#bladescurse

smooch.. the tief. | sel. accepting always !

the road from nicodranas is a long one, days of winding road that only make her heart ache for home anew. she spends most nights on the journey into the empire staring, wistfully, southward towards the coast – but only when she knows the others are asleep and can not see her pining. this is one such night, their last before crossing the border into the empire. a bundle of papers rests in her lap, documents they would need to make it across without a hassle. they’re done, mostly, so there’s little to occupy her mind as she leans against the wheel of the cart, toying with the small ruby that now hangs around her neck. idly, she brings it to her lips, and smiles; a sad and fragile thing.

“ you’re up late. ”

jester jolts slightly, sitting up straight and whipping her head towards the source of the sound. fjord, only half untucked from sleep, rubbing at the back of his neck while he starts to stand. flustered, words fail her a moment, scrambling for some excuse. he doesn’t have to ask. as the warlock settles down beside her, she slowly uncurls her muscles and allows herself to relax again.

“ … i know. it’s stupid. ” she starts. in the corner of her eye, she can see the tilt of his head, the egging her on to continue, “ i just.. i know we just left, but i miss my momma. ” a laugh, soft and breathless shakes her shoulders. without thinking, she settles against his shoulder, and for a moment they sit in silence. they need to check on things in the empire, she knows that, but that doesn’t make it any easier. they talk, idle chatter, make plans for the next few days. they share laughter and distract one another, dance around the words exchanged in that sunken temple, the confession she was stupid enough to announce aloud. but that isn’t important, here and now. it feels like forever that she stays with him, eyes growing heavy, but she doesn’t let them shut until she dares to reach, to lace her fingers in with his and hold, softly.

“ jes. ”

“ yeah – ? ” she’s only part way through bringing up her head, eyes blinking almost blearily, when the sensation of scarred lips colliding with the corner of her mouth snaps her wide awake. her shoulders go rigid and she laughs, despite herself, even as there is a nervous chuckle offered in return. she doesn’t recoil, afraid that if she moves, the moment would be gone, lingering in their steady closeness and almost holding her breath. the next time, he hits his mark, and it feels like firecrackers are going off in her chest.

              Her  eyes  widen,  her  best  attempts  to  put  on  an  innocent  face  beginning  to  fail  as  she  nods  as  convincingly  as  she  possibly  can,  right  hand  pushing  strands  of  her  hair  back.  As  if  somehow,  someway,  that  makes  her  look  more  serious.  Because  it  should,  it  really  should!  She’s  never  seen  a  serious  responsible  person  with  messy  natural  loose  hair,  perhaps  perfectly  curled  long  hair,  sure,  but  that’s  different.  “ I  didn’t! ”  Jester  insists,  crossing  her  arms  and  looking  back  at  Kiri  now  hanging  around  with  Nott  and  Caleb,  “ She  must  have...  I  don’t  know...  heard  it  from  Beau!  That’s  probably  it,  probably.  Or  maybe  she’s  in  love  with  you.  That’s  also  a  possibility. ” 

it’s  not  unusual  for   him   to   wake   up   cold   as   the   deepest   leagues   of   the  lucidian   and   choking   on   something  ;  be   it   sea   water   or   his   own   blood.   which,   yes,   in   an   of   itself   is   unusual  —   but   ‘weird’   coming   from  beau   of   all   individuals  ?   fjord   gives   a   small   chuckle   as   he   bumps   his   arm   roughly   into   the   monk’s   own,   ❝  why   don’t   you   worry  about  yourself  ‘cause   at   least  i  know  how  to  smile  in   away   that   doesn’t   scare   off   small   children. ❞

“Hey, fuck you!” Beau snorts and elbows him back with a wry grin. Fjord...isn’t exactly wrong, though. Her comment was meant to be one of concern for him--he woke up choking on seawater of all things! And they’re not even close to the ocean!

                                  soltryce academy ...  that  was  north-ish, right?  eyes  darted  again  to  the  green  skin  man  before  her,  over  hearing  him  throughout  the  night  about  the  school  (  wishing  to  go  there  himself,  for  whatever  reason.  )  and  back  to  the  map  before  her.  wondering  if  it  was  useless  to  have  brought  one  if  she  not  know  which  town  she  was  in  to  begin  with.  wildemount  being  a  curiosity  to  herself  anyway,  being  here  only  once  before  for  a  short  time.  antlers  began  to  tip  with  her constant  state  of  looking  down  at  the  piece  if  paper  before  her     --------------   keyleth, she told herself .. internally,  you  have  killed  beholders, met  gods  and  you  are  the  voice  of  tempest.  speaking  to  people  should  no  longer  be  a obstacle. 

               there  are  things  she’s  good  at:    punching,  drinking,    slugging  through  swamps,   letting  shitty,  shitty  tour guides  get  theirs.      talking  certainly  isn’t  one  of  them.     she  thinks  it’s  part  of  her  charm ;   he  doesn’t,   she  guesses.     FAIR  ENOUGH,    but  still.        ‘      come  on,   fjord.      ’         her  hands  are  folded  atop  her  staff,    under  her  chin  and  she  leans  forth  on  it,     watching  as  what  few  people  there  are  slug  about.    she  wonders  if  everyone  here  is  like,   actually  dead.    just  a  corpse  going  through  motions.    it’d  be  some  wild  necromancy;    much  better  than  thinking  they’re  CONTENT  with  this.          ‘    i  just  want  to  ask  like,     what  they  do.     because  we’ve  only  been  here  two  fuckin’  days  and  i’m  pretty  sure  we’ve  done  everything  already.     ’          

                it’s  not  a  matter  of  trust.    it’s  respect  that  keeps  her  from  just  doing  it  anyway.   she  wouldn’t  bargain  with  anyone  lesser  than  him.         ‘     maybe  they  can  point  us  towards  some  seedy  underground  shit.   i’m   like,   THE  target  audience  for  that  sort  of  thing.    you’re  too .  .  .    ’           a  disgusted  look  in  his  direction,    though  honest,   it’s  hardly  meant  to  wound.    half  the  reason  she  doesn’t  truly  finish  the  thought;   it’s  different  if  he’s  let  to  fill  in  the  blanks.   ALL  HIM,   not  her  fault  if  there’s  self-loathing.        ‘      i’ve  got  this.   trust  me.      ’