[ He doesn't hold her hand the entire lead up to dinner, mainly because she's got her glass in the other, and she's polite enough to shake hands with those who offer theirs to her. But when Benedict isn't holding Kate's hand, he's got his placed low on her back, both to offer her moral support and also so he can press his fingertips into her spine when he feels her tense up against him.
It's sweet of her to take offense to the things people say about him, but this is hardly the rudest comment he's had to fend off from those around him, and at least he takes a small modicum of comfort out of the knowledge that he wouldn't trade lives with the majority of those rude enough to comment to his face, even with everything all considered.
His life may not be perfect, but it's certainly better than it could be. He knows that he's lucky, in the grand scheme of things.
Luckier still for having friends like Kate, who will stand by him and make snide comments right back, who sits at his left like she belongs there and wordlessly slides half her food onto his plate when his attention is turned away.
Bizarrely, for a moment, he wonders when Gwen told her to do that for him; then he realizes she's probably pieced together the fact that he's always ravenous no matter how recently they've eaten all on her own, just because of the amount of time they spend together. It's easier to ignore the impulse to pretend to be normal the further he is from home, one of the reasons he moved to America in the first place, and after their experience at the dim sum restaurant all those months ago she'd have to be blind to not realize that his appetite is greater than a regular human's.
Yet one more mark in the pros column of having Kate in his life. She's always looking out for him in little ways.
The impulse to reach out is strong and for a change he decides not to fight it, settling his hand on her thigh and stroking his thumb over the denim of her jeans in a grateful little caress. He doesn't want to draw too much attention to the gesture for fear of cheapening it somehow, and he knows if he interrupts Great Aunt Edith he'll never hear the end of it, but Kate deserves to know he appreciates her.
When her eyes meet his, he gives her a little smile and a quick wink before turning back to the conversation he'd been drawn into on his right. He's slow to withdraw his hand. ]
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2021-10-14 08:12 pm (UTC)It's sweet of her to take offense to the things people say about him, but this is hardly the rudest comment he's had to fend off from those around him, and at least he takes a small modicum of comfort out of the knowledge that he wouldn't trade lives with the majority of those rude enough to comment to his face, even with everything all considered.
His life may not be perfect, but it's certainly better than it could be. He knows that he's lucky, in the grand scheme of things.
Luckier still for having friends like Kate, who will stand by him and make snide comments right back, who sits at his left like she belongs there and wordlessly slides half her food onto his plate when his attention is turned away.
Bizarrely, for a moment, he wonders when Gwen told her to do that for him; then he realizes she's probably pieced together the fact that he's always ravenous no matter how recently they've eaten all on her own, just because of the amount of time they spend together. It's easier to ignore the impulse to pretend to be normal the further he is from home, one of the reasons he moved to America in the first place, and after their experience at the dim sum restaurant all those months ago she'd have to be blind to not realize that his appetite is greater than a regular human's.
Yet one more mark in the pros column of having Kate in his life. She's always looking out for him in little ways.
The impulse to reach out is strong and for a change he decides not to fight it, settling his hand on her thigh and stroking his thumb over the denim of her jeans in a grateful little caress. He doesn't want to draw too much attention to the gesture for fear of cheapening it somehow, and he knows if he interrupts Great Aunt Edith he'll never hear the end of it, but Kate deserves to know he appreciates her.
When her eyes meet his, he gives her a little smile and a quick wink before turning back to the conversation he'd been drawn into on his right. He's slow to withdraw his hand. ]