[Caleb looked up from the book that he had been bent over at the sound of Essek stepping inside. Before he even turned to look at the other man, the soft scent of apples and cinnamon caught his attention, registering at the back of his mind with a breathless ache of home.
Then he turned and saw Essek in full, the flour smeared across a cheek, the tray in his hands. His eyes went wide as his thoughts raced to put together what he was looking at, the pieces clicking in together all at once.
So the only response at all Essek would get for a long moment was Caleb staring at him in wonder as tears gathered and fell from wide blue eyes.]
[ He set the tray down on the desk beside Caleb, and could feel his own wrist tremble in such a way that bespoke of a fair bit of nerves, and then he took a half a step back and surveyed the plate that held the slightly misshapen tarts full of character if not beauty.
And then he saw Caleb looking up at him, with tears and suddenly his heart understood gravity's insistence as his lungs and heart took a slamming nosedive down into his solar-plexus in what could only be construed of as panic. Were they really.. he did not know how to interpret those tears. ] They are not perfect, I know.. they are not the pretty ones that are made at the Stone Dragon.
[ He covered half of his face with his apron, for he was still wearing an apron. Pike had assured him that the tarts would be perfect, had said that they tasted perfect, but he could not get over the aesthetic of it. ]
Pike ah.. told me that they tasted alright-- if you are not put off by what a mess they look?
They are better than perfect. You are better than perfect.
[Perfect was an illusion. The tarts, Essek, they were real. Warm and sweet and earnest and Caleb stood before closing that half step that Essek had taken away from him to pull the drow into his arms, to nuzzle and then kiss at a floured cheek.
Another nuzzle, another kiss, urging him to drop the apron.]
They smell like home used to. I'd nearly forgotten...
[But oh the memory had come rushing back.]
I am going to eat the entire tray if I am not stopped. But first I need to kiss you or I will burst.
[ And Essek was almost ashamed of himself for the sudden urge to cry; he had never before been beset by such a confusing miasma of differing feelings-- of the urge to cry out of relief, but also the subtle fear that he would fall short when all he wanted to do right now at this moment was make Caleb smile. He was quickly drawn into Caleb's arms, and he certainly not stop him. LIkewise, the apron fell from his clasped hands as he was kissed and assured.
His arms wrapped around Caleb's waist and he looked up into those eyes, and to his own unstopped vulnerable self, he was teary and that was going to further track flour and turn it into sticky salt on his face. ]
I will not stop you but also I would like you to eat one, just to you know make sure that you like them.
[ He wanted to promise Caleb that he would get better on them, but he could not quite get the words out especially when Caleb looked so perfectly accepting of all of his flaws. It was such dissonance to be with someone who did not expect perfection of him ] I would also like a kiss.. very much.
[ Let's be real, to soothe the nerves that he himself had riled up ]
[That vulnerability was a gift itself, just as precious as the tarts. Those arms came around him and Caleb tightened his hold around his lover. Another kiss to his cheek even as the apron fell away.]
Good.
[Then kissing it would be. He found those lips and kissed him, gentle and achingly tender. He followed it up with another. Then another.]
Every time I think it is not possible for me to love you more than I already do, I am proven wrong. This is... the sweetest thing that anyone has done for me.
[A pause and he added, amusement creeping into his voice.] And you are adorable, smudged and disheveled. I want to eat you up as much as the tarts.
[ Kiss after kiss which he accepted. Each pitter-patter of lips like rain against his own and such molecular tenderness and he was caught, the breath managing to leave his lungs for greener pastures, but he was glad that Caleb loved them, even more so that the Transmutation wizard loved him and was that not a miracle in and of itself.
If Caleb never stopped kissing him, he'd have no complaints whatsoever.
When he spoke next, he was breathless and charmed all the same. He would never know how much this bore resemblance to Caleb's own parents, that they were shaping up to give Caleb a piece of home back, and the apple tarts were only an base component in the algorithm of a shared life between two flawed men. ]
I may have to sit on your lap and feed you a tart piece by piece, so that you actually get around to eating one. [ Because he was already imagining Caleb Widogast eating him up which caused him to grow unseasonably warm, which could likely be felt as it spiked in the skin underneath Caleb's lips. ]
[Oh, oh now that was an idea, wasn't it? It meant that he could have his cake and eat it too, so to speak. So he tightened his arms around Essek before taking a step back and dropping himself back into his chair. He pulled the drow with him, directly into his lap because that was too good a notion to pass up.
From this new position, he had to lean up just slightly to steal the next kiss.]
This sounds like the perfect idea, ja. I do want to taste them.
[And here he was, bright eyed and eager. Feed him, Essek.
It hadn't occurred to Caleb yet that he was finding himself swept up into a romance that was so much like his parents' had been, warm and strong, as natural as each breath he took into his lungs and just as vital for his continued existence.]
[ Essek was a prisoner, but not an unwilling one. He knew that if he attempted to struggle out, Caleb would release him.. the thing was, Essek did not want to and so backwards they both went until Essek was perched on Caleb's lap, effectively sitting between Caleb and his reach to the desk. That meant that there was no choice but for Caleb to be fed from his fingertips.
He smiled against the kiss, a smile that showed his teeth, perfect and straight aside from those sharpened incisors, and the smile reached his eyes while he steadied himself and allowed for more sweet kisses from down below. ] Very well then, Herr Widogast..
[ There was that telling plum flush that rose high on his cheeks as he reached over to take up a tart and then effectively picking up one. Thankfully, the tart was cool enough not to burn but it still was a bit drippy as it managed to leave a cinnamon apple trail against his palm; he tried to ignore that as he broke off the corner of one. ] If you do not like it, you will tell me.. I do not want you to pretend that they are delightful when they really are not, promise me?
[ He was offering the piece then, holding it up and in perfect nomming range of Caleb's lips. ]
[Of course Caleb would have released him at even the slightest hint of protest, but he was happy that none came. Essek in his arms and in his lap was a delightful situation, and the Zemnian wizard was quite pleased with himself at the moment. Even more delightful was that smile on Essek's face.
He managed a faintly sheepish smile of his own as the drow called out the fact that yes, even if they had tasted like cinnamon flavored charcoal, Caleb would have happily eaten every last one because sentiment was far more powerful in him than he would have wanted to really admit to himself.]
Ja, I will. Not to worry.
[He did not hesitate to take that piece from Essek's fingers, deliberately catching at those fingertips with his teeth just briefly before he leaned back to actually chew and taste the pastry.
There would be no need for pretense of anything though -- and no faking that widening of his eyes before they softened into a smile.]
They are wonderful. They taste like a memory. Thank you, Liebling. This is...
[The sweetest thing he can remember someone doing for him. He lifts a hand to catch Essek's wrist in his own, bringing that hand close so he can help with that sticky trail of apple cinnamon, dragging his tongue along skin slowly and deliberately.]
[ The widening of the eyes told the truth, the soft smile and he found himself melting into relief against Caleb's torso as he rested his forehead against the side of Caleb's head while he hoped that his shoulder was not digging into his fiancé's collarbone; Caleb enjoyed them, that had been the goal of course, to give Caleb something from memory; and he closed his eyes. ]
You deserve this, I wanted to do something for you and I promise that you will have a lifetime filled with apple tarts.
[ That was when he felt Caleb's hand close around his wrist and then his hand was moved-- he expected a kiss to the wrist and instead-- the slow drag of tongue against his palm, his eyes darted open and a surge of heat propelled through him at the slide of tongue though he could not stop himself from watching it, feeling the faint sticky trail of saliva. ]
You are very helpful yes, I suppose this means you want another bite?
I do not deserve you, but I am not fool enough to let such a treasure go.
[Caleb would try to be worthy of being loved like this, and would try to love Essek as he deserved. And Essek deserved so much. This man who had taken a small fragment of the childhood memories that Caleb kept so carefully, preciously tucked away in his mind and brought it to him in the flesh. Warm and sweet and tasting like simpler times.
He couldn't hide the mischief that lit his eyes as he was fully aware Essek was watching him as he licked that drip of sugared syrup clean.]
I do try to be a helper, ja. And yes. Please. Sehr bitte mit Zucker obendrauf. [Pretty please with sugar on top. He thought he was clever.]
[ Essek knew that he had to work on Caleb's self-worth, but that nonchalant way of speaking consistently surprised him, especially when he saw how everyone within the Nein adored the other wizard, the enrichment that he brought to everyone's life on account of just being. His eyes were soft as he regarded Caleb and then after breaking off the next piece of tart, two fingers went just underneath that chin and then he tilted the other man's head so that he could look up into his eyes.
Brows furrowed, the drow was trying not to be distracted by thoughts of whatever else Caleb could lick off, especially with that mischief held like flames within those eyes. ]
You are being an incorrigible brat.
[ He said this simply before he pressed the apple tart to that mouth, to lightly shove while he tsk'd in a manner most chastising. ] Of course you deserve me, there is simply no doubt that you do; you have domesticated a war criminal and that is a feat in and of itself. [ He smirked then and it may have been ridiculous with the flour splattered in key positions on his visage. ]
If we had our own kitchen, you could be a helper for me.. I would wear only an apron for you; that is if you are a good boy.
[Caleb agreed in that moment before he was wonderfully rewarded for said bratty behavior by that next bite of tart. He only smiled as he chewed, though his expression softened as Essek spoke.]
Have you been domesticated, mein Sternenlicht? I wonder if such brilliant, beautiful creature can really be so easily tamed. [A gentle tease before he found himself reflexively tightening his arms around Essek at that thoroughly mind-shattering image.]
...I can make us our own kitchen. I need one minute and my components pouch. [And then, because really, those words spoke to something in him like a match had been struck to dry kindling.] I will always be a good boy for you.
He had to think about that question that had been poised to him by Caleb Widogast. He had not been domesticated, not really. There would always be a part of himself that kept at a distance from others, especially strangers. Instinct to look down at them and from afar like a cat who was judging their existence silently.
But around Caleb he was different. ]
I do not think tamed so much as I happen to have a person of my own that I will allow to pet me?
[ He used that opportunity to brush his lips against Caleb's jawline, feeling the warm rough scratch of facial hair while he tightened his arms around those shoulders. ] I think that I am a one person cat however, I do not want any other person except for you.
[ He would deign to have pets from Jester and those that he would allow to sit with him in comfortable silence, but as far as intimacy-- Caleb was the only one he wanted. ] I am intrigued though by a kitchen of our own, Chathtiu.
[Well, he could certainly live with that, with being the only person that got to see this more intimate side of Essek, to be the only one that his beautiful fiance truly purred for. Was it surprising that he'd found himself drawn to a man with such feline tendencies? Nope, not in the slightest.
His eyes fluttered as those lips brushed at his jaw.]
Then I am a very lucky person, ja? To have charmed such a precious cat.
[He found himself not wanting anyone other than Essek, after all. And he'd certainly been in less... monogamous relationships before, but there was something different about this. The love, the draw, that he felt for Essek Thelyss was consuming, flooded his whole heart and he knew that the drow was the only one he wanted, would want.
A quiet laugh and he looked up to him.]
A kitchen, a dining room, whatever suits you, Liebling. We'll have all the privacy in the world. And every sort of apron you could imagine.
[ Perched as he was on Caleb's lap, he shifted only a little bit so that he could straddle Caleb and then he settled there, all the while he was fingering the edge of his apron strings in a very suggestive manner while he raised one elegant brow. So perhaps he did not look entirely seductive with the smudge of powdered sugar on his cheek, but there was a playfulness about him that was not given to just anyone.
If Caleb did not want himself-- this cat would likely walk all over him, especially with those dainty drow feet, with those nails painted a starry solar-system black to compliment the purple tones of his skin. ]
I will need an assistant in the kitchen, and perhaps if you are very good, I will give you a special treat to get your mouth on.. [ And Essek's cheeks flushed even as he attempted to keep himself composed and seductive, the darker shade of plum on his cheeks though were the only giveaway that he had made a very intriguing innuendo. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2024-01-07 03:35 am (UTC)Then he turned and saw Essek in full, the flour smeared across a cheek, the tray in his hands. His eyes went wide as his thoughts raced to put together what he was looking at, the pieces clicking in together all at once.
So the only response at all Essek would get for a long moment was Caleb staring at him in wonder as tears gathered and fell from wide blue eyes.]
Apple tarts.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-07 03:49 am (UTC)[ He set the tray down on the desk beside Caleb, and could feel his own wrist tremble in such a way that bespoke of a fair bit of nerves, and then he took a half a step back and surveyed the plate that held the slightly misshapen tarts full of character if not beauty.
And then he saw Caleb looking up at him, with tears and suddenly his heart understood gravity's insistence as his lungs and heart took a slamming nosedive down into his solar-plexus in what could only be construed of as panic. Were they really.. he did not know how to interpret those tears. ] They are not perfect, I know.. they are not the pretty ones that are made at the Stone Dragon.
[ He covered half of his face with his apron, for he was still wearing an apron. Pike had assured him that the tarts would be perfect, had said that they tasted perfect, but he could not get over the aesthetic of it. ]
Pike ah.. told me that they tasted alright-- if you are not put off by what a mess they look?
no subject
Date: 2024-01-07 03:54 am (UTC)[Perfect was an illusion. The tarts, Essek, they were real. Warm and sweet and earnest and Caleb stood before closing that half step that Essek had taken away from him to pull the drow into his arms, to nuzzle and then kiss at a floured cheek.
Another nuzzle, another kiss, urging him to drop the apron.]
They smell like home used to. I'd nearly forgotten...
[But oh the memory had come rushing back.]
I am going to eat the entire tray if I am not stopped. But first I need to kiss you or I will burst.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-07 04:12 am (UTC)His arms wrapped around Caleb's waist and he looked up into those eyes, and to his own unstopped vulnerable self, he was teary and that was going to further track flour and turn it into sticky salt on his face. ]
I will not stop you but also I would like you to eat one, just to you know make sure that you like them.
[ He wanted to promise Caleb that he would get better on them, but he could not quite get the words out especially when Caleb looked so perfectly accepting of all of his flaws. It was such dissonance to be with someone who did not expect perfection of him ] I would also like a kiss.. very much.
[ Let's be real, to soothe the nerves that he himself had riled up ]
no subject
Date: 2024-01-07 04:34 am (UTC)Good.
[Then kissing it would be. He found those lips and kissed him, gentle and achingly tender. He followed it up with another. Then another.]
Every time I think it is not possible for me to love you more than I already do, I am proven wrong. This is... the sweetest thing that anyone has done for me.
[A pause and he added, amusement creeping into his voice.] And you are adorable, smudged and disheveled. I want to eat you up as much as the tarts.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-07 04:49 am (UTC)If Caleb never stopped kissing him, he'd have no complaints whatsoever.
When he spoke next, he was breathless and charmed all the same. He would never know how much this bore resemblance to Caleb's own parents, that they were shaping up to give Caleb a piece of home back, and the apple tarts were only an base component in the algorithm of a shared life between two flawed men. ]
I may have to sit on your lap and feed you a tart piece by piece, so that you actually get around to eating one. [ Because he was already imagining Caleb Widogast eating him up which caused him to grow unseasonably warm, which could likely be felt as it spiked in the skin underneath Caleb's lips. ]
no subject
Date: 2024-01-07 05:23 am (UTC)From this new position, he had to lean up just slightly to steal the next kiss.]
This sounds like the perfect idea, ja. I do want to taste them.
[And here he was, bright eyed and eager. Feed him, Essek.
It hadn't occurred to Caleb yet that he was finding himself swept up into a romance that was so much like his parents' had been, warm and strong, as natural as each breath he took into his lungs and just as vital for his continued existence.]
no subject
Date: 2024-01-07 09:50 pm (UTC)He smiled against the kiss, a smile that showed his teeth, perfect and straight aside from those sharpened incisors, and the smile reached his eyes while he steadied himself and allowed for more sweet kisses from down below. ] Very well then, Herr Widogast..
[ There was that telling plum flush that rose high on his cheeks as he reached over to take up a tart and then effectively picking up one. Thankfully, the tart was cool enough not to burn but it still was a bit drippy as it managed to leave a cinnamon apple trail against his palm; he tried to ignore that as he broke off the corner of one. ] If you do not like it, you will tell me.. I do not want you to pretend that they are delightful when they really are not, promise me?
[ He was offering the piece then, holding it up and in perfect nomming range of Caleb's lips. ]
no subject
Date: 2024-01-08 01:42 am (UTC)He managed a faintly sheepish smile of his own as the drow called out the fact that yes, even if they had tasted like cinnamon flavored charcoal, Caleb would have happily eaten every last one because sentiment was far more powerful in him than he would have wanted to really admit to himself.]
Ja, I will. Not to worry.
[He did not hesitate to take that piece from Essek's fingers, deliberately catching at those fingertips with his teeth just briefly before he leaned back to actually chew and taste the pastry.
There would be no need for pretense of anything though -- and no faking that widening of his eyes before they softened into a smile.]
They are wonderful. They taste like a memory. Thank you, Liebling. This is...
[The sweetest thing he can remember someone doing for him. He lifts a hand to catch Essek's wrist in his own, bringing that hand close so he can help with that sticky trail of apple cinnamon, dragging his tongue along skin slowly and deliberately.]
no subject
Date: 2024-01-08 01:57 am (UTC)You deserve this, I wanted to do something for you and I promise that you will have a lifetime filled with apple tarts.
[ That was when he felt Caleb's hand close around his wrist and then his hand was moved-- he expected a kiss to the wrist and instead-- the slow drag of tongue against his palm, his eyes darted open and a surge of heat propelled through him at the slide of tongue though he could not stop himself from watching it, feeling the faint sticky trail of saliva. ]
You are very helpful yes, I suppose this means you want another bite?
no subject
Date: 2024-01-09 03:18 am (UTC)[Caleb would try to be worthy of being loved like this, and would try to love Essek as he deserved. And Essek deserved so much. This man who had taken a small fragment of the childhood memories that Caleb kept so carefully, preciously tucked away in his mind and brought it to him in the flesh. Warm and sweet and tasting like simpler times.
He couldn't hide the mischief that lit his eyes as he was fully aware Essek was watching him as he licked that drip of sugared syrup clean.]
I do try to be a helper, ja. And yes. Please. Sehr bitte mit Zucker obendrauf. [Pretty please with sugar on top. He thought he was clever.]
no subject
Date: 2024-01-09 04:40 pm (UTC)Brows furrowed, the drow was trying not to be distracted by thoughts of whatever else Caleb could lick off, especially with that mischief held like flames within those eyes. ]
You are being an incorrigible brat.
[ He said this simply before he pressed the apple tart to that mouth, to lightly shove while he tsk'd in a manner most chastising. ] Of course you deserve me, there is simply no doubt that you do; you have domesticated a war criminal and that is a feat in and of itself. [ He smirked then and it may have been ridiculous with the flour splattered in key positions on his visage. ]
If we had our own kitchen, you could be a helper for me.. I would wear only an apron for you; that is if you are a good boy.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-10 02:08 am (UTC)[Caleb agreed in that moment before he was wonderfully rewarded for said bratty behavior by that next bite of tart. He only smiled as he chewed, though his expression softened as Essek spoke.]
Have you been domesticated, mein Sternenlicht? I wonder if such brilliant, beautiful creature can really be so easily tamed. [A gentle tease before he found himself reflexively tightening his arms around Essek at that thoroughly mind-shattering image.]
...I can make us our own kitchen. I need one minute and my components pouch. [And then, because really, those words spoke to something in him like a match had been struck to dry kindling.] I will always be a good boy for you.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-10 02:26 am (UTC)He had to think about that question that had been poised to him by Caleb Widogast. He had not been domesticated, not really. There would always be a part of himself that kept at a distance from others, especially strangers. Instinct to look down at them and from afar like a cat who was judging their existence silently.
But around Caleb he was different. ]
I do not think tamed so much as I happen to have a person of my own that I will allow to pet me?
[ He used that opportunity to brush his lips against Caleb's jawline, feeling the warm rough scratch of facial hair while he tightened his arms around those shoulders. ] I think that I am a one person cat however, I do not want any other person except for you.
[ He would deign to have pets from Jester and those that he would allow to sit with him in comfortable silence, but as far as intimacy-- Caleb was the only one he wanted. ] I am intrigued though by a kitchen of our own, Chathtiu.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-11 03:47 am (UTC)His eyes fluttered as those lips brushed at his jaw.]
Then I am a very lucky person, ja? To have charmed such a precious cat.
[He found himself not wanting anyone other than Essek, after all. And he'd certainly been in less... monogamous relationships before, but there was something different about this. The love, the draw, that he felt for Essek Thelyss was consuming, flooded his whole heart and he knew that the drow was the only one he wanted, would want.
A quiet laugh and he looked up to him.]
A kitchen, a dining room, whatever suits you, Liebling. We'll have all the privacy in the world. And every sort of apron you could imagine.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-11 04:00 am (UTC)If Caleb did not want himself-- this cat would likely walk all over him, especially with those dainty drow feet, with those nails painted a starry solar-system black to compliment the purple tones of his skin. ]
I will need an assistant in the kitchen, and perhaps if you are very good, I will give you a special treat to get your mouth on.. [ And Essek's cheeks flushed even as he attempted to keep himself composed and seductive, the darker shade of plum on his cheeks though were the only giveaway that he had made a very intriguing innuendo. ]