The touch was back, warm and just so utterly there, impossible not to feel up his arm, in his heart. Essek’s eyes slid up, looking at the wizard, that arm only half-wrapped, and the question caught him off-guard.

“Studying, understanding, seeking out knowledge. Is that not what we both do?” Different now, with imposed limits, with boundaries, a check of the ego before making decisions, but still their core.

“I am curious on if he can preform our magic, and if I can control his shadows. Or contain them.”