"If you had been, we would both be in the tub," Caleb said, perhaps a little thoughtless for a moment, while his gaze was still focused on that particular wound. He had not meant that they would be covered in their mutual sins; he would not have carved a word into Essek. He had done that once, with his words, and it was more than enough.

The whole activity had been completely useless. Certainly there was nothing gained by any of this.

Caleb's gaze lifted and he found Essek watching him. His breath caught, somewhere between falling deep into the pit of his stomach and the very back of his throat, and he held tight, just looking at him for a moment. The washcloth swiped the cut on his cheek and held still for it.

"I think this is as clean as things will get," he confessed softly, his voice small. Speaking up felt like it might startle away some of the brighter edges in the look in Essek's eyes, which Caleb was trying desperately to puzzle out as quickly as he could.