[Dean wouldn't have believed tender, here. It's the firmness that makes him waver, though nothing about him advertises this outside of his own thoughts at first. His eyes are there, too, steady and unwavering, searching for anything at all that will tell him this is anything other than the absolute truth. That this is the one time Felix will try to do something to spare his feelings, the one time he'll coddle Dean in some way.
That he'll say this to him now and maybe not the moment Dean leaves the room but the next time something happens, the next time he's feeling more bad than good, that'll be it. The door will be empty, and he'll never know.
But there isn't, and there is one thing Dean knows: Felix may be all of those things but from day one, Dean has been attracted to the goodness in him. To the part that did that, all of it, trying to help. He breaks his gaze away and down, because Felix may not realize it, Dean has given freely of his trust and his faith before now, but this is something Dean isn't sure he can give. And it's something, he realizes in the next moment, that he's going to have to anyway.
So he nods, and he deliberately, reluctantly, eases his grip on Felix's shirt.]
Okay. [Quiet at first, Dean clears his throat and tries again.] Okay. Thank you.
Spam
That he'll say this to him now and maybe not the moment Dean leaves the room but the next time something happens, the next time he's feeling more bad than good, that'll be it. The door will be empty, and he'll never know.
But there isn't, and there is one thing Dean knows: Felix may be all of those things but from day one, Dean has been attracted to the goodness in him. To the part that did that, all of it, trying to help. He breaks his gaze away and down, because Felix may not realize it, Dean has given freely of his trust and his faith before now, but this is something Dean isn't sure he can give. And it's something, he realizes in the next moment, that he's going to have to anyway.
So he nods, and he deliberately, reluctantly, eases his grip on Felix's shirt.]
Okay. [Quiet at first, Dean clears his throat and tries again.] Okay. Thank you.