01-30-2026, 11:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-30-2026, 11:50 PM by Alexander Talion.)
Alex completely understood when Jez felt uncomfortable about showing her vulnerability around her FO. He was then taken off guard when Beno took his hand as she began to speak. At first she made it sound like she had forgotten about the kiss, but then made a small joke about it. To his surprise, it made him actually give a small genuine laugh and another small hint of a blush.
Alex was quite aware that he tended to overthink most things, but he was also very aware at times. It was not lost on him that Beno was one of the few people he knew that could make him blush, for some reason. He also knew that he didn't mind it. In fact, it felt oddly refreshing in some strange way. He looked at her as she appeared to try and explain the why of the kiss on the cheek, but in the end came to the simple truth that she had followed an inner instinct that had felt right. She then kissed him on the cheek again and said he was sweet. That time he didn't blush, but smiled and glanced down in a thoughtful way.
He was a little surprised by the telepathic comment from Jez, but the smile on his face became a little more noticeable after she thought it. Jez then made her excuses to leave and Alex half stood as she left, but his hand remained in Beno's and he looked at her as he sat back down.
Alex paused for only a second before looking at Beno and locking eyes with her for a full three seconds. He wasn't trying to read her thoughts, but could certainly pick up the honesty from her that was as clear as anything could be. He was looking at her and deciding something, but it only took those three seconds for him to decide. Beno was not an empath, but she knew about people. What part of her might not have known, her symbiont did know. The subtle change in his facial expression and other tiny hints of body language shifted. If there was any doubt in that shift, it was punctuated when he brought his other hand over and placed it on the other side of her hand, making his first overt gesture in return to those she had made.
When he spoke, there was a degree of softness that she had never quite heard before. There had been a hint of it once or twice when she had heard him speaking with his daughter, but this was different. When he spoke, there was a feeling of honesty that was there that didn't take an empath to see or hear, "You're right. There's no need to try and break it down and analysis it like scientific sensor data, because we're people. Sometimes you don't always know a reason, but something inside simply fits, so you do it. I like to call that intuition, but whatever you call it, I think it's important."
He tilted his head and gave a silly grin, "I'm not sure I would exactly call it a date, but it did make me laugh. I just realized that It's been a while since I did that. Life has taught me not to expect some things. It isn't that you shouldn't hope for things in life, but that if you expect something, you might be actually blinding yourself to other things. It's a kind of Zen thing, but I find it a very important way to look at most things in life. I don't know if you're interested in dating me or not, but if that thought ever truly crosses you mind, you strike me as the kind of woman that has no difficulty in letting her thoughts on such matters be known...and I like that about you. Unlike dating, friendship has no official guidelines or rules to it. With friendship, it often happens in such a way as to almost completely defy explanation as a process. Thus, I find myself here, sitting next to a friend. If I'm to be completely honest, which this moment seems to call for, I don't know that I could date someone that is not a friend first. I just don't think that it's in my nature."
Alex looked down at her hand and moved his thumb along her skin. Her hand was soft, but not fragile. His mind was getting used to shedding the presumptions, default and stereotypical things that might be put in place for anyone you meet until there was reason to replace them with other thoughts. His mind did what it does and shifted completely from the previous category to accepting only what he knew about her personally. Seeing the real her...on purpose...if he had been a machine, it would have been an audible click of a different gear slipping into place. When it happened, it made him aware of something so obvious that he felt a little foolish for only now seeing it.
Alex had friends. He considered Jez Mala a friend and almost family in a way, but there were friends and then there were close friends. When the gear slipped into place, he realized that for whatever reason, his heart and mind had not only decided that they were friends, but Beno had become a close friend. he had earlier been telling her of things that almost nobody else knew. In fact, almost all the other people who knew all of the details were dead. There was only one other person knew most of the truth and he had no idea where that person was anymore. The rest were synthetic life forms. He tried to tell himself that Kalli Thorn knew some of it too, but he instantly corrected himself that she didn't know everything. His brain also reminded him that it would be unfair to presume that Beno wanted to know such things either. He heard his sister's voice caution him, as she always had, to take things a step at a time. Beno would let him know if she wanted to know such things. It was unfair of him to tell people more than they were ready for.
Those thoughts took all of a single second to run their course before he took a deep sigh and let it out, still giving her that genuine smile, he then lifted her hand a bit and kissed the back of it, then returning it to table level. He shifted the topic by glancing in the direction of Cindy and Jonas and back to Beno.
Beno instantly picked up on the body language and said, ""As for our guest he is physically fine for what I can tell, mentally he is sorting things through. In most cases I would already be up talking to the Captain about what we just talked about, this time I feel it's a little different."
Without thinking about it, Alex said, "He's resolved to the situation and wants his family to be safe. He knows that he's a bit too deep into it all to see things as clearly as he would like. That means it is perhaps best if the Captain makes the decision about what might be safest for the family, but he will be limited by what the family wants in the end. He can offer, but the Federation has no jurisdiction over them unless they give it to him." He was looking her in the eye again, "Let me know if there is anything you need from myself or from Cindy to help out."
Just then, a very large dog walked up and sat down just behind Beno. Beno recognized it as Thor. He just sat, tongue hanging out and panting mildly but being impossibly polite for what was supposed to be a dog. At the same time, Alex's daughter Reyna came over and sat down on the other side of Beno, set down a milkshake she had been sipping on and smiled up at Beno. She then looked at Alex and said, "So how does this custom work? Am I supposed to hold the other hand? Is this a Trill thing? Can I talk directly to your symbiont or when you speak does it sound in your head like everyone speaking at once, you know, like a choir or something?"
Alex couldn't help it, he gave a short laugh, looked at Beno and then laughed again.
== Tag to Beno ==
== I took some liberties with the timing of those at the table, but think I managed to make it all work. As for Reyna (his daughter), she is about 6, but comes across as much older, since she is far too smart for a 6 year old. Also a reminder that Thor isn't a real dog, but is one of Alex's creations that is effectively a nanny for Reyna. ==
Alex was quite aware that he tended to overthink most things, but he was also very aware at times. It was not lost on him that Beno was one of the few people he knew that could make him blush, for some reason. He also knew that he didn't mind it. In fact, it felt oddly refreshing in some strange way. He looked at her as she appeared to try and explain the why of the kiss on the cheek, but in the end came to the simple truth that she had followed an inner instinct that had felt right. She then kissed him on the cheek again and said he was sweet. That time he didn't blush, but smiled and glanced down in a thoughtful way.
He was a little surprised by the telepathic comment from Jez, but the smile on his face became a little more noticeable after she thought it. Jez then made her excuses to leave and Alex half stood as she left, but his hand remained in Beno's and he looked at her as he sat back down.
Alex paused for only a second before looking at Beno and locking eyes with her for a full three seconds. He wasn't trying to read her thoughts, but could certainly pick up the honesty from her that was as clear as anything could be. He was looking at her and deciding something, but it only took those three seconds for him to decide. Beno was not an empath, but she knew about people. What part of her might not have known, her symbiont did know. The subtle change in his facial expression and other tiny hints of body language shifted. If there was any doubt in that shift, it was punctuated when he brought his other hand over and placed it on the other side of her hand, making his first overt gesture in return to those she had made.
When he spoke, there was a degree of softness that she had never quite heard before. There had been a hint of it once or twice when she had heard him speaking with his daughter, but this was different. When he spoke, there was a feeling of honesty that was there that didn't take an empath to see or hear, "You're right. There's no need to try and break it down and analysis it like scientific sensor data, because we're people. Sometimes you don't always know a reason, but something inside simply fits, so you do it. I like to call that intuition, but whatever you call it, I think it's important."
He tilted his head and gave a silly grin, "I'm not sure I would exactly call it a date, but it did make me laugh. I just realized that It's been a while since I did that. Life has taught me not to expect some things. It isn't that you shouldn't hope for things in life, but that if you expect something, you might be actually blinding yourself to other things. It's a kind of Zen thing, but I find it a very important way to look at most things in life. I don't know if you're interested in dating me or not, but if that thought ever truly crosses you mind, you strike me as the kind of woman that has no difficulty in letting her thoughts on such matters be known...and I like that about you. Unlike dating, friendship has no official guidelines or rules to it. With friendship, it often happens in such a way as to almost completely defy explanation as a process. Thus, I find myself here, sitting next to a friend. If I'm to be completely honest, which this moment seems to call for, I don't know that I could date someone that is not a friend first. I just don't think that it's in my nature."
Alex looked down at her hand and moved his thumb along her skin. Her hand was soft, but not fragile. His mind was getting used to shedding the presumptions, default and stereotypical things that might be put in place for anyone you meet until there was reason to replace them with other thoughts. His mind did what it does and shifted completely from the previous category to accepting only what he knew about her personally. Seeing the real her...on purpose...if he had been a machine, it would have been an audible click of a different gear slipping into place. When it happened, it made him aware of something so obvious that he felt a little foolish for only now seeing it.
Alex had friends. He considered Jez Mala a friend and almost family in a way, but there were friends and then there were close friends. When the gear slipped into place, he realized that for whatever reason, his heart and mind had not only decided that they were friends, but Beno had become a close friend. he had earlier been telling her of things that almost nobody else knew. In fact, almost all the other people who knew all of the details were dead. There was only one other person knew most of the truth and he had no idea where that person was anymore. The rest were synthetic life forms. He tried to tell himself that Kalli Thorn knew some of it too, but he instantly corrected himself that she didn't know everything. His brain also reminded him that it would be unfair to presume that Beno wanted to know such things either. He heard his sister's voice caution him, as she always had, to take things a step at a time. Beno would let him know if she wanted to know such things. It was unfair of him to tell people more than they were ready for.
Those thoughts took all of a single second to run their course before he took a deep sigh and let it out, still giving her that genuine smile, he then lifted her hand a bit and kissed the back of it, then returning it to table level. He shifted the topic by glancing in the direction of Cindy and Jonas and back to Beno.
Beno instantly picked up on the body language and said, ""As for our guest he is physically fine for what I can tell, mentally he is sorting things through. In most cases I would already be up talking to the Captain about what we just talked about, this time I feel it's a little different."
Without thinking about it, Alex said, "He's resolved to the situation and wants his family to be safe. He knows that he's a bit too deep into it all to see things as clearly as he would like. That means it is perhaps best if the Captain makes the decision about what might be safest for the family, but he will be limited by what the family wants in the end. He can offer, but the Federation has no jurisdiction over them unless they give it to him." He was looking her in the eye again, "Let me know if there is anything you need from myself or from Cindy to help out."
Just then, a very large dog walked up and sat down just behind Beno. Beno recognized it as Thor. He just sat, tongue hanging out and panting mildly but being impossibly polite for what was supposed to be a dog. At the same time, Alex's daughter Reyna came over and sat down on the other side of Beno, set down a milkshake she had been sipping on and smiled up at Beno. She then looked at Alex and said, "So how does this custom work? Am I supposed to hold the other hand? Is this a Trill thing? Can I talk directly to your symbiont or when you speak does it sound in your head like everyone speaking at once, you know, like a choir or something?"
Alex couldn't help it, he gave a short laugh, looked at Beno and then laughed again.
== Tag to Beno ==
== I took some liberties with the timing of those at the table, but think I managed to make it all work. As for Reyna (his daughter), she is about 6, but comes across as much older, since she is far too smart for a 6 year old. Also a reminder that Thor isn't a real dog, but is one of Alex's creations that is effectively a nanny for Reyna. ==