for @valentinsocorro
Christmas, Magnai had assumed, was at least a one-off. Not once in their long acquaintance had the varcolac seen Spain's councilman dress in such a fashion and on the heels of their last conversation, he'd nearly felt like he was being baited. Was that a bad thing? Magnai hadn't determined his answer yet, but he'd given it a good shot eyeing all that bare expanse of back across from the Christmas banquet. He hadn't said a word, though. Wrong place, wrong time. And he might not have been the one Valentin was trying to bait, either way.
Now Magnai didn't really care if it was intended for him or not. He'd caught enough glimpses of the elder all evening to drive the alpha like a hound on a scent, followed it all the way outside to where Valentin was presumably waiting on the fireworks, that pensive look as ever in his gaze. Magnai didn't hesitate, at Valentin's elbow in a handful of strides, his voice gruff, "When the hell did you start this?" Emboldened by Valentin's teasing the last time they'd talked and the illusion that they were alone, at least for the moment, Magnai reached up and rubbed one of the pearls hanging from Valentin's ears between his fingers, tugging lightly before he dropped his hand, eyes flicking to his face from where they'd be decidedly lingering on his chest. "You bolstering support for an upcoming table vote, councilman?"
