[In the end she asks exactly what he expects she will, and yet Rip cannot help but feel caught off guard by it regardless. Some mix, perhaps, of that confirmation that Gideon does indeed desire this, or how glad he is to know that she does.
Because he also does, truly. She's read his hallmarks correctly, from the look in his eyes to the pulse she can feel thrumming away in his wrist. There's no part of Rip's heart that does not want to feel her lips against his, to know what it might be like to be truly kissed by her, rather than have some aspect of his own fantasy at play.
But it's a dangerous road, his mind thinks. Perhaps too much too soon; after all, their first kiss had been spawned by Rip giving in to wild abandon, thinking that there would be no opportunity for such an embrace again, and that in the end, only he would carry the burden of such a memory as his secret. He cannot say that if he had known Gideon herself resided in that construct, not just his vision of her but her actual thoughts, her mind, that he would have allowed himself the same indulgence.
So what does it mean if he grants them both it now?
It's a dangerous slope, he thinks. Gideon had barely been able to find her feet to walk a handful of hours ago. While she has long been real and alive in Rip's perception, she has not been human in the sense she is now. There is still so much they don't know about her condition at present, and he suspects, so much she cannot know about what she is now. This eagerness to discover, to experience, to feel can be a beautiful thing--
Or it could cause her agony, should she push too far and too quickly.
He hesitates for these reasons, his eyes lowered to their hands all the while. He watches and feels the path of her fingers. Before he looks up again, he hears the smirk in her words--just as Rip has so often.
Whatever she is, she remains Gideon.]
One kiss. [He meets her gaze again, the barest hint of a smile playing on his lips. God, he already knows it won't be enough--but it has to be. Rip must draw the line somewhere, at least until he is sure that she won't be harmed by pressing it further--that he won't harm her somehow. He's already failed his wife, his son, and not because he didn't love them enough but rather too much. So much, that the Time Masters were able to use his devotion as their tool. He won't see it happen again.
So. One kiss, and only one. For now, it must be enough.]
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Because he also does, truly. She's read his hallmarks correctly, from the look in his eyes to the pulse she can feel thrumming away in his wrist. There's no part of Rip's heart that does not want to feel her lips against his, to know what it might be like to be truly kissed by her, rather than have some aspect of his own fantasy at play.
But it's a dangerous road, his mind thinks. Perhaps too much too soon; after all, their first kiss had been spawned by Rip giving in to wild abandon, thinking that there would be no opportunity for such an embrace again, and that in the end, only he would carry the burden of such a memory as his secret. He cannot say that if he had known Gideon herself resided in that construct, not just his vision of her but her actual thoughts, her mind, that he would have allowed himself the same indulgence.
So what does it mean if he grants them both it now?
It's a dangerous slope, he thinks. Gideon had barely been able to find her feet to walk a handful of hours ago. While she has long been real and alive in Rip's perception, she has not been human in the sense she is now. There is still so much they don't know about her condition at present, and he suspects, so much she cannot know about what she is now. This eagerness to discover, to experience, to feel can be a beautiful thing--
Or it could cause her agony, should she push too far and too quickly.
He hesitates for these reasons, his eyes lowered to their hands all the while. He watches and feels the path of her fingers. Before he looks up again, he hears the smirk in her words--just as Rip has so often.
Whatever she is, she remains Gideon.]
One kiss. [He meets her gaze again, the barest hint of a smile playing on his lips. God, he already knows it won't be enough--but it has to be. Rip must draw the line somewhere, at least until he is sure that she won't be harmed by pressing it further--that he won't harm her somehow. He's already failed his wife, his son, and not because he didn't love them enough but rather too much. So much, that the Time Masters were able to use his devotion as their tool. He won't see it happen again.
So. One kiss, and only one. For now, it must be enough.]