Re: [Gala, Capital: Burden & Damian]
Damian's eyes skipped to Burden's face as he, Damian, greeted Benjamin Coltan according to the script he had been previously given. It was, of course, deliberate on his, Damian's, end. The speed at which the boy's gaze pivoted over at the compliment Damian delivered impeccably meant his deliberateness had been received. Nearly imperceptible expressions passed over pale, pretty features, before Burden laughed. There was more in the look Burden lauded upon Benjamin Coltan, but Damian could not ascertain what it was. In any case, he was busy looking down and away, so he would not smile and ruin the effect. He peered up, from tucked chin and dipped gaze, as the handshake was completed, and, finally, he was released from the man's damp grip.
Damian was considering wiping his palm upon his thigh, though, almost undoubtedly, it would flout the rules of such an interaction, when Burden spoke again. Glass-green gaze bobbed upward, and Damian spectated as Burden's attention shifted to him, heavy with meaning. His attention flickered briefly back to Benjamin Coltan, who offered his own option, albeit one that was much less appealing. As a matter of fact, its sole appeal was spite and the satisfaction of knowing, perhaps cruelly, that Burden was regretting what it was he said. Though, I will remind us all, that his words had meant nothing and were of no import to Damian.—The interest in the man Benjamin Coltan's gaze was recognized, yes, but, it retained some sense of foreignness. This was not self-devaluation. Damian understood why he might be desired, sexually and otherwise, by some. It was only that now he could weaponize it. This had always been true, but, to do so for personal gain, rather than some greater duty, was not something Damian had done.
"It is a pretty evening," he declared, a stoic echo of Burden's words from the night before the storefront, only a few days prior. The drive toward desire outweighed the more intelligent, strategic choice, as it consistently seemed to in Burden's presence, and Damian smiled at Benjamin Coltan, though it was not sincere. "We will not go far," he told the man, who was not so accustomed to rejection. Still, his ego would not allow him to appear injured, and he, Benjamin Coltan, smiled back at Damian as if he did not wish to perhaps kill him for such an affront. Damian paid no attention to such. Instead, he peered at Burden and lifted his brows, as if to say, lead the way.