Shadow

14

Teval wakes in the morning with Lexton still curled up against his back, an arm thrown around his waist. He doesn't usually sleep well with other people, but they were so tired last night that they'd gone straight to sleep. There's something nice about waking up with a warm body cuddling against him that makes him feel safe, and he wonders if this would be nice to do more often. He brings Lexton's hand up to his lips, kissing to the back of it as Lexton stirs. Lexton's lips find the center of the back of his neck again, and Teval smiles, wishing he could fall asleep and wake up to this every day.

"Lexton!"

They both freeze as Teval reaches out to hear Risol stomping up the stairs, calling for Lexton again.

"She won't come in, will she?" Teval whispers as Lexton sits up.

"I don't know," he hisses.

Risol pounds on the door. "Lexton, get your butt up!" She sounds delighted to get to scare him awake.

"What the fuck," the younger man mutters as he crawls off the bed to grab his clothing from the floor. Teval tries to quietly slide off the bed toward the set of drawers to the left as Risol yells again.

"What are you doing?" she asks through the door. "You promised you'd be up this morning."

"Shit," Lexton hisses as he pulls on his undershorts.

"Why are you being weird and not answering me? Are you okay?"

"Why is she so suspicious?" Teval whispers into a tag for Lexton's ear only.

Lexton shrugs and waves at him, pointing at the corner, so Teval stands back against the wall next to the drawers. The door opens and Teval can hear Risol's sock-clad foot tapping.

There's a few seconds of silence before Risol says, "You actually slept in?"

Lexton runs a shaky hand through his hair, his face red. "Yeah..."

"You promised you'd go with Delian this morning," Risol tries to reason, and Delian's task calendar pops into Teval's head. It must be Lexton's day for shopping.

"I know, I know, just give me a few minutes to get dressed and I'll be down."

"You sure you're okay? You look..."

The way Risol cuts off makes Teval's heart pound.

"Whose clothing is that?" she asks quietly.

"It's mine," Lexton replies.

It's the way that her finger tap-tap-taps on the door frame that Teval knows she doesn't believe him. Risol smacks the door out of Lexton's grip and peers into the left side of the room. Teval hopes she won't turn, but she does, and the moment she sees him in the right corner, Risol does a double take, blinking at Teval as her mouth falls open. She quickly steps back out the door as an awkward silence settles over Teval and he slides down the wall, his entire body hot with embarrassment. At least the drawers hid the lower half of his body.

"I'm-I'm sorry, I just... it's your... I didn't think anyone was actually in there," Risol whispers, tripping over her words as Teval peeks around the drawers at Lexton.

"Just tell Delian I'll be down in a few minutes. I swear," Lexton tells her, his eyes squeezed shut.

"We can talk later?"

"Yes, we will."

The door closes, Lexton's forehead thumping against it with a grunt of frustration. The room is quiet and Teval starts to ask himself if they've made a mistake. They're on the same bounty team. Should they be getting involved with one another like this?