The moments that Caleb found himself tongue-tied and inarticulate with Essek were the most frustrating. He was not a talkative man in the first place, but he liked to think that he was well spoken, that he could make his point understood and well known. At the moment, he had a great many things he wanted to say, a roil of emotion caught in the back of his throat, and none of the words for any of it.

Slowly, he took his hand from Essek's elbow and he brought it up. He hesitated a moment before he touched his cheek, staring briefly at his fingertips against Essek's dark, almost violet skin. The glare of that ugly red eye on his palm judged him and, after a moment of it, Caleb let his hand drop back down.

He took a slow, steadying breath.

"Tell me more about it," he said, slowly leveraging himself off the bed so that he could find his pajamas to change into.