It seemed like Nevin had won the endurance contest, between who would cave first. Eteri, with her insufferable enticing wiggling in his lap, or Nevin, with his squeezes to keep her still. It had been very, very close,
and he hadn't been able to stop the words escaping his mouth, asking her to stop moving - wait, did that mean he had lost? No, no it didn't, because he could still squeeze her, and she had decided to stop moving, and was instead resting her head against his chest, her eyes closing half way as she listened to his heartbeat. It was...peaceful now, and actually somewhat relaxing now that she wasn't moving around in his lap.
So he loosened his hold on her, and actually dropped one arm away from her waist, and slowly began stroking her hair, his fingertips just grazing against the base of her ears as he petted her. It was strange, almost like petting a giant cat, but also very relaxing. That relaxed air only increased when Eteri began to purr against his chest, and nuzzled against his skin - making Nevin blush a bit. While she was definitely cat-like, her human aspects couldn't be ignored either, which was leading to very conflicting feelings in the alchemist. This was only emphasized more when her tail flicked up and coiled around his wrist for a moment, then lashed up to brush against his stomach and side.
Slowly she shifted her head up so that she could stare at him through half-lidded eyes, and Nevin swallowed, a bit nervously. She licked her lips, her tiny tongue darting out and flicking across her skin, and Nevin very forcibly made himself look away from that sight. Eteri was very soft against him, and it had been some time since he'd been able to get away to visit the 'inn' that Philomel had directed him towards.
