Chapter Text
"Does this spark joy?"
Essek held a nondescript brown bowl in his hands, his brow furrowed and his voice showing a substantial amount of uncertainty.
"I mean it's not pretty but it does keep the soup warmer compared to the blue ones Jester gave us last Winter's Crest. Plus it's the first bowl I've bought when coming to Rexxentrum so I have fond memories of it. But it doesn't stack with the blue or the red ones. It always annoys me to find a place for it when it's clean. But on the other hand, it doesn't have dicks on it so maybe we should keep it for, like, serious guests?"
Wulf could have sworn that Essek's hands had started to tremble. But before he could help in any way, Caleb had already embraced Essek from behind.
"Maybe it's time to take a break from tidying, Liebling. It's slowly getting dark … Could you please look after our chickens? It's nearly time for the foxes to go on the hunt and I don't want to leave our guest alone."
Essek instantly relaxed into Caleb's embrace and let him take the bowl out of his no longer trembling hands. "Oh, of course I'll look after them! Sunny was staying out late the last couple of days and I don't want anything to happen to her!" With a tender kiss and an embarrassed blush when he remembered Wulf was watching, he left.
"He's taking this tidying business a bit too seriously", Caleb explained with a soft smile. "I might have to ban all conversations about bowls for the next week or he'll have a heart attack when he realizes that we have even more bowls in the basement."
"You might have to take the basement bowls in your own hands and hide them from him," Wulf proposed.
Caleb laughed and shook his head at the same time. "No, I couldn't hide something from him. He has enough secrecy in his life right now."
"I understand." So there went his plan on asking Caleb about Verin. If Caleb would confide in Essek, the latter might tell his brother that Wulf (and in extension Astrid) were interested in him. If Verin was playing a double game, he would be warned. Even if Essek thought he could trust his brother, he was biased. And if he didn't and wouldn't tell Verin, it might trouble him to think about lost family. So the only way for Eadwulf was to go directly to the Taskhand in question and come to his own conclusions. With a mental shrug he took a sip from the hot chocolate that Essek had made for them. The cup looked like a smaller bowl.
Caleb refilled his own cup and sat down on the couch next to Wulf.
"So, old friend, did you come here only to discuss bowls or is there another reason for your visit?"
"Indeed, there is. I'm leaving the country for a while."
"Ah, are you allowed to tell me about it?"
"Better not. It's nothing too dangerous. Astrid wanted me out of Rexxentrum for the next few weeks and to be honest I'm glad to leave the city. But I'm hesitant to leave Astrid alone. She is overworking herself. Eventually she will stumble. And it bothers me that I might not be here to pick her up if it happens sooner rather than later."
With a serious expression on his freckled face, so familiar and yet deeply changed since their youth, Caleb firmly gripped his forearm. "I'll have my eye on her, friend."
Wulf took another sip of his chocolate and nodded. “Thank you, friend.” He didn’t really know if the warm sensation in his stomach came from the hot chocolate or from the knowledge that maybe he had lost a friend all these years ago when Bren had left. But now, with Caleb, once again there was a friend he could rely on.