Deus Ex Human Revolution: Shadow's Showdown

Chapter 52: The Hesitation.

Adam forgot mentioning Laura not to dress too elegant because Rupert doesn't like it, but as soon as he opened the door he was relieved to see her dressed in carelessly laced up boots, jeans and a leather jacket.

"I remembered that Rupert doesn't like elegant outfits and gifts," she said as she entered the apartment, then bent down to pet the cat.

Jensen smiled. The fact she didn't forget about such little things made her even closer to him.

"Don't take off your shoes," he protested when she was about to do so. "Would you like something to drink? Coffee, tea, something stronger?" he asked.

"Thank you for the offer, I had coffee before I left," she replied as she sat down on the sofa in the living room, and Vanilla immediately jumped into her lap.

It was an obvious lie. In fact, she didn't want to inconvenience him; after all, he was still walking on a crutch.

"I'll go take a quick shower, if it can even be called that in my condition," he joked. "I'll be right back."

"Don't you need company?" she asked completely spontaneously, but it was only an attempt to embarrass Jensen than an actual proposal.

"Yours will never be refused," he replied more seriously than in jest.

Laura felt herself getting hot. She was hoping for no answer, one of his jokes, or a refusal. Anything other than what she heard. The hacker turned on the TV but there was too much information about the arrival of the new year so she quickly gave up flipping the channels any further. She wondered what it would be like to live with Adam, and these thoughts overwhelmed her more and more. She started looking for a good excuse, an escape, but each time she hit a wall.

"What are you thinking about so intensely?" she heard the Security Chief's voice right next to her right ear.

His wet cheek brushed her skin causing her to shiver.

"About nothing in particular," she tried to avoid answering.

The seat of the sofa sank slightly when Adam sat down. She knew that now he was going to extract information from her like during interrogation.

"Well, okay," he sighed. "Don't talk if you don't want to."

"The point is... I... I wanted to say..." she tried to turn her thoughts into sentences. "Damn it..." she muttered.

Jensen raised an eyebrow, looking at her but wasn't going to make it easy for the hacker to answer. He waited patiently for her to find the courage to do it herself, or take another dodge.

"I was thinking about what it would be like to live here in a foreign place. What it will be like to step outside the boundaries of something familiar to me. Something where every corner is friendly to me, I know what everything smells like, what it feels like to the touch."

"I'm not that much of a stranger but I understand what you mean," he said putting his arm around her shoulders. "It was just a suggestion, if you don't want it, the world won't fall into ruins and you won't offend me with it."

"You know very well that I just want..."

"Laura, listen. If you think that coming to live with you, especially in this state was an easy decision devoid of fear, you are sorely mistaken. Many thoughts ran through my head. At first I felt uncomfortable, but then I regretted that I already had to go back to my place."

"You always know how to convince me," she muttered.

"That's what I'm for. Meanwhile, we should leave now. It's better not to be late."