“Let me guess,” Dav said, leaning back in his chair. “If Mozke brought you here, they’re trying to distract you from work. Which is great, in theory, but something like a tavern isn’t stimulating enough for your mind—unless you’re Laz, who is the most terrifyingly extroverted demon in Heck,oryou’re completely drunk, which will not happen with two sips of confetti-contaminated ale.”
Rosalind stopped playing with her drink. “I’m more of a wine person.”
“You can ask for one.”
“It’s…” She grunted. “Complicated.”
She said the last word quietly, like she expected further questions or prodding despite how uncomfortableshe was. But even Lazerath wasn’t so distractible that he wouldn’t have noticed Rosalind’s desire to switch topics.
“So you need to be distracted from thinking about work?”
“Told you. Not very interesting.”
“Lists are very interesting,” Dav countered. “And so is work, but in the spirit of avoiding Mozke’s wrath, we can refrain from speaking on the topic.”
Rosalind nodded, turning in her seat to face him more fully. “That’s great, in theory,” she said, mirroring his words. “But I have no idea how to have a conversation about anything else.”
Davarox blinked, then scrubbed a hand down his face. “Fuck, neither do I.” He glanced over his shoulder. “We could rate Lazerath’s dancing?”
“Obviously it’s a perfect score.” Her eyes fell to Laz as he performed multiple steps in disjointed order before tripping over his own tail. “Flawless. Ten out of ten.”
“He’s so bad,” Dav muttered.
“But he’s having so much fun.”
She leaned in closer, and Dav marveled at how comfortable she was being so near. This smart, overworked little human who made lists in her head and had just as much trouble turning off her brain was…
Fuck, he couldn’t get attached. Laz had all but laid Dav at her feet and she’d not brought it up since. And that was fine, because even if she wasn’t interested, it was nice sitting here with her. Talking, even if they were bad at it. Feeling a sort ofease around her that he only ever experienced with one other.
But out of the corner of his eye, he could see clearly how she tracked Lazerath in the crowd. How her lips twitched and she sometimes lost rhythm with her foot tapping when he turned in place with a bright smile.
Ah, that’s why she hadn’t brought it up again. No surprise that someone had chosen Lazerath’s energy over his own. Then again, there was something niggling in his belly, the same shape of the word his mind had screamed at him earlier.
So he tested his theory.
“Rosalind,” Dav said, voice a touch lower than before as he bent in.
To his surprise, she immediately pulled her attention away from the crowd, giving it wholly to him. If she was startled by their proximity now, she didn’t show it, the rings of color in her eyes bright in the demonlight.
“Exactly what kind of distraction from work were you wanting tonight?” he asked.
Her breath hitched, eyes shifting to where his finger had risen to his temple. His hair was still perfectly in place, but it was only after he’d pulled the strand of dark blue hair free and tucked it over his pointed ear that he realized Laz had been right.
He did have a going out braid.
And his slightly-messy-but-still-sexy vibe definitely worked, because Rosalind’s pink tongue wet herlower lip as she tracked the movement. “One where I don’t have to be drunk to shut off my mind.”
Dav curled his hand under the seat of her stool, dragging it closer. “If I said I was interested?”
“Then I could use item number nine to leave early.”
“I thought you had eight?”
“I had a backup.”
He nodded in understanding. “The plausible excuses list and the less plausible excuses list.”
The colored ring in her eyes shrank as the blackness grew. “I just came up with another.”
