Right now, Nick's more paranoid about where they are and who might see them than thinking about his close proximity to Xander. Nick may have thought - and possibly even hoped - that he'd never see Xander over him, and yet his first instinct in this is to protect him.

Especially knowing what's out there, and not knowing if Xander knows about the network yet.

"Try harder," he mutters, his voice low and mostly calm, although a hint of urgency leaks through.

His eyes are locked on Xander's, but it doesn't occur to him that that might not be helping until the other man closes his to try to calm down. Then he looks away, eyes darting around to see if anyone's noticed them - but if they have, it's just to assume that they're up to, well, exactly what this looks like.

Now that Xander seems to be on even footing again, Nick's... very aware of their proximity, and he takes a step back, searching for something to say.

"I didn't know you were in town."

...good job, Burkhardt.