[He goes quiet at Beyond's reaction, unsure exactly what he's done wrong. Too much, too soon, maybe, too honest, not enough lies. Some people take a while to calibrate to his unique new brand of honesty, and Beyond shows evidence of not knowing why anyone would tell him the truth in the first place, much less consistently.]

[The silence, however, doesn't phase him. The question doesn't surprise him. It sounds like something he would have asked a couple of years ago. Actually, he's pretty sure he did.]

[A one-shouldered shrug - and he is still enough of a teenage boy, though only barely by now, that he picks at the cuff of his glove in embarrassment.]

Because I like you. Because you're curious and you want to know how things work. Because - you don't trust people until they've earned it, if then. Because you weren't scared of what I can do.

[Because you believe me.]