wait here, I'll be back in a few minutes." Kel rushed out the door at a quick jog.

Letting his curiosity take over he slid to Kel's desk. He shifted through the papers on top, looking for something interesting. What he found were a stack of half-concealed sketches. He pulled them out and settled himself on the edge of the bed.

Dom's eyes went wide as he looked at them. Kel's drawings were good. She kept the sketches from her punishment work and even had one that seemed to be light and shadow woven together in perfect harmony.  She had sketches of friends, animals, teachers, and the Yamanis. All were in perfect detail. He found sketches of Owen, Merric, Neal, and himself, even a few of their whole study group, bent over books or telling jokes.

These sketches showed an elegant, softer side to Kel. Dom held in his hands many sketches of her best friend, one page just showed Neal's different emotions etched on his face. He laughed at each, she captured those looks perfectly. She had labels underneath each-mocking smile, questioning, glaring, sleepy, mischievous, about to make fun of the Stump, mooning over a lady, and others were drawn in dark charcoal.

He put his cousin's many emotions down and looked at the next. His own face seemed to laugh, eyes dancing even without color, at some unheard joke. He lifted the next sketch, this one was him again, he looked as though he were trying to reason with Peachblossom- who looked as murderous as a spidren.

He flipped through: Owen pulling his curls, Merric shooting his bow at the practice yards, Myles pointing to a large map, Hakuin tossing a boy over his hip, Lord Wyldon riding his horse through a quintain, Lord Raoul trying to hide at a ball, people at New Hope, Lalasa sewing in a window seat, and many of the Yamani court. One was from an odd view point; it looked like the back of a lady holding a glaive with a group of raiders coming nearer. The label only said, 'Mother and the Yamani raiders.' 'Odd,' Dom thought, 'I'll have to ask her what this one is from.'

Dom kept flipping through the pages, astonished with Kel's details until one: it was a younger version of Neal. He had been drawn lying down, waving one hand and supporting himself on an elbow. He was grinning at her and ignoring the open book under him. The small caption read, 'Neal, the day we got knight-masters.'

Dom was amazed, each was dated, this one finished about a week ago, "She remembers the exact look on his face even though that was years ago." He was amazed at how clear her memory was, and how she could make her memories so life-like.

He was pleased to find that the last was of himself; his body was turned in a different direction but he looking straight ahead with that grin he knew so well. Dom remembered giving that grin to her so many times and was astounded that she had caught it like this. The label read simply, 'Dom smiling at me.'

"Dom, what are you doing?" Kel was standing in front of him with her arms crossed. He silently cursed himself for not hearing her return.

"Um...uhh." Dom was at a loss for words, not for the first time in his life, in front of this girl.

She sighed, then started blushing as she saw which one he had been looking at, "Forget it, just don't go through my desk again!" Kel looked flustered as she grabbed her sketches back from his hands and put them in her desk. Dom could see that she was mentally trying to banish the blush from her face when she said, "So, what did you want to ask me? You just asked if we could talk privately somewhere." She reached a hand up to straighten her hair but Dom caught her hand before she had a chance.

His eyes met hers in a direct gaze, and for a few seconds he was able to forget the nerve-wracking situation he was in, his thoughts replaced by long lashes and green-hazel eyes.

The eyes blinked and widened, and soon he heard Kel's voice stammer, "Dom...W-what?"

Dom blinked as well, the sound transporting him back to reality. He was landed back in a situation that was even more nerve-wracking than before, and he broke eye contact hastily as he felt a blush creeping up his cheeks. "Um, n-nothing. It's nothing..." his head turned away from her slightly, and he closed his eyes, sighing to himself. "...You're a really good artist," he said, barely managing to mumble the words. Saying anything around her seemed to take twice the effort of normal speech.

Kel glanced down at his hand, which was still holding hers, "Um, thank you, Dom. But what did you want to tell me?..."

He looked back at her, then down at her hands and blinked, realizing that he should probably let go. He dropped it quickly and smiled to reassure himself, "Kel, I..." He paused, frustrated, and his smile faltered. It was no use; no matter how many times he reassured himself, the words just wouldn't come.

Kel frowned slightly, puzzled, "Yes?" she prompted.

He looked up at her, and his brain suddenly clicked - if he couldn't tell her, then he'd have to show her. That is, if she didn't kill him for trying; Dom had to admit that she could probably hurt him very badly. He stepped in front of her, trapping her between him and the desk. She still could have moved away if she had wanted to, but instead she stayed, her eyes focused solely on him. He watched her for another second, then leaned in and eased his lips softly over hers. Kel froze in surprise, and for a second he thought that she might reject him, but a moment later he was rewarded by hands clasping around the back of his neck. Taking this as a good sign, he pulled her up from her leaning position, drawing her against him.

When he broke the kiss, he watched as Kel's eyes opened slowly. She smiled serenely at him, then murmured,  "...I take it that's what you wanted to talk about?..."

Dom grinned and nodded, unable to break his eyes from her gaze. Words were still difficult, but he could tell she was happy. Eventually he managed to say, "I've been trying to tell you for months now."

She blushed, her smile widening slightly. "So have I," she whispered. Her grip around his neck tightened, and she hugged him.

Dom's tongue finally loosened, and he wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug. "Then it's a good thing I finally spoke up." She laughed quietly and pulled back to look at him, nodding, before she turned her head up to him for another kiss.