Markus and Rose were at the restaurant eating. They were given a small table with a white cloth over it. The lights of the place were dimmed, and the curtains were closed, giving a very romantic feeling that made Markus nervous.
He looked over at Rose, but he saw that she was as calm and composed as she was when she took out the cultist in the street two hours ago. She wore a nice black dress that made him have a hard time not to stare, while he wore a white hoodie and black jeans. She never told him that it was going to be a formal outing, and he suspected it was on purpose.
They had an agreement that no funny business would happen while they were here, which he wasn't going to do anyway. He and Dirin had a long conversation about him waiting till he either graduated or she gave explicit words that he was allowed. Until then, he would not make a move, but it seemed like, at times, that the agreement wasn't meant for him. It was subtle, but he saw small signs of her reaching over and stopping herself. He, of course, chalked it up to something else, but he couldn't reasonably think of anything else but himself.
On their plates were a couple of steaks. His was almost done because he failed to see the class in slowing down, while she had only eaten half of hers. He tried to keep his pace slower now so she would catch up, but she seemed to be slowing down herself.
If this were the first time he was with her, he would've chalked it up to her being full, but after multiple times being out with her, he's realized that this was her way of teasing him. He found it dumb and useless, but he also found it strangely effective. Apparently, knowing that she was teasing him made her teasing work even more. Keith chalked it up to his knowing about it, making it more effective. Which he already knew after the first time he figured it out.
Mentally, he scolded himself for falling for such a woman, but he also congratulated himself for getting far enough to go on this nondate date. He was trying not to fill up on water refills as she started to ask him how his other classes were going. "Enchanting is going well. I figured out that simple enchants could be engraved directly by runes, while some can be engraved by the process of making the sigil. Complex ones will take me about a day, or a couple of hours if one of my traits activates. Dirin proudly dubbed it 'The Zone', which I thought wasn't creative at all, but sadly, it works too well with the trait for me to simply cast the name aside."
Rose chuckled as she heard his ramblings. "Surely you aren't telling me you are having fun in other classes except for mine, right? That would make me very sad if true." Her tone was clearly teasing him, and it caused his face to flush slightly.
He gulped slightly as she said that. "If it helps... You are, by far, my favorite teacher." He found getting his words out very hard for some reason, so he drank some water to hopefully clear his throat.
Before he knew it, her hand was covering his wrist, which caused him to almost cough up some water. He was confident she was the one who said no funny business, but now he was questioning whether or not it was said at all. Was this the signal he had been looking for? "Just your favorite teacher? I'm sure you can think of so-"
The waiter came back with the bill and placed it down. Markus was sad at the sudden interruption and expected Rose to take her hand away, but he looked back down and saw that she was now grabbing his hand instead of his wrist. Her eyes never left his, even as she took the bill that had no charge. Once the waiter left, her smile became a little bigger. "As I was saying. I'm sure you can think of something else to replace the teacher part."
Now, Markus was sweating a bit. He was nervous and wanted to end this whole thing immediately, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Her calloused hands were now rubbing his hand and sent multiple shivers down his spine with each turn. He tried to say something, but his stutter was so bad that he couldn't get his third word out before giving up. She laughed at that and leaned forward a bit and poked her fingers up his sleeve and twirled some of the hairs.
She's enjoying this! What woman have I fallen for?! At first, she was mad that I stared too long, and now she is wearing dresses and holding my hand. Is this a sign? How do I go forward? Would either Keith or Dirin know? Maybe I should ask Ritchard. No. They wouldn't know. He would have to ask Tillie about this matter. He then thought about it for a little bit more before tossing her out of the window as well. She doesn't know what she's doing either. I am in a hopeless group.
As he was deep in thought, Rose rose to her feet and tugged upon his hand to bring him up as well. She then pressed a finger to his lips as he was about to speak. "Don't tell any teacher about this. Definitely don't tell Mr. Till as well. I know how close your group is to him. If you stay good, we can do this more often." She then let go of his hand and put some distance as she led him back to Falem.
On the way back to Falem, Markus was very confused. She just promised more. She also called him good. He didn't know how to feel about either of those just yet. He could say he definitely favored them more than hated them, but he didn't know how much either.
I am definitely asking Dirin for help with this... He might be my only hope of staying sane.