"We are not people who touch each other carelessly;
every point of contact between us feels important,
a rush of energy and relief."
- Veronica Roth
She is used to his touch. The gentle caress of his fingers against her arm. His chest brushing against her back. A tap of his shoulder against hers. Sophie is accustomed to being surrounded by Nate. So much so that rarely does he rattle her when invading her personal space.
But it's not just that second sense of him that gives Sophie her piece of mind during the con or while they go about their day. It's the simple, irrefutable truth that whenever Nate places his hands on her person that he does so with the utmost care. Even when a job dictates that he grabs her with abandon he doesn't. His calloused fingers wrap around her arms with just enough strength to dictate control.
He did shoot her in the earliest days of their interaction (and to be completely fair she shot him too) but never has Sophie feared Nate. She has worried about him. Has been eight shades of angry with him. She's cared for and pitied him. But never has she been afraid of him in any circumstance. Afraid for him, obviously, but never of him.
Sophie feels it's a distinction that must be made when their latest mark stumbles upon the scene they've laid out for him, Nate shaking her and crowding her into a corner as if he plans to strike her. His voice is raised and sharp, but the hold he has on her upper arm feels more like a caress. They play their roles as they should, as well as ever, and when the mark rips Nate away he breaks his hold on her immediately.
His eyes linger, however. He communicates with her in their silent language. A glance that lasts no more than a second but conveys so much. Sophie knows as she always has that he will never harm her in this way.
She is precious to him beyond measure. Nate isn't yet able to articulate such with his words, but she sees it in his eyes. She feels it in the fleeting brush of his presence against hers time after time.
And one day Sophie imagines she might find the truth of it in the soft press of her lips to his.