Shadow Mountain Wire

"m-maybe — i daresay it's because n-no one has spoken to me quite like this before," lestan managed. three times he was struck dumb! a grin overtook him, then another, until beneath the sweetened onslaught he was flushed right to the tips of his very ears.
"you're not — you don't m-mean to toy with me," he murmured, more an observation than a request. gratefully he gazed out over the edge of the mountain as they traveled, though as always! always, his eyes were drawn back to winter's wake.
"w-wouldn't you want to f-find something more — something polished already?" came his weak protestations, for lestan could simply not fathom attraction in himself, let alone from so — from someone like the devil before him.