everything i’ve done i’ve done for you, i move the stars for no one
[ shadowgast labyrinth au ]
“Essek,” Caleb calls, striding into the sitting room of the little cottage in Rexxentrum, a bag of oranges and a new book from Jester under his arm. “I’m home.”
No response. The cats, however, are meowing with delight at Caleb’s arrival. He pets them all one by one and scoops Johann up into his arms, soothed by the heavy rumbling purr against his shoulder. He heads to the kitchen to put the oranges away, only to stop short at the sight of a familiar slim figure, head bent over a simmering pot on the stove.
“Essek?” Caleb says, incredulous.
The lid of the pot comes down with a loud metallic bang. “Caleb,” Essek gasps, only narrowly saving the pot from tipping over with a cantrip. “I did not hear you arrive.”
“I only just got back,” Caleb explains, pushing the pot back gently into place, lest all of Essek’s hard work be lost. “You must have been terribly bored without me, if you have resorted to cooking, of all things.”
“One: bold of you to assume I am incapable of keeping myself occupied without you. Two: I will have you know I can do anything I put my mind to,” Essek says loftily.
“As to your first point, I beg to differ. But with the second, I agree entirely. Surely a simple soup would be well within your considerable abilities,” Caleb agrees.
“We will have to agree to disagree on the first.” Essek hesitates, glancing at the pot. “On the second… Do not expect much. I fear you will be disappointed.”
“As if you could ever disappoint me,” Caleb says, leaning down to press his lips against Essek’s cheek. “But before that, I come bearing gifts from Jester. She made me swear I would give them to you immediately. The very moment I arrived.”
Essek’s eyes brighten. Caleb never tires of how excited he gets at the prospect of presents. “What did you bring?”
Caleb makes Essek hold out his hands, then deposits the bag of oranges into his open palms. “Your first present,” he announces.
“Oh, my favorite,” Essek says, marveling.
“She knows. Of course she knows.” Caleb takes the bag and sets it on the table. “And one more gift.” He sets the book into Essek’s hands. Its leather binding is beautiful, supple and sturdy and dyed a rich purple, but there is no title on the cover. “Jester also made me promise that only you could open this book, so I have no idea what it is.”
“Hmm.” Essek frowns a little, then he lets the book fall open. To their utter shock, something squirts from its pages and lands directly on the tip of Essek’s nose. He startles and drops the book.
“Are you alright?” Caleb asks at once, wiping the stuff from Essek’s nose. He looks at it, confused. The goo is purple and sticky and… smells rather like fruit? Caleb looks down. More of the goo is oozing from the book’s pages. Caleb gets on his knees and peers closer. There are a few words written in Jester’s familiar flourish, though they look rather as though she had used the tip of her finger to write them.
Caleb reads the message aloud: “Your dalnar called in a favor. I said I’d do it because I knew you couldn’t get mad if it was from me! Love, Jester. And, of course, a beautifully illustrated dick at the bottom of the page.” Caleb blinks, confused. “Dalnar?”
To his surprise, when he glances up, Essek’s lips are pressed together in the way he does when he’s trying not to smile. “Verin, you little shit,” he mutters in Undercommon.
“Is… everything alright?” Caleb asks.
“Yes. It is a silly thing, I suppose. Something Verin used to do from when we were children—he would put jam in my books as a joke.”
Essek kneels down beside Caleb to get a better look at Jester’s message. He has to wipe the salt from his cheeks after a few moments, but his grin brightens his whole face, all the way up to his eyes. Something tells Caleb that even if Verin had sent the book, Essek wouldn’t have been angry. Not really.
“You still have a bit of jam on your face,” Caleb informs him. He scoops up a fingerful of jam and smears it on Essek’s forehead.
Essek lets out the most undignified squeak, which delights Caleb to no end. “Caleb!”
In no time at all, there isn’t a single inch of either Essek or Caleb that isn’t stained violet and sticky with sugar. It takes Caleb ages to get the last of the jam out of his beard, and Essek’s soup nearly boils over on the stove, but it’s absolutely worth it just to see Essek laughing.
“Hello, Jester,” Essek sends towards the middle of the next day. “I have a proposition for you concerning my dear brother. Shall I come pick you up next Yulisen?”
He winces preemptively, which turns out to be the right move when Jester’s first word isn’t so much a word as a delighted shriek. “AAAAHHHHH YES ESSEK I MISS YOU SO MUCH! YESSEK!!!! Did anyone ever say Yessek to you in Xhorhas or were you too much of a–”
Essek stares up at the ceiling for a long second before smirking to himself.
***
Mornings came early in Bazzoxan, most days. Of course, most days didn’t involve your brother showing up with his best friend (who just helped you pull a prank on him and might be your best friend too now) who insists on playing truth or dare until sunrise with half of the barracks and your stick-in-the-mud brother.
Verin stumbles blearily into his private little sparring room, a place he almost never uses – but this morning there’s absolutely no way he’s facing his subordinates like this. They’re supposed to respect him. Or something.
He puts his hand on the shaft of one of his glaives and immediately recoils. It’s cold. And sticky. He looks down slowly at his hand.
Purple.
He licks it.
Blackcurrant.
Fuck damn ass shit.
Verin Thelyss is in Call of the Netherdeep!
Someone in a discord server I’m in got their copy early, and they just posted these!
Our boy!! And with long hair just like in all the fan art too!
His stat block too, he’s an echo knight!
I don't think we talk enough about how much of a fucking miracle it is that Verin Thelyss hasn't had a full-scale nervous breakdown yet.
He is considered the least intelligent of his family (and probably his den by extension), but that's relative. When your older brother is preternaturally smart, you're gonna look like an idiot standing next to him. And at the same time, he's probably the elven equivalent of 20, in charge of a city under martial law, living on a hellmouth, and leading a war against the Abyssal plane.
The fact that it sounds like he is actually capable of coming across well-adjusted is absolutely a feat of will.
I want all the Verin content
It’s time for more baby Thelyss bros headcanon because I have no self control:
- Verin was born when Essek was about the drow equivalent of 3-4. Essek was wildly unimpressed with this noisy little thing in a bundle of blankets at first. His caretakers tried to convince him that this is just how babies are, you have to be patient with him, you used to be a baby too, Essek. Essek refused to believe this, he doesn’t remember being a baby and he can’t imagine ever being as loud or smelly as Verin.
- The actual work of caring for both boys was left to various nurses and nannies. Their parents never gave them baths or dressed them or changed diapers or put them to bed. Deirta did not breastfeed, ever. That’s the job for a wet nurse. It’s unthinkable that an Umavi and leader of Den Thelyss should be bothered with such things.
- Everything was so steeped in politics, none of their caretakers or servants ever stayed that long. One of the nurses would have connections to someone who had fallen from grace, the cook was suspected of leaking information about their Den to a rival…people would disappear and be replaced overnight. The only really consistent and present person the brothers had in their lives was each other.
- Essek’s earliest memory is when he was 4 and Verin was 1 (or the drow equivalent) and learned prestidigitation and used it to make noises and lights to entertain Verin.
- Verin couldn’t say Essek’s name when he was first learning to talk, so he called him Eeek. He would yell this at top volume when he wanted his brother’s attention.
[[MORE]]
- Essek slept with a stuffed toy beholder until Verin was born, because his mother told him that he was a big brother now and needed to outgrow such things. His caretaker at the time packed the toy away, but Essek found out where it was hidden and would sneak it out now and then to cuddle when he was upset. When Verin got bigger and would have nightmares and come climb in bed with Essek in the middle of the night, he would get the toy out for Verin to hug too.
- Verin wet the bed on and off until he was about 9, a fact that his mother was not at all patient or understanding about. He got in the habit of coming to get Essek to help him clean up whenever it happened, so their mother wouldn’t find out and be upset with him. Essek didn’t appreciate being woken up to cast a bunch of prestidigitations to clean everything, but he always took care of Verin and promised that it was okay and he wasn’t angry.
- Verin was pretty much always very perceptive to emotions, in particular at reading Essek’s, and could usually tell when Essek was getting anxious or upset well before any of the adults could. He would come toddling over and and wrap his arms around Essek’s middle and wouldn’t let go until Essek convinced him that he was okay. As they got a little older, he would grab his brother’s hand when he sensed something was bothering Essek, and would try to find something to distract him until he calmed down.
- Verin was the only person Essek was comfortable info dumping to until he warmed up to the Nein many many years later. Verin never really understood the complicated magic stuff Essek was going on about, but he’d listen all day if it made Essek happy.
- The brothers got their education from tutors at home until they reached early adolescence and were enrolled in a school for the children of other high ranking people in the Dynasty. Essek didn’t fit in from day one and it wasn’t long before he started getting bullied for being a gifted neurodivergent kid.
- Verin knew Essek didn’t like school and would often come home upset, but he didn’t know his brother was actually being bullied until he started school himself and heard someone making fun of Essek. Verin got in huge trouble his first week of school for punching the kid in question. Verin had just hit a growth spurt and towered over most kids his age, and enjoyed more physical activities than his nerdy brother. He was probably the strongest kid in his class. The kid making fun of Essek was another squishy wizard. They went down like a sack of bricks. The bullying got a lot better after that because the school as a whole realized that Verin would throw down with absolutely anyone who upset his brother for any reason. Essek still didn’t have any friends, but at least people left him alone after that. He decided he was fine with this. He didn’t need friends.
I’m so behind on CR that I don’t know anything about Essek.
I LOVE this fashion take for him~
My last shadowgast piece was hella angsty, so here are some softer moments I’ve been doing as warm-ups for the last few weeks. Still not over these Sad Bois.
Essek was making a joke.
I love how Essek’s sense of humor is so dry it confuses them, like they confuse him.
I have to face I am an Essek stan now, thanks Matt and Liam
Fandom: Critical Role (Campaign 2) Rating: Teen and Up Relationships: Essek Thelyss & The Mighty Nein, Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast Characters: Essek Thelyss, the Mighty Nein Tags:Temporary Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Pre-Relationship, Canon-Typical Violence Warnings: Major Character Death (which gets fixed right away) Words: 5149
Summary:
‘Essek,’ Caleb says, very quietly. ‘Are you telling me that you went into this fight convinced you would never get up if you went down?’
Essek places a hand over the centre of his chest, the place where Lucien’s blade hit. The place where Jester’s diamond shattered. ‘Yes.’
(In the battle with the Tombtakers, Essek falls. His friends bring him back. And each of them has a request to make of him.)
Written for the ‘Breathe’ prompt for day 5 of @essek-week!
WE GOT THE MINI WE’RE GETTING ADVENTURER ESSEK WE’RE GETTING A PROPER FUCKING ‘REDEMPTION ARC’ FOR MY FAVORITE BASTARD HELL FUCKING YESSSSSSS
HELL YES THIS IS WHAT I WANT
ALL THE ESSEK
