Chapter 9: We do not speak words of love

One month later…

Ada sipped her coffee and sighed as she gazed out at the New York scenery from the window. She had found a new appreciation for it since waking up, though of course, didn't realise she'd been out for six weeks.

That weird new day had gone by in a daze. In fact, she remembered Otto and the others escorting her back to her hospital room and putting her back in the bed and after the nurse had given her some hot food, she'd fallen back asleep.

'Funny,' she thought, 'a little walk exhausted me after all that sleep.'

A little beep sounded on her watch, and she headed back to her desk.

"Time for some more meds," she placed her coffee on the table and played around with the small tin next to her pencil jar.

Norman's 'super serum' (as she called it) had done her wonders over the last month. She wasn't exhausted as much, after three weeks she was back in the office and there had been no long-term damage to her brain. Though she still sometimes forgot all the elements in the periodic table.

The meds had upgraded from daily injections to small pills, and they would only be for another month or two. Unfortunately, the therapy was for longer.

But the bright side of 'you have to go to therapy' from Norman's speech was her argument of 'Otto doesn't have to go, and he experienced trauma.' She hadn't MEANT to pull him down with her, but the look of faux betrayal had been quite amusing.

Still, it was good.

Not only was she talking about what she could remember, but she was communicating with Otto a lot easier. He did seem a little awkward at first, but their therapist had told them individually to get more hobbies and socially interact. And apparently, 'reading the latest science weekly didn't count.'

Speaking of…

At first, Otto wasn't sure what to do to relieve stress, but the idea came one day when he was at his house, watching an old movie on his projector.

He also decided to be a bit more lenient at 'finishing time'.

Once Ada had finished her coffee and taken her medication, she got back to work, squeezing, and playing around with her new stress ball. Though, it seemed more like she was treating it as a basketball. He glanced at her occasionally, wondering when a good time would be to show her his 'surprise'.

He checked his watch as well, but five minutes before he was due to leave (and she was due to start cleaning up after themselves), he thought now would be the best time.

"Ada," he tried to appear casual as he reached under his desk for the box he had brought, "do you have any plans for this evening?"

"Not really. I was going to head home and try a new recipe from my cookbook, but I don't think I want to burn my kitchen down tonight. Maybe tomorrow."

"Well, how would you feel about some overtime mixed with recreational activities?"

She looked up at him, with only a small amount of suspicion in her eyes.

"You're inviting me to work more but…have fun?"

"Well…hopefully."

Ada didn't think she'd see this day. She wondered what kind of 'fun' Otto had in mind?

'I wonder what Otto gets up to in his spare time that he thinks is fun. Board games? Knitting? Building model planes?'

"Are you trying to imagine what I get up to in my free time?"

"Yes," she answered honestly and leaned her head on her hand, "I think I know…Yoga?"

He chuckled and shook his head before lifting a large box onto his desk and patting it pointedly.

"I don't think you can fit Yoga into a box."

"Well, technically, you can fit a yoga outfit, a mat, a-"

"It's not yoga. Come, give me a hand setting it up."

Ada and Otto worked side by side, opening the box and lifting out equipment. At first, she thought his hobby was photography until she pulled out a large reel.

"Is this a film projector?" He nodded and she found a smaller case labeled with bold writing, "Oh, Nosferatu. A classic. In your opinion, would you count the book as Science Fiction?

"The Book? No, more supernatural. Frankenstein is the Science Fiction. This is more horror."

"Good. I just asked because I got kicked out of a book club once for starting an argument."

"I take it someone argued the science fiction aspect?"

"It's CLEARLY horror," she got irate for a moment but gave him a frustrated look, "I think they'd never actually read the book but watched one of those terrible adaptations about it."

As they set up the projector, otto couldn't help but tease her one more time.

"I cannot believe you got kicked out of a book club."

"Oh, don't try to debate me about Animal Farm. It won't end well for you."

"Don't worry," he laughed again, putting together the last piece of the projector, "I was never fond of that book…now Lord of the Rings, we CAN debate on."

"I will happily do that," she tapped her fingers on the desk and looked at the large, old machine in front of her, "will it still run?"

"I tested it out last night, she runs beautifully."

"Do we have time to get food before we play?"

"I already thought of that," Otto moved away and pointed at Ada with a 'no arguments' look, "take a seat and prepare to be amazed."

She couldn't help but feel definitely interested in what he had prepared. She obediently took her seat and waited patiently as he put two bags on his seat and then wheeled it next to hers.

"I KNEW I smelled food!" She laughed after his terrible dismissal earlier, "I knew I wasn't smelling the last experiment we did. Metal solder does not smell like-…is that Thai?"

He placed one bag in front of her and sat down with the other in front of him. They talked as his claws quickly arranged the projector and sheet by the board, neither paying them much attention. Mostly because the food was being swapped and shared between the two.

'This is nice.'

Whilst the movie was being played, they spent most of the time eating, chatting, and just riffing on the movie.

At one point, a napkin was passed to her from a claw, and whilst she took it with a 'thank you', Otto looked a little surprised.

"I didn't tell them to do that."

"Subconsciously, you were thinking, 'Ada's smudged sauce all over her cheek'," she dabbed the napkin along her cheek, "and they did the rest."

Otto knew his claws were smart but…they usually only did stuff for him. He had noticed the sauce but…was a small part of him more concerned for her well-being than his? He wondered what else they did when he wasn't paying attention.

Maybe-

"Do you think Stoker knew how big his work would become? Like on a scale of Mary Shelley," Ada twisted her fork in its container, gathering up the last of her ingredients, "or do you think he just wanted to get a story out there?"

"I think you're overthinking it," he gave her one of his chicken satay sticks since she was almost out, "it's one of those subjects that we may get too deep into and Thai food isn't the place for such discussion."

When she gave him a look, he thought on the spot.

"Save it for pizza."

He supposed he deserved her flicking a pea at him.

After the movie…

The last ten minutes actually engrossed Otto (as it always did) and he found himself sitting in silence as the castle of the Count was destroyed.

The light of the projector shone on the white sheet, and he wondered what it must have been like for them.

"To think, it was less than one hundred years ago someone had the bright idea to create these motion pictures. Stories that people could enjoy together. It's fascinating," he paused and got no response, "Ada?"

He found the reason he got no response was that Ada had not enjoyed the movie ending as much as he had. She'd folded her arms and was resting her head on top of them, fast asleep.

Since it had been warmer earlier, she'd taken off her long coat, but now the air con was circling, and he could tell how cold her arms would get. But still…he didn't have it in his heart to wake her just yet.

Not only was the long day keeping up with her, but a small side effect of her medication was drowsiness. He would let her nap for a little longer.

Without getting up, one of his claws grabbed her coat and carefully draped it over her shoulders.

She stirred, but only enough to get comfortable and for a strand of her hair to fall over her face.

His hand reached out and carefully moved the hair back before he realised what he was doing. And yet, since it didn't disturb her, he continued to tuck it back by her ear.

And then, looking at her sleeping face, the tips of his fingers gently glided over her jawline and down to her neck.

'What am I doing?!'

He pulled back and his hand flew to his mouth in shock.

"Oh, you old fool," he mumbled quietly and shut his eyes tight at the realisation he could not hide any longer.

He was in love with her. How had he missed this?! When did this happen…the moment she wanted to be friends? When she awoke?

He knew that, regardless of his feelings, he could not tell her.

'Oh, Otto,' he could hear Rosie's voice in his head, 'the heart wants what the heart wants.'

"Oh, Rosie."

"Otto?"

He startled, opening his eyes, and looking down at her when she sat herself up.

Her coat slipped from her shoulders and would have fallen to the floor, but his claw stopped it. Another act he hadn't really told them to do.

He watched her face, hoping she hadn't been awake for the attention he paid to her cheek, but her eyes were still shut as she stretched in her seat.

"Did I miss the movie?"

"Y-Yes. It just finished."

He got up quickly, making a show of tidying away the items and trying to calm himself down.

Ada stretched and finally opened her eyes, checking out the clock on the wall.

"Wow. Didn't realise how late we partied," she laughed and rubbed her eyes, "we'll have to do this again. Though takeout will be my treat next time."

"You'd like to do this again?"

She looked at his back but saw he was cleaning and disposing of the trash they'd left with their dinner.

"Very much. I haven't had a movie and a meal with a friend in…well, a while," she remembered something important and decided to bite the bullet and ask him now, "speaking of…I have an invitation for you."

Otto did turn around to look at her then and she tried not to sound nervous or embarrassed.

"It's actually an extension of an invitation. My parents wanted to celebrate me waking up and going back to work and…they also wanted to say thank you specifically to you."

"Me?"

"For looking after me. And being there for me and being very understanding," she tried to stop herself waffling, "and they wanted me to invite you to dinner. At their house."

There was an awkward pause and Ada tried her best not to look desperate as he tried not to look too surprised.

'Oh God, please say yes, I don't want my mother to come here and personally try to get you to come!'

"Well," Otto tried to appear casual and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "you can tell your parents I happily accept. And if they need me to bring anything-"

"I have a merlot I will give to you. That's all they drink."

"Very well. I do enjoy a good merlot myself."

"Great. I'll message them and they'll pick a night."

As she quickly fiddled with her phone, Otto couldn't help but notice how happy she was. And despite his own feelings, he vowed to make sure she was happy, even if it meant never telling her how he felt.

Besides, now he had something else important to focus on.

'It can't be that hard to have dinner with parents, surely?'