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“Confidence or arrogance?” Elias comments dryly.
“You havenoroom to talk about arrogance.” Caelan scoffs.
I lightly nudge Caelan, wriggling again, and he sets me back on my feet. I brush myself down, a little ruffled but also rather giddy.
As for their conversation, I’m not exactly going to deny they can both have their moments of being arrogant. But then again, arrogance implies overconfidence, and they’re both powerful enough that none of their confidence is an exaggeration.
Besides, even when Caelan is a smug shit, he’s hot as hell. And Elias, God. Elias wields his power like a weapon. But they’ve never been assholes about it, not around me. They don’thaveto try hard or show off. That’s the difference. It’s not posturing. The casual, understated moments that reveal their strength are what really get me. Like how they danced with me last night, tossing me in the air like I weighed nothing at all. The way they play-fought, obviously messing around for fun, but showing so much strength and skill in just that much.
They could destroy me in an instant if they chose. Of course, they could, but I trust them enough to believe theywouldn’t, and to put my life in their hands willingly makes my chest tighten and my knees feel weak.
It’s far from the first time I’ve realized it, and it certainly won’t be the last, but I’m far too into them.
Now that I’m back on solid ground, Elias slides his arm around my waist. He’s looking at me with an amused light in his eyes, like he can guess the direction of my thoughts just from the slightly glazed, distant look on my face.
What were we even talking about?
They let the matter drop, the conversation shifting instead to pleasantries.
“This beach reminds me of others I used to go to when I was younger. I always liked clambering over the rocky headlands as much as the sandy beaches, and dumb shit like swimming in the ocean, making sandcastles, scaling deceptively sheer cliffs to collect pretty rocks.”
Elias and Caelan look at me with concern. “And you thought that was a good idea? For a human? Akid?”
“Look, I told you I have no sense of self-preservation.”
Given how late we left, it is decidedly past lunchtime already, so we stop at an open-air café along the oceanfront walkway. Elias doesn’t eat. I suppose it’s much like them and sleeping. They can, for the enjoyment of the experience, but it’s not strictly a requirement in the same way. Caelan, on the other hand, is delighted to be able to indulge in a greasy cheeseburger instead of high-end cuisine for once.
I’m happy about the less-than-healthy indulgence as well. After all the exertion of last night and this morning, I need something filling.
Elias treats us to dessert afterward, which he does finally partake in, and with only a small amount of cajoling on my part. We share an ice cream sundae between the three of us.
Elias’ favorite flavor is chocolate. I duck my head to hide my grin and pretend I don’t find that adorable.
Sufficiently sated, we resume our stroll, and the closer we get to Venice Beach, the more the atmosphere livens. Colorful art stalls pop up on one side of the street, and an assortment of shops open along the other. There are a lot are generic souvenir shops, but there are also some that are far more eclectic and interesting, such as the metalwork shop with robot characters taller than I am, welded together from pieces of scrap.
Elias and Caelan occasionally make comments on the things we pass in varying degrees between dry wit and crude, depending on who started the exchange. I walk between them, grinning to myself.
The prevalence of tourist attractions begins to peter out, mostly behind us by the time we reach the fishing pier. I hardly mind that it’s quieter, though. A small handful of walkers loiter along the pier’s length, along with one or two lone anglers in the fishing bays. None pay any mind to the three of us, and once we reach the very end of the pier, we’re entirely alone.
It’s nice out here, surrounded by the ocean on almost every side.
Feeling bolder with no one around to watch, I raise my hand to touch Elias’ face. It’s odd when I stop to pay attention to it. Howhumanhe looks. He is almost like a different person, even though his features are the same as ever.
They only use their glamour when we’re out, and there are usually enough other people around and plenty happening to distract from it, and that’s fine. Easy enough to tune it out.
But I don’t think I could sleep with them like this.
The more I get to know them, who they really are, the more the human disguises seem unnatural and unfit for them.
I wonder if they feel the same way about wearing them. It had come up before, in a roundabout way, when I’d been probing about the whole groupie thing. Caelan had said they’d tried it in the past, but it wasn’t worth the effort. They’d had to keep playing at being human the whole time, and it made the entire thing feel fake and shitty for them.
I get it now.
“Take the glamour off?” I request softly. I’d understand if he declines. We’re still in public, after all, and even if there’s no one else around now, others could walk close enough to notice at any time.
Elias lets the illusion fade away, returning to his ashen skin and the faint shroud of the shadows surrounding him, warping the air. “Do you prefer this?”
“Yeah. A lot. I, um… I wanted to kiss you, but it’s weird when you don’t look like… you.”
