Work Text:
It had been a few days since Essek's faked arrest, and he had started to breathe a little easier. No one had come chasing him from the dynasty and the scourgers hadn't appeared in a while either, meaning he had hopefully shaken most of his followers off his tail for the time being and that his plan had worked how he had expected.
He knew this wouldn't last forever and his plan was only a temporary one: the body double he had used would appear to die whilst in custody and hold up in most forensic investigation to be him, but no corpse would remain after too long. Essek Thelyss would be dead to the dynasty, and he would be free from active searching, but could still never show his real face and would forever be proclaimed as a traitor to the Dynasty.
However, as he made his way up to a small cosy house in Rexxentrum, smoke billowing form the small chimney and plants haphazardly placed in the flower boxes by the window he could really bring himself to care. Dynasty memories were long, but the lives of his only friends would be short in comparison, and he intended to make the very most of them, one redheaded wizard in particular.
Shaking away some last minute nerves, Essek dispelled his disguise, knocked on the door, and did not need to wait long until it opened.
Caleb Widogast had changed since Essek had seen him last.
It was not just looks, although his red hair had grown longer and beard slightly grown in. It was also his posture, he seemed more comfortable in his place and his skin - less ready to teleport out of any situation at a moment's notice. At seeing Essek, Caleb's face broke into a huge smile, and ran forward to embrace Essek into a hug and pull him inside.
He seemed comfortable, and for one terrifying minute Essek was almost worried to appear and risk bringing danger back into his life and shattering it again. But he gently reprimanded himself, thinking of Reani's wise words all too long ago, and relaxed into the embrace. He let himself he hugged, and hug back, and realised it really had been all too long.
Leaving the hug, Caleb stepped back to look at him.
"Essek! It is so good to see you! How are you? I thought you were up north, is everything okay?"
His face started to morph into worry, preempting a problem that may have caused Essek to flee.
Eager to reassure, Essek hastily replied.
"Nothing is wrong Caleb, however I should probably explain some things to you - would we be able to sit?"
"Ah! Of course, I will get some tea, if you just head into the study I will join you shortly?" Caleb pointed In the direction of a room down the hall which appeared to have books keeping the door ajar.
Essek nodded and headed into the cosy study and sat down on one of the many armchairs around. When Caleb returned with two steaming mugs of a delicious smelling tea, he took a seat opposite.
Essek cleared his throat.
"So I should probably preface this all by saying that this isn't a permanent solution but it should last for a while..."
Looking at Caleb's worried face, he continued on to explain what he had done - the decoy, the plan and that for the first time since they had met, he was almost a free man.
Caleb simply stared in shock.
"Caleb? Are you okay?" Essek leaned forward to touch Caleb's wrist.
Startled out of his reverie, Caleb looked properly at Essek, and joined their hands. "Do not think I am not delighted with this news, this is just a lot to process." He started to smile, "And forgive me, but my mind is already running ahead of us with all the possibilities we now have."
He paused, and looked away with slight nerves.
"I, um, don't know if you've thought about where you're going to stay but... Would you like to stay with me for a while?"
Warmth bloomed in Essek’s chest. "That sounds delightful Caleb, I would love to if you'd have me."
Caleb grasped Essek's wrist just a little tighter, and looked at him with all the love Essek did not deserve. "Always, Essek, always."
He knew they still had much to discuss, and had been dancing around the prospect of them ever since they had met. But, for the first time in a very long time, Essek felt ready to explore it all, with Caleb by his side.
It was a couple days later, and the wizards were curled up on Calebs' old patchwork sofa Jester and Veth had "found" for him as a housewarming present years ago. Essek was going through his scarce notes from Aeor, and Caleb was marking homework, occasionally glancing over at Essek’s work to help fill in the gaps.
This had become somewhat a tradition for them, after dinner and a small glass of wine, Caleb would grab his schoolwork and Essek his notes, and they would quietly sit in each others company until one of them fell asleep. Human biology not on his side, it was usually Caleb, at which point Essek would pack up their things and gently float Caleb up to his room and put him to bed if he didn't wake in the process.
Essek had made remarkably little progress, the mystery of the fragment of dunamancy in Aeor still baffled him, and he ached for more answers. But some notes were better than nothing, and he was determined to get any information out of them.
After a few hours, Caleb shifted and placed his marking on the floor beside him. He turned to Essek and lent into his shoulder.
"Essek?" he asked gently.
"Yes Caleb?" He replied.
"I was just wondering how many nights we are going to do this and not acknowledge the elephant in the room, so to speak."
Suddenly thrown into a panic, Essek started thinking about his behaviour over the past week, if there was any indication of his feelings for Caleb he had given away. he was just about to speak, and must have looked flustered before Caleb gently touched his arm and spoke.
"You know, you don't have to wait for me, you can always just ask if I want to return to Aeor." He looked at Essek with what could only be described as a shit-eating grin.
Wait. What? Essek's brain took a few seconds to catch up to him before he calmed down. Aeor, or course. They had promised each other a trip after all, and Caleb must've seen Essek reading his notes as a hint, nothing about his feelings at all.
Feeling somewhat like a fool, he collected himself and lent back into Calebs' touch. "Well Caleb, do you want to return to Aeor?"
Caleb laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound Essek had ever heard. "When can we leave?"