The Knight and the Paladin - A series of Oneshots

01 Having a night out

 He watched her from the bar. His beer was almost empty as he ordered the next from Whitechapel Charlie. She was moving to the smooth sounds of Magnolia's music.
He didn't know why but he eventually felt comfortable in this shit hole. The Third Rail was a bar down at Goodneighbor, 'Of the people, for the people'.

The mayor, Hancock, surely had a problem with him and his beliefs. Like any other person he met so far. Except for her. She didn't mind what he was believing, but often scolded him for not being nice to ghouls. She always said 'Ghouls are people, too you know?' He sighed.

He took a swig from the new bottle and then held it's neck between is thumb and index finger to swing it around a little. He still felt uncomfortable not wearing his power armor, but he had to leave it at their room at Hotel Rexford if he wanted to be here with her. It was her rule. 'You can't walk around like a moving tin can all the time!' she would say to him every now and then. His response always ended in rolling his eyes and shaking his head. So he wore a pair of blue jeans and sneakers, a white shirt and a black leather jacket. While he was deep in his thoughts he didn't notice how she approached him. "Hey there, big guy. You in there somewhere?", she asked him and waved a hand in front of his face. He blinked at her. Kathryn smiled at him as she gently poked his cheek. "Come on, I want to dance with you." She took him by the hand and pulled him with her.

Before he realized it he was standing in the middle of the bar. Magnolia was singing 'Man Enough'. Kathryn looked at him as she slowly started to move. She was wearing a blue dress which matched her blue eyes. Her curly hair softly swung around her shoulders. She wrapped her arms around him and before he knew it he was dancing with her. He tensed a little as she took his arms and put them on her waist. His face tinted in a pink shade as she laid her head on his chest. She closed her eyes and smiled. He looked down at her relaxed face and felt how he was relaxing, too. The butterflies in his stomach came to life the longer she was this close to him. They swayed until the song was over. Kathryn looked up to him, eyes beaming. "Follow me.", she whispered in his ear before she grabbed his beer and walked to the VIP room.

He was baffled but followed her. The room was empty. It was only the two of them. She was sitting on a couch and patted the empty space next to her. He sat down and she handed him his beer. "I never though that you could be this gentle.", she broke the silence. He blushed as he rubbed the short hair on his neck. He didn't know what to say so he just shrugged and took a swig of his beer. Kathryn chuckled. She knew how awkward such situations were for him and always had a good time then. "Would you mind if I excuse myself? I'll be right back." She stood up and walked out. While she was gone he shrugged off his leather jacked and tossed it on top of the next chair. Kathryn came back with two glasses and a bottle of Whiskey. He looked at her in disbelief and frowned. "Do you want to get wasted or something?", he asked. She grinned mischievously and he knew he shouldn't have asked her...

Half an hour later half of the Whiskey bottle was empty. Kathryn giggled as he told her a story of the old times when he was just an initiate. He and his friend Cutler caused a lot of mischief back then. He felt lightheaded after what felt like the whole bottle of Whiskey.
He didn't notice that she came nearer and nearer until she put a hand on his arm that he was resting on the arm rest. She softly trailed her fingers from his elbow down to his hand. He could feel the goosebumps caused by her touch. He watched her hand and then searched her face. She was looking at her hand and her movements had gotten lazy. Then she slowly looked up. Her eyes trailed from his stubbled chin to his lips and up into his brown ones. He couldn't resist her gaze and his own eyes trailed down to her lips and kept lingering.

He felt how she started to lean in, her gaze glued to his slightly parted lips. He swallowed as he realized what happened. They both closed their eyes as their lips met each other for the first time. He caressed her cheek with one hand, the other resting at the small of her back. Her hands were resting on his chest. He softly pulled her closer as he deepened the kiss. He could taste the Whiskey they both drank and something else, much much sweeter than he could ever imagine.

Kathryn broke the kiss and licked her lips and smiled. "It's late big guy. We should go." She tried to stand up from the couch. So far so good. But as she tried to walk she figured that high heels weren't the best choice. He also stood up and offered her his arm. They left the Third Rail on wobbly feet.

Kathryn burst into laughter as she needed a second try in getting up the stairs to their hotel room. He patiently stood next to her holding her arm as he guided her upstairs. After he shut the door, Kathryn was standing beside him, they walked to the bed. He wanted to sit her down properly but she plopped down onto her back and took him with her. His eyes widened as he landed on her, cheeks filled a bright red color. She laughed. "You are one giant goofball, you know that?" He was surprised. No one called him goofball before. "Danse...", she then whispered "...I love you."And before he was able to say something she was already kissing him again.

Now he knew that he would never let her go.