#yearning.

“But look at this rune, it completely nullifies the effect of that one, it’s like we're looking at a puzzle; like we aren’t meant to figure this out!” You groan in frustration, flopping backward onto the floor, throwing askew some of the parchment you held in your right hand; despite both of you being trained in the arts of arcana, this specific string of runes had both of you stumped. For the better part of four hours, you have been on and off, looking at the same piece of parchment in the comfort of Caleb’s room in his magical wizard tower.

“Exactly, this is quite the puzzler." He sounds tired, he is exhausted, wandering through the plains of Icelcros isn’t easy physically, and he may or may not have pushed himself farther than he should’ve; though he’s hidden it well. Reaching past where the parchment lies, he grabs a thick tome, which has been well-used, and cracks it open with a huff.

He flips the pages with purpose, hoping that maybe on one of these old, yellowed pages, he would find an answer, but exactly like the last two times he’s gone through the tome, there is nothing that suggests this rune layout has any purpose at all. But it has to, otherwise, why would it be at the site of one of the oldest civilizations known to history?

You shoot up into a sitting pose, as if enlightenment had just been bestowed upon you, and you stare at him with those bright eyes that make his stomach turn into knots, and his chest tighten, eyes glittering with mirth and excitement. And then you laugh, gods, it makes him feel giddy, your beautiful laugh and the way your lips move when you speak; and then he realizes that you’ve been talking to him and he hasn’t been listening to you.

“Caleb? Have you been listening to me?” He flushes, his neck and ears burn with a familiar embarrassment, and you do the frustratingly cute head tilt you do when you’re confused. You wait patiently for the fumbling wizard to gather himself, but the more you look at him, the more he wants to say it.

“I— uh, no, no, I wasn’t listening. I was distracted. May you repeat it for me?” Your eyebrows furrow; he knows this expression means you're thinking over something. Usually, he finds this a good time to examine your features; however, now it makes his heart palpitate. You look back at him, and he feels a thin sweat begin to form over his forehead, and you’re thinking again, this time at him, examining him; and now all Caleb feels like doing is letting the floor swallow him whole.

Your gaze is fiery, and he swears that he can feel burns where your eyes trail him; he can see you placing him in an equation in your head, and he can see all the factors you put in it. All of it is sending him into a spiral he didn’t need to be in. He knows that he should spit it out, that Veth is right, but that little voice that lingers around in the back of his mind douses any semblance of hope anyone can ever spark.

“Caleb……” His eyebrows pinch together. He knows you said something, but it was far too faint for his damaged ears to hear.

“I’m sorry, Maus, I did not catch that.” You look down at your lap, playing with your fingers, which seem more interesting than the conversation at hand. His heart swells; he’s never seen you look so bashful before, and he can’t help but admire the way that beautiful pink color paints itself onto your cheeks and ears, or the way your bottom lip is stuck between your teeth.

“I'm in love with you!”

“I think I’m in love with you.” A breathtaking silence blankets his chamber, and it’s almost like your eyes are glued to each other's, the twinkling forget-me-not blues striking against your own. You giggle, and that giggle turns into a full-body laugh, with you clutching your stomach and your face turning a wonderful pink; you look celestial. Abruptly, your laugh is his laugh too, and it’s both of you laughing together, creating a symphony that is so wonderfully and perfectly your laughter dancing around his, and his to yours.

You wipe the tears that had gathered in the corners of your eyes, gulping down air to settle your pounding heart, and finally, you look at him. He looks transcendent, like the embodiment of the warmth of the sun after rain, like a fire in the middle of a snowstorm.

“As I was saying, I think these runes were designed to keep something in rather than keep anything out.” You're playful, and Caleb can’t help but chuckle to himself and shake his head