Chapter Text
[Caleb]
“So wait, you’re telling me that the other version of me fucking killed Zeenoth and took his place?” Beau asked, gesturing widely, causing the wine in her glass to slosh dangerously.
“Killed everyone in the Zadash Cobalt Soul line of authority, actually, as well as several in the Rexxentrum Cobalt Coul” Caleb corrected, “though it was my understanding that she started with Zeenoth.”
“Holy shit,” Beau said.
“What about me, what about the other me?” Jester asked from her perch on Fjord’s lap, half-full glass of milk perched precariously between her legs. Fjord had been eying it carefully for the past few minutes, ever since Jester had first situated it there.
“She was known as the ‘Sapphire of the South,” Caleb said, looking to Essek beside him to see if he wanted to join in with any comments of his own. Essek seemed content instead to rest his chin on Caleb’s shoulder, one arm looped through Caleb’s arm and the other carefully holding his own wine glass. It was Essek’s third, which was what Caleb attributed his sudden clinginess to; Caleb couldn’t find a reason to complain, himself, and the rest of the Nein had been so engaged in their retelling of their counterparts in the other universe to give them any shit, though the glint in both Jester and Veth’s eyes meant they wanted to say something quite badly. It wouldn’t have been noteworthy, had Caleb initiated the contact, but the rest of the Nein knew that Essek was sparing with his affection, even with Caleb.
The rest of the Nein were arranged around Veth’s admittedly somewhat cramped living room—what was comfortable for two adult halflings and a child did not easily fit their entire number, but thankfully, none of them were much opposed to sitting close. Fjord and Yasha took up the bulk of Veth’s couch, with Jester perched on Fjord’s lap and Beau sprawled on top of Yasha, one leg crossing over top of both Jester and Fjord. Caduceus was seated on the floor in front of Jester and Fjord, back resting against the arm of the couch. Yeza and Veth were seated in the middle of the floor, Veth leaning heavily on Yeza. Caleb and Essek had taken a chair that was almost certainly meant for one person, though they had managed to wedge themselves beside each other, though over the night Essek had slowly but surely ended up less on the chair and more on Caleb. Kingsley had been flitting from spot to spot all night, but was currently leaning himself up against Caleb’s legs, his own legs sprawled out across the floor. Caleb was currently overwhelmed with the warmth that came from a combination of the alcohol and finally being around his friends again.
Also, perhaps the feeling of Essek’s chin on his shoulder and one of his legs in his lap.
“And she seemed to have taken over for Marion and was entertaining guests at the Lavish Chateau. Except instead of singing, her thing was more…” Caleb continued, trailing off as he tried to find a way to describe it.
“Humiliation, both sexual and not,” Essek said, uncharacteristically.
“Ja, that,” Caleb agreed over top of the rest of the group’s various reactions, Beau snorting loudly and Veth spraying a bit of her wine as she was caught mid-gulp.
“That’s fantastic!” Jester said with a little clap of her hands.
“What?” Fjord asked, “no, no it’s not.”
“Come on, Fjord, that’s fun,” Jester said.
Fjord blinked. “Is that what you’re into?”
Jester cackled loudly enough to drown out Beau’s own grumbled, “keep it to the bedroom.”
“What about me?” Fjord asked, desperately trying to leave this topic of conversation.
“No, I wanna hear more!” Jester said as she and Fjord grappled slightly. Beau’s leg was jostled off in the process, and she took the opportunity to get up and refill her glass, leaning over to kiss Yasha on the temple as she ducked into the kitchen.
Once the scuffle had died down, Caleb said, “the other Fjord didn’t particularly want to help us, so I don’t know as much about him.”
“Oh?” Veth asked.
“He tried to kill us,” Essek said.
“Ja, twice,” Caleb agreed.
“Oh,” Fjord echoed Veth. “Did you…?”
“No, no,” Caleb said quickly, “the first time we fought he ran away once he realized the fight wasn’t going his way, and the second time we were able to damage the ship enough that he couldn't pursue us.”
“What a coward, Fjord,” Veth commented.
“Hush, you,” Fjord said, then continued, “let me guess: he was more interested in serving Uk’otoa.”
“Got it in one,” Caleb said.
“Was Avantika with him?” Jester asked, her tone dripping with acid.
“Er, ja,” Caleb said, “he was serving as her First Mate.”
“Oh, wow, Fjord, you weren’t even a Captain,” Veth cajoled him.
“And they were definitely banging,” Jester said, “this other universe sounds less fun now.”
“It was pretty terrible, but the other versions of you were all quite helpful, though,” Caleb said, “Well, most of you.”
“Let me guess, you didn’t even try to befriend me,” Kingsley said, “or, I suppose he would have been…Lucien?”
“From what we could tell, Lucien was actively operating out of Shady Creek Run and had never worked for Derogna, and so never went to Aeor or found Cognouza,” Caleb said.
“And if you’d brought him with you, you might have created a whole new problem for them to deal with, by introducing Lucien to all of that,” Beau said, reentering the room with her re-filled drink and plopping down on Yasha’s lap.
“We didn’t feel the need to chance it,” Essek agreed.
“So, when you entered Aeor in that world, who was with you?” Yasha asked.
“Ah,” Caleb said, “Caduceus, Beau, Veth, Jester, Yasha, and the other version of Essek.”
“Wait, I thought you said that the other Essek was like, evil and shit?” Beau asked.
“No more evil than ours was when we met him,” Caleb said with a shrug, “no offense.”
“You should probably mean some offense, truthfully,” Essek responded.
“Yeah,” Veth and Beau said at the same time.
“Regardless, he came around in the end, even though we hadn’t set out to bring him along,” Caleb said.
“And how did that happen?” Fjord asked.
“Uh,” Caleb commented.
Essek took another sip of his wine.
“It seems I am weak to his charms in every universe,” Essek said from over the top of his wine glass.
Caleb bit his lip as he felt his face flush, facing the guffaws of his friends.
“Oh my gods Caleb, did you seduce the other Essek?” Jester yelled.
Caleb sputtered, and said, “no, nein, I did not—”
“Knowing Essek, Caleb was probably just nice to him once,” Beau said. Caleb found himself biting his lip again. “Holy shit, that’s really what happened, huh?”
“I, well, basically, ja,” Caleb said.
“Y’all are gross,” Beau said with a grimace.
“I think it’s sweet,” Yasha said with a gentle smile.
“Well, yeah, it is, but it’s also gross,” Beau said, immediately agreeing with her girlfriend. Yasha just gave her a knowing smile.
“I think it’s nice that they’re finally fucking,” Jester said.
“You don’t know that,” Fjord said.
“Fjord, Essek is in Caleb’s lap. They are totally fucking,” Jester said, giving Fjord a stern look.
“So is Kingsley!” Fjord said, gesturing towards where Kingsley was leaning his head onto Caleb’s knees.
“That’s different!” Jester said.
“Also, I would totally fuck him if he wanted,” Kingsley said with his own shrug, “but I have to agree with Jester here, he’s definitely got his own thing going on right now.”
“I am still here,” Caleb said, as if that would mean anything.
“I do not believe they care,” Essek told him, echoing his own thoughts.
“I know,” Caleb said with a sigh. He couldn’t even bring himself to be disgruntled, as fond as he was of this group.
“Essek definitely wouldn’t get in anyone’s lap if they weren’t basically married, so they’re definitely boning, that’s all,” Jester continued to make her case as to the relationship status of Caleb and Essek.
“That’s not—” Fjord stammered, and Caleb noted that his face had taken on the ruddy brown look it acquired when he felt particularly embarrassed.
Caduceus was giving Caleb and Essek a steady look; Caleb knew he wasn’t trying to determine whether the two of them were in a relationship, as Caduceus was much too perceptive not to have noticed. Essek had already told Caleb that he and Caduceus had once had a talk about Essek’s own lack of interest in that sort of relationship, at least in a general sense. Caleb had inferred, since then, that Essek had mentioned that Caleb seemed to be the exception to that rule to Caduceus, which would make interpreting the sudden shift in their interactions much easier.
No, Caleb imagined Caduceus was trying to suss out whether this conversation was making either of them uncomfortable. Caleb looked to Essek to see how he was taking the sudden interest in their relationship, only to find that Essek was already looking at him.
“Are you alright with this?” Caleb asked him, quietly. He knew Kingsley would undoubtedly hear them, but there wasn’t much he could do about that.
“I knew that we would get heckled eventually,” Essek told him, shifting slightly so that his chin no longer rested on Caleb’s shoulder and it was easier to talk, “I’ve already prepared myself mentally.”
“How so?” Caleb asked.
Essek held up the mostly empty wine glass to where Caleb could see it.
“I’m sure I’ll be embarrassed later,” Essek commented, “but currently I find that it’s worth it.”
“You don’t need to get wine drunk to sit on my lap, you know,” Caleb told him. He distantly registered Kingsley’s snort, telling Caleb that he was indeed listening.
“Perhaps,” Essek said, grabbing Caleb’s still mostly-full glass and taking a sip, “but I’m still getting used to all of this.”
“Friends who heckle you?” Caleb commented, allowing Essek to take his glass from him. Caleb had barely drunk much himself, having no real preference for wine and that being the only alcohol the Brenattos kept in the house. He’d have to keep track of Essek to make sure he wasn’t overdoing it, but so far nothing Essek had done was much worse than anything Beau and Yasha did regularly. He would likely be extremely embarrassed by his behavior later, but Caleb doubted he would come to regret it. Some small part of Caleb thought that Essek liked the idea that he could be affectionate around the Nein, that it spoke of the care he had for them, and how much he trusted them.
“Well, yes,” Essek responded to Caleb’s question, “but also this.” And then he wrapped his arms around Caleb’s neck and pressed a kiss to Caleb’s mouth. Caleb couldn’t help the noise of surprise he let out, though he had enough wits about him to return the kiss.
Even though Essek had had some to drink, he still had enough presence of mind to keep the kiss short and sweet, pulling away quickly but maintaining eye contact. Caleb couldn’t bring himself to look away, even as he heard Veth and Jester hooting and a wolf-whistle from Beau.
“I can’t believe it took you two emotionally constipated wizards getting thrown into another reality to finally get your shit together,” Beau said with a groan. Caleb reached out a hand and flipped her the middle finger.
“I think it’s very romantic,” Yasha said with her characteristic soft smile. She had her arms wrapped around Beau’s middle and was resting her own chin on the human’s shoulder.
“Thank you, Yasha,” Essek said, breaking eye contact with Caleb to look at her.
Caleb took that as a sign he could also look away, though he wanted to keep looking at Essek, wanted to drink in his warmth at his side and the way he was sitting so close that he could feel it when Essek’s ear twitched in response to a joke, or the fact that the wine had left a constant, dark flush across his face, something he could only see because of how close the drow was sitting.
Looking at the rest of the group, he immediately registered Jester’s shit-eating grin.
“See, I told you that they were fucking,” Jester told Fjord.
“I want out of this conversation,” Fjord said to the ceiling, “do you want more milk, darling?”
“I think I would rather you stay right here,” Jester said, fidgeting in his lap in such a way that had Fjord’s eyes wide open, making direct eye contact with Caleb and pleading for an out. The flush seemed omnipresent on his face now.
As Caleb considered how he might be able to help his half-orc friend, his thoughts were interrupted by Jester’s voice, an odd phenomenon, considering he was currently looking right at her and she was currently deeply engrossed in efforts to embarrass her boyfriend.
HEEEYY CALEB! WE JUST RESCUED CADUCEUS’S FAMILY! THEY’RE VERY NICE AND IT’S SAD HOW LONG THEY WERE TRAPPED HERE. CADUCEUS WANTED TO THANK YOU AGAIN!
Caleb smiled softly, realizing now that this was another of the other Jester’s intermittent Sendings, keeping him up-to-date with their status and telling him how much they missed them.
“ Good to hear from you, Jester ,” Caleb responded, a statement that had the entire room turning their attention back on him. Jester looked around quickly, as if trying to figure out if she’d said anything to Caleb just then. “ I’m glad Caduceus found my map helpful, and that you rescued his family. Hope you’re well, we miss you .”
As Caleb felt the spell fizzle with the end of his response, he heard Jester yell, “Caleb!”
“Ja?” Caleb asked.
“Was that the other me? Did you just talk to the other me?” Jester asked.
“Ja,” Caleb said, “she’s been keeping us up to date with their goings on in the weeks since we got back to our universe.”
“You can do that?” Beau asked.
Caleb shrugged. “Sending can reach across planes, and it seems magic treats these separate universes as different planes. Though I think we’ve noticed a slightly higher chance of failure when speaking to the other universe than when trying to speak to someone in another plane.”
“That’s so fucking cool,” Jester said, “Wait, can you send a message to other Jester from me?”
“Ja, I should be able to, assuming it doesn’t fail this time,” Caleb said.
“I thought you couldn’t use Sending?” Fjord asked.
“I couldn’t, but then Essek let me copy it out of his spellbook. Being able to contact each other is important when it’s just the two of us in Aeor,” Caleb responded, “I usually keep it prepared now, just in case.”
“Cool, cool, Caleb, please, send a message to other Jester,” Jester said, frantically.
“Okay, what do you want me to say?” Caleb asked, placidly.
That seemed to stump Jester. “Um, okay. Tell her I think she’s really fucking cool but that also you’re my Caleb and to remember that,” she said after a moment’s thought.
“Could you tell her to tell the other Beau that she’s my hero?” Beau asked.
“If I have enough room in the message, yes,” Caleb responded.
“Okay okay,” Jester said, nodding, “Fjord, count the words.”
“Of course,” Fjord said.
Caleb smiled and mimicked the motion he’d seen Essek do, the times that he’d seen Essek cast the spell—though he knew he could put his own spin on it, there was something pleasant about using the somatic elements from Essek’s form of the casting.
“ My Jester needs you to know that you are ‘really fucking cool’, and my Beau wants to tell your Beau that she’s her hero ,” Caleb said, watching as Fjord wiggled one more finger in the air, indicating that he had one more word in the message. “ Ja. ”
There was a moment as they all sat there, and Caleb wondered if this would be one of the messages that didn’t make it to the other universe.
The worry seemed to be unfounded, however, when Jester’s voice entered his mind again.
AWWW CALEB, HAVE YOU BEEN TALKING ABOUT US? YOU DO LIKE US! TELL HER SHE’S FUCKING AMAZING. ALSO, MESSAGE OUR ESSEK SOMETIME, HE’S LOVESICK NOW.
Caleb couldn’t help but bring a hand over his mouth to cover the chuckle in response.
“What did she say?” Jester asked.
“Yeah, dude, we know you have perfect memory so you can repeat the full message for us,” Beau said.
With a look at Essek, Caleb said, “The other Jester said, ‘Awww Caleb, have you been talking about us? You do like us. Tell her she’s fucking amazing,’” Caleb trailed off a bit, and Essek raised an eyebrow at him. He sighed, and finished the message, “‘also, message our Essek sometime, he’s lovesick now.”
“Fuck, man, you’re a heartbreaker, aren’t you?” Beau asked.
Caleb didn’t have time to respond before Essek said, “yes, he is.”
Caleb cut a little glance at Essek.
“The other Essek told me, while we were traveling through Eisselcross, that he had considered trying to take my place and come back here with you, but that he didn’t follow through with the idea because he knew it was unlikely to work,” Essek commented, taking a sip out of the wine glass he had pilfered from Caleb.
“Wait,” Veth said, “He seriously told you that?”
“He did,” Essek said, “and then he told me to get off my ass and make a move already.”
“You hadn’t mentioned this,” Caleb commented.
“He told me in confidence, so it felt weird to tell you,” Essek said, “but ultimately, it’s nothing I haven’t heard from half of the Nein.”
“He’s right,” Veth agreed, “Pretty sure he’s received the shovel talk from everyone here but Yeza and Kingsley.”
“No, Kingsley gave me one too,” Essek said, ears flicking in embarrassment.
“To be clear, it was half shovel talk, half proposition,” Kingsley said, “I wanted to cover all my options.”
“I’ve been meaning to, actually,” Yeza said, prompting all eyes to turn towards him. The way he froze up at the attention, it was clear why he’d been letting everyone else do the talking.
“ You wanted to give him a shovel talk?” Beau asked.
“Caleb is the godfather to my son, and now he’s dating the man who kidnapped and imprisoned me,” Yeza said, “it seems only fair.”
“I love you,” Veth said, leaning over and smothering him with kisses.
At that point, Essek’s voice popped into Caleb’s head, prompting him to look questioningly to his side to make sure it wasn’t his Essek, whispering in his ear.
The other Essek’s voice was quiet, like he was whispering.
Please pay no mind to Jester. I am fine. You do not need to keep in contact, you’ve already done more than enough for me.
Caleb blinked several times as he thought about the best way to respond to such a message.
“ I’m well aware of how Jester is ,” Caleb said, quietly, though it nevertheless drew Essek’s attention to what he was saying, “ I’m glad to hear that you are still with them .”
A glance at Essek made it clear that Essek knew who had sent the message. Caleb inclined his head to Essek, who responded simply by leaning over and sticking his face into the crook of Caleb’s neck.
“ Essek took your advice. Danke for your care ,” Caleb finished. His Essek breathed out deeply, right into the spot where his neck met his shoulder.
The following silence indicated that the other Essek did not intend to continue this conversation, or otherwise was unable to.
“I don’t suppose this is a sign that you’ve had too much wine,” Caleb asked.
“Hardly,” Essek told him, the word muffled by the fabric of his shoulder, “only a sign that I have had enough to feel comfortable doing this in front of the rest of the Nein.”
“Sounds like the same thing to me,” Caleb said.
“It’s good,” Essek said, “all of it. I am just a little too in my head about it, sometimes.”
“You enjoy the teasing?” Caleb asked.
“It’s nice to be included,” Essek said, and the flustered twitch of his ears was enough to give him away.
“Don’t worry, I think Jester is just getting started. I imagine she’s just about to suggest party games,” Caleb said.
“Like?” Essek asked.
“Oh, there’s several. They’re usually a bit silly, but it’s just fun to be doing something as a group,” Caleb said.
“I look forward to it,” he told Caleb.
“I’ll remind you of that statement later when Jester is pressing you on what your favorite sex positions are,” Caleb said.
There was a brief silence from Essek before he said, “I suppose I should not expect anything less from her.”
“No, you shouldn’t. It’s why we love her,” Caleb said.
“True,” Essek agreed, “I look forward to eating my words later.”
Caleb brushed a kiss across the top of Essek’s head, the curl of his hair mussed from having been pressed against the side of Caleb’s head.
“It’s nice to be back,” Caleb murmured.
Essek hummed in agreement, and Caleb turned his attention back to their friends, who had transitioned into a vigorous four-way argument about a recently published book that had been making the rounds through the Nein. Caleb settled in to listen to the discussion and predict who he would end up agreeing with once he eventually read the book.