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It had bothered him the whole evening. Sitting behind a table at another award, he let the time die waiting for their turn and he couldn't be more bored out of his mind. He didn't even think they would win this time so it felt like something he had to go through just for it to end, and with little to entertain him, that small detail became more and more tempting as the time passed.
At the stage, some young person he didn't know was presenting a category that was completely unrelated to what they did. Their table companions were few and had scattered around during the night, leaving them alone. They didn’t drink, in these types of events that eventually becomes a form of isolation. They didn't mind being just in company of each other, but there was so much they could talk about before the need to speak weakened.
He looked at his side, Trent seemed to be focusing, or at least trying to, on the show the hosts had to offer. He seemed just as entertained as he was. And there it was again, that small thing. He just couldn’t let it go.
As memorable as they were as a band, they went practically unnoticed here. Nobody paid much attention to them. He was probably overthinking it, as usual, but having the reminder that no one would care much for them was a good comfort for his mind. People speaking about him, about them, was a caution that he always kept in the back of his mind.
So he turned towards Trent and rested his hand on his shoulder, moving him towards him. Trent frowned a bit, asking him with his gaze what he was doing.
Finally, he fixed that damn collar. He was surprised that Trent didn't realize it was out of place during the whole evening. He smoothed the jacket a little since he was at it, sliding his palm over the fabric a few times, getting some (probably non-existent) lint off it.
Having finished his work he looked up. Trent smiled at him with ease, like when the two of them were in private, and he couldn't avoid some heat rising to his face. He did his best to hide his reaction and turned away on his seat, but Trent caught his involuntary smile. Atticus adjusted himself on the chair, trying to go back to his neutral demeanor.
His gaze kept returning to his partner though, who started to lean closer to him, squinting his eyes. Atticus just side eyed him, it almost seemed like he was doing a bit to amuse him.
Trent copied him, turning him towards him by the shoulder, and Atticus' nerves started to crawl on him. They were probably risking it at this point, but Trent seemed to pay no mind to it and started to return the gesture, sliding a hand across his suit jacket, fixing an imaginary fold on the neck of his shirt.
Trent went still, his sight fixed on his neck and his hand still laying on his chest. Now Atticus really had to say something, with their current position, the cold feeling of anxiety was growing on him fast. They couldn't be seen like this and-- Trent picked his chain, accelerating Atticus' heart immediately.
He held it leisurely between his index and thumb, feeling the texture. Atticus tried to interrupt him, but anything he had to say went dry on his mouth as Trent started twirling his index around it. Great. Now besides having his nerves poking him in every direction, he started feeling bothered in a way that would be pretty inconvenient for the time and place if he let his imagination wander.
Trent kept playing, the chain tight on his finger. Atticus felt almost suffocated by that point, he needed to remind him where they were.
'Trent-'
'You wear this chain too much Att' he said, turning up his gaze and holding it. His half smile gave away that all he had done was very conscious.
He let the chain drop and turned facing front on his seat again, nonchalant.
Atticus was left mute, his nerves still on the edge. He looked around, fearing the worst…and again, everyone still seemed to be on their own thing. They were of little importance.
He let himself relax then, leaning back on his chair. He returned his gaze to the stage, some clips were being shown of god knows what. His nervousness began to subside, he drank some water to help it.
A while later he couldn't help but chuckle a little at what happened, finding the fun in it, but he held himself back and did his best to look indifferent. He didn't want to call attention to himself again, ignoring his partner temporarily for the best.
He didn't reject his hand being held under the table though.