[But when Ben turns around, Alex has his knees pulled up to his chest, not for protection but because he needs something concrete to hold onto while he watches. It's not like it's all that fascinating, technically speaking, to someone who's been in a high-speed jet chase, but there's a passion in this that machines can't convey. A love to it, a kindness.]
[He watches, unsmiling but content, relaxed in a way that people who don't know him very well might never realize. His fingers twine together in a gesture of vulnerability that, were he fully aware it was happening, he'd be very loath to show.]
[Here and now, though, he's safe. When Ben looks at him, that's what shows in his eyes: safety, happiness, joy in its most basic (though not simplistic) form. A love to him, a kindness. Approval, above all, as well as the subtle tug of a smile that indicates you don't need it. Or, maybe: you have it, always.]
[No one's ever just a killer, or just a monster, or just a good or bad person. There are layers and layers to people. This is the heart of Ben that has been hinted at so many times in Alex's presence, the caretaker, the storyteller, the silent protector.]
[Alex is happy to see him, and greets him (with already-deepening lines around his eyes from smiling, from stress, from some combination) like an old friend.]
no subject
[He watches, unsmiling but content, relaxed in a way that people who don't know him very well might never realize. His fingers twine together in a gesture of vulnerability that, were he fully aware it was happening, he'd be very loath to show.]
[Here and now, though, he's safe. When Ben looks at him, that's what shows in his eyes: safety, happiness, joy in its most basic (though not simplistic) form. A love to him, a kindness. Approval, above all, as well as the subtle tug of a smile that indicates you don't need it. Or, maybe: you have it, always.]
[No one's ever just a killer, or just a monster, or just a good or bad person. There are layers and layers to people. This is the heart of Ben that has been hinted at so many times in Alex's presence, the caretaker, the storyteller, the silent protector.]
[Alex is happy to see him, and greets him (with already-deepening lines around his eyes from smiling, from stress, from some combination) like an old friend.]