WHO Caleb Widogast and Essek Thelyss WHERE The library in the Xhorhaus, then a clearing in the forest WHEN Afternoon of April 10 WHAT After finishing work on a spell Essek has been working on for a long while, he and Caleb head off to an abandoned clearing for a demonstration. (aka Essek leveled up!) STATUS Complete ART CREDIThere WARNINGS Wizard flirtations and kisses
Essek was a very talented mage and he was well aware of it. How could he not, when the label of prodigy had been slapped on him years before new soul firstborn of the Umavi had come to rival as reasoning for his particular notoriety in Rosohna. Magic, and dunamancy in specific, came more naturally to Essek than breathing. He could manipulate the weave--or whatever Vallo's version of the weave happened to be, in present times--and understand complex equations and theories with ease. There was a spark, a natural talent, that not every arcanist could boast having.
Which was why it was particularly vexing that this spell continued to elude him.
This particular project had been one that Essek had been attempting for literal years. He had worked on it when his towers were in their original resting place in Xhorhas, then continued to once they had appeared next to the Xhorhaus--a name that continued to make him sigh and suppress a fond smile whenever it was uttered. It was a spell seeped in graviturgy, his first dunamantic specialty before he had conquered chronurgy, as well. It was a puzzle of reverse engineering, Essek lacking a spell scroll to do the work for him, and he had, for months now, felt that it was just out of reach, whenever he would pull his notes and spellbook out to try to fit the pieces together. They were all there, but the connections weren't. Sometimes that could be fun. Other times the study session ended with his hair every which way due to his running his fingers through it in frustration and his angrily tossing his spellbook into his pocket dimension, as though that would help anything.
Essek hadn't worked on the spell for weeks, his schedule just not allowing it. Tonight, though, he had the time and had sought out some quiet in an office in his tower, an organized sort of chaos spread out before him. His spellbook was open, floating next to him as he, himself, floated in a cross legged position to have a better view of the plethora of notes and open books that were spread on the surface in front of him. He reached with a hand, jotting down a note here and there, then pulled back to once again survey the spell he was hellbent on creating.
And then something clicked--almost audibly, as Essek lost concentration of Levitate with a surprise and his spellbook fell to the ground with a thunk.
Essek checked the work, then checked it one more time for good measure, before he tucked the nine-pointed iron star in his pocket and gathered up his notes and spellbook in his arms. Without another thought, he burned a Teleport, appearing in the library of the Xhorhaus. Hair a bit askew and having to fight to keep a wild smile from crossing his face, Essek still managed to stand characteristically prim before Caleb. "Are you busy or may I have a moment of your time?"
It wasn’t the first time someone had just randomly appeared in the library with a teleport spell, though only certain people had access to do as much. But it still surprised Caleb, who sat up a little straighter from where he was leaning over a book, dancing lights flickering around the dimly lit room in a calming rainbow, Frumpkin and Frostbite both on their respective beds, sleeping the evening away.
“Ah-” He thankfully wasn’t holding anything breakable, so Caleb only just looked over at Essek with wide eyes. He took a moment to really look over Essek’s appearance, and tilted his head in curiosity. “You may have many moments. Are you alright? You look like you do when we have a very successful uh- magical breakthrough.”
So perhaps that was both the truth and an innuendo in one. Who could blame him?
The grin that he had been fighting back broke through at that, a flash of teeth as Essek strode forward to seat himself next to Caleb. Careful not to disturb his partner's reading, he set his work down and spread it out. "A magical breakthrough is what I am hoping for," Essek admitted, also speaking in a mixture of truth and innuendo. It was practically a language of their own.
It wasn't that he was unused to working with Caleb, of course. They had crafted spells together, looked over one another's solo work, helped when one or the other's grading piled up. Essek had been reversing a century of insisting on working alone, an act made all the easier when the person he was working with also happened to be the person he was in love with. Still, he looked almost coy when his gaze raised to Caleb.
"I've been working on this spell for a while.” Essek opened up his spellbook, pointing out the runes and arcane equations that were the building blocks of the magic that they both were fluent in. Finally, he pulled out the iron star that acted as the material component, setting it on the surface next to the papers. "It's always been just--just out of reach. I had given up on it for a while out of sheer frustration, but tonight I picked it up again and, ah." Essek ran a hand through his white curls. "I think I worked it out."
“Oh!” Caleb sat up a little straighter, his mind always perking up just a bit more when it came to magical breakthroughs, just as much as it did any amount of foreplay that often came with it. They were predictable. But also now he was intrigued, and already trying to peek ahead at what Essek was doing.
Their spellbooks were private affairs, but that didn’t stop him from prying. “Show me. What does it do? Where was your block at?” He wanted to know everything, and had a dozen more questions in store for when Essek could get there. But one thing at a time, or two, or three.
It was at least nice being able to have someone to puzzle these things out with, given Caleb was prone to doing this exact same routine with Essek on his own magical discoveries.
It was nice, the sentiment being just as thoroughly felt as Essek allowed himself to bask in Caleb's equal enthusiasm. Two years had gone by where he'd gotten to have this feeling, a true equal and peer, in his life and the gratefulness that he felt bloom in his chest was familiar by now, but was also something he doubted would ever dull. Though he didn't voice his thanks, at least not yet, he did give Caleb a warm smile and let his shoulder press to the human's before turning back to his books.
"Well," he started, before diving right in. Essek gave the backstory, how he'd started trying to put the spell together back home, the idea never really leaving him, despite that he hadn't been able to crack it. "It's a graviturgy spell," he explained, "which is likely why I couldn't give up on it. As much as I enjoy playing with time, it was graviturgy that I first enjoyed and understood how to manipulate when it comes to dunamancy. This seemed a bit like, ah--my magnum opus, I believe is the phrase."
Pointing at the papers, Essek continued, "It is to create a large sphere of gravity centered on a specific point of the caster's choosing." He straightened up, angling himself toward Caleb as he raised his hands to mime the sphere in front of him. "The sphere itself would be about 20 feet in radius, but anything within 100 feet of it would be pulled toward the middle, unless they're strong enough to resist. If within the sphere, the gravity would cause injury." He dropped his hands to his lap, giving Caleb a wry smile. "At least, in theory."
Caleb’s expression could best be summed up with hearts in his eyes, as he looked from the papers to Essek. This sort of thing always energized him. He loved hearing about other’s successes just as much as he liked helping to create those successes, which is why he worked out so well in the classroom.
A concept he’d never quite embraced until Vallo, though his own memories told him he fell into that habit back home, as well. His eyes lit up at the explanation, and Caleb nodded before reaching back to tie up his hair in a bun, like he was preparing. “It very much sounds like a you spell, schatz. Do we get to go test it? In the field where we tested my polymorph, perhaps?”
Caleb set aside his book and things, clearly ready to teleport at a moment’s notice to put this out on visual display.
Essek immediately grinned, his heart doing a complicated little flip in his chest that he knew by now could only be attributed to Caleb. It was more of that comforting novelty that came with being fundamentally understood. Had he not been overwhelmingly excited to show Caleb this spell, and also see for himself if his calculations were as complete as he suspected they were, Essek might have tackled his partner then and there.
Later, perhaps.
"I was very much hoping you might ask that," Essek agreed, stashing the component and his book away into his pocket plane with a swish of his hand. He got to his feet, holding that same hand out to Caleb. "You will have to get us there, however. I want to conserve for this spell and already used up higher magic today in my haste to get to you." He smirked, appreciating Caleb--and his bun--for a split second before adding, "It was worth it."
“It would be my pleasure,” Caleb had expected that, knowing they only had a certain amount of magic before the fountain went dry, and he himself had been in the situation where he’d expended all of what he could do for the day before and had to rely on others. He liked being able to take Essek’s and pull him in close, even if close wasn’t a requirement.
Still gave him an opportunity to bestow a kiss on his partner, which he happily took advantage of, before there was a magical pop and they were teleporting to the clearing in the forest.
His distraction may have been slightly costly to their arrival, as they stumbled into the lush forest of the trees, just a ways off where he had originally intended, but-- Caleb chuckled, anyway, and echoed Essek’s own words. “It was worth it.” He held Essek’s hand and gestured to a log right in front of them to help his partner over it so they could reach the clearing in question.
Essek kept hold of Caleb's hand, while also using the bit of leverage given when stepping over the log to take a kiss of his own from the other wizard, a pleased smile on his face when they parted. He laced their fingers together as they started in the direction of their original destination, feet on the ground in solidarity--and so Caleb didn't have to pull him through the air as Essek indulged in their hand holding.
"Mishaps," he said, glancing up toward Caleb with that same pleased smile, "happen to the best of us." The gods, if they actually were looking behind the gates they were shut behind, only knew just how often Essek had experienced a teleport gone awry at his own hands. In fact--he let out a soft laugh. "At least you didn't injure us, like the first time I teleported you and the others across the continent. I am still surprised you all came to me for more travel help after that."
It had been when Essek had been suspicious, distrusting, and downright annoyed at the group of eclectic mercenaries that had seemed to fall into the Lucid Bastion with the pursuit of uprooting his carefully planned treason. How things had changed. "In retrospect," he continued, "I am rather glad you did."
Caleb flushed with embarrassment, though some of it could have been pleasure settling in his stomach as Essek seemed to relish in this, which made his flush all that deeper. After as long as they had been doing this, it was still a strange yet pleasurable calm that washed over him with that touch. A touch that when they had their blip back home with teleporting, Caleb didn’t think himself worthy.
They had both come a long way, even as they were in the underbrush. “We all had a crush on you,” he was matter-of-fact in that statement, though it may not have been true for a few members of the Mighty Nein, he knew at least more than one were enamoured with Essek either platonically or not. The intrigue of it all.
Caleb pushed back a branch to the open clearing and stepped into the edge of it and held it back for Essek to pass. “I do not think you could have gotten rid of us if you tried, not really. We had been making plans to check with you for a while.”
Though the grin that Essek gave Caleb could be called smug, the way that the tips of his ears turned plum betrayed him. It was something that only someone that knew him very well--like his partner, for example--might notice, something that Essek was all too conscious of. That was all right, though. It wasn't as though Caleb didn't know most, if not all, of his tells now.
"You all clearly grew on me--ah, thank you," Essek said, passing through the opening Caleb had made for him. Looking around at the familiar clearing, he nodded once. Yes, this would do. His hand went to his pocket to pull out the material component for the spell, then he looked back to Caleb, this time radiating a mixture of smugness and excitement. It was a good look on him--a common one, when magic was involved.
"Are you ready to see if this works, ta'ecelle?" Smug, excited, and apparently sentimental, as Essek used one of his more affectionate pet names in his arsenal.
“Oh I am very ready, schatz.” Caleb’s eyes were practically lit up at the idea of seeing Essek use powerful magic, a favorite pastime of his. He took a step back and watched Essek more than he did the clearing, despite wanting to see the magic. But seeing the internal struggle, the hand movements, the components, it was all a necessary part of the process, and Caleb enjoyed every step of the magical construction.
He let out a quiet hum as his eyes roamed, from Essek’s fingertips down his arm, over to his spellbook. He would study him again, and again, memorizing each movement and learning from him as they always did for each other. It brought Caleb back to their first lesson, though much more simple magic, and under different circumstances.
It still left heat pooled in his stomach and Caleb’s eyes were a little more hooded and dark now, “I hope you are prepared for me to rip your clothing off after.”
Spellbook open in front of him, Essek turned away from it just enough to flash Caleb a flirtatious smile in return. "Such promises, Widogast."
Still smiling to himself, Essek looked back to his spellbook, glancing the page over one last time before he rolled the iron star around between his fingers, took in a long, deep breath, and began to cast. A century as a magic practitioner meant that he had long since found his personal style when it came to casting, his movements smooth, the motions fluidic and graceful as his fingers hit each somatic beat necessary to bend the flow of magic to his whims. The words he spoke were in Undercommon, as they usually were when he crafted a spell on his own, and soon a sphere formed between his hands, growing until he literally pushed it forward, spinning to the point of his choosing as it continued to expand.
Though he had positioned the sphere in such a place so as to not harm himself or Caleb, he could still feel an echo of a tug toward its center, his hair moving as though caught in wind. More obvious that the spell was working as intended, though, was the way the grasses in the open field strained toward the center of the sphere, branches and bits of debris lifting entirely, being pulled by the gravitational forces that Essek had mastered control over so many decades ago.
The spell would hold for a minute, or so Essek had assumed when crafting it, as long as his concentration wasn't broken. Still, he looked away from the magic and to Caleb once more, grinning with clear, undisguised elation.
Caleb was glad to watch with bright eyes, his expression barely contained as he could take in Essek’s movements and the spell being conjured before his very eyes. It was extremely powerful magic, to the level or beyond his advanced polymorph techniques, and he was simultaneously proud of himself for picking up on Essek’s undercommon words, from their lessons together in an exchange of languages.
He knew that Essek would be required to keep concentration on the spell to continue keeping it up, so he let that simmer for moments, until their eyes met. Thankfully there wasn’t an actual battle or something to fight - they could keep things much more contained then, until the fight died down - as Caleb reached out to yank Essek to him.
“I would like you to teach me that, but I do not know if I can handle keeping concentrated on the studies,” Caleb was honest, if anything, though eventually they would get there. “That was very sexy, Professor Thelyss, so you will have to forgive me for distractions before you have dropped the spell.” He did not sound at all sorry as he leaned in for a bruising kiss. It was after, as promised.
If asked later, Essek would readily--teasingly--claim that the spell dropped out of choice the moment that Caleb's lips were on his, not at all because he was actually distracted and lost his concentration. Now, though, it hardly felt like it mattered as Essek's arms wrapped around Caleb's neck and he gave as good as he was given, his body buzzing with triumph and possibility and desire.
This would not have been how he would have celebrated the successful creation of a spell not too long ago. He would have felt that triumph, but there would have been no one there to see, to share the accomplishment with. There was no one that appreciated magic and the show of control and power like Caleb did. He understood what this meant, that this was impressive magic without Essek having to use flowery words and promises of honoring the Luxon to get his point across. It felt impossible to think their time together had been so short thus far, when time played games and also made it feel like so long. As good as finally creating this spell felt, having Caleb there with him to share in the event only made it better.
"I love you," Essek breathed against Caleb's rounded ear, after having managed to pull away long enough to even say it at all. Sentimental, so sentimental--but that was okay. It was good. "And," he continued, playfully nipping at an earlobe, "you had best cast the dome, because I do not trust either of us to teleport home successfully right now."
“I love you,” Caleb echoed, and already had one hand on his holster and component pouch to pull out the bead necessary for the dome. He was only half-paying attention, his mouth seeking Essek’s as he couldn’t decide what to focus on more, and his purple boyfriend won out over the spellbook.
Ah well, they’d eventually get there. Most likely.