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He’s late.
He almost didn’t come at all, but Jester assured him via message that it was fine, that they still wanted his company, in spite of his tardiness. He didn’t bring anything with him this time, and he hopes that’s acceptable--he could have ran to get something, he supposed, but then he would be even more late, and that felt worse than showing up empty-handed.
Still, his palms are sweaty as he knocks on the door of the Xhorhaus, and he’s unsurprised when Jester swings it open.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” he says quietly, stepping into the house. He didn’t wear his mantle this time, but he does take a moment to remove his boots, in hopes of keeping their floors clean. “I hope the party is still occurring?”
Jester giggles at him. “Well, most everyone but Caduceus and me are pretty drunk,” she whispers like she’s telling him a secret, leading him towards the dining room. “But we still got some food left. And we could use the company.”
He smiles at her softly. “Then I hope to provide--”
“ESSEK!” comes a loud Zemnian shout. Across the room, Caleb is barefoot and very clearly drunk, his hair a mess of wild batch of curls not tied down to anything. His pants are rolled up halfway up his calves, and there are more than a few buttons on his shirt undone, exposing more of the Zemnian’s chest than Essek’s seen before. There’s a dark haired woman in his arms that Caleb seems to be intent on ignoring. “Come dance with me!”
Essek laughs and blushes, stepping over Yasha, lying in the middle of the floor cuddling what looks to be a white tiger. Their home is a disaster area--there are broken pieces of furniture and bodies in various states of undress, and there are more people here than just the Mighty Nein. There’s only one other drow here--a quiet woman with red hair watching everyone while sipping on a glass of wine--but Essek finds he doesn’t mind the company too much. There’s an older red tiefling who is having a deep conversation with a tanned, golden-robed elf. He suspects they are flirting with one another, but neither of them wants to commit entirely to the act. There is a tortle with bagpipes that’s playing quite well, actually, and Veth is dancing happily with a tiny bright haired gnome while a happily buzzed Yeza cheers her on. Fjord is arm wrestling a dwarven woman, and Caleb practically throws the half-draconic woman he was dancing with towards Caduceus as soon as he sees Essek.
So Essek goes, and dances with Caleb for most of the evening. It’s something of a bastardization of a waltz--Caleb knows how to dance, and likely can dance quite well when he’s not so inebriated. Still, Essek’s toes are stepped on more than a few times, but they dance to the tortle’s song until Essek’s poor feet can’t stand it anymore, and Caleb doesn’t seem capable of doing more than lay his head on Essek while shuffling his feet a little bit.
Jester giggles at them. “I’ll help you carry him to bed,” she says, “I’ve already had to help Fjord get upstairs. One more won’t kill me.”
Together, they carry Caleb towards his room, although in all honesty Jester is doing more of the carrying; Essek has one of Caleb’s arms looped around his neck, but Caleb’s other arm is wrapped around Jester’s.
“I’ve had this dream before,” Caleb mumbles, and Essek feels his face flush, though it doesn’t seem like Jester heard him. He opens the door to the library for the three of them.
There, they find Beauregard, alone by herself at a quiet table, reading by candlelight.
Jester drops Caleb immediately, which means Essek is forced to try and hold the drunken man upright. “Beau!” Jester whines, abandoning the two gentlemen and heading towards Beau. “Why are you not at the party?”
“Huh?” Beau looks up from her book, as if noticing them all for the first time. “Sorry Jes. I just wanted to finish this.”
Jester doesn’t return to help carry Caleb, so Essek struggles to drag him five feet closer to his room. “Are you upset?”
“Why would I be upset?”
“Because Keg--”
(“That’s her ex,” Caleb helpfully explains, his breath warm in Essek’s ear.)
“--Was flirting with Fjord, and Reani--”
(“Her other ex,” Caleb interjects)
“Was flirting with Yasha, and neither of them were flirting with you and it made you sad?”
“Nah,” Beau laughs it off, though Essek senses there may be some truth to what Jester has said. “I just thought of something, and needed to research it.” She raises an eyebrow in Essek’s direction. “How useless is Caleb at the moment?”
“In,” Caleb starts, then collapses into giggles. “In-in-in--”
Incredibly useless, Essek mentally supplies.
“Pretty fucking useless,” Jester says, crossing her arms. “Why? Whatcha working on?”
“Goddamnit,” Beau swears. “The one fucking time I need his help--”
Essek does not intend to volunteer his services; Essek, quite frankly, doesn’t care much for Beauregard. Of all of the Mighty Nein, she has been the most prickly towards him. Veth flips between warm or cold towards him, but Beau has consistently been, well, pardon his language, a bitch towards him. That, and Essek had intended on relaxing tonight, drinking a little bit and having fun with his friends, not working on anything.
Unfortunately, Jester volunteers him anyway. “Essek could help you!” She says cheerily, bouncing on the table by Beau. “He’s really smart! Just as smart as Caleb is! I’m sure he could help you figure it out!”
Essek bites his bottom lip. “Jester, I’m not sure if that’s--”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” She interrupts. “You two could totally figure it out in like no time!”
The one plus to this is that Beau looks as uncomfortable with the idea as he does. She scowls at him, and starts organizing her notes, making reluctant space for him at the table.
His shoulder hurts from trying to carry Caleb, and so he scowls right back at her. “What are you even working on, anyway?”
She cocks her eyebrow at him. He can tell what she’s debating: she’s thinking about if she can trust him or not, and Essek feels the sting of her judgment even as she tells him the truth:
“I think the Luxon Beacons may be related to Tharizdun.”
Essek drops Caleb on the floor.
(Jester holds her hands up to her face. “What? Ohmygosh!”
“Ow ,” Caleb mumbles on the floor.)
“I don’t have proof yet,” Beau blushes, before pulling out a map. “But look here, right? These are where the Luxon Beacons were dug up--” she pulls out another map, a much older one, “and this map has two of the so-called chains locations, and--”
“They line up,” Essek supplies for her, breathless. This is revolutionary, and heresy, and validation, all in one. “Not exactly, and only in two spots, but--”
“But really fucking close, right? And you’ve not found all the Beacons--”
“--But if we did, what if they are there? ” Essek marvels. He looks at Beau’s stack of books, and starts pulling one of them out. “Chaszmyr’s Litany of Sacrament? I didn’t know you read undercommon.”
“I do,” Beau brags before pulling out a different book. “And I haven’t checked that one yet, but in this one, it talks about--”
Jester interrupts them with a polite cough. “I’m going to put Caleb to bed!” She announces, carrying Caleb over her shoulder like he weighs nothing. “Then I’ll bring you guys snacks. Wine? Oooh, maybe some cupcakes--”
She leaves, and Beau and Essek get to work.