[The silence doesn't last long at all, not really, but it's still enough for her mind to run wild. Surely he's going to shy away now, firmly setting a boundary in place between them. It wouldn't be a bad thing not in the grand scheme, if it meant understanding where they stood and putting those feelings to rest. But it would hurt in the moment, and she's not prepared for that.

(There is, of course, the wilder part of her imagination. This one insists that she'll be left on her lonesome, shut out entirely by Nai, with every ounce of progress lost.)

What she doesn't expect is the almost timid answer that follows, so innocent in its formation that she can't help but let out a laugh. It's gentle, and coupled with a smile so endeared that she may as well be radiating hearts. Maybe she's reading too much into it, but she can't help but reach forward in that moment. She does what Nai had hesitated in doing, threading their free hands together. The tea lingers in her hand for just a moment longer, before it too is set aside. The now freed hand tucks over the opposite side of Nai's sandwiching it in.]

I do. A lot, actually. [And just in case it there's any chance of being misunderstood, she adds:] Not just as a friend. I hope you knew that much already. I - mean it romantically.

If... that's okay, Nai.