Re: B&B: Janus, Steve, Atticus
"They're just books," Steve assured Janus calmly and lightly, quite purposefully obtuse to the prickle in the other man's tone. "I trust you." He smiled, even as Allen shrugged churlishly. However, that thread that pulled at lips lapsed at Atticus' sharp reaction to touch. It was the second time in so many minutes he seemed to leap away from contact, and Steve wasn't sure at all what that meant. It didn't seem to be distaste or dislike, so much as... static shock? It was as if a bolt of pain shot through the other man.
—Of course the Captain heard the oath, as well as felt the upward tick of temperature intimate against his skin. (Feeling it wasn't the same as placing it, however, and he could only assume it was some combination of the coffee pot's heat and perhaps the haunts he'd heard tell of.)
He almost asked if everything was okay, but before he could, Atticus had his arms crossed over his chest defensively, as if afraid someone might attempt to touch him again, and he was speaking again. Allen snapped at him, and Steve lifted his eyebrows at the look aimed his way.
"Janus is annoyed because he cares about you and you've managed to worry him," he translated easily. Blue eyes lit to Allen with fondness. "He also prefers his own ideas to others', but he's certainly not alone there." Steve looked back to Atticus. Sweat felt as if it was falling in fingers down the back of Steve's neck from the palpitation of heat, and he wiped a palm there, scratching at sheared blond-brown as he did so. "Did you end up getting what you needed? If not, I'm happy to help."