The pizza was fine. At least as fine as reheated food could be. Lee had been right too, they had some leftovers building up in the fridge. They probably needed to do some kind of fridge clean out when there was time. Maybe take stock of some things…see if they needed anything when they shopped to make the pork chops…

Yes, Tarin thought, these were much better thoughts to fill the time than what had been running through his head just a little bit earlier. Cleaning out the refrigerator. Going to the store. That was what normal responsible adults thought about on the average weeknight.

Eventually though, after a few more minutes, Tarin did finish his pizza. He didn’t really want any more and it was next to impossible for him to justify staying in the kitchen, hiding from Lee simply because they were having one of those weird nights where they couldn’t even seem to look at each other without getting all worked up.

Back to the puzzle it was.

So after rinsing his plate and getting it on the drying rack, Tarin made his way back out to the table…where Lee was making significant progress on the puzzle.

“Looks like you found a rhythm.” he said, tempted to stop by her chair and lean down….but nope, that was a bad idea.

So Tarin walked right past, dropping back down into his seat and starting to look for more pieces, “You’re right about the stuff in the fridge…we should clean things out. We can see if there’s anything we need to pick up at the store when we shop for cooking later this week.” Hey, the topic had worked in his mind, there was no reason it wouldn’t work now.

Finally, Tarin started making his way back out of the kitchen. As he came around the corner, Lee looked over her shoulder and smiled at Tarin. Who hadn't brought food out with him.

So that was why he had taken so long; he had eaten in the kitchen. He had been trying to spend more time apart.

Hopefully that would help, Lee couldn't help but think.

"I was able to focus a bit better," Lee said as she smiled at Tarin.

As he sat down, Tarin mentioned that they probably should clean out the fridge before they go shopping for their cooking. "That' a good point. Maybe tomorrow night would be good for that," Lee said, then grinned across the table. "If we can actually be that close to each other tomorrow."

Lee just had to go and be candid, didn’t she? It had been easier enough to focus with him out of the room that she’d made significant progress on the puzzle.

At least he had his idea and as he sat down and asked about the fridge Lee had thoughts too.

Thoughts that were not helpful or quite on topic as far as pantry staples or staying in the same room were concerned.

Tarin shook his head and looked back across the table with a sigh as Lee grinned. ”You’re killing me here.” he said, but he was grinning too. Looking down at the pieces, Tarin spent a minute pushing pieces around like he was doing something with them.

“Maybe if we just get it all out of our systems tonight we can get something productive done tomorrow.”

"Sorry," Lee said softly, though her voice didn't sound very remorseful. The grin was still on her face as well.

Dropping her eyes to the table, Lee half heartedly tried a couple of pieces. "Would you have rather I lied?" Lee asked, glancing over at Tarin briefly before back to the puzzle. "That I got a wave of inspiration and suddenly knew where the pieces I needed were?" Somehow, Lee didn't think he would have.

When Tarin spoke again, Lee laughed. "I'm not sure that's how it works, Tarin," She told him. "Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely up for trying that. But there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason about when…this….happens to us, so I'm not sure that logical actions will work."

Lee absolutely was not sorry and if Tarin hadn’t loved the grin on her face so much he might have been a little sore about the way she was pushing. He had brought up a sensible topic that would have kept their minds somewhere completely reasonable. She was the one who had circled things back.

Would he rather she lie? Tarin shook his head mutely as he watched Lee try the pieces to see if they fit. He didn’t know if she had looked up in time to see the movement of his head or not, but speaking was not a thing he was gonna do right now.

Lee even laughed at him when he suggested the most logical thing ever! How dare she? But he was smiling the whole time she spoke.

It was a little wild how this sort of thing seemed to happen, and if Tarin got his way they were definitely going to be testing his theory. When it came down to it though, surely they could just…not? Like, sure it would be frustrating on several different levels…but they’d managed tonight, hadn’t they?

”To be fair…most of the time we really don’t try very hard.” he said, looking back down at the table and messing with some of the pieces. At least he never really tried very hard, what was the fun in that? He looked up for a moment, “At least I don’t.”

What did logic have to do with it anyway? ”Like, if I went in my room and shut the door…problem solved, right? I think that’s an utterly awful idea, but it’d be effective.” he paused for a moment, ”Though if past experience is any indicator, a closed door isn’t much of an obstacle for some people…” he teased.

Lee took a deep breath and shook her head, the grin still on her face, as Tarin pointed out that they didn't really try too hard most of the time. "Yeah, I don't try very hard either," Lee admitted.

It really was just easier to go with it. Tonight was a perfect demonstration of that. Nevermind that it was also far more enjoyable to just not try very hard to stop it when things between the two of them were like they had been tonight.

"Well, technically that would work," Lee said, the exaggeration clearly evident in her voice.

But then Tarin brought up the fact that, though it had been for a very different reason, a closed door hadn't exactly stopped her before.

Lee blushed, her eyes dropping back down to the puzzle as she tucked some hair behind an ear. "Well, no…but that was a totally different situation," Lee tried to argue. "And while being in different rooms does make it easier to think more…appropriately, it doesn't stop-"

Lee cut herself off, eyes back on the puzzle. That was just putting them right back into the situation they were trying to avoid.

So there they had it. Neither of them really tried all that hard when things were like this. Tarin considered it a good thing…though maybe they were creating some kind of positive feedback loop by not trying…

Who cared? Tarin wasn’t going to voice that thought because God forbid they actually started to try. That was completely counterproductive.

Lee seemed to agree because while she agreed that him going to his room would technically solve the problem, she didn’t sound particularly enthused about the prospect.

The blush covering Lee’s cheeks when he brought up the night she’d barged into his room made Tarin grin a grin that was more than half a satisfied smirk and as she tucked that hair behind her ear he remembered a few times when he’d done that for her.

A different reason? ”Sure, it started out that way.” he said as she pointed out that being in different rooms made it easier….but didn’t.

She stopped speaking so very abruptly and Tarin laughed, low and softly, “I liked where that was going.” he said, idly, reaching out and grabbing a piece that miraculously fit. They were close to completing the outside edge now, maybe they’d manage to finish the whole thing.

The night that Lee had burst into Tarin's room after Robert had left the apartment had started out very much in anger. That had quickly changed once she realized that Tarin wasn't wearing a shirt despite the fact that at the time Lee was not admitting to herself that she could have feelings for Tarin. Because it wasn't something that was supposed to have happened.

Lee was so glad that it had happened, and that their first night going to the bar together had shown them, without a doubt, that there was something there between them.

"I'm sure you did like it," Lee said as she looked up at Tarin, some of the blush still on her face. "Where that was going is not going to help get this puzzle done. Or behave."

It was true, because those thoughts and feelings were, in large part, what had started all of this.

Turning back to the puzzle, Lee managed to find another couple pieces and fit them into place before she spoke again in a whisper. "Because being in different rooms doesn't stop me from thinking about how sexy you are."

Lee was still blushing and Tarin was still grinning. If they were just going to keep coming full circle back to this topic, there was no reason to try to avoid talking about it.

Oh, she was concerned about finishing the puzzle now? Tarin leaned back in the chair and leveled a teasing look back across the table, ”If you wanted to stay focused on the puzzle, you could have kept talking about cleaning out the fridge.” he said, “Because I came back out here with a perfectly reasonable topic of discussion.” He had too. Lee was the one who’d sent everything off the rails….this time.

Lee was focusing on the puzzle now and Tarin was still sitting back in his seat watching her find pieces, but then she whispered and he laughed and shook his head, “I would hope not.” he said, “But thinking and doing are two different things, and I feel like the point here was one and not the other.”

We’re they really bickering about this? Sure it was good natured bickering, but it was still silly.

Having said his piece, Tarin went back to the puzzle, as far as he could tell there were only two or three outer pieces left. Snagging one of them from the table, he put it into place.

”And for the record being in separate rooms doesn’t stop me from thinking either.” Neither did being in separate buildings or on separate streets…but they weren’t talking about that.

Yes, Lee probably should have stayed on the safe topic of cleaning out the fridge. Or even simply the puzzle.

But then again, despite the fact that thinking had gotten easier when Tarin was in the kitchen and that they had been talking about something completely different, it had felt like the words just came out.

"What can I say?" Lee asked with a shrug, not hearing a bedroom door open. "Your sexiness is very distracting."

"God mum! You don't have to be so gross!"

Lee's eyes widened slightly as she heard her son's voice behind her. Apparently she had been distracted enough that she hadn't realized he was making his way out of his room until she heard his voice.

"I can always be more gross," Lee responded over her shoulder.

"No, please don't," Kevin pleaded as he practically ran to the kitchen.

Looking at Tarin, Lee stifled a laugh. "Oops."

It was quiet for the span of a few moments and Tarin put the last piece of the outside of the puzzle into place, satisfied that they’d at least managed to do something.

A door opened and Tarin looked up just as Lee started to speak, he didn’t have a chance to respond to what Lee said though because Kevin was walking down the hallway and was once again horrified at how gross his Mom was apparently being.

Whelp. So much for not traumatizing Kevin. Tarin had to think though, it was incredibly gratifying that Lee had been so distracted by the conversation that she hadn’t even felt Kevin leaving his room. Lee, who was next to impossible to sneak up on because of her powers.

Lee pointed out that she could be more gross and Tarin was honestly curious what she had in mind but he was trying desperately not to laugh and not having much success at all as Kevin practically ran for the kitchen.

Lee’s little “oops” sent Tarin over the edge and he just laughed for a few moments until he could get himself under control.

“That…is entirely on you….” he said, still trying to catch his breath a bit as he shook his head at Lee, then lowered his voice, ”But it could have been way worse.”

Normally, it was second nature for Lee to feel when someone was approaching her. Especially when she was in an area with so few people around. Especially when she was at home where she could tell even what part of which room they were in most of the time based on direction and distance.

And yet Lee hadn't even noticed Kevin moving in his room, nevermind leaving it until he had spoken.

Normally, the only time that would happen at home was if Kevin had put his shield up or if she had shut off her siphoning, which she hadn't done. And the moment that Lee had heard Kevin's voice behind her, she'd noticed his energy.

When Tarin started laughing, Lee couldn't hold her own in anymore. "Didn't I tell you that you're distracting?" She asked while still laughing a bit. "And that's true, it could have been. But I'm also pretty sure that I've heard him saying it's, well maybe not gross, but embarrassing when we hold hands outside."

And so for a few moments, they both laughed. It took Tarin a little bit to properly catch his breath and speak and Lee commented back and it suddenly struck Tarin how absolutely wild it was that he was here, right now, doing this. He’d never thought this sort of thing was possible for him, for a million reasons.

He didn’t want to get all existential and in his head again, but Tarin found himself grinning a little silly grin even after he’d stopped laughing. It really was possible that he was the luckiest person in two universes. It wasn’t the first time he’d had the thought, and Tarin was sure it wouldn’t be the last.

Lee used what had just happened as evidence that he really was distracting and Tarin just shook his head, and rubbed the back of his neck a bit bashfully, ”And I believed you, but I didn’t think you meant, forget where I am in space distracting. “

This was how a guy developed an ego. An unhealthy one at that.

Lee was right, too, Kevin pretty much thought any remote amount of contact or affection between Tarin and Lee was gross, and Tarin supposed that was only fair.

”Is it safe to come back out or do I need to wait?”

Kevin called from the kitchen and Tarin couldn’t help but laugh again.

The way things were going now was so polar opposite to how it was when Tarin had walked into the apartment really not all that long ago. The atmosphere then had been tense and somber.

And now they were laughing because Lee had been so distracted she hadn't even realized Kevin had come out of his room declaring how 'gross' they were being.

"Do you remember at the bar?" Lee asked, referring to when both of them had completely lost track of where they were. And that had been before they were even admitting to to each other (or themselves) that there actually were feelings there.

"It's not often, but it does happen," Lee continued, smiling a happy smile across the table at Tarin.

At that moment, Kevin called from the kitchen, asking if he was able to come out of the kitchen. As Tarin laughed, Lee shook her head. "Yes Kevin, it's safe."

Only then did Kevin make his way out of the kitchen again. "Am I going to have to stay locked in my room, or will it safe for me to come out again later?"

Did he remember the bar? The moment his entire world shifted on its axis and everything changed?

”I remember.” he said softly, but that had been different, hadn’t it? They’d been on a collision course for days that had finally culminated in that moment standing at the bar. No, nothing had happened until later, but that had been the moment and Lee was right…there suddenly hadn’t been anyone else in the bar. Hell, there hadn’t really been anyone else in the world.

Lee’s happy smile made Tarin smile too and he just looked back across the table. It wasn’t often but it did happen. Like the first time they’d tried to eat at the Chinese restaurant and had ended up having to get takeout. Tarin’s smile changed just slightly at the memory and he was just opening his mouth to speak when Kevin spoke from the kitchen and made him laugh again.

Lee’s affirmative response urged Kevin from the kitchen and the teen had the audacity to ask if he needed to stay locked in his room. Okay, maybe it wasn’t audacity based on what Kevin had heard, but still.

“We’re just gonna be working on this puzzle for the next while. You want to help? We already did the hard part.”

That was one way to pass the time and ensure they behaved.