After I had returned the steel block to its original state, Krauss dismissed us all to get ready for dinner. I kept my uniform pants on but changed into the other shirt I had brought with me: a long sleeved, knee length blue tunic with runes written on all of the hems. I tied my braid into a bun at the nape of my neck.

I walked back to the library, since everyone had neglected to tell me where the dining hall was. When I entered, I saw that Abraham had changed his uniform top to a white button up shirt. He turned toward me at the sound of my entrance and his lips pulled up into a smile again.

"Um, Abraham, I hate to disturb you, but no one ever told me where the dining hall was." As I looked back up at him from the spot on the carpet that I had found rather interesting, Abraham took a few steps forward and toned down his smile until it was just a grin.

"Oh, don't worry; I was just about to stop by your room to tell you that dinner would be starting soon." He finished his crossing of the room until he stood in front of me.

"Thank you for your thoughts, Abraham." I smiled up at him. He angled himself toward the door and offered me his arm, which I accepted. We walked down the hallway not really having a conversation: Abraham was giving me pointers on how not to fall flat on my rear again, although he didn't use that exact phrasing. I walked next to him with my arm in the crook of his, trying not to over think things. I reminded myself that he did this because he was originally from the Victorian era. So yet again, I was chiding myself for my irrationality.

Abe's POV:

When Cara walked back into the library, I couldn't help but smile. And for the same reason as earlier today: she was absolutely beautiful. Abraham Sapien, snap out of it! I shouted at myself. I had read from her earlier that she thought of me as her protector, and protectors couldn't have that kind of emotion.

"Um, Abraham, I hate to disturb you, but no one ever told me where the dining hall was." She looked so nervous; constantly glancing between me and the floor. And she had done anything but disturb me when she came in.

"Oh, don't worry; I was just about to stop by your room to tell you that dinner would be starting soon." I walked toward her, prepared to escort her to dinner in a gentlemanly fashion, when my irrational emotions kicked in again.

"Thank you for your thoughts, Abraham." She smiled up at me like a dark angel. Her slightly gold tinted skin shimmered in the light from the chandeliers above, and the burgundy in her eyes seemed to catch fire. I had a fleeting dark thought cross my mind: it would be fantastic to translate the runes on her shirt, and it would be much easier if she wasn't wearing it. I quickly snapped out of it and compromised with my emotions by offering my arm to escort her to dinner.



Trying to keep my mind off of past thoughts, I made idle chatter with her about the sparring match. I made sure, however, not to talk about the end of that said match. Hellboy was probably going to talk to me about it during dinner anyways. She never responded, so I decided to read into what was troubling her mind.

She was chiding herself about thinking that there was a possibility that I was being romantic. Then images flashed through her mind when she thought of me: the first time she saw while underwater in the river (turns out she thought I was a merman, which isn't all that far from icthyo sapien), and when she had fallen asleep against my striped chest. Then when she had embraced me the second time she had seen me when she was thirteen, and when I had caught her when she fell from the tree in the park. But then her thought began to accompany that picture.

And to think I had a teenage crush on him. He is a protector, not a lover. Anyways, technically I'm an alien. Yeah, I'm an alien with anger issues and a vendetta against my own mother. If he ever fell in love again, it sure wouldn't be with me. Then her mind returned to the slideshow of memories.

The pictures she thought of now were from today: when I had returned her embrace at her apartment, when she had fallen asleep against me in the car and held my hand well after we had finished reading each other, when I had caught her when she stumbled on the elevator, when I had comforted her in the library, our closeness at the end of the sparring match, and now how I held her arm.

I was so engrossed in her thoughts that I almost didn't realize that we were a foot away from the doors of the dining hall. I shook myself from Cara's mind and opened the door for her. "Thank you, again, Abraham." She smiled up at me again, which stopped me dead in my tracks now that I knew her feelings. She walked smoothly over to Krauss, probably to discuss today's test on her power to see him.

I knew I would have to get this over with sooner or later, so I walked over to where Hellboy was leaning against the wall smirking. "Hey there Abe, old buddy, old pall." He smiled innocently.

"Hellboy," I took a deep breath to prepare myself for the completely illogical that was about to come out of my mouth. "I need your help."

When I looked up from the ground, I saw that his smile had doubled in size. "I'm guessing that our little mage is interested in more than just melting steel blocks!" he nudged me in the shoulder. "Just tell her you're not interested. She's tough enough to take it. But she might start crying again. What was that all about, anyways?"

I looked up at him open mouthed: he thought I didn't like her. "Hellboy, I'm the one in love with her!" I hissed. "And I read her on the way here: I think she may be in love with me too."

Hellboy looked at me as if I had just said that I had eaten a salmon; either that or something else impossible, ridiculous, and against my nature. When he finally composed himself, he pulled me over to the corner. "One: get her to cal you Abe, not Abraham. Two: ask her on a date, but don't make it sound like one."



I soaked up all of the information before I burst his bubble. "I can't go out anywhere with the way I look!" I tapped my blue head and my collar-like device to prove my point. Last time I got spotted, someone thought that I had a toilet seat around my neck. Not the most pleasant thing to be said while you're on a date.

"Then do what Liz and I do: sit on the rooftops. There are some pretty romantic views of the riverside park from up there."

I nodded and turned when Krauss announced that dinner was being served. The five of us began to seat ourselves around the table. I tried not to sit next to or across from Cara, so that I could have some time to think over what Hellboy had told me to do. But my plans were foiled when Krauss took his usual seat at the head of the table and Hellboy and Liz sat next to each other on his left. This forced Cara and I to sit next to each other on his right. I shot a glare at Hellboy, who just looked away as if he didn't see it. I turned to Cara; who was looking at the ground, seeming very uncomfortable. I placed my hand on her shoulder to get her attention, causing her to look up with a start. "My apologies, Cara; I did not mean to startle you." I pulled out a chair for her, and then pushed it in once she had taken a seat.

Dinner was rather uneventful. Most of the idle chat revolved around Cara and her powers. It was obvious she was not used to being the center of attention; she also appeared to not like it. After dinner, I walked Cara back to her room. When she went to turn the key in the lock, I grabbed her arm to stop her. She whirled around in shock, surprised at my contact.

When her eyes met mine, my mind went almost completely blank. Almost; I was still able to say what I needed to. "Um, Cara, I had two questions that I had wanted to ask you." I looked up at her, anticipating her reaction. She simply nodded for me to continue. "Well, for one, I was wondering if you wished to call me Abe instead Abraham. Abraham seems to stiff for friends." I glanced at her hopefully.

"Of course, Abe." Then she paused. "At least Abraham was better than Agent Sapien!" she let out a small, bell like chuckle.

I laughed along with her. Maybe being in love with her would be easier than I thought it would be. "And secondly, I was wondering if you wanted to see the town with me tomorrow night?" I looked down at the marble ground.

Then I felt her warm, soft touch on my arm. I looked up to see her smiling again. "I would love to." She spoke in no more than a whisper, but she meant every word of it.

I took her hand that was still on my arm in my hand and kissed it softly. She didn't jerk back as I had feared she would; but she did flush in embarrassment. "Good night, Cara. Sleep well." I released her hand and quickly walked back to my tank in the library before I did anything stupid.

As I drifted to sleep at the bottom of my tank, I realized that this had been a very interesting day.

This is both halves of idkaname again! We thank our readers and ask that you please review with your opinions and your answers to these next questions.



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