#plank king. and caleb has enough people after him as it is. wouldn't want to get him or the rest of the nein mixed up in it--

[dent-de-leon]

Caleb as Plank King Tealeaf's consort--

He gives Caleb a share of all the magical treasure he claims at sea, anything he thinks will make his wizard smile. His crew knows Caleb is always welcome in the captain's quarters, and has free reign to come and go anywhere in Darktow that he pleases.

The first time they ever kissed was on starlit sands under the moonlight; the echoing roar of the tide, a gentle seashore breeze, every shared breath making him feel alive again.

Kingsley knows it was Caleb who carried out the ritual, who tried so desperately to resurrect him. The first soul to try and reach for him in endless darkness, a gentle voice, begging him to come home. Piecing back together the shattered shards of his soul. A kiss on the forehead that still feels like home.

Kingsley in all his roguish charm, tempting as a siren, always offering to whisk Caleb away on another daring adventure at sea. Tantalizing and romantic. Utterly terrible for his teaching schedule. But he still runs off with Kingsley on starry nights, both of them indulging in just a few stolen moments, every lingering touch and sacred vow. Caleb inevitably asking King to come home with him, promising there will always be a place for him. An empty room waiting in the tower, love wrought in shining stained glass. A stray that always wanders back.

Caleb is the only one Kingsley will let see him like this--the leather gloves and coat stripped away, all his scars and tattoos laid bare. Caleb cradling him in his arms again, calling him Circus Man with aching fondness. Kingsley kissing every scar Lucien carved into his Magician.

Some nights, in twisting nightmares and longing dreams, it all comes back--just for a moment. Then it's gone again. Sand slipping through his fingertips, a hollow emptiness. Skin crawling where the Eyes once branded him. Skimming through the pages of a patchwork journal, shuffling an old deck of cards that he still knows by heart.

"Tell me about Mollymauk," he says, curling up in Caleb's arms, the past and present all bleeding together. He needs to hear it from him, from the man who always saw him for who he is, who would lay his heart bare and hold nothing back. "Tell me about you and your Circus Man."

Kingsley cherishing Caleb as his most precious treasure, worth more than all the gold and jewels in the sea.