a lull of comfort is one he succumbs to in her presence. so much so, that he doesn’t feel that aching constant need to fill the air with his voice in half - hearted responses. an urge which he often suppressed around the other townspeople; this incessant burrowing need to destruct silence so as not to provide open ground for judgmental eyes to roam & latch their teeth onto insignificant issues. & really, he’s happy to be here, with her. he thinks it’s a big deal that she lets him share this space with him, but he doesn’t mention it. soft laughter echoes past his lips once he feels her pushing beneath his thigh, head shaking quickly as an arm snakes around her waist to steady her upon precarious edge. ‟ ‘m not ignoring you, red. ” he assures her with a tap on the hip as he draws her attention to the phone screen he is now tipping upward for easy viewing. ‟ the garden gnome theft is very thrilling, i will give you that. but i think this will be of more interest to you. this article was posted five minutes ago. should we go check it out? ”
there's a heat that blossoms along the rise of verity's cheeks whenever nico calls her red. something she really wished would stop happening, because eventually he was going to notice. then he's sliding his arm around her waist and it feels something like a metaphor for the two of them. she was always a ship sailing into the midst of a storm and he was at her side, ready to be her anchor. a feeling of security she'd been searching for longer than she realized. he raises his phone and her hand settles on his shoulder, sliding over the worn cotton of his shirt until her thumb brushes the side of his neck and her fingertips play into soft blond hair. ❝ — hmm, ❞ a thoughtful noise escapes as she leans over him, eyes scanning the article while she worries her bottom lip between her teeth.
❝ ok, that is officially weird and creepy and we're going. ❞ she uses her free hand to scroll his screen down to finish the story. ❝ you realize what this means don't you? ❞ expectant gaze is turned on nico and suddenly verity is acutely aware of just how close her face was to his. a few quick blinks and she glances down at his mouth, which is a distracting mistake as she stutters and sits up too quickly. the only thing keeping her from tipping backward is the steadiness of his grip. ❝ i was right, um… about the two disappearances being connected. first all those lab rats, then the birds at the pet store, a nd now a stable full of horses? there's no way the cops can say this isn't related.❞ she wasn't going to hold her breath counting on the local cops to know anything, but she could wish. ❝ we're going to have sneak into the country club. someone has to have seen something. ❞