[ For all of Wash's ridiculous issues -- he is afraid of honesty, has learned to associate it with a dangerous kind of vulnerability, but he's come a long way from everything that's happened to him over the years, even if he only barely recognizes that growth in himself. He's almost too sincere, sometimes, but still only when he wants to be, only when he chooses to open that door. He might not be able to fully understand just what goes on in Byerly's head, can't put that puzzle quite together just yet, but they're both liars, after all.
He knows Byerly could fake the sincerity. Knows there's something else here, a reason why he slides into this irony, instead, and there's a recognition in his eyes, a slight smirk. He lifts his hand from his shoulder to card through his hair, messing all of it up again quite deliberately as he wrenches his head back against the bark. His arm bracing himself against his throat, again. No real warning, no time to prepare or brace himself, this time. ]
Twenty. [ There's that weight again, that pressure, his arm locked tight. No words this time, just his gaze locked intently on him, counting in his head, and that not-quite-release on getting there. ]
no subject
He knows Byerly could fake the sincerity. Knows there's something else here, a reason why he slides into this irony, instead, and there's a recognition in his eyes, a slight smirk. He lifts his hand from his shoulder to card through his hair, messing all of it up again quite deliberately as he wrenches his head back against the bark. His arm bracing himself against his throat, again. No real warning, no time to prepare or brace himself, this time. ]
Twenty. [ There's that weight again, that pressure, his arm locked tight. No words this time, just his gaze locked intently on him, counting in his head, and that not-quite-release on getting there. ]