Time breaks around them. And then it reforms, and Essek feels his wounds heal painlessly in an instant.

He locks eyes with Caleb for a few moments. “We did it.” 

Caleb smiles back. “We did it.”

Veth takes a few quick steps towards them, and she hugs Caleb. “Caleb, that was amazing!”

Essek smiles bittersweetly and casts his eyes to the ground.

And then there is a yell on his left. “That was so cool!” And Jester is throwing her arms around him.

It startles a small laugh out of Essek. “Ah. Well…”

“I knew there was a reason we keep you around.” The punch to his shoulder stings a bit, but he knows that it is Beau’s way of being affectionate.

“Holy fuck. Well done, you two,” and Fjord is patting his back.

Essek’s eyes prickle a bit, and he thinks it’s not just because of the punch.

“Maybe I should learn that trick,” Caduceus speaks up. “That would save on a lot of healing spells.”

“Ah, I do not know if ah…”

“No, I know. That was just a joke.” And then a large hand is ruffling his hair. “You did good.”

Essek looks away, only to face Jester, who still has her arms wrapped around him and is still grinning up at him, and he feels his expression match hers.

Yasha is still patting herself down, but she stops to give him an acknowledging nod.

More to herself she says “Whoa. So I guess they didn’t end up breaking all of reality.”

“Well. We kind of did,” Caleb interjects.

Yasha gives the two wizards a concerned look.

“Don’t worry. We put it back together.”

“Oh. Well. That’s… good then, I guess,” Yasha says.

Essek hesitates for a moment before he reaches out to give her a reassuring pat on the arm.

“That is what friends do, isn’t it? They casually break the world for each other? Just for a bit?”