Erik felt the intensity of her feelings and smiled. Before Astrid could react, he leaned over and kissed her softly on her blood-red lips.
His sudden gesture stunned Astrid into silence as she slowly blinked a few times. Her thoughts turned into a jumble as they tried to catch up to events.
In the past, she would have given anything to be kissed by him, but now it just conjured up a whole host of complicated feelings.
Erik smiled at her confusion, "I know you haven't made your decision yet, but since today can go a number of ways, I just wanted to be sure I kissed you at least once."
His words shook Astrid out of her daze and caused her to blush heavily. Seeing her expression, Erik felt danger approaching and prepared himself.
"Don't say stupid things!" Astrid yelled while punching his armored chest in a lightning-fast move. Her therapeutic attacks were always directly proportional to her frustration, and this one was particularly strong.
