#gt talks

“Hey soldier!”

Karlach's booming voice nearly made Freya drop her mortar. There was no way she was going to get used to being around larger beings and there was no way she could hide any discomfort of suddenly being approached by a giant barbarian who was eager to rush over. Karlach must've realized this because she skidded to a halt, lowering herself into a crouch. “Oh sorry, I forget you can be jumpy.”

“It's okay, this is new to both of us.” Freya smiled, setting her mortar and pestle down. “Did you need anything?”

“Oh no, I just saw you by yourself.” She hesitated for a moment. “Not that you can't handle yourself, but I'm surprised you're out in the open like this.”

Freya gave a shrug. “Well, the refugees are gone, the druids keep to themselves, and Halsin had promised to let every animal in the grove know that I am not a snack, I figured this was a nice tree stump to occupy for a bit of alone time.”

“Oh if you want, I can leave you alone!”

“Nah, I don't mind. I could use the company.” She took a seat by the edge. “Besides, I have to let the ointment sit for a minute before I put the next ingredients in.”

“Sounds like I came at the right time then.” Karlach replied with a chuckle; her eyes wandered to Freya's supplies, the tools absolutely miniscule compared to the brainy woman who towered above her. “Whatcha making anyways?”

“Oh, just a burn ointment for Gale; one of the goblins at that camp was a Warlock and threw a fire bolt at him. He'll have a nasty scar if I don't make this.”

“Oh that's why he was grumbling to himself earlier! I just thought he got a papercut.”

Freya let out a giggle. “I think he wears those injuries with more pride.”

“Very true.” Karlach chuckled along, her fiery eyes dropped down to the ointment. “Say, you must be pretty good at that if you're always making stuff. You learn that back at your colony?”

“Oh yeah, my mum taught me the basics.” She replied, scoping out the lush plants that sprouted amongst the ground. “But we've never had herbs like the ones in this Grove! We could've made so much more if we lived here.”

“This probably wouldn't be a bad place to set up, lots of plants and berries, crevices to make a home, and the druids seem nice… for the most part.”

“I won't lie, I thought about making a home here.” She admitted, her eyes dared to meet Karlach's and she could see the faintest bit of sadness on her face. Guilt began to clutch her heart. “It's as you said, this is a great place for borrowers, plus… my old colony wouldn't be far from here. I started to wonder, if something happened, perhaps it would be better if I was close by.”

“I wouldn't blame ya, you still have family over there.”

Freya gave a nod. “My cousin, yeah.” Her hands found their way back to the mortar and pestle, she grinded up the final bits into the pasty substance. “But even with my colony not too far away, I still would be alone here. I'm not sure that would be a way I want to live.”

“Oh no doubt about it!” Karlach exclaimed. “Being alone in Avernus was the worst. I think you're better off with us til you find some other tiny soldiers like you.”

“I absolutely agree.” Freya beamed. “I definitely feel safer with this indestructible tiefling nearby.”

That elicited a hearty chuckle from Karlach. “Oh, you're too adorable, I'd give ya a big ole squeeze if I could.”

There was no stopping the flustering heat that rose in Freya's cheeks, her eyes fell to the ointment she made. “Not too hard, I hope.”

“Of course not, I'd be very careful!” Karlach cleared her throat. “At least…I'd try not to, my old friend Fytz used to tell me that I would hug a little too hard sometimes.”

Sometimes, Freya had a hard time believing that this barbarian who fought in a literal war was one of the sweetest beings in this group. This woman had so much love to give, and yet, she had no way of giving any of her friends a simple act like a hug. Was this a cruel joke played by the gods? Whatever the reason, it served as a reminder for Freya to never take such simple intimacies for granted anymore. “Well, I think we have to hurry up and get that engine fixed, so I can see for myself.”

"Hey! I'm boiling the kettle already for you! Don't start drinking now! That's not good for you!" G wasn't in the mood to argue with their little friend. At the moment, they sounded like a nagging mother or sibling. G had no patience today for any of that. T stomped their little foot on the counter as they felt ignored. "I said I'm boiling the kettle! Stop drinking beer!" With a quick switch and a small light popping on, the kettle had finished boiling. G begrudgingly got up "okay okay just stop nagging. I'll have some -" G stood there with the kettle in their hand. There was barely any water in it! T had basically wasted a lot of hard earned electricity on a practically empty kettle! It wasn't even enough for half a cup. "You boiled an empty kettle!" G moans. "Oh... well, then you didn't refill it!" T answers with a rather snarky tone, jeez, how ungrateful.

G takes a deep breath. "I have told you before. If there's no water in the kettle, don't boil it." as sweet as his friends' intentions were. It would be nice if they listened once in a while, too. T, without skipping a beat, ignores the comment and pushes the small glass bottle to G. "Take some rescue remedy! You'll feel far less grumpy! It always helps!" G, let's out a long sigh."T I just need a moment right now, I don't want the remedy." G tries to explain in a calm yet frustrated tone."But it'll help you! Just take it! You obviously need it since you're being so dramatic"

G looks at T. Oh, how fed up they were at the moment. Maybe they should go elsewhere to try and have a moment of peace? They could come back to T later."Take. Your. Remedy!!" T insists while pushing the little bottle closer and closer to G, who was making their way out of the kitchen when suddenly...

Smash!

The precious little glass bottle of rescue remedy fell to the floor, shattering into millions of pieces and the liquid spilling all over the floor. T gasps and stares down at the bottle before slowly looking up at G. G turned immediately to see what had happened. His face turned a bright red as he stormed in a blind rage to T with the intention of grabbing them. T immediately ran for cover, it had become a game of cat and mouse, T was making quick moves to escape G's fuming grasp while G shouted for them to "Get back here this instant!"

T had slipped off the counder and fell between the counter and fridge. T was now not only injured from the hsrsh fall but also trapped. If G decided to move the fridge now, they would most definitely get crushed, but it's the only hiding spot T could get to... G knew too well of all the others and had blocked them off.

T immediately grabbed onto whether they could, their lower back hurt immensely from hitting the floor, and everything around them felt slow and agonizingly painful. They didn't respond, it hurt too much to respond... all they could do was push themselves back and cover their ears from G's booming voice. They couldn't make out what was being said anyway. They were just scared and hurt. Soon after that, they blacked out for a moment, or a minute before quickly waking up from a tight pain in their legs, it was undoubtedly from the fall, the shock made his legs hard to move but that wasn't their only problem. Was G still after them? Had they given up searching for T? Did T push too much and make G stop caring for them..? T let out a soft, defeated cry. It was barely loud enough to alert G.

G had been searching for their little friend for about an hour now. Where had they gone?? At first, they just thought they were hiding, but they never hid for this long... and they always responded of G's call. Something wasn't right. When they finally heard T's weak whimpers, they felt both hopeful and a sense of dread.

"T! T I'm here, I'm right here, we're are you? Where are you buddy??" G asked while frantically searching the nooks and crannies of the kitchen eventually yet reluctantly following their nose to the fridge where they saw their little friend. Dread sank through their hearts, both for separate reasons, the one was scared what would happen if G got their hands on them, while the other was worried how they would got their little friend out of there in one piece!