a place probably with a tree nearby

Boris looked right back at her with a straight face. "I- I don't know..."

She fell silent. Those eyes of his... damn.

"I just..." Boris's eyebrows twitched for a moment, and he leaned in slowly to Olivia.

Olivia felt her heart rate jump about 50 beats-per-minute. Probably not. Either way, she didn't move. Or couldn't.

He awkwardly lifted his shoulders as he lifted his hands to cup her face, and then his lips touched hers.

Definitely better than Cedric, and by default, those guys from the bars. Whatever it was, she didn't want it to end.

And so the two stayed there, for those long ten seconds, which felt like an hour. Boris's warm breathing from his nose brushed against Olivia's cheek.

And then it was over. Olivia turned her head to look at the fire. "Was... Was that it?" she stammered. "What you were talking about?"

Boris opened his eyes and staring still at her, nodded slowly. "Yeah. That was it..."

Olivia zoned out for a minute or so. Then, offhandedly, she said, "Happy Christmas."

"You too," he said awkwardly. After another minute, he sighed. "Fuck, I never should have kissed you, now it's going to be weird."

"No, you're -- I mean, I didn't..." How to put this. "No harm, no foul...?" No, no. You idiot.

Boris raised an eyebrow. "What?" he said, and laughed.

Olivia kept her eyes locked on the fireplace. It had begun to die out. "It wasn't" -- She hesitated -- "anything, right?"

"What do you mean, anything? If you meant if I truly meant that kiss, well... I think I did."

It was a few days after New Year's. The smell of boiling pasta and cheese product was in the kitchen air at about three in the morning. There was a glass on the table containing a small bouquet of marigolds. Some customer had forgotten their order one day, and Olivia didn't feel like letting the orange blossoms shrivel up and die; marigolds were her favorite.

Boris had fallen asleep at the table, head down against the cold hard surface.

Olivia set down the plastic spoon for a moment, looking back at Boris. What had he been doing, she wondered, so that he'd fall asleep in such a place? She turned her attention back to the saucepan on the stove. Did macaroni always take so long to boil? "It's probably done..." she murmured to herself, picking up a plastic strainer and setting it in the sink absentmindedly. Olivia poured the pasta out into it, and as the steam rose from the boiling water spiraling down the drain, something struck her: how was she supposed to mix the cheese product in? "Damn."

boris kept sleeping

Olivia picked up the strainer and shook out the extraneous water. After thinking for a moment, she decided to just open the packet of cheese powder and sprinkle it over the bland noodles. It wouldn't be as good, but oh well. After another minute or so, Olivia joined Boris at the table. Nope, not nearly as good. She wondered if she should wake him up. And she did; the table was no place for a night's rest. "Hey, Nazi." She lightly poked him in the cheek with the fork.

His eyes opened. He sat up and stretched. "Oh, hey, you! I see you made dinner. Or... breakfast."

She nodded, looking down at the bowl. "Kind of messed it up, though. What're you doing down here, anyway?"

"I'm not sure. I was just thinking, and I guess I fell asleep." he mumbled. He took a noodle from her plate and ate it. "Eww."

"Well, you pick it up like that, of course it'll be gross." The cheese wasn't dissolving; instead it began to group together in orange lumps of the pure sodium they were. "What were you thinking about, if you don't mind me asking?"

Boris paused a moment, looking to the ceiling while licking his fingers. "Us." he said simply, looking down at her with his light gray eyes.