He's got the name Dr. Brink on his lips when he opens the door because he's been expecting her, and even though he was worried this might be Bennett playing some weird, twisted game to get back to him, he didn't actually think —
But the wings. And the arm. And... her. All of her.
And the fact that she doesn't know him. There's no mistaking it; Josh may not have known Bennett a fraction as well as he thought he did, but he knows enough to be sure that there's no way she could pull off a lie like that in the way she just did. She'd have had that coldness back in her eyes. Something else might have leaked through, too. Maybe fear. Maybe affection. It would have been there, he's sure.
This, though? The person standing before him? There's nothing. No hint of recognition. No memory of strapping him down and sticking needles in his brain, or of the kisses they shared, or of any conversations about someone else. It just... it isn't there.
What is there, however, is the fear. It's in Josh. It's in the way his eyes go wide and his knuckles go white around the doorknob. It's in the way he backs up immediately, giving her a wide, stunned berth.
"Bennett."
It sounds like someone just punched that out of him.
— this is unprofessional. This is unprofessional and it's awkward and it's embarrassing for the Reform Branch, for their highly-prized consultant to be acting this way, i.e., crazy.
no subject
He's got the name Dr. Brink on his lips when he opens the door because he's been expecting her, and even though he was worried this might be Bennett playing some weird, twisted game to get back to him, he didn't actually think —
But the wings. And the arm. And... her. All of her.
And the fact that she doesn't know him. There's no mistaking it; Josh may not have known Bennett a fraction as well as he thought he did, but he knows enough to be sure that there's no way she could pull off a lie like that in the way she just did. She'd have had that coldness back in her eyes. Something else might have leaked through, too. Maybe fear. Maybe affection. It would have been there, he's sure.
This, though? The person standing before him? There's nothing. No hint of recognition. No memory of strapping him down and sticking needles in his brain, or of the kisses they shared, or of any conversations about someone else. It just... it isn't there.
What is there, however, is the fear. It's in Josh. It's in the way his eyes go wide and his knuckles go white around the doorknob. It's in the way he backs up immediately, giving her a wide, stunned berth.
"Bennett."
It sounds like someone just punched that out of him.
— this is unprofessional. This is unprofessional and it's awkward and it's embarrassing for the Reform Branch, for their highly-prized consultant to be acting this way, i.e., crazy.
"I — Dr. Brink, I'm sorry. Hi. Hello."
She's glowing.
Shit.
"Thank you for coming."