xxvi. tired kisses

Nott has a button in her hand. Her fingers are curled so tightly around it that she can feel its little holes pressing into her palm. Her eyes stay fixed on the ground in front of her and she inhales deeply. She's tired–exhausted, really–but she can't sleep. She's been thinking too much about too many things and the gentle rocking of the boat isn't helpful.

For a moment, she considers going to find Fjord and forcing the half-orc to give her some kind of duty to do with the cannons, but she knows he'll recognize the exhaustion on her face. She isn't in the mood to have him be condescending towards her.

Caleb isn't in their room, he never seems to be, and Nott figures it's probably for the best. One of them always seems to have unhealthy sleep habits, and she doesn't want Caleb to know that he's been rubbing off on her.

The door to the room creeps open and a long silhouette falls in shadow across the room. Nott's hand whips to her crossbow, kept beside her bed, but she soon realizes it's just Caduceus. She drops it down and gives the firbolg a neutral look.

"I saw your light from my room," Caduceus says quietly. He steps into the room and walks over to Nott. "I would offer you some tea, but I know that's not exactly your choice beverage. Get some sleep, Nott. You'll need your strength."

Caduceus leans down and softly kisses the top of Nott's hair before turning and heading to leave again. As the cleric leaves, Nott fights off a huge yawn and uncurls her fingers from around the button.

xxvii. routine kisses

Caduceus hums to himself quietly as he stirs the pot. The soup is coming along nicely and the tea would be ready soon. Beau and Fjord are out scouting, but Jester, Caleb, Nott and Yasha are sitting around the camp, minding their own business.

Jester is drawing, of course, and Yasha is striking a stone along the blade of her sword. Caleb is reading from one of the new arcane books he has managed to pick up and Nott is fiddling with a crossbow bolt while sitting on the ground next to the wizard. It feels normal for the group and it is calm. It's nice.

Caduceus finishes up with the soup and ladles it into five bowls. Beau and Fjord would get theirs when they came back. He hands Yasha and Jester theirs first and both girls thank him politely before returning to their previous actions. He approaches Nott and Caleb and the goblin jumps to her feet.

"I'll take those!" Nott says, reaching for both bowls. Caduceus doesn't question it and hands the two servings to the rogue. She places one right next to Caleb and Caduceus watches as Caleb turns and gently kisses Nott's brow without thinking too much of it before he goes right back to reading.

It is nice, Caduceus muses, this peace.

xxviii. surprise kisses

Caleb's words are still ringing through Fjord's mind. His footsteps feel heavy and sluggish as he treks through the hallways of the inn. He finds the room he's looking for and his hand hesitates, just a small measure away from knocking against the door. He's frowning unconsciously and he really doesn't want to be doing this. Jester and Nott need a distraction. He has to be a distraction.

Avantika opens the door when he knocks and she looks unnervingly pleased to see him. After a moment, Bouldergut is dismissed and they are alone. For a moment there is nothing and Fjord wonders truly if the captain had truly wanted to discuss things with him. The shred of hope that perhaps she wants to discuss the next temple lingers only until she yanks him down and slams their lips together.

The action surprises him and Fjord's stomach sinks like a rock in the rippling ocean.

xxix. tentative kisses

It has been a while since there have been any flowers for Yasha to press between the pages of the book she carries. The ocean was obviously not the best place to look for wildlife, but they are back on land again, at last.

Yasha looks for flowers as they travel, but the group is moving with urgency towards Felderwin, so there isn't really time to scour the land beyond what exists at the treeline. There are unspoken tensions hanging in the air and Yasha glances at Jester one day.

The tiefling looks happy, touching the pendant at her neck, and Yasha wonders what Jester is truly thinking about. She had been calm and insightful about Zuala, even despite the sadness in the tale that is uncharacteristic of Jester. She tries not to think too heavily about it.

The next day, as they are making camp before Alfield, Jester darts to her side. She presents Yasha with a small cluster of wildflowers and a bright smile. Yasha's heart tightens as she examines the tiny flowers. It is a touching gesture and she leans forward to kiss Jester gently on the cheek.

"Thank you," she says gently.

xxx. attention-drawing kisses

"We really, really, really need to get out of here," Nott urges firmly.

"Well if we leave that way, the Crownsguard will be all over us," Fjord replies sharply, pointing towards the mouth of the alley they've taken temporary shelter in.

"Cause a distraction then!" Nott commands, crossing her arms. Beau, Caleb, Caduceus, and Yasha had the luck not to be corralled into an alley and had all escaped presumably back to the inn, leaving Jester, Fjord, and Nott stranded.

Jester perks up. "Nott, you hide. I have an idea." Nott doesn't wait to hear an explanation as she ducks behind a large crate and blends her small frame into the shadows.

"Jester, what are you talking about?" Fjord asks, his voice a low rumble.

Jester giggles. "Trust me."

There's a large crash like Jester has knocked something over and Nott tenses. She can't see either of her friends from where she's hidden, but she sees their shadows press against one alley wall together, but they're not attempting to hide.

Nott hears a single guard rush into the alley. Jester laughs again and Nott tenses, her hand hovers over her crossbow.

"Oh, no! Oh, we're so sorry! My boyfriend and I were just headed back to our inn and we got a little sidetracked!" Jester's voice is lilting and soft and Nott feels a tiny smile curl up her lips.

The guard mumbles a few annoyed phrases before he moves away and Nott hears yelling for the other guards to move on. She emerges from her hiding place and sees Jester smiling broadly and Fjord looking both mortified and startled. There's a glimmer of magic lingering around them like they had been disguised, but Fjord's hair is mussed just a little and Nott can clearly tell what has gone down between the pair. She bares her teeth at them in a grin.

"Let's go before Jester needs to cause another scene," she says. Fjord's face flushes.

xxxi. apologetic kisses

"Nott?" Jester's voice is smaller than she would like as she peers into the dim room, looking for the goblin.

The former hunched on the far bed jerks and Nott's eyes glint in the low light as she looks at Jester, clearly surprised.

"Jester! What can I help you with?"

Jester steps into the room and feels almost too nervous to continue, but she swallows the pride holding her back and steps in fully.

"Why do you keep pushing Fjord and I together?"

Nott jumps from the bed and walks towards Jester. She reached out and slots her smaller hand into Jester's. "Because I can see that you like him, and even though I don't like him, you do, and therefore you deserve to get what you want."

Jester's eyes sting with unexpected tears as she gives Nott a weak smile. "Well, I don't know, Nott, it's all a little confusing. And we did just fight a dragon and I almost died and I don't know what I'm feeling anymore."

Without another word, Nott tugs and pulls Jester down so she can wrap her arms around the cleric's neck. She kisses the side of Jester's head and breathes slowly.

"I'm so sorry you're confused and I'm sorry we left you to face that dragon alone. You were so incredibly strong."

Jester squeezes Nott and doesn't reply, she just holds on.

xxxii. silencing kisses

Fjord is talking again. He and Caleb have been going back and forth for more than an hour trying to figure out the best route to follow to hit all the important places. Molly leans forward, letting his elbows rest on the table and he studies the two.

Jester and Beau are off doing who knows what and Nott vanished to, presumably, go steal some shiny stuff, and that has left Molly with the two most serious members of the Mighty Nein.

Fjord points at something on the map and makes what is apparently a good point because Caleb makes a consenting noise low in his throat. Molly watched Fjord draw a line from one side of the map to the edge and Caleb's brow furrows.

Bored by the antics considering he was never really paying attention, Molly stands and walks towards the bar. As he passes Fjord, he kisses the half-orc on the top of the head and all the words coming from Fjord's mouth suddenly tumble to a stop as he's shocked into silence.

Molly hides a snicker as he makes his way to the bar. These folk are too affection deprived. He can fix that and he sure Jester would be happy to help.

xxxiii. neck kisses

Beau barely gets the door shut behind her before strong arms are pressing her back. She makes a half-grunt, half-squeaking noise in response and Keg laughs. Beau cuts it off, bending over and kissing the dwarf firmly.

She tastes like ale and smoke and they're clumsy enough that it's going to be awkward. Keg kisses her back firmly before pulling back for air. Beau pulls at the fighter's armour and looks behind her to the bed.

"I think I have a better destination in mind," she mutters lowly.

Keg basically growls in response and Beau smirks, pushing her by the shoulders.

After some armour removal at record speed, Beau has the dwarf pressed against the mattress, both of their chests heaving. Beau's smirk widens. She steals one last kiss on the lips before she goes for the neck.

xxxiv. gentle kisses

Everything about the Mighty Nein is a bit of an oxymoron. Firstly, there's seven of them normally and they don't often feel very mighty. When Kiri trills out an exact replica of any of their voices, it throws Fjord off guard. She's just a small child, but she does bring their numbers up to eight which is a little closer to the nine that people expect.

But, she's a kid and they can't expect to keep dragging a young girl into such dangerous situations, so when they decide to leave her with the Schusters, it is for the better. Still, Kiri has grown on them and they love her completely. The girls of the group take the departure of their kenku friend harder than Fjord or Molly or Caleb does, but they're all sad to see her go.

Fjord's chest twists as he watches Jester kneel before the tiny bird. Her eyes water and she looks at Kiri deeply. Fjord knows a bit more about Jester than any of the others and he's curious how much her own relationship with her mother affects how she feels about the young girl. She's certainly not the only one because Fjord remembers how he felt upon finding the Schuster kids in the beginning.

Jester hugs Kiri and presses a gentle kiss to the top of her head. "You are always one of the Mighty Nein, Kiri! And remember that we love you very much!"

Kiri trills sadly. "Love you very much!"

Fjord places a hand on Jester's shoulder and she looks up at him with misty eyes. Her hand covers his and she squeezes gently.

xxxv. fingertip kisses

Beau flexes her fingers and the pain that shoots through her knuckles makes her wince. Something is definitely bruised and from the speed that the blue has spread across her hands, it's likely broken too. She glances across the clearing and takes in the rest of the party.

Jester is kneeling next to Caleb who is ghostly white and covered in blood and filth. He's fragile and it had only taken the orc two good swings to put the wizard out and Jester had thankfully gotten to his side in time. Fjord is talking in hushed words with Mollymauk who is looking at Nott where the goblin is hovering around Caleb and Jester, trying to help, but also trying to stay out of the way.

Beau grits her teeth. Her hands hurt, but she can't exactly ask Jester for help at the moment since Caleb needs her magic more. She turns and sits on a log, digging through her bag for something she can wrap her fingers with. She jerks out a half-squished roll of bandages and starts trying to wrap her left hand.

Hands descend from above, catching hers and halting her in her place. Beau jerks her eyes up and sees Yasha, stoic-faced, standing above her. She stops trying to wrap her hands as Yasha observes her carefully.

A soft white glow suddenly emanates from Yasha's hands, spreading over Beau's injured knuckles. The healing magic prickles, but it seems to work. Yasha lifts Beau's mostly healed hands and presses a soft kiss to the very tips of her fingers and it sends a spark shooting through Beau a lot stronger than the tingle from Yasha's magic.

"You'll be needing your hands in top quality," Yasha says quietly.

"Yeah," Beau mumbles, unable to tear her eyes from the barbarian. "Thanks."

xxxvi. amused kisses

Caleb turns a page in his book, back turned to the excitement of the bar. He's pretty sure that Jester had just punched Beau in the face and he has to go back to his book to hide an amused smile. It seems too on par for everything that's happened so far.

The book he picked up in Zadash has all sorts of weird ritual circles drawn through the pages, but so far there are no spells that he doesn't recognize. It's almost frustrating, but the circles are enough to keep him leafing through the rest of the pages, hoping for something new through it all.

A hand grabs his arm suddenly and it takes every ounce of control he has not to turn and blast a firebolt at whoever is holding him. Instead, he tenses and glances over to see a beaming Jester at his side. Her lip is split but she's grinning and adrenaline has coloured her cheeks darker.

"Hello, Jester," he greets slowly.

"Caleb! Did you see us fight! It was absolutely awesome! Beau and I totally beat the shit out of each other!" Jester seems genuinely happy and excited and Caleb's lips curl into a gentle smile.

"Couldn't you have healed yourself?"

Jester winks. "I did! But I left the lip because it makes me look cool."

The comment finally breaks Caleb's facade and he lets out an amused chuckled. He turns towards Jester fully and presses a kiss to her cheek. She's odd, but incredibly endearing. Jester beams and throws her arms around him for a tight hug in return.

xxxvii. height difference kisses

Everyone is reeling. With all the information and history that exploded across the group, Nott is surprised that she has kept it together.

It hurts to be home in Felderwin and not be able to hold her son and her husband, but Luke is safe with Edith and Yeza is gone. The cart rattles around the edges of the city and Nott can see the pain on Caleb's face and the darkness that lingers in Beau's and the questions that bleed from everyone else's faces. Nott knows that Jester's dying to ask questions, but there's a silence in the cart that is suffocating.

She looks more closely at Caleb. He's still gripping Beau's shoulder for stability and his face is white as ash. She's seen this look on him before, but it hurts more now because she knows he's not just Caleb and she's finally learned most of the pain that he went through with his parents and with Ikithon.

The pain and silence are killing Nott. She scrambles out of the cover and heads to the front, where Caduceus is calmly driving the cart. The firbolg casts her a careful look, but he looks calm and composed, as he always does.

"Nott," he says gently, "we are going to find your husband. The Assembly won't be using him any longer."

A ball of tension loosens in her stomach and she stands on the seat next to Caduceus. Even standing while he sits, he's taller, so she has to lean up on her toes to kiss his cheek. No words are needed after that and the two sit at the front of the cart, Nott with her hood pulled over her head to hide her features.

xxxviii. 'just acting' kisses

"This is a bad idea," Fjord says stiffly. Caleb watches him cross his arms over his chest, yellow eyes storming.

Beau lets out a long sigh. "You think I don't know that? None of us are getting in there with magic and Caleb and I are the ones who know the most about the Empire. My Cobalt Soul credentials get us in as," she pauses to shudder lightly, "newlyweds, and then Caleb knows what we're looking for during this stupid party."

"I'm with Fjord," Nott pipes up. "You don't know who will be there and there's a possibility someone will see through it immediately."

Caleb kneels in front of Nott. "But I'm very charismatic my friend, and Beau is a brilliant liar. I need those books and we need to find out what they're planning."

Jester taps a finger against her chin. "Well, Caleb, Beau, we'd better see a demonstration of your newlywed adoration. For practice, of course."

Beau frowns, but she steps close to Caleb and slides her arm through his. They're both horribly stiff and unconvincing as she presses the tiniest kiss to his cheek before recoiling quickly. Caleb glances around at their companions to gauge their reaction. Caduceus is blissfully unaware of what is going on, but Fjord and Nott both look far less than impressed.

Jester grabs Caleb and Beau each by the hand, smiling broadly. "You two need to relax! It's just acting, after all."

xxxix. nose kisses

Yasha still feels like there is lightning coursing through her body. She can't forget the feeling of it striking her and the smell of burning wood and ozone. She spreads her fingers flat against the table and stares at her scarred hands against the dark wood in the dim light of the ship's galley.

She had held lightning and a spirit in her hand and it had made her feel more alive than anything in a long while. Not for the first time, Yasha wondered what Zuala would think of the Stormlord and the chaos that surrounded Yasha every time she pursued him. She also wanted to know what Zuala would have thought of the Mighty Nein.

She would have found them to be an eccentric bunch, but still charming nonetheless. Between the lot of them, there was rather a lot of charisma oozing around powerful personalities. Even after all this time travelling with them, they still puzzled Yasha sometimes too. Besides Caduceus, not one of them spoke of their true feelings and it made Yasha miss Molly even more.

The door to the galley swung open and Yasha turned, pulling her hands into her lap. Nott stood in the doorway, just looking at her in confusion.

"Did you fight a lightning beast?" the goblin asks after a moment.

Yasha shrugs because she's still not quite sure what exactly she had fought. Nott jumps up onto the table so that she's standing on it and it now a little taller than Yasha who's seated. Yasha blinks as Nott steps forward and kisses her nose.

"I'm sure you were very brave."

xl. forehead kisses

Caleb's scars are hurting. They always seem to be, but today is worse than normal. Perhaps, he thinks darkly, it is because Beau and Yasha saw Master Ikithon yesterday and from what Beau had said, Ikithon had taken particular interest in Yasha. The thought makes his stomach twist, but he forces it down.

Around the room, his alarm spell is unbroken and Caleb exhales slowly. He hadn't expected it to be broken, but paranoia for old time's sake had won out when he had spread it around the room. Nott hadn't said a word, for her part, and he had been grateful.

Caleb likes the Mighty Nein. But, he also feels like he is using them for his own means to an end. It is wrong to abuse good people in such a way. With tense shoulders and tight nerves, he sets about dismantling his alarm system quietly. Nott is still asleep on the bed on the other side of the room. Sometimes she would sleep curled at his feet, but last night she had crawled into the other bed without much spoken between them.

She had known he had needed his space after that ordeal. Plus, she and Beau knew everything now and the thought of it twists Caleb's insides so viciously he is almost sick.

Caleb pauses in his removal of the alarm and crosses to Nott's bed. He leans over and kisses her forehead softly. She doesn't stir. "Danke, mein kleiner freund," he murmurs gently.

xli. parental kisses

Caduceus drives the cart for a long time and just listens. Caleb and Nott–Bren and Veth, his brain corrects gently–have been through a lot individually and together. Their stories are painful and clearly taxing on the tellers themselves. From his brief observations, Nott does not make eye contact while she speaks and Caleb grabs for Beau like a lifeline.

Finally, he pulls the cart to a stop and looks at the group. They all need sleep, undoubtedly. They make for the inn in a relative silence, but Caduceus watches Caleb's feet drag and his head hangs. The cleric drops to the back of the party next to the wizard and stops him just before he enters the tavern.

His hands lie against Caleb's shoulders and the wizard glances up at him, his eyes dark and full of relived pain.

"It's going to be okay, Mr. Caleb," Caduceus says gently.

"You do not think less of me? For hiding all of these secrets?"

Caduceus shakes his head. "This was clearly a difficult thing for you, so you have done just fine." He presses a gentle kiss to the top of Caleb's head and releases his shoulders. "Now, let us rest tonight."

xlii. frustrated kisses

"You should not be here, Beauregard," Dairon says. Her voice is stiff and has an edge of anger to it.

Beau ignores her mentor's obvious feelings and just throws her arms around her. "I thought you were dead."

Dairon stiffly pushes Beau back until they can make eye contact. "Yes, that was kind of the point."

Beau drops her arms to her sides and just listens as Dairon explains her surprise and the reason behind her deception and the story of Blade Garden. After a moment, Dairon pauses and opens the subject for discussion.

Jester says something, but Beau can't focus on anything else but the person before her. "You're not the slightest bit proud that I've made it this far without getting killed."

Dairon rolls her eyes. "You likely would have died in that ring if I hadn't stepped up."

Beau shrugs. "I still almost beat you, didn't I?"

Dairon's posture slumps a bit as she exhales deeply. "Yes, I suppose you did."

Beau pauses before hugging her mentor tightly again. "I still can't believe you're here."

Again, Dairon is stiff beneath her touch, but this time an arm comes up to wrap around her in return. A quick, fleeting kiss is pressed to the side of her head as the monk embrace.

"I am proud of you, Beauregard, you have learned well and developed much since I saw you last."

Warmth curls through Beau's stomach as she clutches the only adult figure who she ever truly respected.

xliii. cautious kisses

Jester is bouncing on her toes. Excitement and positivity radiates off her and makes her almost glow. Fjord finds himself wishing for a bit of her optimism. Molly stands nearby her, spinning his swords around his hands with practiced ease and Yasha is sitting just behind him, both hands clutching the hilt of the Magician's Judge as the blade sinks an inch or two into the dirt.

Fjord turns and finds Beau standing beside Caleb as she tightens the bindings on her hands, her staff hitched over her back. Caleb is flipping through his spellbook, thoroughly distracted, but Nott, who stands on Caleb's other side, is staring right at Fjord.

She looks from Fjord to the entrance to the ring and her yellow eyes flash darkly.

Fjord sighs. "Hey, guys, remember this is just a competition, it's not a matter of life or death."

Molly laughs. "What, a competition of pride isn't life or death to you folks? That's awfully boring." He slides his swords into their sheath and drapes an arm over Jester's shoulders, grinning. "We're the Mighty Nein, so I don't think we'll have to worry too much about a combat bout."

"Fjord is correct," Caleb interjects. "We should be cautious."

Molly shrugs and Jester turns towards him, also smiling. "Still," she says lightly, "we can be cautious and victorious." Twisting so her horns don't knock against Molly's she leans up and kisses him on the cheek.

Then she looks back at the rest of the Nein and Fjord feels her violet eyes stare right through him as her infectious positivity warms him.

"Okay then," he mumbles.

xliv. collarbone kisses

The circus has been his home since he clawed his way out of the ground. He knows these people and he trusts these people and it kills him to see them get taken away. But, there is no denying that the Crownsguard have reason to suspect the circus considering an old man turned into a zombie-creature during their performance.

After the whole ordeal, Molly sheaths his sword and finds himself standing next to Yasha. She slings her greatsword onto her back and turns towards him. Unexpectedly, she pulls him into a tight embrace. Molly hugs her back tightly because he knows what this means. She's taller than him so his lips, at the angle she has pulled him in, are just above her shoulder.

He cranes his neck and presses them lightly to her collarbone, as a comfort. When she releases him, her eyes are stormy.

"Be safe then," he offers lamely.

Yasha dips her head. "You as well."

Molly turns back to the astonished faces of the new people he just met and knows that if he looks back, Yasha will be gone.

xlv. spine kisses

The whole event is over before Fjord realizes much of what's going on, and soon he's just lying next to an equally nude pirate captain. He hopes he has bought the group enough time to do what they need to do because he does not want to be here any longer than he needs to be.

After a moment, Avantika sits up and begins wresting her long hair into a braid of sorts. Her back is to him and Fjord is able to observe the arcing tattoo that covers her skin as it curls from around her shoulders down to the base of her spine.

"Well," Avantika says, as she ties off her braid. "I want to check the ship before it gets too late, but you're welcome to stay here and wait for me."

The image of Avantika catching Jester and Nott red-handed makes him internally panic and he leans towards her, letting his charisma swell overtop his fear. "Or you could stay," he offers instead.

He leans down, but instead of going to her face as she expects, he aims for the marked skin on her upper back and kisses one of the ridges of her spine. She shivers against him.

"Well with an argument like that," she teases and Fjord swallows roughly.

xlvi. flirtatious kisses

"Jester, wait up!" Beau reached out and grabbed Jester's arm, to pull her to a stop.

Jester stopped, but Frumpkin jumped down off her shoulder and bolted back to where Caleb was standing at the mouth of the alley. Jester turned and gave Beau and inquisitive look.

Beau shuffled her feet awkwardly and looked back at the shed where she'd seen her mentor. "Thank you." At first, that was all she could say, but then she straightened her shoulders and continued. "For fighting in the ring with me and for meeting Dairon with me. It means a lot to me."

Jester smiled brightly. "Of course, Beau! We're best friends!" A coy look crept over the tiefling's face as she considered something. "But really, are you sure you're not secretly in love with me?"

Beau rolled her eyes. "You know I love you, Jessie."

Jester beamed and turned to walk towards Caleb and the main city. She turned once she got halfway there and blew Beau a joking, flirtatious kiss.

xlvii. hot kisses

Caleb's chest feels impossibly tight when he sees Nott fall. He steps out and the Polymorph spell is leaving his lips before he can even think. His heart does not stop pounding until Caduceus has stone shaped the wall behind them and they have fled far enough that the pounding from the fire giants has faded to almost nothing.

The party slows to a halt, everyone heaving with lack of air, and Caleb's eyes find Nott. She's singed and looks dead tired, but she is alive. He steps towards her, pushing away Beau's arms which had been cradling her. Caleb kneels and pulls Nott to his chest, just holding her and letting himself breathe for a moment.

Her hands squeeze him back, her nails digging in a little, but he cannot bring himself to be bothered by that manner. He rests his forehead against hers and mumbles something in Zemnian under his breath. He pulls away slightly and examines her for any damage. She's still hurt, but the healing has helped her significantly.

He kisses her forehead and her skin is still hot to the touch, but he will take hot over dead any day.

xlviii. cold kisses

Jester can still feel the burn from the crackle of electricity. She winds her arms around herself and sinks further against the wood of the base of the crow's nest. For the moment, she had needed to be as far away from the water as possible, so this seemed like a good alternative. Now that she was up this high, she thinks about falling and then she thinks about falling into a dark cavern lit by the lightning of a dragon.

She shivers again.

It's raining, but Jester barely feels it. Her clothes are damp from the sea spray, so the extra added water from the rain doesn't make her feel any worse or any better. Her arms curl atop her knees and she squints at the horizon.

There's a creak of rope grinding against wood and she turns her head. Fjord is leaning over the top of the rope ladder, half in the crow's nest, looking at her.

"Hey, Jester, are you doing okay?"

"Totally, I'm totally fine, definitely," she says quickly. She's pretty sure she sounds convincing, but Fjord's eyebrows knit and he climbs fully up.

"Do you want to talk about it? It's okay to be scared after something like that."

"I was so alone," she mumbles tiredly.

Fjord reaches for one of her hands. His skin is cool against hers thanks to the rain, and he brings it up to his face. He kisses her knuckles quickly and doesn't break eye contact with her. She squeezes his hand in return and feels a tiny smile curl up the corners of her mouth.

xlix. 'don't go' kisses

The ground around him is already slippery with blood, but Caleb reaches for Mollymauk's unmoving body anyways, pulling him as upright as he can get him. There's a trickle of blood from each of the tiefling's wide open red eyes as well as a trail alongside his mouth from where he had spat at Lorenzo.

Not for the first time, Caleb wishes for Jester and the others. Beau says something behind him and he hears Keg's armour clank as she falls hopelessly to the ground, but everything is numb besides the sight of the lifeless body half-clutched in his arms.

The numbness stays as they respectfully bury Mollymauk, leaving his cloak draped over his grave. They leave him a letter just in case, but then they have to move on and Caleb has to feel again.

The anger comes before the sadness. It is unbridled anger and fury towards Lorenzo and the Iron Shepherds and they will pay for what they have done. The sadness and the grief comes next as a dark piercing feeling.

Caleb turns as they begin walking away. "Shine bright, Circus Man," he says carefully. He touches his fingers to his lips and then extends them in the direction of the coat as it flaps in the breeze.

l. 'wake up' kisses

Caleb is squishy. Nott knows this, Caleb knows this, and so does everyone else in the Mighty Nein. Still, Nott is gripped with panic when the arrows sink into his flesh. She watches his blue eyes widen and the fire loose itself from his fingertips before he falls to his knees and then back onto his back.

She scrabbles towards him, grabbing his hand, as Jester takes the other one and casts Cure Wounds. Nott kisses Caleb's hand briefly and stares at his face.

"Wake up, Caleb!" Jester implores. Nott squeezes the limp hand.

Beau and the others are bickering with what is left of the bandits, but Caleb stirs on the hard-packed earth before he shoots up into a sitting position, blue eyes as wide as a madman's.

"Take them out!" he cries desperately. Nott furrows her brow. She touches his hand to reassure him, but his eyes are a million miles away.

Well, it's been awhile, but ep 53 was great, so I was feeling inspired! Might be a bit before the last update, but I might have something else in store before then!

- Nicole