[ as ben approaches, allison's heart begins to beat faster. he looks substantial, solid, not at all like a ghost. he breathes like the living, his footsteps make sounds like the living, and most importantly, he acts fully and wholly like ben. she's seen him shuffle like that before -- towards the unknown, towards something that might shift, might become dangerous or horrifying. allison's breath hitches. she grabs claire's hand and points.
see him? that's your uncle ben!
allison is so overcome that she doesn't realize that claire doesn't do any of the substantial things that ben does. she's not visibly breathing, and when she swings her legs back and forth on the bench, the bench doesn't creak or respond in any way.
but who can blame allison for not noticing? allison never thought about how much she wanted this -- how much she wanted to introduce claire to her family. she's glad that claire gets to meet ben first. claire has heard stories about luther, sure -- but it's ben she trusts to be kind to her daughter.
so when ben offers her the notebook, she doesn't take it right away. how could she possibly respond to ben's words? just writing "i missed you too" is pathetic, a pale replicate of what she really feels. so instead, allison hugs ben, praying that she won't pass through.
she doesn't.
allison pulls back and takes the notebook and pen, eyes glassy. she notices ben doesn't look at claire, and claire doesn't know entirely what to make of ben. so she gestures to where claire's sitting and writes: ]
This is Claire
My daughter
[ she smiles sadly, expectantly. it doesn't occur to her that ben doesn't see anyone else at all. ]
no subject
see him? that's your uncle ben!
allison is so overcome that she doesn't realize that claire doesn't do any of the substantial things that ben does. she's not visibly breathing, and when she swings her legs back and forth on the bench, the bench doesn't creak or respond in any way.
but who can blame allison for not noticing? allison never thought about how much she wanted this -- how much she wanted to introduce claire to her family. she's glad that claire gets to meet ben first. claire has heard stories about luther, sure -- but it's ben she trusts to be kind to her daughter.
so when ben offers her the notebook, she doesn't take it right away. how could she possibly respond to ben's words? just writing "i missed you too" is pathetic, a pale replicate of what she really feels. so instead, allison hugs ben, praying that she won't pass through.
she doesn't.
allison pulls back and takes the notebook and pen, eyes glassy. she notices ben doesn't look at claire, and claire doesn't know entirely what to make of ben. so she gestures to where claire's sitting and writes: ]
This is Claire
My daughter
[ she smiles sadly, expectantly. it doesn't occur to her that ben doesn't see anyone else at all. ]