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The man had a * with the locals.
Is there a word that means "close interaction with someone"? I am not thinking about intimate or sexual interactions, but close interactions in general, which include intimate interactions. I can think of the adjective "warm", but it's not specific enough, and I don't want to necessarily imply that all interactions are positive like the adjective warm does. A word or an adjective that basically corresponds to the idea.
How about rapport ?
: a friendly, harmonious relationship
especially : a relationship characterized by agreement, mutual understanding, or empathy that makes communication possible or easy
I would use the adjective "private" which is the opposite of "public". That would include intimate and non intimate encounters. It corresponds nicely to "close" (proximity) and doesn't mean positive nor negative.
The man had a private talk with the locals.
In some cases you could also use one-on-one or eye-to-eye if it's only about two individuals
The man had a one-on-one discussion with his brother
If you want a noun, how about ‘familiarity,’ modified by the appropriate adjective (e.g. ‘slight familiarity,’ ‘basic familiarity,’ ‘thorough familiarity’)? Relationships within families are not always positive, consistent with the question.
