Chapter Text
---
Essek felt his eye twitching. He knew that sharing an apartment had been a bad idea but this was too much for him, too much for his pride.
When he moved to sunny Nicodranas three months ago, his mother had made sure he knew that whatever money he had was it , no more allowances, no more help from her Den, as long as he insisted on living outside of the Dynasty and pursuing a heretical life of research instead of the grand plans she had laid out for him.
It wasn’t a dire situation exactly, he had some savings to fall back on from his previous political career. Still, at the time he thought, better to share a home and save that for a rainy day. He knew pursuing his research in dunamancy while teaching there would barely pay his bills, anyway. Maybe he did it out of spite to his mother, too.
Essek looked online, and after deeming most of the ads absurd, caught one that seemed good.
Responsible Roommate Wanted (pets allowed)
Male professor (early 30’s) looking for a responsible housemate to share my 2 bedroom apartment with. Renter must be LGBT friendly, magic friendly, mindful of personal space, and respectful. About me: I'm easygoing, clean, and non-smoking. I do have a cat familiar, named Frumpkin, he is very cute. I am a certified wizard with a masters in transmutation, and I teach at Quay University. If you like to read, we will get along just fine.
The place seemed cozy enough, decorated in a homey way that Essek wasn’t used to but had no problems with. The strong suit of the ad was that every room in the apartment seemed to have bookshelves, not always full but clearly being filled with a growing collection. That just felt like a good sign. It also had all of the utilities he wanted, and the man was a wizard too, and a professor at the same university he would be teaching at.
Essek felt that it was unlikely he would gain a friend, as these things were not his strong suit, but surely this man would understand his pursuit of knowledge? In the worst case scenario, it seemed, they could stay out of each other’s business.
Now, as he sat looking at his laptop, he sighed loudly, irritated that he ever thought this would be an acceptable arrangement. He had left his computer open in the living room, a mistake certainly, while he went out in a hurry. Once he came back, it was clear that his work had been tampered with.
Essek hadn’t had enough time to meet the man he lived with fully. They met once, so Essek could visit the apartment, and immediately the drow knew all his assessments were correct - the red haired, soft spoken man that greeted him seemed quiet and polite. He admitted to being a little shocked at how handsome he was, with his bright blue eyes and rugged look, but that would only add to the experience Essek thought.
The apartment too was what he expected. The shelves had enough space that he could fill with his own books, and when he inquired if he might use the space for that too, the red haired human seemed pleasantly surprised, allowing him to display his books there too. The furniture wasn’t new or sleek, but everything was clean, and very cozy. Essek felt it was right to run from the aesthetics that his extremely conservative family considered good, anyway.
He moved in right away, and before he could get to know the other man, he explained in his soft zemnian accent that he would be gone for two months. He would go on a field trip to the Savalirwood paid for by the Cobalt Soul with numerous other professionals, to study the magical anomalies of the region.
Essek felt impressed.
Then, he left, and Essek felt a little lonely, even if slowly more at home in the space.
And then, two months later and just as Essek had adjusted to living on his own ultimately, the handsome man returned. Caleb Widogast came back like a storm, without even a text to announce it. He opened the door and got in, pulling his trunk through the door and quickly taking off his shoes and scarf and coat and then stopping like a statue and looking at Essek in shock, as if he forgot he lived there, now.
“Ah! H-hallo …?”
Sitting at the dining table with his laptop open, Essek felt embarrassed, as if he was an intruder. He felt his long ears twitch, “Widogast, ah, welcome back, sorry if I... startled you?” His sentence ended in a confused question and he kicked himself for the awkwardness.
Caleb's eyes widened and it seemed he finally remembered who it was that lived in his home now. Before they could talk any more, Essek declared that he had some errands to run and slipped out the door and into the day, feeling completely graceless, and forgetting his laptop open on the table.
---
Caleb felt like an asshole. He had a really good memory, usually. But all he could think about as he went home were the new discoveries at the site he had been sent to, and the new friendships and contacts he had made there. Somehow, that cursed, purple ashen forest had attracted some of the best minds he had ever met, and some brighter ones he already knew. It wasn’t surprising, since the expedition had been called forth by Expositor Beauregard Lionett of the Cobalt Soul, a long-time collaborator in Caleb’s research and a close friend.
She had received a call from a family of graveyard keepers and clerics of the area, the Clays. The curse had already been known for a while, but now if they didn’t find out how to help, it seemed a great forest would be lost and the curse could possibly consume other areas in proximity to it. Beau had assorted a team of people she knew, or knew of, including Caleb as an expert in transmutation, and his dear friend Veth, an accomplished chemist.
She had also called a blue tiefling from Nicodranas to team, Jester Lavorre, a mischievous cleric that would aid in their trip should they get hurt on their way there. Another addition was Fjord, a half-orc experienced in perilous travels that had a connection to the Clays and the area through his faith. Beau hired a bodyguard for their trip too, a strong Xhorhassian barbarian with a gentle voice, Yasha. Caleb was sure Beau had ulterior motives for hiring her, but she was extremely capable and good company to boot. So, the trip was set.
He had set up the roommate ad a little before that, and he wasn’t expecting to get an answer so soon, and one so reputable at that. The Rosohna-born dunamancy professor was part of a notorious exchange program between the Dynasty and Nicodranas that hoped to strengthen the bond between the two nations. He recalled feeling fascinated by the man’s field as he read his response to the ad, and after a few emails and texts he moved in right away. They saw each other only twice or thrice before his trip came up, though. Caleb decided this man seemed trustworthy enough, his references extremely good, and decided to take off as intended, his more valuable items locked away magically in his room.
The group took a plane to Rexxentrum, at the heart of the Empire, and had to finish their trip in a van that Fjord and Beau took turns driving. Soon, even that couldn’t reach their destination, and they continued the trek with a small two day journey to the heart of the forest, finally reaching the famed Blooming Grove graveyard and temple that would house them for the time. The Clays were not only extremely welcoming, but had a lot of native knowledge on the area. In particular, the serene cleric named Caduceus Clay seemed intent in seeing that this trip went well and that the group was successful in their experiments. The team worked diligently to collect specimens and research, while also bonding in their down time. It was, maybe, one of the best trips of Caleb’s life.
It would be a long process of research, even after their field trip, and once the time came, the group decided to keep their headquarters divided between Nicodranas and Rexxentrum, and to continue their efforts into sorting out the curse.
So it really slipped his mind that there was someone else living in his home, and when he finally looked at the living room he was caught by surprise.
Simply put, there was a beautiful drow with light lavender eyes, looking extremely at home sitting at Caleb’s table. Caleb saw the man’s elven ears twitch and grow darker in color as he panicked, babbling something or other until his mind caught up to him and he finally remembered his roommate. Of course he had made him uncomfortable enough that he slipped away in a hurry, eager to get out of the situation.
With a sigh, Caleb eyed the abandoned computer on the table. He didn’t mean to pry, not at all, but something caught his eyes. Soon, he was highlighting bits of the text and adding comments on what he thinks is a truly fascinating merge between his specialty and the other wizard’s. He left the computer after an hour, deciding to go to Veth’s for dinner before he had to face the other man.
---
He was back, and the man seemed to be gone. Essek wondered how long this game of cat and mouse would play between them.
The worst thing was, in Essek’s opinion, that all the annotations the Empire-born wizard made on his poor google docs file seemed to be extremely interesting venues to investigate. He felt torn between giving Caleb Widogast a hard time for prying into his private matters, and thanking the man despite his prideful nature. His eyes twitched again.
Deciding that if Widogast could simply come into his laptop and write whatever he wanted, he too could use the man’s library filled with transmutation tomes to try and find answers for the questions he left unsolved on his little comments. Being careful, he selected three books that could maybe answer some of the questions that were raised, and began reading through them, becoming more engrossed as time went by.
What must have been hours later, Essek heard the tell tale sound of the keys on their door. Good, he thought, let him see me here on the sofa with his books, see how he likes that.
This time, however, it seemed that Caleb Widogast remembered him.
“Hallo , ah, Thelyss.” Essek barely lifted an eyebrow from his spot on the sofa, with one of the heavy books on his lap. Caleb cleared his throat as he came in carrying what seemed to be leftovers from wherever he came from. Setting them neatly on the table, Essek noticed the tremble on the red headed man’s hands and wondered if taking his books was too much.
“Ahem. I wanted to apologize if I was- well… rude earlier…”
With a sniff, Essek raised his chin. “No need. I am sorry I startled you.” They seemed at an impasse, Caleb unsure of what he should say, and Essek looking at him defiantly.
Noticing the books on the table and on Essek’s hands, though, Caleb’s eyes lit up. “Oh! Have you been… ah, researching transmutation?” The human wizard seemed really excited by this, which was the opposite of Essek’s plan. So he tried to fluster the man again.
“Well. It seems I should, since my work is clearly lacking, according to some.”
He doesn’t even have to end his line of thought for the other wizard to grow bright red. The look isn’t bad on him, Essek considers, with a smug smile.
“I… Oh meine Götter …”
“I had to do some light reading on the matter. I’m sorry if I had to disturb a few books in your collection for that… well, surely you understand.” Check-mate. The human would notice the tone of his voice and see how rude he had been, and Essek would ‘win’, as simple as that, he thought childishly.
Caleb’s eyes lit up again. Essek’s twitched.
“Oh, do not worry about that! Please feel free to peruse! A-and I am sorry I pried into your work, truly, it is such a fascinating topic and, well, I thought maybe you would be interested in the study of temporal transmutation, since it seemed to connect well with the points you raised in your, ah, your work.”
Essek looked at the man in bewilderment.
“... That I should not have meddled into, I apologize again” Caleb smiled bashfully at this and Essek felt his throat suddenly dry.
The red haired human sat down on the couch, next to Essek. Not politely away, not mindful of personal space, no, close enough that Essek could smell sandalwood from the man. He pointed to a phrase in the open book Essek held.
“-Ah, there, that is a good reference when we are talking about anchoring a point in one's history. There is really no problem if you want to read some of my books, as long as you do it with care it is fine. And I am open if you need any help, or, ah… consultation, ja ? After all, it is my specialty.”
In this proximity, Essek could see how clear the man’s eyes were, a bright blue that reminded him of the light of the Luxon itself. Uh oh. Turn him down immediately , a voice in Essek’s mind commanded.
“I am… well. I am grateful, I might- well if you are up for it then, surely we could… ah… collaborate. I did have some questions, yes.”
He felt himself flush at his bumbling words. But it was pointless to pretend he could hold his own against that truly open man that seemed to actually know what he was talking about.
“Tolle ! Are you hungry? I brought some stir fry from a friend’s…”
Essek felt his stomach complain after finally hearing about food. He resigned himself to nodding, incapable of pretending to be any more dignified before Widogast. In the end, he sat down on the couch with the reheated meal, while Caleb talked to him about his annotations animatedly.
Soon, he felt like a spectator at a particularly incredible show. Caleb’s theories were fascinating and the man must be loved by his students if he teaches this passionately, his eyes sparkling in determination. Soon, they were volleying ideas, talking for a long while, until Caleb came to the major point he made in his annotations of Essek’s work.
“What I mean is that, if successful, expansion to designating anchor points beyond one's own timeline may be possible, since temporal transmutation is theoretically possible.”
Essek interjected, truly interested now. “Ah, pardon me. But I am very curious to know what you think would be the source of this particular experiment, what would power it?”
Widogast looked bashful again. “That I am afraid I do not know. I believe that in the studies of dunamis your experts have found incredible sources of energy that power chronoturgy, ja ? But that is where I fall short, I have no knowledge in that field…”
Nodding, Essek considered the man. He was incredibly intelligent and charming, and after spending a lifetime dealing with snobbish teachers and academics, he felt bad for trying to teach Widogast ‘a lesson’ and falling into the same category he abhorred. It seemed the other wizard was honestly open for discussion, and still very apologetic at snooping. He tried a polite smile.
“I will be giving a talk on dunamis and it’s potential, the day after tomorrow. It’s not open to anyone except the pre-approved students and researchers of the field, as most studies in dunamancy tend to be, but I can get you in… If you’d like.”
“Oh... I would love to go. Thank you.” Caleb seemed excited, his voice hushed. Essek had to avert his gaze to avoid another flush from blooming on his cheeks.
“It is no problem. If we are to exchange theories then it is best we know more about each other’s field, yes?”
Essek sent Caleb a text right there, with the details for the talk, so he wouldn’t forget, and saw Caleb’s eyes widen as he looked at his phone. “Ach . It seems we talked for some time, Thelyss. It’s pretty late… ” He started picking up the books and putting them back carefully on their empty spots.
“It is of no consequence to me, but I wouldn’t like to keep you longer. I will… er, maybe we could continue this another time?”
Caleb agreed and Essek retired to his room with his laptop in hands. That night, he couldn’t help but try to listen to the other man’s sounds through the walls. It seemed he wasn’t alone anymore.
---