[ A shadow of a laugh presses out through his nose, breathed from the height of his throat. He knew he'd tensed up, but he hadn't anticipated just how much. Somehow this slow dance leading up to something so simple is almost worse for his heart than something torrid and split-second. ]

Believe it or not, I can think of a few. [ And it still wouldn't be the ones you would think. ] More the exception than the rule, though.

[ Watching her callused fingers pull through her hair to tuck it back, he supposes that's as clear as the signal is going to get. Funny, how he's always the first into a fight and the first to shy from other manners of contact.

But it's not home, so. Different rules. ]

Let's see where this gets us, then.

[ Her body language is so receptive to him that it almost feels a little too easy to lean in, angling his jaw to press his lips to hers. Too easy has always been bad new, ironic as that is. But it is warm, and pleasant enough despite the slight chap of his lips. ]