[The approval feels good, and Ben's expression softens somehow beneath it; he's always sought it out, but this is the first time in a long time it feels clean, solid. He will help Alex learn the things he knows - the fighting, not the killing, he already knows Alex doesn't like the killing - and others will not look at him sidelong and wonder what's wrong with him, why he's different, why he knows this.
Maybe.
He smiles for a moment, and when that fades, it's just the intent, critical fix of his eyes, the set of his features, that he gets sometimes when presented with a mathematical problem or a puzzle; something to make work how it's supposed to, something to make work better. The dreamer, the storyteller is gone. It's just the soldier now.]
[ Spam ]
Maybe.
He smiles for a moment, and when that fades, it's just the intent, critical fix of his eyes, the set of his features, that he gets sometimes when presented with a mathematical problem or a puzzle; something to make work how it's supposed to, something to make work better. The dreamer, the storyteller is gone. It's just the soldier now.]
Do you have any combat training at all, Alex?