Hushed Willows furnace

She sought his gaze, and Buchanan found himself unable to look away from her bright eyes — that would possibly always remind him of the northern lights, as repetitive as it was it was the connect he made every time she met his eyes. Instinctively, his subservient mind whispered at him to look away. That as his superior, her gaze meeting his should have been an act of dominance, just as his gaze seeking hers should have been a challenge. Buchanan understood that her seeking his gaze was not her trying to dominate him and it was because she had sought it for a different reason entirely that he did not look away. He inhaled deeply, as she spoke, taking in her words, her voice heavy with her emotions in carefully.

She had a faith in him, perhaps, he realized. She knew what he had done, who he'd been. To an extent he hadn't had a choice, it was true, but he hadn't stood up and disobeyed The Officer either — not until a line had been crossed that shouldn't have been. He had taken the lives of those innocents without question before the child. Hell, he'd even enjoyed it. But Banner knew this. Buchanan had made no moves to hide it, had told her of it himself. A lot of his progress forward, working towards the giant abyss of unknown that was his future was credited alone to Banner. Without her, it was extremely likely he'd be stuck trying to replace The Officer as he had tried and failed to do with Phiipa. Being honest with himself about what he'd done — he held himself accountable for the lives he'd taken.

“That's good,” He murmured lowly, giving a sage nod, though some unidentified emotion had risen in his throat, and he swallowed with effort, almost breathless. “because I don't think I could stand it if someone else won your heart.” He admitted softly. It was a selfish thing. He was selfish. But Banner was good for him and she meant something to him. He'd grown to care for her quickly, quicker than he thought was possible. He hadn't even meant to, really. Caring for someone meant they were a weakness, and it meant that they could be used as leverage against you. “I'm-” He took a deep breath. “I'm sorry if that's too, ah, forward.” She'd asked to take it slow, though it was still unclear to him whether she'd meant them or the walk that night and knew that it was safe to assume both. He didn't want to ruin it, didn't want to scare her off, and he diverted his gaze worrying that by being as forward as he just was that he might have done just that.