one focused neuron

Could scrounge up a few more. He's reliable like that. But the LAST TWO are different from the rest because those grins are involuntary—they are not curated to induce fear or a sign of his typical amusement at garnering that sort of reaction. They are instances of unmixed sadistic enjoyment prompted by genuine distress that he is the cause of, which is somewhat rare for this guilt-ridden motherfucker. The one on the Maria Aleyne makes plain his thrilling in retribution, and he grins when he sees Hamilton Sr. (and his companion) begging for his life on his knees. Understandable, I mean. To say the least. The one with Silver in 3x01 stood out because it was an abrupt and real flash of a smile that was totally incongruous with the rest of his detached (i.e. depressive) affect which remained otherwise intact until the shark hunt. The hurt (and fear, decide what kind) he saw on Silver's face was able to reach past the apathy to access satisfaction, however fleeting. This isn't a defining aspect of who he really is, but we know he has examined this tendency in himself (see: "because it feels good" conversation with Billy, "cloaks itself in whatever it must" conversation with Silver), and he speaks of it like a pattern of behaviour, because it is. Him being aware he does most of what he does because some part of him, however small, likes it that way is made all the more remarkable as he's introspective enough to know beforehand exactly how much he's going to suffer for it. Miracle that for somebody with his specific set of Problems, he managed to function like a normal-adjacent person on the daily. Just as soon as he found some things he thought were worth freely pouring all his love into

The little scaring Silver mostly for kicks bit right before parallel parking the ship was so good too. Flint just likes scaring people. He thinks it's funny even when he isn't trying to be evil. It's as simple as that