There was enough trust from Shannon that he would take whatever licks Eli might dole out. He just wasn't sure when they were coming, or how exactly punishments were to be made. He was beginning to see that this wasn't a punishment, but still couldn't puzzle out the reason for the rope all of a sudden. Perhaps it was just to distract him.

Shannon couldn't help it. When Eli took his hand, he curled his fingers around it, shifting his other hand to try and add it. He was too thirsty to have need of the command, pausing only long enough to take a breath and let air fill the bottle again as he drained it. Once it seemed to him that the bottle was empty, Shannon finally squeezed once, twice in succession and let his head dip down, away from the lip of the bottle.