[h2]Esme[/h2]
Esme watched Duke’s face and body after she had asked her question. She knew she was asking a lot of him, which would be hard for him. When he sighed through his nose and his shoulders tensed, this half worried her about what he might say, but when Duke smirked at her teasing, a small smile came to her lips. It relieved her slightly that she could get a smirk from him with the high tension between them. As he answered her question, her smile grew a little more. Duke’s willingness to try was all she could ask for from him. She wasn’t about to try and change the way he was; she just wanted him to try and put more thought into his actions. “That’s all I ask.” she replied as he flashed his smile. Then, she gave the softest laugh when he had a comeback from her teasing. “That so? I find that a little hard to believe.” The thought of him being more scared of her fists than demons was funny. As unlikely as it was, Esme could picture Duke cowering in front of her while she was trying to kick his ass for something he’d done.

At his touch, Esme briefly closed her eyes, then looked up into Duke’s eyes. The lightness of his touch told her so much about what he was feeling, probably more than he wanted her to know, and she could mirror wanting to be comforted. She fought the urge to crawl onto his lap, wrap herself around him, and hold him close to her to comfort him; how he bit his lip kept her from doing it. She could feel Duke was hiding something from her. She hoped he’d tell her when he was ready. What Duke said next caused Esme to give partly into her urge. Getting on her knees, she inched closer, wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him in as close as possible, cradling his head against her chest. “I hear you, bright eyes. I wouldn’t expect it to be any other way.” she said softly. She kissed the top of his head, then rested her head on his. That's how it was when it was the three of them; why would it be any different now? “As for when to break the news to the others…. Whenever we can peacefully have them in one room together.” 

She honestly didn’t want to think about telling the others now or what was coming. She just wanted to comfort Duke, ease the tension between them, and spend a little more time together before things got chaotic. Was that too much to ask for? Did that make her sound selfish? Maybe, but she didn’t care because of what she knew was coming. She hardly ever asked much of anyone unless it was essential. She also put everyone before herself and would feel guilty about something small for herself. But this, she didn’t just want it; she desperately needed it. She also wanted things right between them before everything got chaotic.