WHO Essek Thelyss and Caleb Widogast, with a cameo from Kiri WHERE The library in the Xhorhaus WHEN Backdated to shortly after Beau and Yasha's disappearance WHAT With two friends gone from Vallo, Essek checks in on Caleb. Bookshelves are rearranged. STATUS Complete ART CREDIThere WARNINGS None
Standing in the kitchen, Essek leaned over the counter just a bit to peer down into the two mugs that were currently steeping tea. One was giving off a lightly floral aroma, familiar in that that it was the lavender and chamomile tea that he preferred to sip during the evenings, while the other was a bit more spicy and fall inspired, a suggestion from one of the workers at the tea shop he frequented that Essek thought Caleb might like to try. Though without his partner's uncanny ability to track time, he could manage the couple handfuls of minutes necessary to prepare tea; it was one of the few things he had always been able to successfully do, even when he had a chef or others in his employ to do such things for him as a member of Kryn nobility.
How the privileged had fallen; though, Essek had fallen into a warm security that he had never known back then. He could not complain.
Essek's mental counting was interrupted by a shuffling behind him and he turned to see Kiri, clad in her mismatched pajamas and clearly prepared for her bedtime. The sight did something to his heart that he had long since stopped being astonished by, as it was now just a given how much he cared for the child.
"Are you ready for bed, lotha uss?"
Kiri nodded, before immediately launching into a stilted description of the tasks she had finished, from tidying her room to cleaning up in the bathroom. The words and phrases came out in a litany of other voices, most of which were borrowed since her time in Vallo, Essek knew, where she had plenty of opportunity to hear and add to her lexicon of language. He could recognize many of them, most from those that lived under this roof or from school, but there was even a slipped in bit of cursing from Ronan. It was the borrowed voices of Beauregard and Yasha that had Essek pausing as he finished the tea preparations, a squeeze to his heart that he couldn't help but linger on.
Once Kiri was done, Essek looked back to her with a smile. "Well done. Do you want to help me take this to your papa so you can wish him a good night?"
"Ja," came Kiri's response in Caleb's Zemnian timbre.
A few moments later, he was following her through the house and to the library, where Essek had left Caleb to prepare the tea in the first place. Kiri was carefully holding the saucer that held Caleb's tea, as well as a few shortbread cookies that were a last minute addition at the kenku's own insistence. Essek pushed the ajar door open with a bit of magic before her, letting them both slip into the room without fear of splashing hot tea on vulnerable fingers (or talons).
Essek paused, smiling softly as he watched Kiri approach Caleb. "I outsourced for delivery assistance."
Caleb was as deep into his feels as he was his books, at this hour. It was a wonder he hadn’t started in on the whiskey that was in a bottle somewhere deep in his desk, but that wouldn’t do while the kids were still up, so he held off. Beauregard and Yasha’s disappearance hurt, especially so soon after Fjord and Jester’s wedding.
He had been assuming they would be next. Something with ninjas.
But he knew they were happy at home. That they had a life there, that was good, a house, talking about adopting-- That was all good, but he wasn’t experiencing it now, and Caleb had a selfish pang of annoyance.
Kiri’s talons hitting the floor knocked him out of that, and he sat up a little straighter. It was hard to be self-deprecating when she was trotting in, though he immediately felt bad that he’d forgotten it was her bedtime. He saw the tea and bestowed a gentle smile on her as Kiri approached. “What do you have there, schatz?”
Caleb gently took the tea cup from her and then lifted her into his lap, and Kiri flapped her wings happily before settling. “Tea for papa!” It was in Essek’s tone, and that made him smile and look up at the drow. “Did I miss much?”
There was nothing quite like being on the receiving end of one of Caleb's smiles, Essek thought. He had felt the shared relief of saving the world alongside friends, manipulated magic that his people had barely scratched the surface of dreaming about before he pushed the limits, discovered the grandness that was a perfectly hearty stew in a properly baked bread bowl--but none could compare, in his humble opinion.
Smiling softly in return, Essek pulled up a chair of his own to sit next to the two of them. He was close enough to reach out as he shook his head, tucking a loose strand of hair behind Caleb's ear. His fingers lingered a moment or two longer than necessary, an indulgence that Essek didn't bother trying to stop.
"Not terribly much, outside of my spilling tea leaves onto the counter." His hand dropped, landing lightly on Caleb's shoulder as Essek turned his attention to Kiri, tilting his head to meet her gaze with another gentle smile. "But this one, I have been told, is ready for bed. I thought you might want to help her with that." It was an offering, of sorts, a distraction and a grounding that Essek thought Caleb might need or appreciate.
Caleb leaned but a brief second into Essek’s touch, but he didn’t allow himself to get swept away with it just yet. Kiri took half of his attention, and he knew if he put too much focus, they’d never get anything done.
It wasn’t a bad thing, that kind of devotion, but they did have to pay attention elsewhere at times. Like now, with a wiggly kenku on his lap wanting her nightly story and a little attention. “Ja, ja, okay we will go do the storytime now. I brought home new books.” He got a few sips of his tea before swinging her up and off his lap and the chair, to carry her to bed. It gave him a good moment to pause and lean in for a proper kiss with Essek, one he lingered on more than usual.
A reminder of what they still had, despite of what they’d just lost. He stopped in his tracks and used his free hand to reach out to squeeze Essek’s arm. His head dropped to rest against the drow’s forehead. “Thank you.”
"Of course." Essek's response came as little more than a murmur, his eyes fluttered closed as he returned the pressure of his forehead against Caleb's. It was a soft moment that he would have been happy to continue, were it not for the fidgeting little girl keeping him in the present as she repeated, "Go do the storytime now!"
It made Essek chuckle, even as he allowed his fingers to drift over Caleb's jawline and cheek before finally pulling away. He brushed the same hand over the top of Kiri's feather head, fondness both in gesture and expression. "Ssinjin deis, lotha uss," he said, his usual way of wishing Kiri a good night. "Be good and do not negotiate too many stories tonight or you won't have any left for tomorrow."
Not that that would truly be an issue, of course. There would never be a lacking of books under this roof.
Essek gave Caleb a smile paired with a meaningful look, indicating that he would be there when he was done with Kiri, however many stories later it did take. There was plenty to do as he waited, like force himself not to look at whatever it was that Caleb had been doing before he and Kiri entered the room, reorganize the bookshelves, and keep Caleb's tea warm with a twirl of his fingers and a cantrip.
Kiri had managed to talk him into one extra story. Had Caleb not felt a sadness settled into his chest, she likely would have managed more, but he held firm on the one extra and tried to make it as good as he could, all things considered.
She was passed out halfway through the second, so Caleb finished it out and tucked her in before slipping out of the room silently. When he made it back to the library, he paused in the doorway to watch the wizard idling around his room. Even with the weight that was there, the loss of their friends, the void he felt not having Beauregard rifling through his books and Yasha offering to shave him--
He still felt lucky. He had this. He missed them terribly, but he knew that both of them would tell him to get over it. Finally, after some silence and a moment of peace to just watch Essek move effortlessly, he piped up. “Did you reorganize my shelves? That is a fighting offense, Shadowhand.”
"I think perhaps you should be thanking me, Professor," Essek responded without hesitation, lifting from the ground as he extended an arm up to slide a book onto a shelf that he otherwise wouldn't be able to reach. His voice took on that teasingly haughty tone that Shadowhand Essek Thelyss had been known for.
Essek turned to face Caleb, touching back down on the ground with a soft sound from the slippers he wore to warm his always cold feet. His lips tipped up in a small smile as he lifted one perfectly sculpted white eyebrow. "Now you will actually be able to find things. You are quite welcome."
The concern was still there, of course, even behind the looks and tease; it was, he had to assume, rather obvious as he took Caleb in, surveying him carefully from where he stood by the shelves. Essek would always have some level of concern for Caleb, simply by virtue of wanting him to be happy. Such things didn't come easy for men like them, but he would do all that he could to make it so for his partner.
Caleb made a noise of disagreement, one that there was no mistaking that it was a noise of disagreement. “I could already find my things,” he sounded like a petulant child, but ultimately it was likely a good thing that Essek was just trying to take his mind off of things, and doing a good job of it as well. Still, by moving his books was an extremity and Caleb frowned.
“How would you like it,” He moved into the library and waved a hand so one of the books in Essek’s vicinity picked up and floated over to him and out of the reach of his partner. “If I went down to the kitchen and moved around the contents of the refrigerator? Drank from your milk? Removed your labels? Hm? What then?”
The distraction, it seemed, was working and Essek felt a vague sense of relief at the realization. He knew that there wasn't any amount of shuffling around Caleb's bookshelves that could truly distract enough to take away any of the hurt that came with losing two very good friends to the whims of Vallo, but it was good to see his partner responding--or, at least, threatening to.
Essek hummed in response, moving across the floor toward Caleb. He didn't move to take the book from him, but his eyes did glance down at it once. "I suppose that now I will know who to accuse if I see the milk dip below the line I made on the carton. I would have been ready to blame Jester." He put on a thoughtful look that was almost ruined by the lift of his mouth into a smirk, his gaze lifting as he considered. "As for what then, well. I would possibly say that we may be square after rightful retaliation, but I may also reorganize the spell components. Who is to say."
Caleb frowned, but it wasn’t a serious one. Wasn’t his I’m annoyed frown so much as it was manufactured for Essek’s sake. “You know this is a slippery slope we are on. If you reorganize the spell components, I may have to change the aesthetic design of the library in the tower.”
Normally when Caleb got close to Essek and was talking in this low voice, or when his hand slipped into the drow’s robe, he was going for magical seduction. He was usually talking about spells or theories.
Not whispering horrible things like, “I hear backwards books are all the rage.” In fact, he distinctly remembered an argument at school of some kids agreeing to just that, and a few others fighting with them on that fact.
The immediate scoff from Essek could have probably been heard clear through to Exandria, the indignation thick enough to pierce timelines and universes. It, too, was just for show, a part played as they continued their verbal sparring. Still, it was something of a miracle that he was able to keep the front up, given that Caleb was rapidly checking the boxes of distraction for Essek.
"That is quite the threat." Essek reached out to tug Caleb ever closer by the book harness, a clear attempt of two can play that game. "You are very lucky I love you as I do, Caleb Widogast."
And that was, to Essek, one of his favorite parts about the them that he and Caleb had become. He was teasing, they were poking one another, but he did love Caleb. It was a complicated thing that was also quite simple, even if Essek still wondered at times, normally late at night when he should be trancing and not watching his sleeping partner, if he deserved any of this. Those moments were more fleeting as time went on, a marvel and a relief.
“Ja, I am.” Caleb agreed, and not just because he had a fondness for his book harness being pulled on. It made his face flush, but that also could have easily been a product of being close to Essek while he was being charming. It was a see-saw of emotions and Caleb had never been very good at processing emotions.
“I hope they are doing well,” He knew, realistically, they were, but there was always that chance they ended up in some other world, without all of their friends. He didn’t like that feeling at all, but dwelling on it only made it worse. Caleb leaned in to rest against Essek and sighed. “Thank you for the distraction. But if you reorganize my books again, I will make good on my threats.”
Particularly the book one, as he knew that he was likely to have the most impact on any avid reader.
With a soft chuckle, Essek raised his arms to wrap around Caleb and hold him in close. One hand found purchase on Caleb's back, the other wound its fingers into the red hair at the nape of his neck. It wasn't that he didn't take his partner's book-related threats seriously, but more that he could simply appreciate them.
"Mm, I will try my best," Essek said, a non-promise if he ever heard one. It was good to know that he had it in his back pocket, should he need to pull out a distraction again. "But," he continued, his tone growing a bit more somber as his fingers scratched gently in his hair, "I hope they are doing well, too."
It was hard to know what else to say beyond that. Essek was not particularly good with the emotions of others, let alone his own, though he had grown better at anticipating where Caleb's might flow. The years had been kind in that regard, as Essek had continued his journey in being more the person he wanted to and also successfully entwining his life with the other wizard's.
Essek pulled back and looked at Caleb with a soft, gentle smile. "Wherever they are, whatever they are doing, I am sure Beauregard is flirting with trouble and Yasha is watching over her as she does." A pause. "Or helping, depending."
Caleb chuckled and nodded. “Ja, both of those would be very appropriate for them.” He curled into Essek’s touch like a cat asking for more scritches, and appreciated the comfort that added to it. Caleb hummed. “Would you like to take this tea and curl up on the couch with me to read for the rest of the evening? Something quiet? I would just like to be near you.”
Every so often, it hit Essek that there was someone out there who sought comfort in his touch and company. It was such an obvious thing, when one decided to commit themselves to another, that with it came familiarity and affection. After being alone and solitary for so long, it struck him with a slow warmth that was reflected in his smile.
"I would like that a great deal, ta'ecelle," Essek agreed, stepping away just enough to link his hand with Caleb's. "Come. I will show you where I put all of your best books."