[ week three ➝ chane ]

[sweats]

[ So, he's not quite sure what made him lie for her other than the fact that he likes her and well, he wanted to. It's an odd sensation -- just wanting to throw something out there, see where it lands, see what happens and with the loss of Percy's friendship (not that it's really lost but Will knows that the boy's never gonna be the same again) -- he supposes he was casting out lines elsewhere.

In the end, he lied and made her alibi seem solid and she went along with it. He thought she would, his senses told him she would but it was still weirdly thrilling when she did. He had to keep from smiling when she nodded.

Which means the trial's over and he's going to seek out Chane, half a sandwich in hand. It's something Hannibal made him earlier and what better token of friendship? Or. Something. Jesus, he's not really good at this.

He'll find her wherever she happens to be and clears his throat, offering up the sandwich half. ]

Hungry?

Comments

[sweats]

[ At the answer, Will smiles and gives a nod. After a moment, he'll extend his hand to Chane to give her a reassuring squeeze if she so wishes. He won't be offended if she declines, but it felt right enough to offer. If she does take his hand, he'll hold it steadily and comforting.

His voice continues in that soft, low tone and Will finds himself genuinely feeling the urge to reassure, even without his instinctive response to her emotions. He wants to speak carefully, to help soothe. He likes Chane enough to feel that. It's a pretty alarming sensation for a moment, but he follows it regardless. ]

Okay.

[ Silence falls and a few minutes pass until Will speaks again. ]

Chane... if you need anything, I want you to ask Hannibal and I. You won't endanger us if you do and you won't have to worry about Felix in the process. After what happened, there's going to be a lot of people looking for anyone involved. We can protect you.

[tightly]

[ It takes a moment - a fair few, actually - but Chane does extend her hand to grasp for his. Inside the squeeze, he'll find she feels a bit limp, although that's not to say her grip is weak. It's simply inexercised. She allows him to bear that weight without reciprocating, her expression straddling an awkward line between cold and shy.

Despite all of that? It is soothing, reassuring, easing -- all the things Will is seeking to be in this moment comes across in that gesture. She finds herself, to a point, not quite wanting him to let go.

As he speaks further, Chane blinks up at him. Rational, biting suspicion completes with the foolhardy sense of gratitude and the desire to accept that offer. Because it's her, she can't leave it unexamined. It may make her feel guilty; even as she's allowing this man to hold her hand, she's turning his offer over in her mind, casting about for a loophole, a hook, an expectation of payment. For a little while, Will may get the sense that he pushed too far, overloading an already conflicted woman with confusing kindness...

Eventually, that settles. Her thoughts smooth out. Deciding, for better or otherwise, that since they're spending all their weekends for the foreseeable future lying, mistrusting, probing, searching, dying --

Well, she has to trust someone (someone else, there's still Claire) through-out the week.

A nod. Yes. ]