For the most part things were what they were. There was still a pain knowing that her brother was gone and the likelihood that she’d see him again and things would be okay again were extremely slim, Rose shoved those feelings into one of her boxes and did her best to not focus on, despite people being kind and asking if she was okay.
The worst part was that she was starting to feel like she had to ask someone to the stupid dance that was coming up. She’d asked Roman first but he’d already been asked and she didn’t bother with a handful of other people she knew already had dates but the feeling wouldn’t going away.
She was in the elevator going to the training floors when someone entered going down to the floor. Rose looked over at him and scrunched up her nose. “You’re not bad looking, do you have a date to the dance yet?”
It was a strange couple of weeks. Mostly because they were so quiet. When he’d first arrived, Matt hadn’t been around long before they went into their fake lives and then they came back to a mission. This month had been quiet so far, and compared to the more steady pace of work that he was used to from home, this was both a welcome and uneasy reprieve.
He entered the elevator intending to head out for an afternoon errand. He’d halfway noticed the other person standing in the small, enclosed space next to him and offered her a friendly smile. He just didn’t expect much small talk - or talk that was much more forward than small talk.
“Uhh…” Matt glanced awkwardly over at Rose. He recognized her from his time around the base. “The dance?” He cleared his throat. “No. I mean, no, I haven’t been asked yet.”
His reaction was a little funny and Rose couldn’t help cracking a small smile as how awkward it was started to become more clear. She really probably shouldn’t have been so forward but at this point it was getting down to the wire and who cared, it wasn’t like it was the strangest thing that had happened.
“Do you want to go with me?” She asked not bothering to fill in information on the dance. She was too old to be worrying about a dance and yet she couldn’t help it.
Matt figured that her follow-up question would be if he wanted to go with her. He expected it at this point, but he still ducked his head a bit and scratched the back of his neck at the question. He hadn’t dated anyone really since Emily, and he’d never considered himself the best at this sort of thing.
“Sure,” he said after a moment. Matt saw no reason to say no. He wasn’t sure if this was considered a date or not, but he at least could find a way to have fun with a woman who was also not bad looking. Actually, she was a lot more than just not bad looking.
“That sounds like it could be fun,” he said and gave her a small smile.
“That tough of a question?” Rose teased after he answered with a yes. She couldn’t help herself and it was sort of amusing watching someone consider it.
“Good, I’m Rose by the way,” she said offering her right hand. “Are you going down to train?” Hey, she did just ask the guy to a dance she might as well and get to know him.
“Nah. I’ve already made a few decisions much harder than that today,” he bantered back with her a bit and held out his hand to shake hers. “Matt.”
Taking a breath, he shook his head with a shrug. “No, I was heading out to pick up something, but it’s not something I can’t get on the way home. I can join you if you’re heading down to the training area.”
“Yeah?” Rose asked with a tilt of her head. “Anything I should be worried about?” If she was right, and she knew she was, he was one of the field commanders which made it all the more interesting.
She considered her options. “I don’t want to keep you, but it is more fun punching when someone is holding the pads.”
Pretending to think on it a moment, Matt shrugged and shook his head. “Probably not. Deciding between tea and coffee was a tough one, but I stuck to my roots.”
When the elevator dinged open for the training floor, he reached out to hold it open for her to leave. “You’re not keeping me at all. And I like to think I’m an excellent sparring partner.” He smiled a little at her again as they exited the elevator and headed down the hall towards the gym.
“Which are?” She asked as if the debate between coffee and tea was the most important thing.
Smiling she headed out and shrugged. “I guess we are going to find out just how good of a sparring partner you really are.” She grinned as they headed into one of the rooms.
“Tea. Always tea,” he said. Coffee had started to grow on him, especially to help him get going in the mornings, but he’d never give up his morning tea.
They entered the gym, and he nodded to her. “Let’s get to it then.”