It was amazing how little had changed.

This day marked one week since he first asked Fie out to lunch. Since then they had held hands many more times. They had eaten together a few more times, either going out for food or sitting next to each other during dinner. During the weekend they had even studied together in the common area of the dorm. All of it seamlessly fit into what had been his schedule, just adding in being able to do some of the things with an amazing girl.

Over their meals and study sessions, he had learned some more about her as well. He learned that she liked the gardening club because it let her see the results of her work over time, and because she was fascinated by how all of the flowers could have distinct meanings. It wasn't important information, but he liked learning about it. He liked seeing the feelings behind her eyes as she talked about it all, and the little smile she got when he talked about what pulled him to music.

It just felt so natural, talking to her and listening to her.

This is what Elliot thought about as he walked under the moonlight, one hand in hand with Fie and the other carrying his violin case. It had been a little over a week since he had had to go out and play himself to sleep; the tea Sharon gave him following the daffodil incident really worked wonders. He had been about to drink his nightly dose when he got a knock on the door.

Fie had been feeling a little wired and could tell she would have trouble falling asleep. She had come to ask him if he could head out to the academy field and help her out.

So, here they were, walking down the staircase to the field, just as they had so many times before. Just like those times, Fie took a seat at the final step and Elliot went out to the middle of the field. He took out his violin and, just as he had so many times before, lost himself in the music.

It was the same.

There was nothing wrong with that. Seeing him do this; his posture, his expression, his fingers moving with such confidence, they all had helped kindle her initial attraction to him. But tonight she had been hoping for something different.

His performance in Heimdallr had left its mark on her. She wasn't supposed to have heard it. In fact, she had felt almost dirty for eavesdropping on what was clearly a special performance for his sister and meant for Fiona's ears only. But Fie hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. How focused even that small snippet she had heard was. The care and affection it had carried, all directed straight at his sister so she would know to not worry about him.

Thinking about her own personal performance from Elliot, from inspiring it to the aftermath, had become her favorite fantasies. She found herself returning to them time and time again and not just when desire happened to strike.

Since their first lunch together, Fie had been excited about the prospect of getting to experience the foundation of those fantasies in reality. The more time she spent with him, talking with him, learning about him, sharing with him, the more she liked him and the stronger those fantasies got. Every night for the past week, she looked at her ARCUS and waited for the message from Elliot to pop up and tell her he was heading out to the field. It refused to come.

Fie had never been a passive person. After seven nights of it not happening, she decided she would ask him herself. For her trouble, she was getting… well, exactly what she had gotten over the last couple of months. It was beautiful music, but it was aimless. It was him standing in the field and playing for himself, figuring things out, and she was just there as an observer.

Their dates had been nice. Studying with him had been nice. Holding his hand and feeling his calluses and warmth as they walked the streets together had been amazing. Overall,spending time with him since their first date had so far never failed to leave her feeling warm inside. Which made it hurt so much that this, the way they had spent time together even before then, left her feeling cold.

The song ended and Elliot bowed to his audience with a smile, like he always did. As he rose, he felt something was amiss. While he packed up his violin he kept glancing at Fie, trying to figure out what was wrong. Her expression was normal but that didn't mean much, he had only ever seen it change when she was happy. It wasn't until he walked over to her and was about to extend a hand to help her up that he realized what the problem was.

Fie was tense.

It was such an alien thought that Elliot's first reaction to having it was that he must be imagining things. Fie was always relaxed, or at least she carried herself that way. Even in combat she held herself loosely. He had seen her in the act of pouncing on an enemy and even mid-strike looking like she could just as easily decide to lay down and take a nap instead. It was part of what made her so hard to hit in combat, at any point in her movements she could suddenly decide to change direction. A tense Fie was like a relaxed Machias, just a logical impossibility.

And yet, in contempt of what Elliot had thought were the laws of reality, Fie sat before him undeniably tense.

Elliot couldn't help but feel like it was his fault. After all, she had asked him to come out here to help her relax. Instead, she was in a state that he unlike any he had ever seen her in.

"Are you okay?" Elliot asked her, looking at her with concern.

Fie looked up at him, locking eyes but not saying anything. An uncomfortable moment passed as they were suffocated by the silence.

"It's fine," Fie said, finally breaking it. She shifted her weight to start standing up only to pause when she saw Elliot putting his violin case down and sitting next to her on the stairs. He might be new to dating but he did know the difference between fine and fine.

Feeling her warmth next to him helped ease the discomfort a little bit, enough for Elliot to make an offer. "Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked. He didn't know what was wrong and if Fie didn't want to tell him then he wasn't going to pry. But he didn't have to know the problem to offer for his support.

"...Could you play again?" Fie asked, quietly. He couldn't see her eyes, but from the tilt of her chin he knew she was looking down.

He wanted to protest, to ask if she was certain, as it had clearly been his poor playing that contributed to this. But the words died in his throat as he recalled the same words from Instructor Mary that had given him what he needed to ask Fie out in the first place. Who was he to tell someone that they were wrong about their own wants or needs. But what he could do was his best to give them what they say they want, to not let them down. Elliot had already let Fie down once tonight, he would not do it again. He wouldn't let himself.

The violin case was reopened and the performance began. As he played, Elliot watched Fie carefully. He took careful note of which chords and measures seemed to let her shoulders slump just a little, which ones reduced the tension in her neck, and which ones were met with her releasing the grip she had on her forearm. He tried to build on those, repeating them, playing slight variations and finding ways to bridge it all together.

It was nowhere near his usual standard. He kept on missing notes he had meant to play, and screwing up his fingering of his intended chords. But the music made her slowly relax, lead to her leaning against him. By using the contact of her body to tell him her response to various bits and pieces, Elliot was able to turn his gaze to the violin and play more carefully with the aid of seeing what he was doing.

It still wasn't very good. He repeated measures more than was pleasing to hear as he searched for ways to build upon them, he made transitions between chords that hardly blended, and he had to move his arm in bizarre and uncomfortable ways to avoid elbowing her in the head. But, as displeased with it as he was, he could feel Fie relaxing and so he kept playing. She went from leaning against him to laying on her back on the stairs, putting her head in his lap and looking up at him.

Her gaze spurred Elliot on. He played and played, going through every variation he could think of of the things that seemed to have a positive effect on her. He played until he ran out of ideas and stopped. No outro, no finale, he just had nowhere else to go and so he had to end it. It was as abrupt as a train crash, and Elliot felt disgusted as an artist to have presented such a mess.

He sighed and hung his head in shame. Elliot couldn't even look at Fie, he was just too embarrassed. He started to mumble out an apology when he felt a cool hand resting against his cheek. The apology was left forever unspoken as he let the hand guide his gaze. It turned his head to make him lock eyes with Fie. The moonlight caught in her hair and shimmered in her eyes and made him forget all about whatever he was going to say. It felt like he had to instantly start dedicating his mind to committing the moment to memory but at the same time immediately knew he could never forget it.

"Can I kiss you?" Fie asked, her lips barely moving.

Elliot said yes before the question had even consciously registered.

Fie turned onto her side so she could face Elliot as she rose without having to twist her neck. She lifted her torso using just one hand, keeping the other on Elliot's cheek. Elliot helped by leaning backwards, allowing her to put some of her weight onto him and curl forwards a little so as to not have to put so much weight on her hand or bend her spine straight upwards. It was an awkward position, with wood digging into Elliot's back and Fie contorting into a strange angle. Their lips were clumsy, not content to just press against each other but not fully sure how to move with their partner.

They were awkward. They were clumsy. And it was wonderful.

When they pulled apart Fie rested her head on Elliot's chest as she moved the lower half of her body to make things a bit more comfortable. Elliot laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head with his free hand, violin and bow still firmly clenched in the other.

"That was nice," Fie said as she relaxed against Elliot.

"Yeah," Elliot said with a sheepish smile. "I don't think I was very good at it."

"That's okay," Fie said as she looked up at him and smiled. "We can practice."

This time Elliot was the one to lean down and initiate the kiss.

A/N: This story will be updated once a week on tuesdays.

Massive thank you to TheCrimsonGhost309 for being my first-pass reader for all of these and listening to my disjointed ramblings as I try to string sentences into a coherent plot, as well as just being a super cool person in general and Googlegirl11 for being an amazing beta and awesome friend, helping me polish up everything and make it nice and shiny and smooth.

Also, thanks to Heero De Fanel, who is both on FFnet and AO3, and to anonamor, knockknockbadminton, and Eratoschild, all of whom are only on AO3, for their writing advice and being just really awesome people.

Please comment/review, it makes me happy.