#agent starling

That independent streak is always, always going to hinder physical affection, but that doesn't mean it's completely off the table!

Similar in many ways to Ellie Sattler in that her version of physical affection involves lots of small gestures that are sprinkled in throughout the day.

Rolling her chair across the aisle between your cubicles to deliver the third round of disgusting break room coffee for the night, hand covering yours after you take your mug from her. The smile she gives you is exhausted beyond belief, but the brief press of her forehead against yours speaks volumes.

Shoulder to shoulder on the couch while you watch Whose Line Is It Anyway, an old quilt draped over your laps while you share each other's body heat and cackle at Drew Carey.

A quick squeeze of your hand before she leaves for work, the store, anything. If it feels like it's going to be an especially crazy day for her, she uses her hold on you to pull you in for a quick, firm kiss. Always breaks away with flushed cheeks. Flashes you a twitchy, embarrassed smile and mutters, "Back later," in that adorable accent.

She isn't averse to touch, per se, she just doesn't think about it as often as she does bringing you coffee or doing the dishes so you don't have to or mailing that check if you happen to forget it on the kitchen counter.

I think she'd like someone who casually takes the lead on those kinds of things. She's always been a doer, but never in the field of intimacy. She can crack down on a case or make sure your order gets fixed if the restaurant messes it up (and she can handle both like nobody's business), but when it comes to being soft? She's at a loss.

If you're a touchy-feely person, you'll just have to initiate most of the time. If you take her hand or lean over to kiss her, she'll always go along with it, and you'll always hear her little huff of laughter through her nose. Her cheeks will dimple, faint bunny lines will appear around her nose, and her face will turn a very light shade of pink.

She'll never let your kisses go unanswered, either. Tit for tat, quid pro quo. Wherever you kiss her, she'll dart in to mirror it on you. She's not very good at starting PDA, but she'll damn well make sure she finishes it.

Likes to be led when you're in a crowd or wandering a space. Take her hand and steer her down the street while you're walking from your car to a restaurant. Feel eager fingers twining with yours and holding on tight while the two of you navigate downtown's old, narrow streets.

Leans into you when you throw an arm over her shoulders. Doesn't matter what the height difference is between you- she's immediately tucking herself into your side. Might not always put an arm around you in return, but you can tell that she's happy where she is.

Cuddling is much the same. If you pull her in for a late night snuggle, she likes to lay on top of you with her arms loosely bracketing your torso and her head safely tucked against your collarbone. She could lay like that for hours, breath tickling your skin, and sit in silence or talk about everything and nothing. She's content as long as you're there.

Will never be the first to break contact once it starts. Happily lingers in your arms or lets her hand rest in yours until you decide to move.

Always the first to fall asleep. Says she won't, but after ten minutes, she's stopped responding to you and her breaths are shallow, even puffs that warm your skin. Absolutely goes into corpse mode once she's out. You'll either have to move her like a dead weight if you want to roll over or get out of bed (nearly impossible), or wake her up and tell her to move (she can sleep through a nuclear explosion).

The few times when she'll solidly initiate and want contact for long periods of time are usually for comfort. Her independence and strong front will only get her so far before everything feels like it's collapsing in on itself, and she'll turn to you for help. It always starts the same- with shared mugs of coffee, either at the kitchen island or sat on the floor with your legs wedged beneath the coffee table. There's never a verbal warning, but you can sense her trepidation, see the tension in her frame as she prepares to open up to you. She'll press her shoulder against yours, voice dropping to a soft murmur that borders on becoming a whisper, and share what's been weighing on her while her free hand sneaks into yours.