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“Will you do it?”
Essek’s quiet voice echoed softly in the dimly lit chamber. Caleb stood beside him, staring unblinking at the raised platform of the terminal dock. The dancing lights he’d summoned made his hair shine golden with reflected amber.
He raised his eyes to meet Essek’s, and Essek could see the pain and longing etched on his face.
“Will you do it” Essek asked again, sympathy a sharp ache in his chest. “I will help you.”
He would. For Caleb, he would.
Caleb looked away again, eyes darting around the room, scanning the scattered papers and ancient constructions.
Essek swallowed, heart in his throat.
Caleb took a shaky inhale, looking down at the ground, then let out a soft sigh. With a practised motion he reached to his component pouch, and Essek recognised the motions for a disintegrate spell just before Caleb finished drawing the lodestone through dust on his forearm.
Essek watched as Caleb swept the ray through the room, ancient stone and metal crumbling away into nothing. The dancing lights winked out, and Essek’s eyes quickly adjusted to the sudden darkness, painting Caleb and the room in shades of grey as Caleb let his hand fall to his side.
The last pieces of rubble settled.
Essek hesitated, then murmured a word, casting a soft purple light into his palm. Caleb blinked, still staring at the floor. He clenched a fist and fire swirled to life at his fingertips. The scattered papers on the floor, the mouldering tomes and the faded diagrams all burned, ash mingling with dust at their feet.
The flames ran their course, until Essek’s light was all that remained.
“Good.” Essek nodded as Caleb looked up. He met Caleb’s eyes as the tension in his chest faded to relief. “Good.”
Caleb watched him, emotions darting across his face too quickly for Essek to parse. They fell silent, the quiet of the ruins broken only by the halting drip of water.
Caleb continued to stare, and Essek bit at his lip as a different kind of tension made him fight not to move.
The last few days with Caleb had been… a lot. From surprise at finding Caleb waiting for him, elation and anticipation at his invitation, to triumph and terror in equal parts as they delved back into Aeor’s depths. He’d struggled to trance each night, awake and alone after Caleb had retired for the evening, surrounded by finery crafted for him by Caleb’s beautiful mind, everything perfectly to his taste and yet another crystalline example of how well Caleb knew him. Sitting by the fireplace, surrounded by drapery of blues and purples and blacks, soft fabrics and shelves of books, arcane instruments and elegant stained-glass windows, he’d looked up to the ceiling of gently winking stars and allowed himself to hope, for far longer than he’d dared before.
Caleb stared, and Essek felt that same hope kindling again.
Caleb’s blue eyes looked almost lavender with the reflection of his spell. Essek could pick out every freckle on his pale skin, a star map of Caleb’s own.
“Essek,” Caleb began, and Essek inhaled sharply. Caleb’s eyes dropped to Essek’s hand. “I didn’t know you could cast the light cantrip.”
“Ah…” Essek took a moment to collect his thoughts, pushing back the swell of… of wanting. “Oh, I didn’t… that is to say, it is something I have taken the time to learn only recently.”
Disappointment made him swallow thickly and he angrily pushed that away as well. What Caleb had already given him was far, far more than he had any right to have, and it was enough.
Caleb tipped his head to one side, studying him again. “I wouldn’t have thought it a spell you would have much use for.”
Essek felt his cheeks and ears warm. “Not in the past no, but I—it seemed like it might… have its uses. Now that I… well—”
He broke off abruptly as Caleb stepped closer, reaching out to trace calloused fingers across the back of Essek’s hand. Essek’s jaw slackened as Caleb held his wrist, and brought his other hand up to block the light gleaming from Essek’s palm. Purple luminescence shone through Caleb’s skin, spilling past the gaps between his fingers.
“Essek…”
Essek’s gaze snapped upwards, meeting Caleb’s.
“Essek,” Caleb repeated. The hand on Essek’s palm shifted and came to rest on his shoulder.
“Essek.” Caleb leaned forward, breath visible in a pale plume.
“Thank you. For everything, I—thank you.” He closed the last of the gap, lips brushing Essek’s cheek like they had the last time they parted ways.
Essek’s heartbeat was thundering in his ears. Caleb pulled back, then stopped, warmth ghosting across Essek’s face.
Essek trembled, unable to stop himself from turning his face ever so slightly towards Caleb’s, an aborted twitch of movement before he fought to hold still.
Caleb moved forward, and stopped again, barely an inch away. One hand was still on Essek’s shoulder, the other holding his upraised hand.
Water dripped. A piece of rubble shifted.
Caleb took a sudden breath, and pressed another kiss to Essek’s skin, right on the corner of his mouth. Caleb pulled back slowly, eyes low before flicking up to meet Essek’s though his lashes.
Essek broke.
“Caleb—”
He didn’t get to finish the thought, because Caleb was kissing him, kissing him, calloused lips moving across his with feverish intensity. Thought fled as he pushed back, tangling a hand in Caleb’s hair and pulling him closer. Caleb’s arm slipped around his waist, drawing an involuntary gasp from Essek as Caleb tugged him forward.
Caleb used the opportunity to deepen the kiss, tongue sliding against Essek’s before he nipped lightly at Essek’s bottom lip.
A flash of sensation ripped through him, releasing a fizzing rush of magic—and Essek’s levitation and light spells dropped.
They stumbled, kiss breaking as they fought to keep their balance.
Clutching at one another they managed to keep their feet, and Essek stared dumbfounded at Caleb, now a half a head taller than him. Caleb’s hair was mussed, his lips still shining.
“Oops.” Essek recast light.
Caleb started laughing. He pulled Essek in, holding him tightly while his shoulders shook with mirth. Essek grinned into the soft material of Caleb’s scarf.
“I did not think that was a concentration spell,” Caleb murmured.
Essek cleared his throat, and pulled back to look up at Caleb. “It is, ah, it is not.” He could still feel his cheeks burning. “My apologies, I did not intend to release that power.”
Caleb chuckled again, and leaned down to press his forehead to Essek’s. Essek’s embarrassment faded as Caleb closed his eyes.
“I was wondering if you would like to stay with me for a while.”
Essek took a moment to let Caleb’s words sink in. “Stay with you?”
“You say your time in the Dynasty is over. You must go elsewhere.”
Essek pulled back, wanting to see Caleb’s face. “That is correct,” he said hesitantly.
“Then I invite you to come with me, Essek Thelyss.” Caleb brushed his fingertips under Essek’s chin, tilting his face upwards.
“I am aware that we… that I will…” Caleb’s voice trailed off, and Essek frowned as Caleb averted his gaze. “Just… I would very much like to go together… for a while.”
Essek rose up, not recasting his levitation, but standing on his toes, and brought Caleb’s lips to his again. He smiled.
“Caleb Widogast, there is nothing I would like more.”