Fic first sentence: āOh, but I do have ways of making you talk.ā
āOh, but I do have ways of making you talk,ā Essek says - slurs, maybe, and he is reallyĀ starting to regret that last glass of wine.
On the other end of the settee, Calebās eyebrows shoot up.Ā āIs that so, Shadowhand?ā
He doesnāt look to be particularly sober himself, his empty glass dangling from clever fingertips, and Essek canāt completely withold the way his face flushes hearing his title wrapped in exaggerated Zemnian severity.Ā āI - I hear things,ā he presses on.Ā āThe way the others tease you about - your ribs, was it? Your feet?ā
Caleb blinks slowly - his face is flushed with drink to the point where Essek canāt really tell if heās blushing, but he certainly doesnāt look displeasedĀ as he places his glass down with studious care and leans back, splaying his arms just wide enough to be considered an invitation.Ā āAnd you think you could break me, with this?ā
Thereās no goodĀ reason to edge over into Calebās personal space and crowd his fingers up against reportedly ticklish ribs - and yet here Essek is, drunkenly navigating the foot of space between them and pulling his legs up beneath himself to fit more easily against Calebās side.Ā āI certainly think it would be interesting to try, donāt - hhhm -ā
Caleb looks innocently up from where heās moved to catch Essek around his own ribcage - and then he smiles, and thereās nothing innocent there at all.
āOr perhaps,ā he says, warm and dangerous, and Essek can practically feel his breath boiling in his chest,Ā āwe might see which one of us will break first, hmm?ā












