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“You know,” Raider observed as he polished off the last piece, “for a man who dresses in such bleak color—or lack thereof?—you have a flair for cooking.”
“Why thank you, what a lovely backhanded compliment.”
Raider flashed him a grin. A real grin. Gods, it was good to see that coming back.
Seth found himself smiling a little as he fished an almond out of the pan. “I do like to cook. Mostly because I like good food.”
“Really? You give so little sign of enjoyment.”
“I’m enjoying it on the inside.” Seth popped the almond into his mouth and looked for more, but the pan was empty. “I don’t feel the need to express it.”
Raider pushed to his feet and took the pan to the edge of the campsite for cleaning. “Expressiveness annoys you. I know.”
Now, that was not a teasing tone. That was a sardonic tone, and it said that Raider meant that his expressiveness annoyed Seth.
“No,” Seth said. “It doesn’t.”
Raider shot him a disbelieving look as he used a splash of water and the cooking stick to clean the pan.
Seth sighed, knowing he had to explain or else Raider wouldn’t believe him. “I just don’t always know how to respond to it. And I don’t always know how to express my own …”
“Emotions?” Raider supplied when Seth couldn’t seem to say it.
“Yes. But sometimes they sneak out. The wrong ones.”
“Hm.”
“What?” Seth asked, uncomfortable now with what he’d said.
Raider finished his work and turned the pan upside down to dry. He stayed crouched where he was at the edge of the campsite.
“I’m just thinking about what you said. You’re hard to read sometimes.”
Raider was one to talk. But … that didn’t mean he was wrong. Seth knew he expressed anger, and he knew he expressed tenderness (in certain circumstances), but he struggled with everything in between. He actually found it easier to deal Raider’s emotions, however volatile, than his own.
Even so, Seth felt the need to point out, “I’m not always hard to read.”
“No,” Raider acknowledged. “Not always. But since you often are, will you answer a question?”
“It depends on the question.”
Raider threw back his head and stared up at the sky in exasperation.
It amused Seth. “Are you asking the gods for patience?”
Raider’s head snapped down. “I never ask them for anything. But I will ask you.”
“Then I’ll answer,” Seth promised.
Raider looked at Seth steadily. “When did you first want me?”
“Before you ever wanted me.” Seth was surprised by how easy that now was to admit.
“Bullshit. And you can’t even know that.”
“I most certainly can. You walked into Yusef’s shop to sell him silk and that ridiculous dagger, and I saw you from the back room. Before you ever saw me.”
Raider stilled. “And you wanted me? Even then?”
