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A cool breeze swept across Caleb’s face, feeling its freshness with a feeling of content. The bark of the tree dug into his back, though he couldn’t feel the soreness of it anymore after how long he had been sitting down.
“You’ll feel stiff tomorrow morning,” a familiar voice said, and Caleb cracked his eyes open to see the figure of a drow walking- no, floating- towards him.
“I have done less in the past for more soreness, you know,” Caleb said, shuffling a bit to roll out his shoulders. Essek was right, he would be stiff tomorrow.
“Oh?” Essek said, now just a feet away from him, peering down with a quirked eyebrow.
“Would you like to sit down with me, Essek? Caduceus’ tree is quite comfortable once you get used to it,” Caleb suggested, scooching over and patting the soft grass beneath them.
“Thank you,” Essek thanked, and sat down next to Caleb. His mantle swallowed his figure, but here, beneath the tree and the tea lights strung up around them, making the air of it almost intimate, Essek looked anything but large.
“Caduceus prepared some tea for me earlier- there’s a spare mug if you’d like,” Caleb gestured to where a few feet away, a still-steaming kettle was set, with a few mugs seated next to it.
“I didn’t know you had company up here,” Essek said as he poured himself a cup into an awkwardly shaped painted blue mug.
“Veth was here earlier, along with Beauregard. Both are gone now, of course. Veth I believe went to go visit Fjord- something about jump scaring him while he was in the hot tub. And Beau… Well, I haven’t seen Yasha pass through the rooftop recently and I’m not sure if I want to investigate where those two went off two.”
At the mention of the two lovebirds, Essek let out a small chuckle, masking his smile with a sip of the warm tea. “Yes, the probability of finding them in a… compromising position might be a bit discouraging.”
Caleb nodded, and took a sip of his own mug of tea- a sweetened blend, with notes of elderberry. He usually liked the smokier, more spiced teas, but this was a nice change of pace to his palette. Essek seemed to be enjoying it as well he thought- Essek’s eyes fluttered closed when he drank, and did so with a small, content hum that Caleb was sure that Essek didn’t realize he was doing.
Not that he was going to point it out. It was quite endearing.
“How does Mister Clay make such great blends? Do you think it would be rude to ask?” Essek asked, looking over at Caleb.
“I think he would actually quite like it if you asked him- it would mean a great deal to him.”
Essek nodded, lost in thought for a moment as he brought the mug up to his lips once more. Caleb tried to draw his eyes away, but he couldn’t help but notice how Essek was seated- legs carefully pleaded, back elegantly poised from years and years of etiquette practice, chin up just a bit, shoulders rolled back.
“You know Essek, you can relax here. The others can’t see you from the rooftop,” Caleb said, thinking of all the small times that Essek let his guard down. Enjoying soups and cheesy sandwiches with the Nein, huddled shoulder-to-shoulder with Caleb as they scrambled for paper and notes, bent down on the ground during the long nights that they worked together to craft that spell for Veth.
“I know, but who knows who might be watching me, especially after…” Essek’s voice faded, but they both knew what he meant.
Caleb placed a warm hand on Essek’s shoulder, looking over to him with a warm smile. “You’re safe here. I swear it.”
Caleb felt Essek’s shoulders relax underneath his touch. “Thank you, Caleb,” Essek said.
His hand left Essek’s shoulder, and they enjoyed each other’s quiet company. The night was beautiful- even if it was always night. But here, most of the city fell into a solemn slumber, even if they couldn’t sleep. The streets themselves were vacant, and few and far lights flickered in the buildings and towers, like stars.
Essek broke the silence first, “This is a very interesting mug- I haven’t seen one quite like it before. Perhaps I should get one for myself.”
Essek lifted up the clay mug, inspecting it as if he were inspecting a diamond, or a piece of residuum. It was a bit misshapen, some places bulging out a bit more than others, and overall painted in a bright shade of blue, with little painted flowers dotting the base like a field of them.
“Ah, it was Yasha who made that one,” Caleb said, bringing his own mug to his lips. It was just a standard one- bought from a market stall that Jester had dragged him two, cooing over it because the handle was shaped like a cat’s tail, and the body of it striped like one as well.
“Yasha? I never realized she was into pottery- it doesn’t seem like her… Though she does often surprise me. You all do.”
“Well, it was a date Beau took her on, once we went back to visit Nicodranas. There’s a place where they teach you how to make your own mugs and plates and all sorts of wondrous things, and paint them, too. Or you skip the making part and just paint. It was quite the day- Jester told Beau about it, who brought Yasha there as a surprise date while Jester stayed with her mother, and the rest of us wandered around town.”
Essek looked at the cup, touched it with a renewed sense of wonder, hearing such a story behind it. “They’re beautiful.”
Essek’s right hand was on the grass, in the space between him and Caleb. To Caleb, the distance between them was miles away, and yet centimeters apart. Without thinking, a first for him, he laid his hand above Essek’s gently.
The cold hand between him did not pull away, only stiffened at the initial contact before the tension melted.
“If you would like Essek, I could take you there.”
Essek looked into Caleb’s eyes, his face an unreadable expression. “You would take me to Nicodranas?”
“We can teleport, and between the group we have more than enough magic for the roundtrip. It’s quite beautiful there- lively, full of different cultures and vibrancy. Besides, it is not like we have an immediate danger now, now that we’re back. We deserve a break, don’t you think?”
Essek scoffed gently, “You all saved the world from… From whatever that thing was. The city. The eyes. I was only up there because I was a traitor.”
“So?”
“So I do not get to take a break. I do not get to simply rest, to take a day off.”
“Essek,” Caleb started, shifting his position so he was looking directly at Essek, “You were as much of a help in stopping it as the rest of us. And even people like you- people like us- deserve the time off. We are not meant to stress and stress until the day we die. I thought so, once upon a time, but I’ve learned better. I think you could learn, too.”
“Perhaps you are right Caleb,” he said with a small sigh, “But it would still be a liability for me to go, especially with you all. In the politest way possible, you all are not very… discreet, out in public.”
“No, no we are not. Not by a long shot. But part of that is numbers, don’t you think? Moving in such a large group?”
Essek nodded, “Yes, that would be true.”
Caleb continued, “So, why don’t we dwindle those numbers, for a day. Not everyone needs to go, and we could splinter off and agree on a time and place to meet up at the end. Besides, Nicodranas is full of different people- a couple going around at a time won’t stir up much.”
Essek seemed to consider the words, leaning back against the tree now. “Do you mean to say we would all go and then split up?”
Caleb hesitated, “We don’t all have to go.”
“What would you be implying here then?”
Caleb’s words were caught in his throat, as he weighed what he so desperately wanted to say. This was the moment. It felt right.
“I would be implying… Essek Thelyss, would you like to go on a date with me?”
There was silence, and Caleb’s mind was racing, his heart pounding. No, he had messed up, or he spoke too soon, or maybe Essek was not interested in him the way he was-
“Caleb… I would love to,” Essek said, placing down his mug so that his other hand was placed on top of Caleb’s, which was still resting on his other. Despite the dull glow of the lights, Caleb could swore he could make out a blush on Essek’s purple-tinted skin.
Caleb’s shoulders were brought down, hadn’t realized that he had clenched them to where they felt like they were up to his neck. He smiled, letting a large smile plaster his face. He hasn’t smiled like this in a long time, he thinks.
Essek pulls his top hand away, leaving his other still pinned by Caleb’s, and looks up at the night sky with a grin that he couldn’t contain.
“A date then,” Caleb still, Essek’s response still ringing in his ears. A date.
“Yes.”
Caleb pressed his back to the tree again, only a few inches from where Essek was.
Essek laid his head on Caleb’s shoulder, and Caleb swore he could have died happy right there and then as butterflies soared through his chest.
And all was peaceful as they stayed there, listening to each other’s heartbeats, tea always warm as they stayed still like that, happy to just be here, like this, right now.
Perhaps fighting the Nonagon was worth it after all, Caleb thought, if it meant he could have a moment like this.