"Has Tailtiu always been…" Azel paused, staring at his drink, trying to figure out a way to describe her without admitting to the sheer amount of staring he'd done: the new purple ribbon in her hair, red gems dangling off the end; the high white collar crawling up her throat, the pauldrons that framed her bare shoulders and framed with black feathers. Fine, enough, none of that was new. How long had they been friends?
But gone was the white shift she called a dress, and in its place was a tight, black sleeve. Never had they swam together, or anything obscene, so he assumed, under her dress, she was the same shapeless shape as any other woman. No other way to describe it; enviously, it clung to her chest, golden patterns criss crossed and speckled with more gems; it bunched on the dip of her waist and flared out to her hips. It passed by her navel of all things and made a home there.
Sure, Azel crushed on Aideen for years (now happily married to Midir; he still wished them well) but it never kept him up like this, warm everywhere.
Lex knew him, maybe a little too well, and Azel told himself that was the reason Lex knew what he meant, and not his own wandering eyes. "Hot? Yeah."
Wait. "Lex!"
"What? You were asking! That cape ain't exactly covering much!" The adornments on her hips, barely held up -
"That doesn't mean you look!"
"You're looking!"
"She's our friend!" Azel protested. "We're just - keeping an eye on her."
"Only one?" Lex set his drink down, slinging his arm around his shoulders. "Say it. Tailtiu's gotten hot." Her short, fingerless gloves, now black; would they pull off easily?
"I will not!"