He smirked. It was definitely true. They both managed to get under each other's skin more than anyone else. “Explains why you did it so much then,” he joked with a little bit of a grin. He knew the real reason, but because of that it was a little easier to tease her now. She offhandedly told him that he had the passion it took to be a leader and he shrugged. “I suppose time will tell, hm?” he asked. It was early yet, after all.
When she reassured him, he chuckled a little bit. “I think I knew that, deep down. But it's still a little jarring to hear in a context like this,” he mused as he met her eyes again. “Besides, it's worth it to see you laughing like that. And if you think it's adorable to see me covered in paint, you should see me when I've been working on a piece. I tend to zone out and I don't realize exactly how paint-covered I get.” He smoothed a hand through her hair, putting light blue streaks through it. “You look so beautiful right now.” And he knew that it only had a little to do with the paint. She was smiling and laughing like he'd never seen her do before, and it was beyond beautiful.
A little grin and he shrugged a shoulder. “My aim's never betrayed me before, especially when it comes to this,” he reassured her (and himself).
Yet again, when that expression crossed her face, the disappointment hit him like a physical assault. He tamped it down and tried to muster up a smile, though it was a little more difficult than it normally would have been. Faced with the situation they were in, with all the blood rushing to places other than his brain, he should've been able to smile – or grin, anyway – like he normally would have. But because his own embarrassment over his past habits was so prominent in the conversation, it was a little harder.
It was a relief that his reassurance didn't fall on deaf ears. He smiled a little bit when she told him that she understood, in not as many words, and nodded his head. Too much talk would ruin everything, so he didn't say too much more than that. Just... appreciated the moment for what it was, and their style of communication for what it was.
“You did, at that,” he muttered in a low tone. “I should've known that any game you play, you play well...” Past experience should've told him that. But, as it stood now, this was a very pleasant way to be reminded and he had no complaints in the least. “You seem to be forgetting that I play to win, though,” he added, alluding playfully to their prior conversation about competition.
The twinge of discomfort was barely visible and Evan internally reprimanded himself for making such a show of his staring. She was still fragile, and he needed to remember that. “I can't tell you how glad it makes me to hear that,” he told her seriously. And how amazing it felt to be saying that to her. It felt like it had been far longer than a few months since he'd come to grips with his feelings. It felt like far longer than a month that they'd been together. And here he was, reaching a point that he'd never imagined he'd reach. “But I can show you...” he added.
Hearing her say that she needed him was all that it took. Evan breathed against her and met her eyes, hoping his expression said what his words were failing to. He nodded. Angling his hips just right, he rocked them forward gently, slowly pushing inside with a low, throaty groan of a breath.