Work Text:
She looks at him like she can't quite believe he is there. This man who she had once considered the bane of her existence who had then gone away for a week leaving her to miss him? It had been longer than a week in fact but a week had been all that it had taken for her to realise. There had been a few days of bliss, the Abbey calm after the chaos of pre tour organisation. But as the dust settled the atmosphere in their shared office changed from peaceful quite to a more oppressive silence.
His incessant mindless humming had become the soundtrack to her work. She was struggling to concentrate without his running commentary on whatever he was working on that day or the way he paced the room as he wrote his sermons. She had missed it all. So while in the past she may have ended up shooting ignored glares in his direction over his inconsiderate behaviour she instead found herself watching fondly as he settled back in to his routine.
He catches her looking at him yet again and can't help himself but try and push her buttons. It always takes some time for him to adjust after touring but something about their day to day bickering brought him back to reality in a way little else ever had. Which is why her lack of reaction today was bothering him so much.
'Is there something from lunch on my face?' He asks waving his hand in front of him. 'Or have I smudged my paints?' Instead of the scoff or eyeroll he expects she offers him a smile and he feels something he can't explain in his chest.
'I missed you actually. That's all.' That's all? She says as if she hasn't just said the last thing he ever imagined coming out of her mouth. 'Its surprisingly nice to see you sitting over there again.'
He doesn't know what to say. He should have something flippant and flirtatious to throw back at her but his mind goes blank. He doesn't let it show though. At least he hopes not. Suddenly the reports on his desk begin to seem more interesting than before. Or at least staring at the words on the page until they blur together while his mind whirs out of his control.
She doesn't think she had ever left him lost for words before but she thinks she enjoys it. He stares a hole through the documents in his hand for what remains of the afternoon. Barely having the wherewithal to shuffle the papers in at least a pantomime of working through them.
Impressively he manages to keep it up through the rest of the day only seeming to snap out of his daze when she begins packing up her things. He watches her shut her laptop and put away her stationary and has the sudden feeling that it might be one of the biggest mistakes he might ever make just letting her leave without a word.
She is already at the door when he moves, body moving before he had even consciously made the decision, until he is stood behind her holding the door closed with a gloved hand. She turns slowly, so close she could almost be in his arms if he wasn't holding himself back. He tries to explain but he can't quite force the words out.
'Was there something else Papa?' There was the look he was expecting earlier, ready to scold him for his thoughtless actions. But there is something else there, possibly a reaction to his sudden closeness. Her cheeks hold an uncharacteristic flush he finds quite charming although it just proves to distract him even further.
'You said you missed me.' He wants to kick himself. He had had hours now to come up with something better, something to make her feel even a fraction of what he is feeling right now. Yet he has just repeated again the phrase he had been replaying in his head since she had said it. Her eyes soften though and something in her posture relaxes.
'I did.' She is smiling again and he doesn't like that smile. Well he does, undoubtably. She looks even more beautiful than usual but he doesn't know what it means. He doesn't think she has ever directed it at him before. Perhaps he had seen it second hand before turned to towards others but it's doing concerning things to his stomach.
'Yes. Ok.' He takes a step back and she tilts her head towards him the smile fading slowly into a more perplexed expression. He feels exposed, stripped raw somehow but what could she possibly glean from looking at him when he doesn't even know himself what he is feeling. 'Good night Ginevra'
'Good night Papa,' she replies, opening the door behind her and slipping through leaving him with just the memory of her words and that same unsettling feeling in his chest.