Hushed Willows furnace

shh!  i am imbibing so .. :D

His soft insistance made her falter.  Banner chewed on the inside of her cheek as she regarded him.  Oh, she hadn't meant to say the wrong thing!  It just kind of.. happened.  She bit down a little harder, causing a tiny jolt of pain.  It was enough to keep her focused in the moment.  She gave him an apologetic look but wasn't able to open her mouth and speak the actual words, mostly becuase she knew she'd ramble, but also if she loosened the grip on the inside of her mouth she feared she'd lose her focus.  Banner knew he meant it - he wasn't the kind of man to say words just to hear the sound of his own voice.  But..

With space between them he could more easily see her expressions, so she willed herself to relax again.  It wasn't too difficult due to the calming effect he had on her.  She offered him a small smile, ears cupping forward to take in every word he said.  She loved the sound of his voice - it was a deep rumble, mostly serious but surpriningly gentle though that could have been only for her.  It rolled through the air and sometimes she swore she could feel it in her very soul.  The Beta sighed softly, a random yet content sound.  You do get points for that, she added, her grin indicating that her words were a pathetic attempt at faux seriousness.  Points for what?  Ah, who knew.

Her head tilted to the side when he mentioned the Officer.  Banner knew Buchanan had killed his former master but she was glad that mentioning the monster didn't drag him down any.  Not this time.  Her tongue itched with the words she wanted to say. The Officer wasn't worth another one of Buchanan's thoughts!  But she gave him a thoughtful look instead.  Then it's all for the best, she said.  As long as he hadn't stolen the bird from a crying child she didn't really care how he'd killed it.  The point was that she'd been on his mind long enough to seek out a song bird and wait for it to be distracted.  Surely that task had taken a great deal of patience!  Regardless, I appreciate the gift.   Seriously, thank you.  Her words were soft but firm.  Banner wanted him to know in no uncertain terms that she truly appreciated it.  As it was now the third time she'd thanked him, she realized that he probably got the point.  But the dark chocolate lady was nothing if not appreciative!