"What, those things?" Oliver flashed Cal a look that was the very picture of innocence, with maybe a flash of something else to match the other man's more wicked gaze as he looked between Cal and the regrettably not very small pile of books currently residing on the living room sofa.
Alright, even he had to admit, the book collecting was getting a tad out of hand. But what was he to do about it? Their living space was only so big, and as an English teacher, that did come with a certain amount of expectation. Was a rare edition of Moby Dick technically necessary for his current teaching curriculum? Heavens no, and perish the thought that he actually tried to teach Melville to high school students.
Not the point. The point was, he knew he was already well out of usable space where book storage was concerned. But that's why the purchase of just one more shelf would be entirely beneficial to both of them! Namely because it would free up much needed space on the sofa, long term. Short term? Well, Oliver could do something about that right now.
With the same deliberate wave of his free hand, the books that had been piled on the sofa were suddenly gone, miracled away to some unknown location. That location actually being a corner of their bedroom floor, technically, but Oliver would deal with that later. The important thing was, unknowingly or not, Cal had given him the perfect opening for his latest angelic scheme, and now the sofa was entirely free to use to his advantage. Oliver just had to figure out how to properly execute this.
"There," Oliver beamed, turning into Cal to gently tug at the collar of his shirt and pull himself closer, almost within kissing distance but not quite. As much as he would like to kiss Cal, as much as he always wanted to be kissing Cal and expected to keep feeling that way even after a thousand years had gone by, right now it was about the lure. The angel made sure he didn't move enough to jostle Cal's current hold on his hip until he was certain he had the demon's attention, and because he liked it there. If Oliver knew his boyfriend like he thought he did, that would only provide a more convenient distraction with what he had planned.
It was still very tempting to say to Hell with the plan and kiss him. Oliver was an angel, but he had the potential to be both mischievous and very naughty. Blame Cal's infernal influence, he just brought out the bastard in him. Luckily for Oliver, mischievous angel or naughty angel would work perfectly in this situation. Maybe even a little bit of both.
It was often funny, how very alike they were despite also being complete opposites. Even in the ways they had both grown up had been entirely different, and yet strangely, also the same. Both came from families where they'd somehow ended up the odd ones out, with problematic parents and overbearing older siblings. From all that he'd heard about Cal's brothers, Oliver's own were likely a picnic, but still. He couldn't help noting with a little bit of pride that when Cal had first come to Oliver, he'd been much more guarded. And just as Cal helped him, in the last three years Oliver had become particularly versed in how to disarm him.
With the sofa now free of the offending books, Oliver pulled Cal over to it and very politely nudged him to sit down. Mischievous as he could be, it wasn't exactly in his nature to be pushy, but he was confident enough in Cal's desire to indulge him that he thought he might get away with it, at least initially. Setting his own wine glass down on the coffee table near them, Oliver circled around to the back of the sofa and bent low to drape himself over Cal from his chosen vantage point behind him.
"Mmm." Oliver hummed, close to Cal's ear as he wound both arms around to smooth his hands down the front of his boyfriend's chest. The genuine satisfaction of finally getting his arms around Cal for the first time all day was more than enough to distract the angel in the moment, but he had to stay focused on the task at hand. "Isn't that better?"