Request: Maybe another Essek x Child!Reader where the kid meets her uncle Verin for the first time and Essek is afraid that the child might like his brother more than him. And at the end of the day the child is like "It was fun with uncle Verin but damn he is exhausting me." and Essek laughs because "Same kid same" and the child maybe offhand saying that they love their dad Essek and Essek.exe stops working for a while
So I defiantly took a shot in the dark with Verin's personality, since we never got to see him in C2, but I think it works. This is a special request from @sirkekselord, so all bets are off the table… Anyways, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LOVELY FRIEND!! I hope I did you well 😁
Today was going to be a bit different, you weren’t told what, just that it'd be different. Sure you did like routine but getting to go and do something different was exciting (have I said different enough yet), although Essek did seem just the slightest bit reluctant about this.
"Are you okay? You look a little nervous." You say, seeing the more stern look resting on Essek's face. He blinks, clears his throat and looks down at you.
"Ah, well-" Before he can finish saying anything another voice cuts in.
"Brother! So good to see you again, it’s been a while!" You turn your head in the direction of the voice and see another drow walk over, wrap Essek up in his arms and ruffle up his hair much to Essek’s dismay.
"Hello to you too, Verin." Essek greets back monotonously, an unamused look on his face. You try to hold back a laugh at the personality difference between the two… keyword try. Your little snorts of laughter gain Verin's attention as he lets go of of his brother and walks up to you.
"Hi there little one, if I remember you’re (y/n). I’ve seen you before but we’ve never gotten to meet properly. I'm your uncle Verin… wait I just realized I’m an uncle now! Haha! Well Essek, didn’t think you’d ever have it in you to start a family. I’m very glad I was wrong." Verin shoots his brother a smile, placing one hand on his hip and the other patting Essek’s shoulder. Essek just sighs, rubbing at the bridge of his nose.
"It’s really nice to meet you too." You greet back, doing little to hide your giggling from Verin's antics. He kneels down as ruffles your hair before effortlessly lifting you into his arms and placing you on his shoulders. "Hey, what are you doing?" You question in delighted surprise.
"I thought you might like to see what good ol' Verin is made of." He looks over his shoulder at you, you stare back curiously and nod. "Come now, I shall be your valiant steed and we shall head to the training grounds. Hold on tight!"
"I wouldn’t-" Essek once again doesn’t even get a chance to finish his sentence before his brother takes off with you wrapping your arms around his neck so you don’t go flying off. He stares at the area where you and Verin once stood, wondering if he should follow. You looked surprisingly excited over this and while a part of him said to go after the two of you to be sure you were okay, another part of him said to leave it be, let you have your fun. He sighs to himself, was he jealous? Perhaps, but there was no way he’d admit that out loud, besides… there was also no way Essek was leaving you alone in the clutches of his brother. He makes his way down one hall and the next, keeping a steady pace as to not come off as desperate to get to his destination to those around him. When open field comes into view he quickly spots you standing off to the sidelines, applauding Verin as he spars with another solider. One short fight later and having barely broken a sweat, Verin makes his way over to the two of you.
"Well, what’d you think of that? It’s all about timing and using your opponents strength against them." He kneels down to you height, staring patiently as he waits for your reply.
"That was really cool. I can defiantly see why you’re a commander to an army. All I can do is this." You then cast a Magic Missile spell towards a target, hitting close to the centre but not quite a bullseye. "See, I’m getting really good at it but I still have a lot to learn."
"Not bad, but try lowering your stance a little, it’ll balance yourself and you’ll hitting bullseyes left and right." Verin advises. You test his methods and sure enough get a more direct hit, three runes becoming more visible on your skin from using your spells. "So that's what Essek meant when he said you were a Runechild." Verin examines the runes shown on your forehead and arms.
"Yeah, it's fine I guess." You say a little sheepishly, a part of you still feeling just a little insecure about the attention. While all this is happening Essek is watching a short distance back, watching the two of you interact and share a joke and a laugh carefree of anyone or any responsibilities. It all left an unpleasant feeling bubbling inside of him, a feeling that went a little further then jealously. Worry? No, not quite. Afraid, he was afraid you may have found someone better then him in his brother. He tries to shake off these thoughts, you were his kid, he took the responsibility over you and you responded positively to it. So why did he feel a tug at his heart at the prospect of you favouring someone else over him, and why did another emotion, one he couldn’t quite place, arise at the idea of you being his kid? So much was happening in such a short amount of time it was all just overwhelming, that’s it, he was just overwhelmed with everything that’s been happening. A slight shake on his shoulder has Essek break away from his thought process.
"Are you still in there brother? Or has your mind merged with the Luxon?" Verin gives a smirk, a playful tone in his voice that has Essek rolling his eyes and removing his younger siblings hand from his shoulder.
"I’m fine, just in thought." Essek looks like he’s about to say more but a light tug at his cloak has him looking down at your smaller figure instead. You look up at him with big eyes and let out a small yawn. "Tired?" He asks, earning a nod from you.
"I suppose more time went by then I thought. I shouldn’t keep you two, best be on your way. It was lovely to meet you again (y/n)." Verin waves you both off.
"Bye uncle Verin." You call back with a wave of your own followed by another yawn. After walking a good distance away from the training grounds Essek lifts you into his arms and carries your sleepy form, you let out a sigh. "I think that was fun. I was nice to spend time with uncle Verin, but wow is he exhausting." Your comment pulls a small laugh from Essek.
"If you thought that was exhausting, try living with him throughout your childhood. I’ll admit it could be entertaining at times, but he’s always been a bit of a handful." Essek reminisces a bit, making you let out a giggle.
"I’m good," you rest your head against his shoulder, another yawn escapes you as you shift a little in his grasp to get comfortable. "I think I’d rather spend my day with you anyways dad." Essek makes a full stop at this, wondering if he just heard you correctly. He looks over at your now sleeping figure, resting peacefully in his arms. It hadn’t fully dawned on him the idea of being an actual parent, sure you easily referred to Verin as your uncle but hearing you say that one word to Essek finally let it sink in. While shocked at this revelation he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride over all this, any and all concerns he had were pushed to the side for this one moment, in the solace of knowing you would choose him over anyone else.
74 + 76 + 78 The kid isn't their cheery self, Essek goes to see what's up but the kid is trying to act like everything is ok, turns out they're being bullied by some random kids about the runes on their arms. (Maybe some protective essek vibes too!) Ty
At this point Essek's sorcerer child is officially the unofficial ninth member to the Child of the Nein series… no complaints here
So uhhh… not sure of this warrants a trigger warning or something, but I for one ended up delving a bit into something…… personal when I wrote this…
In Runes
Essek & Child!Sorcerer!Reader
74- Why are you crying? 76- Be honest with me, 78- Come on where'd that smile go?
You were a bit shy when you’d first met Essek but once you got comfortable enough you showed a more joyful side to yourself. Lately however you were once again getting more shy and distant in your behaviour, you weren’t as talkative as you usually were and your bright smile was gone, replaced by one that looked far more forced. This all confused him, what had changed, and what weren’t you telling him? At first it was just a shift in behaviour, when asked about it you’d just brush it off and say you just weren’t feeling well but didn’t need any sort of medical attention. Though as time wore on you started to eat less, saying you lost your appetite but were still fine, as much as he tried you’d keep finding excuses to his questions insisting everything was fine. It wasn’t until one day when you started begging him to let you stay home that Essek knew for a fact everything wasn’t fine and he was getting to the bottom of it.
"Are you feeling alright (y/n)? You haven't been yourself lately." Essek started slowly, giving you a look of concern but not wanting to push anything too soon. You suck in a short breath, of course he’d be able to easily notice your shift in attitude, you weren’t exactly as peppy as you usually were after all.
"No, I’m fine. Just didn’t sleep enough. Please can’t I just stay here today?" You half lie, it’s true you didn’t get a full nights rest but you weren’t about to say the reason why aloud. Essek gives you a suspicious yet worried glance, you muster up as best of a natural smile as you could.
"You've been saying that a lot lately, what reason could you not be getting your needed rest?" He presses further.
"It-it’s nothing, really. But can I stay, just for today? Please please please!" You clasp your hands together and give him a pleading look.
"I don’t think…" He pauses and lifts your chin up to get a better look at you. "Why are you crying?" He abandons his train of thought as concern and worry were now written all over his face and he uses his thumbs to wipe away the stray tears you didn’t even realize you shed.
"I don’t know, I guess they just slipped out by accident." You cover your reddening cheeks.
"Be honest with me (y/n), you and I both know that’s not true." He gives you a stern. You look into his eyes and open your mouth to say something, but find no words wanting to come out. Your body starts to shake a little and you can hear the other kids taunts echoing inside your head…
"Look at their forehead, it’s all glowy. What are you, a nightlight?" "Look there’s more on their arms too…" "You think you’re so special, just because the Shadowhand took a small liking to you…" "You know, if it wasn’t for the fact that your magic is so rare I bet the Shadowhand wouldn’t even think twice about you…" "Face it, if it wasn’t for your magic no one would ever care about you…"
So many harsh words were spoken to you, no one ever got physical but that didn’t mean there wasn’t any damage. Forgetting for a moment that you were still in Essek’s presence, you let the comments swim around your head. Different thoughts and what if's flooded your mind, and the more you dwelled on them the more doubt and insecurities about yourself grew. Was it really true? If you didn’t have any magic would Essek really still care about you? You wanted to curl up into a ball and just disappear, it wasn’t until you felt yourself being pulled into a soft embrace did you bring yourself back into reality. Looking up at Essek, he gives you a gentle smile and again helps to wipe away your tears.
"Talk to me Starlight." At this point you can’t contain yourself any more and start sobbing as you hug Essek tightly and tell him everything that’s been happening. He listens to you and can’t help feel infuriated that anyone would dare make you feel so insignificant about yourself, he would’ve loved to put those children in their place but he had a position to uphold and must therefore stay formal in the public eye.
"Would you really still care, even if I wasn’t a runechild?" You suddenly ask, surprising him. He’s quiet for a moment putting some thought into your statement.
"I will admit, I was initially drawn to your natural abilities." He starts off slowly, making you let out a soft sigh. "However, had different circumstance brought you into my care, even without magic, I would still very much come to enjoy your presence." He pauses a second, you look up at him with big eyes as he seemingly stares off into space. "You were someone I hadn’t planned for, brought a lot of unexpected changes to my life, made me reevaluate my decisions. I’m not who… I want to start making things better, for you to have a better future." You stare somewhat blankly at him, having lost you halfway in his little speech, but you got the just of it.
"Is that a yes?" You ask for confirmation, he lets out a soft laugh at this and nods.
"I will see to that you gain a safer space to study and train your abilities. Be aware that I cannot stop this problem entirely, but I shall do what I can to alleviate you of at least some of your stresses. Alright?" You take a deep breath and nod, your gaze shifting to stare at the ground. This doesn’t last long as Essek gently lifts your chin up to look at him again. "Come on where’d that smile go?" He asks, giving you a small smile. You give a smile back, this one feeling much more natural that you can’t help let yourself giggle a bit too.
"You’re the best." You say as you hug him again. He doesn’t respond, just wraps one arm around you and rubs your back before letting go again. You give him one more smile before you turn and go to make your way out the door, with a regained bounce in your steps.
Bonus:
Essek stays back a second, watching you walk away, his proud smile fading a bit as he redirects his attention to the item he stared at earlier when he space out while talking with you.
"I’m going to make this better." He says quietly to himself, eyeing the party invitation before stashing it away in his cloak and leaving to join you outside.
gasp idea Essek and Caleb and there adopted child traveling together that would be so cute
Somewhat domestic life with Caleb and Essek? Yes please! I’m keeping this one short and sweet.
On the Road Together
Caleb & Essek & Child!Reader
A young little half-elf bounds down an old beaten path moving from one shady spot to the next, one of their birth parents must’ve been a drow as shown by patches of their skin being lavender while the rest was (s/c), those patches of skin were also a lot more sensitive to sunlight as well. This however didn’t stop them from making the most of each day and enjoying the wonders Wildemount had to offer.
"Come on! Come on! You two move so slow!" You call over your shoulder at your two dads who were still a short distance away from you.
"We're actually moving at an even pace, you just keep running ahead." Caleb comments, you playfully stick your tongue out at him before darting to the next spot of shade. "I see Beau’s rubbed off on you a bit since our last visit. Just be careful, we don’t need you falling and scraping yourself." He adds, but you weren’t fully listening as you looked for your next target destination. Once again you dart ahead, moving from one patch of shade to the next like your own mini game, that is until you slip on some loose soil stumbling forward a bit before fully face planting into the ground and skidding to a stop. Your knees and hands instantly started stinging especially when you push yourself off the ground, into a sitting position and quickly scoot yourself under a tree, already feeling the irritation of the sun on your skin. Looking down at the palms of your hands you could see they had a few scraps on them, same went for your knees, you start to sniffle from the pain as you try your best to wipe away any dirt.
"Now (y/n), what did Caleb just tell you." Essek softly scolds, hovering over to you. You just sniffle and let out a tiny whimper, trying not to cry. Kneeling down, Essek pulls out some bandages and helps to wrap up the injured areas. "You’re lucking I’ve been practicing." You nod at this quietly while standing up, already trying to move forward you end limping a bit, looks like your little game was over. You just stand still for a bit, shuffling around the dirt under your feet before looking back up at Essek.
"Will you help kiss it better like auntie Jester and uncle Caduceus do?" You finally find your voice, holding out your hand to him, he chuckles but gently picks you up, takes your hand in his and places a soft kiss to your palm.
"Better?" He asks, you give a small nod in response. "Good, do you wish for me to set you down now?"
"No, you can carry me and I’ll hold the umbrella for both of us!" You say, regaining your perky attitude and point to the parasol that was currently resting on Essek’s arm.
"Are you sure? We don’t want a repeat of last time." He says, your arms getting an itchy feeling to them at the mention of your past mishap.
"I’ll be more careful this time, I promise." You reassure, he sighs and hands you the parasol, adjusting his grip on you better so you could share in its shade together making you flash a big smile at him. Finally turning back to the road you see Caleb standing there, having watched the scene play out with a content look in his eyes.
"What’s the look." Essek pulls Caleb away from his supposed daydreaming and he lets out something between a sigh and a chuckle.
"Oh nothing, I was just admiring the scenery in front of me." This makes you shot a smile at him.
"Will you kiss it better too?" You ask, holding your hand out to Caleb now, without hesitation he walks over to the two of you and places a gentle kiss to your palm as well. "Thank you! It feels a lot better already." You say with a giggle.
"Perfect timing because we should be close to those ruins by now." Caleb remarks, making you let out a small gasp.
"Oh, we are?! What kind of ruins are they this time!? Lost civilization? Old temple? Is it full of magic stuff?" You excitedly ask, bouncing a little in excitement, almost dropping the parasol in the process, giving a quiet sorry to Essek who just ruffles your hair as a way to accept the apology.
"That’s what we are going to thoroughly investigate once we’re there, but I admire the enthusiasm." You give both of them a big smile as the three of you finally continue on down the path.
May I request Essek with a child sorcerer reader who was traveling with the M9 for a while but decides to stay with him because they always get scared when they get into battle. And when the M9 come back to visit Essek has pretty much adopted the reader and does almost anything she asks for.
(人 •͈ᴗ•͈)
I am here for this, it sounds absolutley adorable. First time writing for Essek and I may have gotten a little carried away, it ended up being longer then I thought. Here’s hoping this turns out well 😅
Shadowhands Apprentice
Essek & Child!Sorcerer!Reader
The Mighty Nein had found you locked up after dealing with some creepy cult deep in the Barbed Fields. You told them they used you as a source of energy because of your rare and strong natural magic, using Identify Caleb discovered that you were in fact a Runechild. You had no known family, as far as you were aware of and nowhere to go so they decided to take you along with them. Your experience with the cult had left you very jumpy whenever the group had to engage in battle, fearing you could be taken and used for something awful. When the party finally made it to the city of Rosohna you got to meet the mysterious Essek they’ve told you about. They explained the situation to him once he noticed you cowering behind Jester, and he took quick interest in you since. Visiting frequently during your stay in the Xhorhaus to mostly teach Caleb more dunamancy, you grew quite curious about this new magic and asked if you could learn some too. Given your natural talent it didn’t take much for Essek to agree to start teaching you as well. Letting you quickly get more comfortable around him.
"Do we have to leave?" You whine a bit. The Nein had finished with there stay and were getting ready to leave to attend to duties they'd been called to elsewhere.
"We told you we couldn’t stay long. We have other jobs to do too." Jester tries to explain, you pout and cross your arms to try and calm the nervous shaking in your body. There’s a soft knocking at the door, Fjord goes over to answer it and just outside is the floating drow you’ve become so well acquainted with. After a mutual greeting Fjord steps aside and let’s Essek in.
"I have come to bid you all a farewell and good luck in your travels." He addresses to everyone. "I hope you will keep well to your studies?" He addresses more to you and Caleb, you fidget a bit, the question on your mind eating away at you if you should ask it or not.
"Of course." Caleb gives a nod. Everyone starts making their way out but pause when you don’t follow.
"You coming (y/n)?" Beau raises an eyebrow at you.
"Can I stay here with Essek?" You blurt out quickly, causing the man in question to go stiff and everyone else to stare. After a long pause you speak up again. "It’s scary and dangerous out there, but I feel safe here. I don’t want to leave." They all look amongst each other.
"That would really have to be Essek's decision." You look over at the him with big pleading eyes, making it very hard for him to break eye contact.
"Please, I promise I’ll be a good listener and you can teach me more spells." After a long pause he runs a hand through his hair and gives a quiet sigh.
"I suppose it would be beneficial for this chance to learn more about your natural abilities." He says. You give a smile and with that you bid farewell to the Nein and are left alone with the Shadowhand. "I have some important business that needs attending to first, I shall return once I have completed my duties. In the meantime I suggest you stay here and practice what you already know." You give a nod and watch as he too leaves the Xhorhaus, the chimes jingling softly as he does.
Days slowly turned into weeks and you had setup a nice routine. In the mornings Essek would arrive for breakfast, at first they were silent but after the first week the two of you started to talk more, discussing different forms of magic, the barrage of Message spells you’d get from Jester or how eachothers day was (the latter taking a little more time to work up to). The afternoon was when Essek would have to leave you alone for awhile to attend to his duties to the Bright Queen, though as the days progressed he became more and more reluctant on wanting to leave you alone. Finally he’d return around the evening and you’d spend the rest of your time learning different spells or discovering more about your magical origin before you’d get worn out and head to bed. Sometimes you’d wake up the next day to find that Essek had stayed the night to help keep an eye on the place, or at least that’s what he’d tell you. It was a simple but pleasant routine for you and over time you noticed him become more comfortable around you, going as far as to drop the levitation act whenever he’d visit.
It was a bit conflicting for Essek to be so close to someone, and a child no less too. He had to be careful around you, trying so hard to not get too comfortable around you but with each passing day it was becoming harder and harder. He didn’t want to let you into the darker secrets of his life, but you were the first person he felt he could let down some of his guard to, knowing a child didn’t care if he was being absolutely professional or not. As worried as he was about this there was something else deep down that just felt nice having you around. Seeing you learn new things and showing him your accomplishments filled him with a feeling of pride and joy he didn’t know he could've ever experienced before. The weeks had grown into a solid month and today Essek had decided to do something different.
"Why are we in the market again?" You questioned curiously. Essek gives an amused hum.
"I thought you said you’d be a good listener for me." He gives you a side look, you give him a playful glare as he hovers ahead making you have to jog to catch up.
"You said there was something waiting for us and that’s it."
"Precisely," you open your mouth to say something but he stops you. "Hush now, we’re here." You look up at the building.
"A tailor shop?" You look up at him confused, he doesn’t say anything and enters the shop with you following close behind. Essek talks with the shop owner while you look around at the different outfits that inhabited the shop, looking over the intricate designs of the fabrics.
"Here we are, just as you requested sir." You switch your attention over to the shopkeeper who hands a small folded bundle over to Essek. He nods to the shopkeeper letting them go about their own business and moves over towards you.
"There should be a fitting room just past the curtain, I’d like to make sure this fits you properly." Essek says, handing you the bundle of clothing.
"This is really for me?" You ask, looking from Essek to the cloths in your arms. He gives you a nod, the ghost of a smile on his lips, you beam at him and scurry over to change into the new outfit. The outfit was made of a silky material, with beautiful patterns stitched in throughout and it came with a lovely flowing robe for overtop. You had no problems changing and once you stepped out and had a better look at yourself in the mirror, you could see a close resemblance to Essek's own outfit in yours. "Wow, I look just like you now." You give him a smile.
"Hold on, it appears you are missing something." You look at him confused until he comes closer and lets himself kneel down to match your height. You feel something cool get placed onto you head, turning back to the mirror you find that an intricately crafted silver circlet was the item in question. You just stare in awe as you trace over the design. "This circlet should help you with your focus when you are casting spells." Essek comments, the smile on your face widens and you turn to give him a hug.
"Thank you, I love it sooo much." You can feel his body turn stiff so you let go and after a minute he gives you a gentle pat on the shoulder and gets up from his kneeling position back to floating around again.
"You're welcome. However it’s only best you dress in the appropriate attire if you are to be accompanying me throughout the day." You tilt your head a little as you try to figure out what this meant, when it clicks in your mind your smile returns.
"Does that mean I get to go with you when you have to do your job?"
"You are allowed to stay in the library, it is easier for me to keep an eye on you that way while still preforming my duties." You bounce on your feet in excitment, library’s were cool and filled with all sorts of stories to read and getting to spend even just a little more time with Essek was always nice to you.
You’re escorted to the library and immediately looked through the large selection of books it had to offer while Essek went about his usual business, now being able to check in on you more frequently. You acquainted yourself with the librarian who was able to help direct you to anything they had within your interest. One of the books you were looking for was on a high shelf, so you simply used the provided ladder to reach it. Another occupant in the library was kind enough to offer and help, you thank them but waved them off saying you could do it all by yourself. The book was just out of your reach, however being so high up you didn’t want to climb all the way back down just to move the ladder over a small ways and climb all the way back up. Instead you thought it’d be a good idea to hold onto one of the rungs and lean over a bit to reach your objective, you end up leaning too far and loose your footing, plummeting to the ground with a yelp, taking a few books with you. Quickly throwing your arms over your face to sheid yourself and wait for the impact, when it never happens you slowly, shakily remove your arms and crack open your eyes to see that you were hovering mere inches from the ground. Looking over your shoulder you see none other then Essek, a look of shock and concern on his face, arm outstretched towards you, a faint glow to his hand as he had used his magic to catch you. With a swift and fluid motion you’re gently placed upright on the ground as he drifts towards you.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" He asks with concern laced into his words, checking you over to make sure you were okay. Unable to form words you motion with your hands for him to come closer, he immediately complies by kneeling down to reach your height. Without missing a beat, once he’s reached your level you wrap your arms around his neck in a hug and let out quiet sobs. Still not used to the physical contact causes Essek to stiffen up a bit. There's slight tremors that still raked through your body and after a moment he slowly, carefully returns the hug, lifting you both up in the process. Adjusting himself so he can hold you with one arm he waves his free hand placing back the books that had fallen with you and bringing down the one you had been trying to grab and stores it away for later.
"Thank you." Your voice comes out softly as you finally found your words again.
"No need to thank me." He replies just as softly. "Would you like to know something?" You perk your head up off his shoulder to look at him. "The Mighty Nein have returned." This perks you up even more.
"Can we go say hi?" You ask, but get the feeling you already knew the answer.
"Of course." With that, he weaves his way back out of the library and off towards the Xhorhaus, all while still carrying you safely in his arms.
When you saw the Nein they happily greeted you and instantly started to comment on your new apparel, some of them also took quick notice to the change in Essek's behaviour around you and mercilessly tried to question him about it. You asked how their adventures were so far and they told you about them and some of the problems they’re currently dealing with. You then got to tell them all about what you’ve been up to and how your abilities have developed so far. After some more casual banter the Nein prepare to settle in for the night having been through a long day and needing a rest, you start to make your way up as well but are stopped by a hand placed on your shoulder.
"Exactly where do you think you're going?" Essek raises a questioning eyebrow at you.
"Up to bed?" You reply confused. You hear a faint chuckle come from him.
"I think our friends have had a long day and the last thing they need is our early morning routine interfering with their schedule." He explains, surprising you by picking you up into his arm unprompted.
"Then where are we going?" You ask as the two of you exit the abode. His reply to you brings a smile to your face.
"Home."
Did I over do it? I hope not, but I’m really sorry if I did and if I made it drag on too long 😖
I am sorry but after this I need more Essek and child stuff. You can't just leave me hanging there. Give me home life with Essek and his now child. Vacation time! Fun time! I need everything please! The child reader getting like there first crush or something later on and he is like "That adorable, no." I just need some more please. Anything. I will love it.
The fic was great. I loved it. Please give me more serotonin.
Ask and ye shall receive! I know this took a long time to get around to finishing, but I rewrote the plot like 3 times or so until I got to this end result. With that I thank you for the patience and I hope it was worth the wait 😁
Worth
Essek & Child!Sorcerer!Reader
Getting to live with Essek was a quick and easy adjustment seeing as you already spent quite a lot of time in eachothers company. The only big change being to have to meet his mother and gain her approval, it was honestly very nerve wracking to meet the woman so you presented yourself to the best of your abilities. Essek himself was very nervous on the outcome but being on your best behaviour and displaying some of what you were capable of doing seemed to put you in their good graces and you were welcomed into Den Thelyss, much to Essek’s relief. The days went on as usual but you soon noticed the stress Essek was putting himself in from all the hard work he does day in and day out.
"You need a break." You blurt out unexpectedly one morning.
"Pardon?" He looks at you questioningly.
"You work so hard all the time, I think you need to take a break and we have a fun day just for ourselves." You say with a smile.
"You almost sound like my brother." He sighs, scratching at the back of his neck.
"Well he's right." Essek just gives you a playful side look, you just cross your arms. "Oh, please? You deserve it and we'd get to spend more time together without your job getting in the way. Come on, pretty please?" You quickly uncross your arms and look at him with big pleading eyes that you know by now he has a hard time saying no to. After a minute he lets out a quiet sigh.
"As much as I’d love say yes, you and I both know my position wouldn’t allow it." You pout a little but give a small nod, he was right but that didn’t mean you had to like it. The days went on and more work started piling up for Essek were it would now cut into any personal time or any teachings he’d normally have with you, Essek would also leave for long periods of time without telling you where or why. You grew worried, after everything you went through in hopes of spending more time with him it was like none of that mattered anymore, making you feel like you didn’t matter anymore.
You started to try and take your mind off of things by studying in the library but let’s face it, you can only read books for so long before you start to feel restless and need to do something else for entertainment. This leads to you focusing more on practicing with your own magic, if there was one thing that you thought could help prove you're still worth Essek’s time it was magic. Of course this didn’t suddenly stop the work load the poor man had but it kept you occupied at least. However you were starting to develop a nasty habit of overexerting yourself, you having figured since Essek worked so hard all the time you could do double as much seeing as you were a sorcerer, ending the day feeling extremely exhausted with several glowing runes appearing on your skin.
This went on for some time and slowly it was starting to take a toll on you until one day it all came crashing down at once. You were practicing both offence and defence with a soldier who agreed to help you with practice, saying they also needed more of their own practice against magic users. You were feeling a little lightheaded but brushed it off, thinking nothing much from it, you’ve been lightheaded before so if you ignore it it’ll go away by itself. It didn’t go away, it just got worse making you become unsteady and everything was starting to spin around you. Your visions blurs and you suddenly topple to the ground, only making out moving shapes and the muffled sound of someone frantically calling your name before you lose complete consciousness…
When you manage to open your eyes again you find yourself back in your room in bed, looking over you see a nice bowl of soup on the little bedside table, still warm and waiting to be eaten. You sit up to enjoy the meal knowing time and effort was put into it before carefully climbing out of bed to make your way out of your room. You decide to head over to Essek’s study room, figuring he’d probably be working in there, you enter and sure enough there he sat a book in hand. Upon hearing you enter he almost immediately closes the book and places it down, that was certainly the fastest you’ve seen him redirect his attention before. Neither of you say anything right away, Essek just stands from his chair and hovers over to you, scooping you up into his arms and makes his way to sit down again.
"Mind telling me what exactly was going through your mind when you decided to give me a heart attack?" There was some firmness to his voice with genuine concern laced in.
"I-I don’t know." You fidget with your hands a little trying not to look him in the eyes.
"Yes you do (y/n), so please just tell me what’s wrong." He lifts your chin up making it so you look at him, seeing your glossy eyes, a few tears already sliding down your face.
"You work so hard and are so busy all the time you never have enough time for me anymore. I thought that now that I get to stay with you we’d have more time to play or at least teach me more about magic, but instead it’s like you now have less time for me. I just, I don’t know, thought that if I work as hard as you do you’d see that I'm still worth your time. But I guess I was just being stupid." You duck your head down from him again once you’d finished your little rant.
"You are still young and still developing your abilities, pushing yourself like that isn’t going to…" He trails off and you hear a sigh come form him, feeling his grip on you tighten a little. "I blame myself for this," you stare at him confused but let him continue. "Had I known my actions would lead to you doing this to yourself I would’ve done something sooner, I should’ve done something regardless. I suppose I have gotten so used to having you around I began to see you less as my student and more as simply a new constant in my life." He pauses and places a hand to his forehead, shaking his head in disappointment at himself. "I let myself go about the day by day blindly without considering how it could effect you and because of this I was neglecting you." He was the one to look away from you now, resisting the urge to let any tears fall.
"Hey, it’s okay." You try to comfort.
"I don’t think it is, I haven’t been treating you the way you deserve to be, made you think you had to prove something you didn’t. Of course you’re worth my time, you’re worth much more to me then I ever could’ve imagined possible and I let you down. I am so terribly sorry." He looked so defeated, like he was now the one thinking he wasn’t worth your time. You reach up and give him a comforting hug, feeling him tense slightly before returning it.
"I know you’re not perfect like you try to be for everyone." You start, nestling yourself into his chest more. "But that’s okay, you don’t have to be for me. I like you as yourself, and that’s what matters. Still would like to spend more time with you though." You mumble the last part but he still hears you giving a small chuckle.
"Tell you what, I’ll talk to the Bright Queen about getting myself a free day, like you once suggested or at the very least compromise to have less work on my plate and more time to teach you. How does that sound?" He gives you a small smile, you give him a bigger one in return. With that he tries to stand but you let out a small whine in protest, tightening your grip on him a little. "I thought you liked the idea." He gives you a slight confused look.
"I do, but you can do that later, don’t go yet, please." You give him your big eyed stare, it didn’t take long for him to agree this time. You curl yourself up against him more as he soothingly brushes your hair back, the calming motion eventually putting you to sleep.
