Private Finished A date is a date, even when it isn't

Whereas Levina had gone basically straight from work to their meet-up, Broen had had ample time to prepare. He was showered, shaved, and had even manicured his nails and lightly greased his hair so that he would look as good as he could. He wanted Levina to be fine with being seen with him in public, and he still wasn't entirely sure that she was. There was a nervous energy around her even as they had finished up lunch. Was she just excited to be out with him? Or was it that she was afraid someone might see them and get the wrong idea?

Was it even the wrong idea? They'd stayed the night at each others' apartments. They'd had sex and kissed and laughed and cried together. Maybe he was just touch-starved and emotionally vulnerable, but it sure felt like there was something between them.

He popped a piece of gum behind his teeth as they stood outside the gallery, giving her a shrug. "Who knows. It'd be nice to see him for sure, but maybe he can see us and wants to let us have our privacy." Broen took a quick glance around, subtly taking stock of everyone in the area. Old superhero habits still flaring up.

"Well, as much privacy as we can get at a public art gallery."

All the little nagging concerns that Broen had had faded when Levina took his hand. She was at least comfortable enough for that, which made him smile just a bit as he allowed himself to be led into the gallery.

"Look at that one. Is it... some kind of duck, maybe? Or a swan? I don't know birds. That was Angelo's thing," he said as he pointed out one of the first pieces, which caught the light with its greens and blues in a way that made the pedestal underneath it was gently rippling water.

"Talented little prick," he added with a chuckle as he pulled Levina closer and put his arm around her hip. If they were here together and if she was alright with this looking like a date, then he could sure as hell make it look like a date.

"Dad hated waterfowl, so he never took me to the park to feed the ducks. I'm sorry that I had such a deprived childhood," Broen said teasingly, clearly joking as they moved on to the next display. It was a pair of people dancing, the woman dipping the man as opposed to the more traditional other way around. They were violet and orange, and where the glass met it blended and swirled together like the two of them were trying to fuse together.

"Smooth? I don't know what you're talking about, Livewire."

His hand still on her waist, Broen slipped behind Levina and rested his chin on her shoulder. "You ever been dancing? Like ballroom dancing, I mean. It was a year of dance lessons for me. I'm a little rusty but I bet I could still dazzle you with my moves."

"I'm sure you haven't had to worry about that, no. Dad always used to take me to the fancy benefit galas and shit like that: he stopped when I knocked out the tooth of the son of the mayor at the time." Broen laughed softly and tightened the hug he had around Levina. "Kid was a little shit and needed to be put in his place. That was the second time he got me with a cigar."

It hurt to talk about, the abuse from his father, but he also felt it was necessary. He couldn't exactly say he'd moved past it if he was afraid to talk about it, could he? Still, this was a public place so he kept his voice down and gently tugged Levina along to the next exhibit.

This one was more abstract, or at least it seemed that way at first. A twisting knot of glass in a shape that didn't look like anything at first. But there were lights that turned on and off in sequence, and when each one of them turned on the light that showed through the glass was a silhouette of some different animal or thing.

"Wow... glass boy has got some serious talent. I think this is the second prettiest thing in the room." There was a definite hint in his words as he ran his fingers up her arm, looking at her briefly with a knowing smile that he hoped wasn't too cocky.

The kiss wasn't unexpected, but how nice it felt kind of was. Broen let Levina lower herself back down from her toes, but he leaned forward to meet her when she did and kissed her again - not aggressively but with a bit more oomph than her own kiss had been. He smiled at her as he stood back up and glanced at the sculpture. "I dunno. Maybe he's just got a way of looking at glass abstractly. I'm kinda like that with powers. There's a lot of wiggle room between what a strictly does and what you can accomplish with it."

But now he was thoroughly distracted from the exhibit, his eyes tracing lines along her face as he watched her expression, the curve of her jaw. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't think of how to put it into words. So it stayed like the sculpture, a weird formless blob in his mind that he hoped he could shine some light on to make it make sense.

"I, uh. Think there's more exhibits. If you're not bored of being here."