A New Kind of Science / Holtzbert

Goodnight

Erin was quiet from the time they escaped the room, got their money back, grabbed Jillian's bag from the locker room, and headed out to grab a cab. The both of them stared out of the car windows on their own sides, as far away from each other as possible. The brunette's left elbow rested on the handle to the door while her cheek rested on the back of her slightly folded fingers. Her knees were pressed against the inside of the door as she kept her body facing away from Holtzmann. The other woman held onto the handle with her right hand while her legs were kept open on the passenger side. She leaned her head back against the leather seat behind her as she slouched quite far down the vehicle's chair. She blinked constantly, hating the silence and knowing they had to talk about tonight's events at some point. She cleared her throat, causing Gilbert to turn and look at her for a moment. "You, uh...you alright?" The blonde asked and she did not receive a verbal response, though the former scholar faintly nodded before looking back out the car window. 

Jillian sighed and took her glasses off her ears, holding them in her right hand as she nervously bit the end of one side. She looked ahead of her at the back of the passenger seat, hoping and praying that the turnout from tonight's date hadn't caused Erin to regret saying yes to her. It wasn't long before she returned the glasses to her face, wanting to break the silence again. "You want to talk about it?" She asked in a soft, low voice while looking back at her date. 

Still keeping her gaze out at the street, Erin replied into her wrist. "Not really." 

"Oh. Okay." Holtz looked ahead once more and their taxi came to a traffic jam, making the elongated silence even more painful. To keep herself from being too bored, Jill began to push the controls to the windows up and down, over and over again. It grew pretty old fast and she blew a loud raspberry of air out of her mouth, sending a piece of her disheveled, golden locks away from her face for a brief moment. When the strand of hair returned to resting over her left eye, she looked out the windshield at all the cars. Slouching down again, she disappointedly looked to Erin beside her. Her nose scrunched up as she asked, "Wanna get out and walk?" She knew they weren't too far from the station and maybe some fresh air would help them think of something to talk about. 

Erin finally put her arm down, looking out the window as best as she could to see the street signs. When she noticed where they were, she gave Holtz a, sort of, sympathetic smile of approval. She paid the cab driver and both women got out, heading over to the sidewalk. 

Halfway down the street, Gilbert was finally the first one to speak. "Do you want me to carry that?" She asked, gesturing toward Holtzy's duffel bag.

"Nah." The engineer shrugged, holding onto the thick strap that pulled on her right side. They took a right at the next corner. As they turned, Erin sneakily moved closer to Jill's left side, their shoulders grazing with every step. 

Their hands fought the urge to touch the other's. Gilbert put her tongue between her lips before folding them in and frightfully looking up at the stars. Before looking ahead of herself again, she tightly squeezed her eyes shut, suddenly remembering her lips had touched Jillian's. She felt a bit light headed, recalling the moment and how much of a head rush it had given her. But it was a good rush. Though the moment was brief and quick, she couldn't help but think it was perfect. Perhaps it seemed so ideal because it was in a moment of her own vulnerability and Holtz had brought her out of her fear upon the contact. She hadn't even planned on kissing the blonde tonight, but it just happened. And it was foolproof.

"I, um...I'm really sorry, Jillian. I am." She was happy to finally have the capability to speak back. She told herself that she couldn't apologize enough for not listening to the inventor about the escape game to begin with. Right after speaking, she quickly corrected herself. "Oops, I meant Holtzmann."