Ben hadn't really intended to turn the conversation down a political avenue, but he was rather intrigued by her response regarding equality. He was, depending on his mood and what he thought might offend his brothers the most at the moment, either liberal or apolitical, but he was always interested in meeting and conversing with the former. And they had nothing to do but talk — at least for the moment. More might come later.

His physical response to the tiny bit of contact she'd given him was almost reflexive, at this point, rather than something he had to think about. She may not have done much, but it was enough to open the door, so to speak, and now that it was open he could nudge it slowly but surely in the right direction. He tilted his hand just a bit on the table so that he could casually brush his thumb against the inner edge of her elbow as they spoke, tracing nonsense patterns against the fabric.

"Is that something that's important to you? I voted Brownhill," he explained; he did not add because I thought losing to a woman would make Roman even more sore than just losing, period. "I don't think she would have walked back the stuff she was talking about after she got elected. At least not the stuff about women's rights, y'know."