Mind whirling with the flood of new information and his companion's sudden proximity, Verik felt his breath hitch. Focus, damnit, focus! "Alright," he sort of stammered out, releasing the map.
Common sense screamed at him to lean away, to but some distance between them, but his body seemed to have other ideas, holding him in place. "I- I think we may have a problem," he said, voice rather low and hoarse.
Clearing his throat, he tried to sound more in control and explained, "I mean, this job isn't exactly going to be easy, we're both going to need to be sharp if we wanna come out of this unscathed. On guard, focused. And-" He swallowed and admitted in a rush, "And that might be a bit difficult, because all I can think about right now is how much I want to kiss you."
His voice had dropped low again, face and neck flushed. Well, there it was. No taking it back now.