[Kavinsky made a thoughtful noise. It was an interesting situation when his boys fought. They could punch and kick and bite all they wanted and he'd never lift a finger, but if someone outside the pack took a swing--it'd be their funeral. It wasn't just that it was different within the pack, where fists weren't usually swung with hate or anger, but he trusted his boys to stop before they did any permanent harm. Even when Swan and Jiang sometimes fought for real, or Swan and Proko butted heads. It wasn't the same as Skov's foreplay, but there was trust there, too.]

Do you like him?

[That seemed like it should be a little obvious. You flirted when you liked someone. You engaged in rough play when you liked someone--or when you liked the play enough.

He was also glad that Elijah felt safe enough here to engage in things like that, to explore desires and boundaries and experience new things. That was one of the most important parts of the pack; giving his boys a space where they could do things like that without judgment. Well, alright- maybe there would be a little judgment, but in a friendly way.]

I wouldn't let anyone hurt you. Someone fucks with you, they fuck with all of us.

[It was a promise. He and the others would have Eli's back. But there was more to this than that- and Kavinsky might have never shied away from making assumptions before, but for some reason he didn't want to assume in this situation. He didn't want to convince himself that Elijah wanted him just because K wanted him.]

Are you saying you think I'm hot?

[It was gentle teasing.]