"Yeah, you're right. They probably wouldn't let you write for a paper if you didn't at least know have the basics down." Shannon was aware of the stumbles, but he had honestly not chalked it up to some kind of ESL flub. He knew what being tired and stressed could be like, picking the wrong words or saying them completely wrong, and that must only be much more awkward with more than one language to choose from no matter which one was your first.

There was no protest at the movement, just a slight raising of his chin in tacit approval. It didn't matter how it was intended because Shannon was content with whatever forms of intimacy they felt safe in expressing. "Anything like the formal one you were telling me you wanted?" he asked, a smile starting to tease at his lips and suffuse his tone.