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Zeke's smile turned up a notch as Melvin seemed to grasp what he meant. "And the ones when I do."

He actually had to think about the question for a long moment before answering. "I'm not really sure. I've been to a lot of the places I wanted to go already. Haven't made to Australia yet, though. I want to see the Great Barrier Reef." He paused, thinking again. "Paris, as well. And more of France in general, when it'd not mission related."

Hazel eyes flicked back to Melvin. "You?"

"Doesn't sound like a bad time to me. Have you ever been to one of those resorts in the Maldives? Groups of little bungalows on stilts over clear blue water." Zeke had been just recently. "Can fish right off your front porch."

He seemed amused with having parroted Ever's answer almost word for word. "It's something we've talked about wanting to do, but just haven't gotten around to it yet." Not for any particular reason, either. It just hadn't happened yet. "His dad came from a little fishing town in France, and my mother was born in Paris."

"Ah." There was more he might have wanted to say on that, but poking at Melvin's painful past just wasn't rewarding enough for the obvious discomfort it brought the other man. He wasn't just a source of useful information anymore, Zeke actually liked him.

"We do, but no. Neither of us were born there, and Ever in particular didn't travel around, not until he went off to college." It'd been a very sheltered, very stifling upbringing, combined with a swift coming into his own. Sprinkled in with stints of time being more or less homeless. All of which accounted for Ever being less than comfortable in what would have otherwise seemed like very benign situations. Zeke was used to it by now, and for the most part knew how to drag Ever out of his own head.

There was more he could have said on the topic of where he'd been born and grown up, other places he and Ever had been or wanted to go, but he was more interested the last thing Melvin had said. "How'd you try to get him to relax?"

As Melvin talked, Zeke lifted his head again, sitting back in his chair and folding his hands across his stomach. Long legs kicked out in front of him, ankles crossed, damn near between the other man's feet. He'd known that Ever and Melvin hadn't had sex when they'd gone on leave together, having talked to the other blonde about a day or so after the fact. Zeke had, at that point, thought Melvin crazy for the missed opportunity, and still did now.

"He's probably more inconspicuous than either of us, at this point. What with the scars." He gestured towards the wing on Melvin's neck with his burn scared fingers before settling his hand with the other again. "But it doesn't matter. Distraction works better, by the way. Physical or verbal. Redirects the focus."

His head tipped a little to one side as he went back to his conversation with Ever about his night in the hotel with Melvin. "He didn't mention to me that he was scared of being around you. Said you never really made a solid move, so you must not have been all that interested after all."

"Why a bath?" An auburn brow arched in curiosity. "That seems oddly specific, and not really too his tastes." As far as Zeke knew, Ever wasn't really much for baths, or really anything that luxurious. Originally it seemed like he just want comfortable with spending money, not used to it, and maybe there was some of that still lingering, but Ever sincerely seemed happy and content simplicity.

"But you did want to, right?" Zeke had caught the lack of denial.

It was a lot odd, this conversation. Odd that he was poking around for the details of why a mutual friend hadn't tried harder to sleep with someone of great value to him. Or maybe what was odd was that it wasn't as odd as it should have been. "You know he wouldn't have assumed any of that. You remember how we hooked up, right?". He was very tempted to reach over to give Melvin a poke on the forehead. "You're too much in your own head. Always asking questions, but instead of asking outright for things, you try to tip toe around it."

Zeke just looked at him for a long moment, lips twisted up on one side in something lost between amusement and exasperation. "Ever and I have been involved in one way or another for the better part of four years." And wasn't that a bit surprising all on its own. "And we're not exactly secretive. So yeah, it came up. It's not like we had a lengthy discussion on it." Lagertha laughed at the back of his head, and Zeke ignored her.

"But, he seemed surprised, and not surprised. Like. If you are interested, he's surprised you didn't make a move, but since you didn't, you must not be interested, and that made sense to him." Zeke shrugged. Ever want traditionally attractive, and was aware of it. Zeke didn't exactly agree, but he also hadn't been attracted to ever based on looks anyways.

"Did you consider maybe just asking if he were interested? Seems like it'd make things easier on you, wity your over active brain full worries and projecting." He was smiling again, but the advice was sincere. "If he's not, then things start the same, no ham no foul. If he is, you can behave accordingly."

Zeke blinked as Melvin pulled out his phone, an started typing. His eyebrows twitching up, and then sinking let and lower until he was simply stating across at the other man in utter deadpan. "Did you just text to ask if he was interested in ******** class="quote">

"If you want to break it down to bare bones, then sure, but no. I meant, like, then next time you two happen to be taking and the situation calls for it." Tone, despite his best efforts, implied that this should have been a common sense sorry of thing, but Zeke reminded himself off how very literal Melvin was.

And increasingly clueless on relationships...

"Even regardless of that, Ever isn't a texter. If having a phone wasn't required, he wouldn't have one at all. He lost his good one in the Sahara last year, and never bothered to get a new one. He's still got that damn flippy s**t.". Zeke snorted softly.