Chapter Text
"I have already told you, my friend. This is not necessary."
"I know that. Will you get into the tub or not?" Caleb didn't need to see Essek's face to know exactly how he had his chin stubbornly raised. The drow had primly turned his back on him after instructing Caleb to disrobe and get into the gently steaming bath he'd prepared for him, and turned away he remained, with his arms crossed in front of his chest, if the position of his shoulders was any indication.
" Ja, ja , alright." Curious and unable to contain his amusement, Caleb smiled to himself as he took off his clothes and stepped into the tub. The temperature of the water was perfect, like it always was in the Tower, and there were enough bath salts to obscure anything below the surface. After a crazy month and a joyful day of celebrations with the Mighty Nein, it was exactly what his exhausted self needed. Realizing Essek had not turned back yet, he said, "You can look now."
"Ah, thank you." When Essek faced him once more, Caleb realized that his arms had not been crossed over his chest like he'd originally thought. He had been rolling his sleeves up. The other wizard approached the tub with careful steps, as if ready to freeze or bolt at a moment's notice, but when the short distance was breached, he leaned onto the edge of the tub, gingerly sitting on it. "Is this to your liking? The bath, I mean."
He tilted his head to the side as he looked at his Kryn colleague. After returning from their expedition in Aeor, Caleb had settled down in a little house in Rexxentrum to teach at Soltryce, while Essek had gone back to roaming around, doing whatever it was that he did when he was not with the Nein. It seemed that the air of mystery he maintained around his business was not so much of a Shadowhand thing as an Essek thing, because none of them had managed to find out exactly what it was, no matter how hard they tried. His secret affairs had added a partially torn edge of an ear and a small scar on one of his cheekbones to the longer scar that split his lip obtained in a frozen cavern up North, and yet he still carried himself with an air of weightless grace—even when his feet were firmly on the floor. But the bonding experience of exploring the ruins of Aeor had left Caleb with an understanding of him; and at the moment, even if he concealed it pretty well, Essek was nervous.
"It is, thank you."
Unnoticed by the other wizard, he breathed in to gather some courage before speaking, "I, ah, would like to wash your hair, if you are amenable."
Caleb could not keep his surprise away from his face, but he schooled his expression back into a more neutral one. " Ja , of course."
Essek nodded. "Good."
After that, there was silence. None of them spoke while Essek wet Caleb's hair with a water pitcher, nor while he slowly massaged hair soap into the long ruddy strands, fingernails scraping gently against his scalp. Caleb closed his eyes, Essek's ministrations almost being enough to make him fall asleep.
"Please do not take this as a complaint, it is far from that, believe me," he murmured. "But why are you doing this?"
"Washing your hair?"
" Ja. "
No answer for a few beats. Then,
"It is an important part of taking a bath."
"Essek."
Again, silence. Opening his eyes, Caleb turned his head to look at him. He was about to apologize for asking when a second answer came,
"I hear doing nice things for one's friends is a good, healthy way of showing you care."
"Ah, you have been spending some time with the Clays," he guessed.
"I have," he agreed, glancing down at his soapy hands. "It has some significance in Kryn culture as well, an act of service reserved for the ones closest to us. But the overall intention is much the same."
"I see." He smiled softly. Gods, his heart already felt warm and full after reuniting with their friends, but this , this was different.
For the next seconds, the only sound in the chamber was that of water being poured over Caleb's hair as Essek started rinsing him off.
"I have been thinking," the elf said.
"What about?"
"You told Veth about how you have been helping that child, the one whose parents lived in Felderwin, acclimate to living at the Academy. It was not the first time you have done something like that."
Caleb frowned, failing to see what that had to do with anything. " Ja ."
"And today you took care of everything. I know the cats do most of the work, but the Tower is still your spell, your energy and intent," he added. The other wizard nodded, trying to gauge where Essek was going with this. "I guess I, ah, I have been thinking about what we agreed upon early during our foray into Aeor."
Caleb blinked, not sure what the elf was referring to, but then it clicked; everything hinged upon the word care . On their first day delving into the frozen caverns that gave way into the ruins of the ancient city, they had encountered another pair of those giant ice-breathing lizards. While they had been occupied with one of them, the other had attempted to sneak up on him, only foiled by a well-placed Gravity Sinkhole. The move, though, had left Essek unprotected against the attack of the one in front of them, but Caleb had been fast enough with his cat's cradle and phosphorus, and the creature had gone up in flames before it could close its jaws on the drow's lithe frame. We take care of each other , they had said afterwards while patching themselves up.
Suddenly, he understood what Essek was not saying.
"So you are taking care of me?"
White lashes fluttered as Essek nodded, bashful.
"I would like to. For as long as I am able to—for as long as you will have me."
"Oh." Good one, Widogast .
"You do not have to answer now, I apologize if it was too presumptuous of me to—"
"No, no. I would like that. I would like that very much, schatz . With one condition."
It was Essek's turn to blink. "What is it?"
"That we follow what we said in Aeor. We take care of each other."
A smile bloomed in Essek's face, his eyes lighting up, warming him more than any bath could. "Of course, Caleb Widogast. We take care of each other."