Chapter Text
It was not uncommon for Essek’s trance to be broken by screams. Both people who shared his bed were prone to nightmares, and he was well accustomed to comforting Caleb late in the night alongside Molly. When Molly himself woke frightened, though, Essek stayed back, wishing he could help but knowing it was neither wanted nor needed. Molly had his own partner to care for him.
That is, he should have had his own partner. Today, however, Caleb had an excess of work on his shoulders and would be staying at the Cobalt Soul with Beauregard overnight. Essek found himself the only one there to help as Mollymauk tossed and turned, tears streaming down his face, shouting in a frightened mix of Common and Infernal.
He only hesitated for the briefest of moments before placing his hand on Molly’s arm. “Mollymauk, you’re safe. Wake up, you’re alright.”
Molly’s red eyes opened wide, but his sleep-muddled words did not stop. Essek took his hand the way Caleb would and raised it in front of his face. “Wiggle your fingers for me, dear.” Molly did. “There you go, perfect. You see? You are in control. You are here, with me” —ah, when Caleb said that it carried more weight— “you are Mollymauk Tealeaf, Ice Spinner, proud member of the Mighty Nein, my dear friend. You are safe, in our home, in our bed. Can you roll your wrist for me? Perfect, just like that.”
“Essek,” Molly mumbled.
“That’s right, I am Essek. Can you tell me your name?”
“Mm… Molly.”
“You’re doing wonderfully, dear, say it again.”
“Molly. Mollymauk Tealeaf.”
“There you go, that’s you.”
“That’s me,” Molly said. Essek always hated how weak Molly’s voice sounded on nights like this. He shifted closer to Essek and buried his face in his chest, his tail looping around Essek’s waist. Essek, still unsure but desperate to provide any comfort he could, wrapped his arms around Molly and held him close. Before long he was once again fast asleep.
Essek’s trance had been nearly over anyways, and he decided to simply use his mage hand to summon a book to read while Molly took his rest. Funny—in waking hours, Molly rarely touched Essek. With every other member of the Mighty Nein, Molly was an unending storm of hugs and kisses and affectionate punches, yet with Essek he seldom went further than a hand on his shoulder. It was only fair, Essek supposed; Molly had not been present when the Nein took Essek under their wing, and he couldn’t expect Molly to treat him like he did his closest friends just because he was dating Molly’s boyfriend and sharing Molly’s bed. Still, Essek would be lying if he claimed not to long for Molly’s embrace, and for that reason he felt almost guilty for letting Molly hold him now. Would Molly want this were he not so distressed? Yet he needed this comfort, Essek knew. They could untangle these lines come morning.
In the time since Essek and Caleb’s expedition to Aeor, Mollymauk had become a constant, welcome presence in Essek’s life. Essek had spent a year wandering Exandria, always on the move, teleporting to Rexxentrum in disguise every now and then to visit his partner. At first he had been terrified of Molly during those visits; Essek had no problem with Caleb taking another partner, but even after meeting the Nein and changing so much he was still far from comfortable meeting new people, let alone a new person like Mollymauk Tealeaf. His energetic, outgoing attitude had been intimidating, to say the least, and Essek had braced himself to never connect with Caleb’s other lover. Yet as time went on Molly managed to slip past Essek’s walls just as easily as the rest of the Nein and cement his place among Essek’s dearest friends.
Then, a few months ago, Caleb revealed to Essek that in the year since he and Molly moved into their house in Rexxentrum they’d been secretly working on a project of staggering scale. In their basement, hidden beneath a rug, was a teleportation circle, its runes known only to Caleb, and now to Essek. Complex, powerful wards prevented anyone from teleporting into the house without using the circle, and protected the house and its inhabitants from all divinatory magic. Molly excitedly showed him the windows, made of a special glass that allowed one to see out clearly while blocking the view for passersby, and fitted with gauzy curtains that dimmed the bright sunlight to levels comfortable for Essek’s drow vision. He’d embroidered the edges, decorating the cream-colored curtains with small suns and moons and stars.
They’d discussed the idea of moving in together before. Essek had on many occasions expressed his dream of living with Caleb, and Caleb had agreed with equal fervor, but Essek had never thought it could be a reality. Yet with all the protections Caleb and Molly had put in place it was truly possible, at least in a sense. Though no one aside from the Nein knew a third person lived there and Essek spent most days far from the reach of the Empire and Dynasty, he was always home for dinner, and his nights spent longing for his lover's embrace were a thing of the past. It was a comfortable, if secretive, life, one that Essek would never have dreamed of as little as two years ago.
Hours passed, in which Essek, distracted as he was by the tiefling in his arms, failed to make considerable progress in his book before Molly finally woke. “Hm?” He blinked sleep from his eyes and looked at Essek, confused, before understanding seemed to dawn on him. “Oh.” He began to withdraw from Essek’s embrace. “Sorry about that, dear.”
“There is no apology needed.” Essek held him gently in place.
“Thanks, but I know this touchy stuff isn’t your cup of tea—”
“I am more than happy to provide whatever comfort I can. And” —Essek added, for some bizarre reason unknown to himself— “I am not averse to your touch, you know.”
Molly’s eyes widened. “Oh? Well in that case...” He snuggled in even closer than before. “I rescind my apology. You are going to regret this.”
Essek greatly doubted that, but he merely said “we’ll see.”
“Um. Thank you, for last night.”
“Of course, Mollymauk. You do not need to thank me.”
“But I’m doing it anyway.”
“Then you are very welcome.”
They stayed curled up that way for some time, until Molly’s restless spirit inevitably drew him from bed and Essek rose to go about his day. He had intended to pay a visit to the Stairpoint Conservatory in Jrusar today—rumor had it their library had some information relating to Essek’s studies, if only he could gain access to the archive—but it was nothing pressing, and Essek always tried to keep Molly company after his nightmares. It was one way he could help, he liked to think, to take Caleb’s place while he was at work. He found one of his unfinished knitting projects and set himself up in the living room.
Molly plopped onto the couch next to Essek—right next to Essek, their shoulders bumping together—and leaned in close. “Whatcha working on?”
A giddy smile spread across Essek’s face. He’d always assumed Molly refrained from touching him because… well, on good days Essek supposed he had simply not yet earned Molly’s trust, and on bad days Essek felt certain Molly hated him and only tolerated him because of their mutual lover. Had Molly truly been holding back for Essek’s sake? “A scarf,” Essek answered.
“Who’s it for?”
“Ah, it’s, well, it’s for you, actually.” He’d started this particular project to pass the time while he’d been staying in Uthodern, not long before Caleb finished the teleportation circle. There was a craft store near his inn, and this red yarn had stood out to him; it reminded him of Molly’s eyes. He found the color rather comforting. It had been left unfinished for months now, and he was only realizing now how telling it was that he’d just happened to pick it back up today. “If you want it.”
Molly gasped. “Of course I want it, thank you, dear.” He ran his clawed fingers over the wool, careful not to snag any of it. “Ooh, it’s so soft!”
Essek smiled at him and quickly turned back to his knitting. “I’ll have this done for you soon.”
“Or,” Molly said, “you can come eat breakfast with me. Or lunch, I suppose.”
Essek blinked at him.
“I know you usually get straight to work without food, but it’s almost two o’clock, you need to eat something. Come on, I’ll scramble us some eggs.” He grabbed Essek’s arm and pulled gently. Essek rose to his feet and put away his knitting; never had he been so happy to be dragged around. They ate, and the rest of the afternoon passed in much the same fashion; Essek worked on his knitting while Molly flitted about, playing with the cats, working with his tarot deck, and, whenever he was near Essek, finding some excuse (or, quite frequently, forgoing an excuse altogether) to touch him. When Caleb returned from work he found Molly sprawled across Essek’s lap doodling in his sketchbook, while Essek made a valiant effort to focus on his knitting rather than his companion.
“Hallo,” Caleb said, a hint of a question in his voice. Essek felt a blush crawl across his face.
“Hi, love,” Molly said, not moving from his spot. “How was work?”
Caleb hung his coat on the rack and turned back to them with a look as if he was trying to solve a puzzle. “Eventful and exhausting. We found some more leads on Ludinus, I can tell you over dinner if you’d like. But enough of that, how were you two today?”
Molly giggled, his tail’s lazy wagging causing it to brush against Essek in a most distracting manner. “I had a lovely day.”
“As did I.” Essek smiled down at him, but quickly grew embarrassed and looked back at Caleb. “I decided to stay here today, take some time to relax.”
Caleb smiled all-too-knowingly at him. “That’s wonderful, I’m glad you two had a good day.” He put down his bag and collapsed on the couch on top of both of them.
“Caleb!” Essek laughed. Molly’s tail whacked Caleb in the shoulder.
“Make room for me, lieblinge,” Caleb playfully demanded. “I need a nap.” They rearranged themselves, Caleb resting his head on Essek’s shoulder and Molly lying across both of them, his head in Essek’s lap now as he, too, nodded off to sleep. Essek deliberated for some time before allowing himself to run his fingers through Molly’s hair. Molly sighed contentedly and pushed his head gently into Essek’s hand, and Essek, the only one left awake, couldn’t deny the rush of excited joy it caused him.
Later, while Molly was bathing, Caleb approached Essek with a look that, for all its kindness, made Essek want to teleport to Emon on the spot. “So… you and Molly?”
Essek laughed nervously. “Yes, well, apparently Molly has been so… non-tactile with me because he thought I would be uncomfortable with it. But I am not, and I told him so, and—” He couldn’t hold back an embarrassingly sweet smile. “Well, you saw.”
“He makes you very happy.”
“He does.” Essek fidgeted with the sleeve of his robe. “I… Caleb, I think I may be falling for him.” The words spilled out from him like water from a sundered dam, uncontrolled and unbidden; it was a confession several days in the making, only bolstered by the last twenty-four hours.
Caleb beamed at him. “I think you two are very cute together.”
“We aren’t even together!”
“Well, perhaps you should change that. Tell him how you feel.”
Essek scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Why is that ridiculous?”
“In what plane of existence could he possibly feel the same way?”
“He spent his afternoon in your lap, Schatzi.”
“He is a very affectionate person, you know this. But if he was attracted to me, don’t you think he would have, I don’t know, made that clear by now?”
“You asked him not to, if I recall. He is waiting for you.”
“Ah.” Caleb was right, of course. When Caleb and Molly first started dating, Essek had explained to Molly that his attractions did not form before he knew a person well, and that he truly could not say whether he would be interested in dating Molly too. Molly, ever understanding, had taken it perfectly, and now Essek wracked his memory for signs of interest in his response. What he wouldn’t give for Caleb’s perfect recollection.
“There is no rush,” Caleb said. “And I will not interfere unless you ask me to. But consider it.”
Essek doubted he would be able to consider anything else until this infatuation ended. It had to stop eventually. Didn’t it?
“Hello, darlings!” Molly entered the room wearing nothing but a towel and a breathtaking smile. Essek prestidigitated his hair dry, and Molly bowed his head in thanks; their little routine, so practiced it had become unremarkable, made Essek’s heart flutter after his conversation with Caleb. Molly began to change into his pajamas, and Essek turned away respectfully, same as he always did. Molly did not mind if Essek looked, he knew, but, well. Certain elements of Essek’s noble upbringing could not be unlearned so easily, and now—images flashed before him, bare lavender skin, vibrant tattoos, toned muscles—now more than ever Essek felt it was best to avert his eyes. Unfortunately, that put his line of sight directly on Caleb’s knowing smirk. Essek buried his blushing face in his book.
When Essek’s bedmates laid down for sleep beside him, Molly’s arm reached over Caleb and landed on Essek’s forearm. Tentatively, he took Molly's hand in his, and Molly squeezed it before sinking into sleep.