#because of the inherent difficulty of writing interesting 'life after happily every after' dynamics

[mllekurtz]

WIP WEDNESDAY

A few days ago (September 26) was the anniversary of my first Shadowgast fic, a better man than me. I was determined to celebrate, and then life happened! Still, I'm proud of that fic, and also grateful, because it led me into a wonderful fandom full of lovely people, some of whom have become dear friends.

So I decided to post the first paragraphs of chapter 1 of the sequel, set a year after the ending of a better man, as a WIP Wednesday treat! The wizards are in Port Damali, trying their best to live a normal life despite--well, you'll see.

(tagging @floatysparrowthing and @kmackatie who are kindly betaing this, and also @annundriel and by extension @marsastronomica because this is the wip I was telling you about!!)

~

The Hidden Pearl, a little shop of enchanted curiosities and books in the Beaded Alley, is — as the name suggests — a lovely, quaint place. The selection is a bit generic, but Caleb is sure there are worse ways to make a living. Port Damali is a place for merchants more than scholars, but there’s always some traveller in need of magic items, or looking for an odd bit of literature.

And Caleb is, most of the time, happy to help.

The half-elf woman in front of him knows what she’s looking for. She even looks a bit bored as she explains to him the exact kind of enchanted spyglass she wants. As Caleb brings out and puts back one spyglass after another, none of them meeting her increasingly detailed requirements, he can almost hear Pumat’s voice. He wonders where the actual owner of this shop got all his patience when he had to deal with him and the other chaotic chuckleheads who called themselves the Mighty Nein.

When the bell above the door rings, announcing the arrival of another customer, Caleb thinks that he might just kiss them. He glances at the door and fights back a smile at the irony of the situation, because the man who just entered wouldn’t in fact be opposed to that.

Essek’s usual disguise is fairly transparent, if one knows where to look. The small, tan-skinned human has sapphire-blue eyes, and his hair has the same length and texture as the real deal, but it’s dark brown instead of white. Not enough people in this city are familiar enough with the Mighty Nein to make the connection to Jester’s eyes, Beau’s skin tone or Veth’s hair colour, but Caleb is, and he does.

It wasn’t easy to persuade the monks at the Cobalt Soul to let Essek leave the Archive annex where he’s been living for the last year. He’s supposed to stay tucked away in there, as a sensitive political figure, both for his protection and so the Soul can keep a close eye on him. And as far as cages go, that’s a properly gilded one, with a stunning view of the sea and unlimited access to the Soul’s library. Still a cage, though, and Caleb can’t blame the man for rattling at the bars and missing freedom.

While they were all waiting for the other shoe to drop, though, weeks passed, then months, with the Dynasty either failing to do the math and realise Essek was still alive, or deciding he wasn’t worth the trouble. No Soul operative could probe deep enough to ascertain which it was, but the fact that Essek’s lot didn’t seem to be discussed at all was encouraging in a ‘no news, good news’ kind of way.

So the former Shadowhand of the Kryn Dynasty was allowed a daily walk, provided he Disguised himself and returned within an hour.

As he turns towards his half-elf customer again, Caleb lets his thoughts wander. The first and only time they broke the Soul’s curfew, there was a very unimpressed monk waiting for them back at the Archive. They hadn’t said anything, they just levelled a disappointed, put-upon look at the both of them. The Disguise spell had faded at some point during the night, and neither of them had cast it again. The night was warm, the vintage excellent and the company lovely, and they were both inebriated on the wine and each other. Being treated like unruly teenagers by a monk looking half Caleb’s age had been hilarious and humiliating at the same time. They thought it best not to stretch those boundaries again.

Essek’s Disguise hasn’t altered his height nor, as far as Caleb can tell, his clothes, which are the ones he wears in the Archive: a sleeveless blue surcoat over a white shirt with wide, billowing sleeves, turquoise trousers, loose and comfortable but tight around the ankles, and black shoes that look more like slippers, embroidered with shiny silver thread. It’s as far from Dynasty fashion as it can be, and he doesn’t look out of place in Port Damali, but then again nobody really does, in a mishmash town like this.

As the door closes behind him, making the bell ring again, Essek tilts his head towards him in polite acknowledgement, then turns around to peruse the shelves. Caleb has to wait another whole minute before the half-elf finally settles on a spyglass and leaves.

As soon as she disappears down the street, Caleb circles the desk and walks up to Essek in two long strides, pressing a kiss on his cheek. “I wasn’t expecting you,” he says, breathing in his scent: brine and sweat from the walk, something dusty and pleasant classified as ‘library books’ in his mind, and then a faint flowery note.

The last one jogs something in Caleb’s memory, but it’s just beyond his grasp. He’s determined to figure it out before he admits his defeat and asks Essek, whose features — a close match to his own, if a little less sharp — soften visibly when Caleb pulls back and smiles at him.

He’s always a little surprised by how Essek, who used to present such a closed-off, warded demeanour when they first met, now just soaks up physical affection like a sponge, always craving for more. Still, there are limits to what can be done in a public establishment, and despite what someone at the Archive might think, they’re not always behaving like lovestruck teenagers.

“How was your walk?”

#also hello! yes! i'm still alive! life has just been a lot recently and all my wips are long or multichapters or both #so that's why i haven't been posting in a while #but speaking about this wip in particular #writing established relationships is challenging when it's long form #because of the inherent difficulty of writing interesting 'life after happily every after' dynamics #(yup that was a tangled the series reference) #but i felt like reckoning with their feelings and getting together was only the first step out of many for these two #and i realised there was a story there that i wanted to tell. thus: a sequel #i thought about a few different titles for this one and my current favourite is 'take the long way home' #so this is how i'm going to tag it if i post more snippets #i have two chapters written and one outlined out of 11 but i think this wip is going to get out of hand real soon #so who knows how long it's going to be! not me! not yet #also if you spot quarantine vibes it's because i outlined this between 2020 and 2021 and that was the mood #ending this tag commentary with many thanks to the supportive friends on discord who have already yelled at me about this ♥ #critical role #shadowgast #cr fic #take the long way home au #wip wednesday #essek thelyss #caleb widogast