Chapter Text
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Five years later
“Caleb, is that you?”
Caleb sighed happily as the soft voice reached him from the kitchen. He toed off his shoes close to the door, arranging them neatly close to the black mules that Essek had been favoring these days. His coat went off next, on a hook, along with his bag.
He entered the kitchen quietly, coming up behind the lithe, familiar figure that stood at the counter, looking at his laptop and checking the oven. Essek was, again, wearing an apron on top of his simple black shirt and leggings. Scandalous. Caleb snaked his arms around him, receiving a huff for his troubles.
“ Ja , honey, I’m home,” he sang, playfully into his partner’s shoulder.
Essek turned to face him, rolling his eyes, though a small blush could already be seen on the tips of his ears. “You enjoy this far too much, don’t you?”
Of course he did. Their life had been quite a whirlwind not long ago, since Caleb had managed to open a case against Trent Ikithon, along with Beauregard and the help of the Cobalt Soul. To his surprise, Astrid and Eadwulf had assisted too, in the end, becoming witnesses in the case. For a year Essek supported him through the recounting of his past trauma, and the stress of the trial. He was there through sleepless nights, and through days Caleb couldn't get out of bed, always offering comforting words and soothing touches.
Now, after Ikithon had finally been sentenced, Essek had taken time off, a sabbatical, to reorganize his research and re-think its direction. It meant a lot of teleporting around, visiting different libraries and universities around Exandria, and getting in touch with other experts. It was work, even though it was at a slower pace, but it was so good to finally see Essek taking time for himself. The glint in his eyes when he learned something new, the excited smile he had on whenever he shared his findings with Caleb, the heated touches they shared whenever Essek came back from a trip. Yes, Caleb enjoyed it a lot.
It also meant that, sometimes, Caleb would come home to their cozy, newly acquired house in the outskirts of Nicodranas after a hard day at Quay U, to find the drow absorbed in impossibly domestic activities, such as cooking in an yellow apron with small pink roses on it (a gift from Jester, of course), while he checked his emails on the side.
It was adorable.
“ Ja . You’re adorable.” he said, planting a chaste kiss on Essek’s lips.
He got a raised eyebrow for his troubles, that mellowed out with another kiss, a little deeper this time. Essek’s hands found Caleb’s shoulders and he took his time, sighing against Essek’s lips when he pulled away.
“Here, I have something to show you,” said Essek, turning to his laptop. He opened up one email, moving it so Caleb could read.
It was an invitation to a congress, some sort of event in which Essek would be given a panel, or something like that. He scanned the entire thing, turning back to Essek.
“Sounds interesting…?”
“Go back to the first line, love.”
He used two fingers on the pad to scroll upwards, searching for the first line before he saw what was bothering his partner.
“Dr. Essek Thelyss-Widogast?”
Essek crossed his arms, looking bewildered at Caleb, though his cheeks flushed a pretty violet.
“They think we’re-”
“Married?”
“Married!”
Caleb took another long look at Essek. This was unlike him. Under normal circumstances, Essek would simply email back with a correction, surely. These didn’t seem to be normal circumstances, though. He was jittery, twitching ears and flushed cheeks betraying his otherwise cross look, and Caleb could smell Apfeltarte in the oven.
“I- I mean, how ridiculous, no?”, the elf started weakly, “How could they presume such a thing, and to not even fact check!”
“It is unexpected.” Caleb said gently, brushing a lock of white hair that had grown a little too long behind a pointed ear. His pause was long enough for Essek to squirm under his gaze. “Did you like it?”
Sometimes his honesty seemed to take Essek by surprise, but tonight it seemed the elf was counting on it, exhaling almost immediately, though he still looked embarrassed. “... Yes.”
“Okay” Caleb said, smiling. “I like it too.”
He hugged Essek again, accepting the kisses the man planted on his face gladly. Had they just agreed to get married in some sort of weirdly indirect fashion? It seemed so.
“You know,” Essek started, a little more confidently, “If you don’t propose to me, Jester will be really disappointed in you.”
Caleb had to laugh, “Will she? I don’t suppose she knows what ring I should buy you too?”
Essek shrugged nonchalantly, “I’m sure she can make an educated guess. She has a good eye.”
“Well then, I’ll make sure to ask her. Can’t have my husband walking around with tacky jewelry, ja ?” he said slowly, kissing Essek’s jaw in the process. He shivered against him before bringing Caleb down for another kiss.
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