[Thing is, Lavi is the only one that sees their current shifts in comfortable proximity as a 'greater problem' - probably because Kanda is actively working to close that distance all the more.

Even if he's stumbling through it, not quite sure of the steps to take.

Still, he can't help but think they're fumbling in the right direction, with the way Lavi relaxes against him, trusts him to bear his partner's weight that little bit more as he speaks low and quiet, the explanation something he would not have been privvy to even three month ago.

That too, is a telling shift. The way Lavi opens up a little about his motivations as a bookman, of why those records he's constantly recording are so important to him...

Although.

The unexpected caress of soft words and warm breath scatter his thoughts utterly, have him closing his eyes and drawing a steady breath for an instant. Some part of him is pushed that little bit more off center at the intimacy of it... but another, smaller part can't help but wonder at the way Lavi talks about the Bookman - sometimes as 'we' but also 'they'.

Like he's not fully a part of them anymore... and he's not quite sure what to think of that.

Now, however, isn't the time to broach questions like that, and so he opens his eyes, laughs softly as he cants his head that little bit closer.]

...Could explain why they're so fixated on genetic modification. Bastards.

[Reaching forward, he turns the pages once again, a curious frown curling his lips before he cuts his partner a sidelong glance.]

You think they left anything valuable in those ruins? All it'd take would be a little underwater gear and time.