#just had to do a fish!Essek Drabble real quick

[sldlovescartoons]

Cold Fish

Caleb did not think it possible for a fish to express any emotion. ‘Cold fish’ was a descriptor/insult for a reason. Yet here he was was, in the middle of a wild magic zone, on what he considers his first really free Aeror expedition, looking at the most visually upset fish he’d seen in his life.

Essek, his darling, his partner, decided to upcast detect magic on this ruin they found. He announced that it had magic elements and then promptly turned into a fish.

Flopping on the ground was a salmon. Reaching into his mind it might have been a small sort from the east? Roughly seventeen inches long, scales gradating from a light, silverish purple to a darker, more blue purple at the top towards the spin. A more vibrant purple striped along his side and at the tips of his fins and had silvery speckles along his spine near his head. A pretty gorgeous fish, all things told, breathing heavily as it suffocated and flopping in a light dusting of fresh snow. Looking more embarrassed than any fish had a right to.

“Well… we should probably get you somewhere safer.” He glanced around. They were in a fairly open area. The destroyed building they were standing on had most of the thicker snow blown off it, but that didn’t change the fact it was missing a ceiling and most of its walls and his boyfriend was now a small-ish prey animal. He reached down to pick up Exandria’s Most Miserable Salmonid, at which point he started flopping wildly away- goddamnit.

“Essek, darling, my partner, Schatz, I know that this is embarrassing-“ Flopping intensifies. “But you are a prey animal now. I should at least carry you so nothing snatches you away. Ideal try to find some cover until you turn back. I promise I’ll only make fun of you when we are having whiskey and cocoa later.”

The flopping stops, thank heavens. Really, the drow was so silly sometimes. No matter how much time passed and now matter how much shit happened or how many times Caleb himself cried or embarrassed himself in a vulnerable way, anything Essek considered vulnerable (which was A LOT) could be like pulling teeth. He always gave in, because he’s a sappy sap deep deep down, but he’s like this EVERYTIME. Like that time with the bear trap, it took two hours to get him to see- he was getting distracted.

“Thank you, darling.” The wizard said, patting the salmon (did he just ROLL HIS EYES? That sassy, scaley bitch) and picked him up. Even on the lighter side for a fish of this sort and maturity, maybe twelve pounds? He was a lot to handle but eventually he got a good grip and got to walking for shelter.

Looking down again at his gasping, fishy lover, with all his pretty purple scales and air of mortification, he just couldn’t help himself-

“You know, you really are a very handsome fish.”

Essek flopped wildly and violently out of his hands and Caleb started to laugh.