TBATE-ONESHOTS

Crime and Passion 6

Tessia Eralith POV

"H-how?" I breathed out.

I sat there in disbelief as he continued to use water magic to fill up the bowl in a steady stream. His eyes were settled on me, with the corner of his lips curved up in an amusing smile.

"What do you mean how?" He asked amusingly.

My eyes narrowed on him, "You know damn well what I mean." I gestured to his water spell, "You're using water magic."

"I am indeed," He said simply like what he was doing was no big deal.

I rolled my eyes at his blatant attempt at not giving me a straight answer. "So, you shouldn't be able to," I said. "You used earth and fire magic before, and now you're using water." I looked him up and down curiously, "You're a tri-elemental?"

He stopped his water spell as the bowl was almost full at this point. He looked at me and chuckled, "Close."

He raised his hand that he was just using to cast the water spell, and I couldn't believe my eyes as he created a small ball of wind. 

"A quadra-elemental," I said, with the words barely escaping my lips in a whisper.

He dispersed the ball of wind and nodded, "Correct."

He looked back at the bowl as I continued to eye him with curiosity. He pulled a black washcloth out of his dimensional ring and dipped it into the water-filled bowl. He raised the washcloth and wrung it out over the bowl.

He brought the washcloth to him and pressed it against his pectoral area, letting it glide over his bare chest. My mouth went slightly agape seeing his flawless skin begin to glisten in the torches light from being wet. Droplets of water slowly trickled down his chest, leaving small glistening trails in their wake. He slowly moved the washcloth down, tracing it over his well-defined eight-pack.

"Blink, Princess," He teased with a smirk as his eyes flicked to me. "Those decorative eyes of yours will dry out."

My eyes widened, and my face felt slightly warm, realizing I was staring at him again. I quickly cleared my throat and looked to the side, "Do you have to do that right in front of me?"

He chuckled, "I don't want to sleep with all this sweat on my body. So yes."

I rolled my eyes, staring intently at the wall, constantly reminding myself not to look at him.

"Do you find the wall interesting?" I heard him ask in amusement.

"I do. It has far more characteristics than you," I said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah?" He asked, and I heard him dip his washcloth again. "Does the wall have a name?"

"What?" I asked, not hiding how I thought his question was stupid.

"Well, if you're saying it has more characteristics than me, I would think it would at least have a name," He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes, "Well, unlike you, the wall doesn't talk. Maybe you should take after it in that regard."

"Ah," He said, faking being hurt. "But I like our little chats."

"That makes one of us," I retorted.

I heard him give off a slight laugh before what sounded like him splashing water. My eyes curiously flicked to him, with me looking at him out of the corner of my eyes. He was leaning over the bowl, placing both of his hands into the bowl of water before splashing the water on his face and moving his wet hands around his neck.

He stood up straight, and I swallowed hard, seeing the water drip down his well-defined body, which was already glistening from being damp after being washed with the washcloth.

He grabbed the washcloth that was lying to the side of the bowl, took a few steps back from the stand, and stored his washcloth in his dimensional ring. He flicked his wrist, and a small gust of wind began to twirl around him, drying off his body.

After a brief moment, he canceled his wind spell once his body was dry, and I continued to watch him as he walked over to the earthen table. He hovered both of his hands over the earthen cups before creating another stream of water magic, filling them both up. He grabbed the cups, turned, and began to walk up to me. My eyes remained glued to him as he approached and squatted in front of me.

He held out the cup in his left hand to me, "Here's some water."

I eyed the cup of water suspiciously before I looked at him with a raised brow.

"Are you going to take it?" He asked.

"How do I know it's not drugged or poisoned," I retorted.

He looked at me amusingly, "You literally just saw me fill it up. And why would I go through all this trouble to poison you." 

"Doesn't mean you couldn't have slipped something in there subtly, and I wouldn't put anything past you," I scoffed.

He chuckled, "You're not very trusting, are you?"

"My apologies if I don't find you, of all people, trustworthy," I mocked.

His lips curved into a smile, "I would think you were an idiot if you did trust me."

I looked at him, slightly surprised, not expecting that answer. He raised the cup in his left hand and poured a small out of water into his mouth.

He reached the cup back out to me, "There, see. It's fine."

My eyes flicked between him and the cup, and it was only then that I realized I dry my mouth was. I begrudgingly took the cup out of his hand and snapped it to me.

He chuckled and stood up, "Good girl."

I rolled my eyes, with half the mind to throw the cup at him. However, I didn't want to waste the water. I took a sip of the water and nearly coughed from the sweet relief the water gave my throat.

I looked back at him as he walked a few paces away from me and took out another bedroom from his dimensional ring. He laid the bedroll out before he sat down, facing me.

He looked me up and down before he smiled slightly, "Well?"

I raised a brow at him, "Well, what?"

"People usually say thank you when they're given something," He chuckled.

I narrowed my gaze at him, "Don't hold your breath." I looked down at the cup in my hands. "Besides, I don't thank nameless thieves," I snapped.

There was a brief moment of silence before I heard him speak, "Arthur."