The sudden question caught the blonde off guard. He felt increasingly uncomfortable and, mostly, shocked by the personal and invasive nature of the question. The other was essentially asking about his sex life and body count. In the end, he could only gape, his heart beating quickly in his chest. "...Eh?"
Louis internally facepalmed at his own stupidity. Why would he ask that? He knew it was a stupid question, and a ridiculously unreasonable one at that. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache coming. "Never mind—forget I asked that," he grumbled under his breath.
He wasn't supposed to ask that. Well, it's not like he couldn't do some digging around and find out himself. There are certain perks when you're Louis Williams, after all.
The other's decision to withdraw the question was met with a sigh of relief from Elias. He did not fancy talking about that at dinner, especially not with Louis. Was it because he still had lingering feelings for him? He didn't know. All he knew was that he still cared, a great deal, about Louis' opinion of him. Why... he didn't know.
They got started on dinner, eating in silence for some time with the only sounds in the quiet room being the clinking of utensils and the sound of chewing. The silence made Elias believe Louis had dropped the topic, and he relaxed.
Louis had wanted to drop it and appear casual, as if he wasn't jealous. He knew he could get the answers on his own anyway. But he just... couldn't drop it. He looked over at the other before asking what he considered a much simpler question. "Were they at least... nice to you?"
Although Louis was asking about past partners as a whole, the only one Elias could think of was Raphael. Everyone else had been more or less one-night stands, anyway. The question made him freeze. Was Raphael nice to him? He didn't know. They only slept together. It was purely physical. Sometimes Raphael did stay the night... did that count as being nice? His dilemma must have been visible on his face, as Louis tsked at the lack of response.
"I'll take that as a no." He knew he shouldn't feel this. Or at least, he shouldn't show it. Still, he couldn't help the pang of jealousy in his heart. He wanted to know if the other had been treated right, given the care he deserved. He took a deep breath, calming himself. His chest tightened as he asked the next question.
"Did you..." He paused, taking another deep breath before continuing, "Were they... gentle with you?"
Now that was a good question. Not one Elias particularly wanted to answer, especially not in front of Louis. So, he played dumb, as if he didn't quite understand. "...Gentle? As in?"
Louis facepalmed again. He was asking questions like a concerned parent, not whatever the hell he was supposed to be to the other. This was quickly turning into a very awkward birds-and-bees talk with a parent and a hormonal teenager.
"Did they..." It almost physically hurt him to ask this, but he forced himself to continue. Clenching his jaw, he put aside the embarrassment. He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice to a low, almost whisper, his eyes gazing intently at Elias. "Did they hurt you?... In any way. Emotionally, or, well... while sleeping together."
That made Elias blush in embarrassment. It's not every day you meet your first love and high school friend after over a decade and get asked something like that. Raphael had been a little rough... but it's not like Elias hated it. It wasn't anything too freaky or overboard, just a little dominant. Their encounters weren't all rainbows, unicorns, and gentle touches. But that wasn't a conversation he wanted to have with Louis, or anyone, ever. Especially not when the other had the expression of an overprotective parent.
He scratched his chin awkwardly. "Uh... no. None of them did anything against my wishes." Which was, technically, true.
Before Louis could ask another invasive and equally embarrassing question, Elias quickly added, "Can we talk about something else, please?"
Louis was mildly relieved to know that the other hadn't been hurt by his previous "partners," but he also... didn't like that. He felt something of the previous tightness in his chest loosen as most of the intense anger and trepidation left his body. He didn't know what he would've done if Elias had confirmed he'd been hurt. Probably hunt down those bastards. He was still going to dig up information on them anyway. He didn't like that there had been... others. But he didn't let any of his inner thoughts show.
Instead, he forced an apathetic shrug, mumbling a "sure" under his breath as the conversation shifted to lighter, almost mundane, topics.