[There it is: that darkness which passes over her face, which removes the smile for just a moment. Everyone has their own version of that somber expression, and that's hers. He sees it when he looks in the mirror, too, although maybe his face isn't as open and innocent as hers is -- it had been, once, but he hadn't been able to maintain it. Even now, there's something charming and almost cherubic about his face, at times, but that's just a guise, really.
He nods. He takes another drag on his cigarette. And then speaks again, still almost lazily.]
And I'm askin' you.
[Pushing too hard for an answer? Probably, especially since he hadn't given her an adequate one himself, and he can see the way something about his vagueness had unsettled her. It's not hard to pick up on that, nor is it hard to pick up on the way she transforms that uneasiness into a laugh, because she must assume he's just being amusing, teasing her in some way. Better she think that than think the alternative, he figures. She obviously has no idea who he is, not by name or by reputation, and there's a part of him that'd like to keep it that way.]
no subject
He nods. He takes another drag on his cigarette. And then speaks again, still almost lazily.]
And I'm askin' you.
[Pushing too hard for an answer? Probably, especially since he hadn't given her an adequate one himself, and he can see the way something about his vagueness had unsettled her. It's not hard to pick up on that, nor is it hard to pick up on the way she transforms that uneasiness into a laugh, because she must assume he's just being amusing, teasing her in some way. Better she think that than think the alternative, he figures. She obviously has no idea who he is, not by name or by reputation, and there's a part of him that'd like to keep it that way.]