Hushed Willows furnace

Warth bloomed uninhibited in her chest when he stated that she was worth it.  Worth it?  She'd never heard that before.  Well, okay, from Stark maybe, but that was different.  Banner found herself often comparing every other wolf in her life to her dear brother - who could blame her?  The Alpha was her very best friend in the world, the only one who had ever taken her for who she was, both good and extremely bad.  She, in turn, loved him for everything he was and appreciated the way he cared for her.  So it wasn't so far out there for her to compare Buchanan to Stark.  One was the long-standing most important man in her life and the other was rapidly becoming a serious contender for that same title.

She cleared her throat.  And you're too kind, she pointed out affectionately.  Oh, but she loved it.  Banner didn't know how to take a compliment to save her life, hence the constant deflection and murmured apologies, but hopefully she'd be able to work on that.  She should have swallowed those words and thanked him.  Hell, she shouldn't have said anything at all - Buchanan semeed to be a fan of her physical displays of affection.  Thank you, she added after a moment's hesitation.  Had too much time passed between comments?  Ugh, she was awful at this.

But she shouldn't have worried about her awkwardness.  Rather, the rational part of her knew she shouldn't worry about this because her tall, scarred companion still enjoyed her company and hadn't run screaming into the mountains, but Banner had trouble just.. letting go.  He moved on with conversation and she seamlessly followed suit: A win's a win.  The Beta pulled back a step and turned her face up to him.  But duly noted, she said with a grin.  Wouldn't want you taking too much credit for the wonderful things you do for me, she added playfully.