Work Text:
Essek smiled openly as he and Caleb swirled together through the crowd. They were dancing, dressed in elaborate finery and surrounded by the newly renovated opulence of the Palace of the Sovereign of Emon. The rest of the Nein had not joined them for this particular ball, which meant that there was no one to distract them from each other, and that was perfectly fine by them.
They were far from the Dynasty here, though Essek was still careful to stay disguised all the same. Aside from Allura and Kima, they were surrounded by strangers, and the anonymity was pleasant. The music and location may have been unfamiliar but the dance that they shared was not, and he couldn’t help himself but lean in close as they twirled.
Then, something changed. Caleb let go of his waist as he spun Essek under his arm and out, one hand stretching behind him for balance. Essek followed along with the spin, turning to look back at his husband from across their outstretched arms, when he saw a familiar figure standing behind him.
Caleb must have seen the recognition on Essek’s face. He turned around quickly to find Archmage Astrid Beck, splendid in an ornate gown of pitch black and silvery blue. She took his outstretched hand smoothly and pulled him away with a sly smile.
Essek stuttered to a stop in surprise as Caleb’s hand was pulled from his only to be swept up by strong arms and rough hands. He turned instantly at the sudden intrusion to find himself chest to chest with Eadwulf Grieve, stunning in his own dark suit.
He practically froze on the spot, but Eadwulf continued to spin amicably in the motions of the waltz, dragging him along like a rag doll.
“Please, just go with it,” he said, his lilting Zemnian accent quiet as he smirked down at him. “We don’t want to cause a scene, and Astrid needs to talk with him inconspicuously.”
Essek couldn’t help but stammer as he tried to get his feet to catch up with the quick motions of the waltz. The pattern was so familiar to him that he could do it in his sleep at this point, but the surprise of the sudden trade off had shocked him into a near stupor.
“You… you could have just asked us,” he said indignantly as he used a bit of dunamancy to lift his feet off the ground and give him a second to recapture the beat. When he dropped it once more, he had the tempo and was able to waltz without issue once more.
“That was the plan, but the two of you just wouldn’t stop dancing,” the human said with a fondly exasperated smile before he removed his hand from Essek’s waist to spin him under his arm. Essek let himself be pulled into the spin, using the movement to turn his eyes out to search for his husband.
Astrid had taken the lead and was currently spinning Caleb as well about twenty yards across the way. How had they moved so far away so quickly? Caleb’s pale blue eyes caught his for a moment before they were both pulled back to their new partners. Essek however immediately turned to continue to watch his husband where he could, brows furrowed as he tried to discern if he was uncomfortable or not.
“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” Eadwulf whispered into his ear, pulling Essek close to do so. Essek shivered at the gentle brush of breath against his neck and pulled away, glancing sharply at Eadwulf as he led him in more gentle arcs.
“You are very presumptuous,” he told the scourger, wondering for a moment exactly why he was letting the two of them get away with whatever this was. Eadwulf merely huffed out a laugh and spun him faster.
“What is it she is needing to speak with him about?” Essek asked suspiciously. He knew that Caleb still felt fondly about his old classmates, but Astrid had taken over Trent’s position, and that did not bode well in Essek’s mind.
“Something to do with the Arcana Pansophical,” Eadwulf answered amicably, a gentle smile still on his face as he spun Essek under his arm once more. “I am, thankfully, only here to be on standby should she call me, so I don’t know much about what she is doing.”
“She only brought one Scourger as defense?” Essek asked with a raised eyebrow. “Must not be too risky of a mission then.”
Eadwulf gasped in fake offense.
“You wound me, Herr Thelyss,” he said dramatically before suddenly reversing the spin, pulling Essek after him and causing him to stumble into his arms. “I am a very capable individual, you know.”
“Oh, I am very aware,” Essek reassured him with a hard look as he corrected his steps. It wasn’t lost on him that he was waltzing with an assassin of the Empire. The only reason he trusted Eadwulf enough to even entertain dancing with him was because Caleb trusted him. Well, at least a little bit.
It also helped that Essek was a very capable individual himself.
“But you are also not wrong,” Eadwulf admitted as he continued to lead. “This particular mission is not an especially dangerous one. Far more political than I personally prefer.”
“Damn,” Essek said with a dejected huff. “We wanted this vacation to be free of politics.” Poor Caleb. He couldn’t help but look out into the crowd once more for his husband, worried now about the emotional strain this might cause him.
Despite the overwhelmingly thick crowd between them, he was able to spot Caleb solely because of his vibrant copper hair. His husband was speaking adamantly with Astrid as they waltzed, though unfortunately, they were too far away for Essek to get a clear look at his expression.
“I do hope that she doesn’t end up upsetting him,” he murmured, mostly to himself.
“Well, if she does, it would not be intentional,” Eadwulf said, tone somber suddenly. “Regardless… I hope that she doesn’t upset him either.”
Essek glanced over to the man he was dancing with and felt a strange pang of emotion as he saw the soft look in his dark eyes. Eadwulf was looking out across the dance floor as well, having located Caleb and Astrid too. And while yes, the look could be aimed at Astrid as opposed to Caleb, Essek couldn’t help but worry that it was his husband that the man was watching so fondly.
There were times that Essek could forget that these were not just Caleb’s old friends. They were his lovers too. But more than just that. They were his pillars of support in one of the darkest times in his life, just as he was for them.
Eadwulf glanced back at him then, meeting his eyes and giving him a smirk. Essek couldn’t help but feel himself blush at being caught staring.
“Don’t worry,” he said with a smile. “If he does end up being sad, we can comfort him together.” He added a wink after he said that and the blush that Essek could feel on his face intensified three fold.
He was going to mumble some argument, but Eadwulf suddenly spun him under his arm, too quickly for him to say anything. He pulled him back just as quickly, and Essek couldn’t help but stumble into his arms with a very indignant and somewhat undignified noise.
“Sir, you are being very presumptuous,” Essek hissed out as Eadwulf pulled him close, at least being considerate enough to support him as he got his feet back underneath him. Not that he would have to if he would just dance normally.
Eadwulf smiled at him as if he was having the time of his life teasing him. Essek had to admit that it was, infuriatingly, attractive. Not that he would ever let him know that. He simply glared at the scourger instead.
“Well, tell me to stop and I will,” Eadwulf told him as he continued to spin them together, leading them in gentle arcs now instead of the chaotic aggressive spins that he had been used before. Perhaps it was a gesture of goodwill.
Unfortunately, Essek found himself a bit too stunned and embarrassed to say anything. Eadwulf gave him a knowing smirk before looking out across the crowd once more.
“I believe that Astrid may be about done with our favorite red head,” he said then, distracting Essek quite thoroughly from the last thing he had said. He looked out as well and after a moment, pinpointed the other couple where they were slowing their dance.
“We should make our way over there,” Essek said, grateful that Eadwulf immediately complied.
As he began to lead them in the direction that Astrid and Caleb were, he sighed dramatically, just close enough to tickle Essek’s ear again, which flicked at the warm onslaught. Essek glared at him, but Eadwulf just smiled charmingly.
“How much gold do you want to bet that Caleb is going to dramatically stare after her when she leaves and get hit by some random dancing couple?” he asked, voice fond despite what he was saying.
“Caleb would know better than to stand around on a busy ballroom floor,” Essek argued indignantly, causing Eadwulf to laugh.
“Are you confident enough to bet gold on that?” the scourger asked him, “because when he was Bren, he was well known for staring morosely off in the distance at the slightest provocation, and he definitely got bowled over a lot.”
“Well, Caleb is more aware of his surroundings than that,” Essek insisted, though he couldn’t help but feel some doubt about that. His husband did enjoy staring off in thought. Surely he wouldn’t do that in the middle of a busy ballroom though.
“Either way,” Eadwulf said with a laugh, “We will be there to make sure he doesn’t get ran over.”
Essek just huffed at that, glancing over his shoulder to seek out his husband instead of responding.
Right at that point, Astrid and Caleb spun to a halt, and with intense, prolonged eye contact, Astrid lifted Caleb’s hand up to her lips to press a kiss to his knuckles. Caleb’s brows were furrowed with concern, and as she pulled away, he said one last thing, likely too quiet to be heard by anyone but the Archmage in front of him. She gave him a smile, and turned and walked away.
Caleb stood and watched her as she left, expression intensely thoughtful.
“You owe me five gold,” Eadwulf whispered into Essek’s ear right as he released his waist. Essek’s ear twitched again as he scoffed at the scourger.
“I made no bet,” he reminded him as they turned to walk the rest of the way to Caleb’s side.
They reached him quickly, and Essek was immediately at his side, hand reaching gently for his shoulder as he looked for any signs of distress.
“Chathssun, are you okay?” he asked, drawing his husband’s eyes over to him. Caleb leaned into Essek’s side immediately, nodding his head before turning to look at Eadwulf, who stood beside him still.
“It is ah, good to see you, Wulf,” he murmured. “Astrid requested that I tell you that you are free for the rest of the night.”
Eadwulf huffed, seemingly legitimately put out for a second there, before he smiled at them.
“Well in that case, how about we get some drinks?”
He looped his arm into Caleb’s, and began to lead them off the dance floor, Essek holding on to Caleb’s other arm and following behind. He would have been a bit worried, had Caleb not immediately pulled him closer as they walked, giving him a gentle smile as they went.
“And how are you, Schatz? Hopefully he was not too… rough?”
Essek felt his face grow warm, and was about to comment on it when Eadwulf laughed on Caleb’s other side.
“I think he likes it about as much as you do,” the scourger said with a smile, and now both Caleb and Essek were blushing furiously.
“You are so presumptuous!”