15. Silence
There are innumerable sounds in any silence. What people think of as silence, fake silence, only exists in a sensory deprivation chamber. And even then, you still have all the little sounds that you make yourself.
Here in the station, in real silence, Juliet still has those small bodily noises. There's the rustle of her sleeve against her skin. The silken slide of her hair slipping over her shoulder. The unbearably loud pounding of her heart beating a pulse in her ears.
In the background, there's a plethora of other noises. She hears a splash as Buzz spills a pot of coffee. Somewhere, someone is using a stapler with perhaps a touch more enthusiasm than is wise. Lassiter's barking out orders, probably to a rookie. The printer spits out some pages for a case she's been working. A drunk down in the cells is screaming. A bird chirps, only slightly muffled by the closed window and the low roar of traffic.
She swallows thickly, and even that reverberates in her ears.
The only thing she can't really hear anything from is the man in front of her. He's almost unnaturally still. Definitely uncharacteristically quiet. He just stands there, staring at her, breathing so shallowly that she can barely see his chest move. He's acting strange and serious and obviously putting so much effort into trying to make her see that this isn't a joke that the words slip out almost before she's realized she's come to a decision.
"Yes."
"Yes?" A flicker of disbelief and a hesitant smile.
"Yes. I'd love to have dinner with you, Shawn."
Kristin: And here's some Shules, just in case you thought I was kidding about the whole 'various ships' thing in the summary. It probably won't happen often since I usually find their on screen relationship uncomfortably awkward at best.
If you missed the update tagged onto the previous chapter, I'm thinking of either scrapping or rewriting Hold My Hand. You know, because it's pretty much complete crap. Opinions would be more than appreciated.
17/100