How is the maybe beginning of a relationship "sudden and forced"? Synch smiles like he is interested her in the last issue. This issue he is holding her because of his powers but it can also be seen as an attraction. This literally them laying the groundwork. If they get together this where it "begins."
PS Plus we aren't characters 24 hours/7 days a week/ 365 days in a year. If they want to skip things to get more interesting parts of the relationship it is fine, Comics have only so much page space which means it never has a lot of time in it some stuff has to be set up quickly or done off panel.