#jeau

Bouldergut raised her club and let out a full throated roar. There was a moment’s silence, and then the various pirates on the street hurried to be off the street, leaving Jester all alone, facing Bouldergut and her friends.

“Gonna be okay, Jess” Beau said, as she slipped back to Jester’s side, gently touching her back with one hand.

“Yeah, we got this” Jester said, smiling weakly.

The world seemed to stand still for a moment, as though no one wanted to be the first one to start the fight. Jester almost allowed herself to consider that they wouldn’t have to fight at all - maybe they’d be able to come to some sort of peaceful conclusion.

Bouldergut swung her club to point at them, the pirates surged forwards, and all hell broke loose. 

Beau flicked a dart out, catching one of them in the chest. As he staggered backwards, she was amongst them, whirling and punching. Jester clenched her fist, and her lollipop blinked into existence, swinging to hit Bouldergut fully in the stomach.

She followed up with a guiding bolt, which whistled through the air, weaving through the melee to hit Bouldergut in the jaw, snapping her head up, and scorching her chin and neck black. Jester could see the skin peeling back. Sparkles of light burst from the impact point, coating Bouldergut’s face and torso. 

Beau vaulted over a pirate, kicking off the back of his head towards Bouldergut, and driving her elbow deep into the nape of her neck, but Bouldergut simply grunted her annoyance, and shook Beau off.

Beau rolled to her feet, looking a little ruffled, but no more than that. Jester gave up on trying to deal with Bouldergut, then, and closed her eyes to ask the traveller for assistance. From somewhere in the Feywild, a tiny unicorn burst into existence, orbiting Jester, its horn wickedly sharp. Then another. And another. Soon enough, Jester was surrounded by a swirling field of tiny unicorns. The pirate closest to her screamed, as a unicorn tore a chunk of his stomach away. 

They couldn’t win, though. Not against such long odds. Beau took a nasty slash across the back from a scimitar - she’d been forced to take that, to avoid the lethal swing of Bouldergut’s club, but it was badly sapping her strength. Jester kept them at arm’s length with her swarm of unicorns for a while, but when one of them forced his way through, ignoring his wounds to bludgeon her in the stomach with a cosh, she could not keep her mind on the unicorns, and one by one they winked out of existence. 

The fighting came to a lull, as Bouldergut and her compatriots stopped to assess their losses. Three pirates lay insensate on the floor, though whether they were alive or dead, Jester didn’t know. Another was propped up against a cart as a fifth stitched together his wounds. They’d defeated less than half of their assailants, and Beau could barely stand, her left eye swollen shut, bleeding from a half dozen cuts, and holding her ribs - Jester could tell at a glance that some of them were broken, but she still stood between Jester and Bouldergut, weakly raising her fists as she swayed gently from side to side.

For herself, Jester could feel something was wrong in her stomach; she didn’t know what, but one of her internal organs was almost certainly bleeding, and she had the unpleasant weight inside her skull that told her she was all tapped out.

“Hey, Beau?” Jester said.

“Yeah, Jessie?” Beau said, her voice strained as she kept her eyes trained on Bouldergut.

“We’re not going to die, are we?” Jester said.

“Nah, Jess. We’ll be fine. I’ve got it covered.” Beau said, but she refused to turn to look Jester in the eye, and Jester wasn’t stupid.

She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want Beau to die. She certainly didn’t want to die without telling Beau - she caught herself. Telling Beau what? That she loved her? That she was in love with her? Jester blinked. That was true. She knew it was true, but she didn’t know how long it had been true.

If they were going to die, Jester figured, then anything she did now didn’t matter.

“Beau?” Jester said, “I think-”

She was interrupted as Bouldergut let out a startled half-cry. Looking up, Jester saw the ogre fall, half her skull stoved in.

The Plank King stepped calmly around the body, a colossal hammer held loosely in one hand. The other pirates with Bouldergut took one look at him and scattered. 

“I was told there was an ogre rampaging through the streets. I come out here to deal with it, kill a valued member of Captain Avantika’s crew, and then find you two, out here, looking like hammered shit, and yet not fighting the ogre that wanted to kill you. What is going on in my city?” He said, his voice deceptively calm.

Beau cast a glance towards Jester, who shook her head - she wasn’t going to tell Beau now, so Beau looked back at the Plank King, and told him everything.

The Plank King killed Avantika, imprisoned what was left of her crew - Caleb had become rather liberal with his use of fire as the battle continued, and very little of the crew remained - and banished them from Darktow. Throughout all of this, Jester studiously avoided Beau. She felt awkward, raw even. Jester wasn’t used to this. Usually, when something was making her feel vulnerable, she would go to Beau, and Beau would make her feel better. But the thing that was making her feel vulnerable was Beau. 

She’d taken her own cabin, rather than bunking with Beau like she usually did, and, inevitably, her sleep suffered. She missed talking to Beau before she went to sleep, missed Beau’s quiet, measured breathing as she went to sleep, missed waking up as Beau went through her stretches. 

At about 3 in the morning on the second night of their voyage, Jester decided against repeating her tactic of the night before - waiting until she became so tired that she slipped into unconsciousness, and instead, decided to get some fresh air.

The deck still smelt faintly of brimstone, but the scent of the sea was omnipresent. She breathed in deeply, leaning against the railing and staring into the ocean as it lapped gently against the hull.

“Can we talk, Jess?” 

Jester turned around slightly sheepishly, to see Beau standing at the top of the stairs leading down into the ship. Moonlight played across her face, dappled by the rigging, and Jester fought an irrational urge to kiss her. 

“Oh, right! Sure! Yeah!” Jester said. “But I’m pretty tired, so maybe in the morning…?” “Don’t bullshit me, Jester. You’ve been avoiding me since Darktow, and I just…” Beau’s voice cracked. “I just want to know what I did, Jess.”

She stopped then. She had to. Pain like that wasn’t something she could walk away from, and coming from Beau made it so much worse. Beau was strong. Beau was a rock on which you could rely - she didn’t always know what to do, but she was always there, unconditionally supportive.

“It’s not your fault, Beau,” Jester said, “I just… I realised when I thought we were going to die that the idea of losing you hurt more than I could bear, and I was going to tell you, but then it didn’t happen and then I’ve been too nervous whenever I see you and-” “Hey, Jess, breathe. It’s okay.” Beau said, raising her hands to placate her. “I know what you mean, but avoiding me… that hurt, Jessie.” Beau moved to hug her, and Jester fell into her arms, burying her face in Beau’s neck. 

“I’m in love with you, you know?” Jester murmured, her lips a hair’s breadth from Beau’s skin. 

“Me too.” Beau said, then paused. “Wait, I mean I’m in love with you, not-”

“Beau you should go to sleep.”

Jester’s voice was small and tired, whispered and slightly slurred from having only just woken up. Beau squinted, the words of her notes in front of her blurring for a moment, looking up to see Jester blinking up at her from where she was curled up on the ground, wedged in between Caduceus and Fjord in the pile within the dome.

“Uh- uh yeah. Yeah.” Beau shook her head, her eyelids suddenly feeling heavy, Jester’s voice snapping her out of the focus her studying had granted her and leaving her with tiredness. “Just- racing mind, ya know?”

Jester nodded slowly, shuffling up into a half-sitting position and moving a little closer to her. “Here, come over here.” She waved her hands, beckoning Beau to come further. “I’ll give you a massage, it’ll calm you down to go to sleep.”

She still sounded half-asleep, continuing to wave her hands for a few seconds longer than necessary, while Beau froze for a moment, her mind processing what Jester had just said. A… massage?

If she were any more alert, she might’ve had the presence of mind to be flustered about that particular proposition. But as it was, she could barely connect the words ‘massage’ to ‘sleep’, and sleep was starting to sound very nice right about now.

So she shuffled over to Jester, stacking up her notes and closing her notebooks, stuffing the swatch of blue fabric that may or may not have come from Dairon’s uniform deep into her pockets. Jester guided Beau to sit just in front of her, her hands resting lightly on her shoulders, fingers soft and cool against the firmness and heat of Beau’s skin.

The first gentle rub sent a shiver down Beau’s spine, and as Jester continued — and she really was quite good at giving massages — Beau found herself leaning further into it. It was so easy to do it when Jester was around, and only Jester, she knew that for sure. Beau certainly couldn’t imagine letting anyone else give her a massage, but with Jester it was just a given.

It had all been so easy with Jester. To be her friend, to let down some of the walls that she’d been dutifully building up for years. So easy to be her roommate, to share a bed with her when they couldn’t afford a room with two beds, to let their arms intertwine and blankets tangle around them. Jester was like a sunflower, bright, beautiful and impossible to miss. She was incredible, and clever, and one of the first people to make an effort to see past the image that Beau gave everyone. The first to believe there was anything different behind the image at all.

Perhaps Beau shouldn’t have been surprised that it had been so easy to fall in love with her.

Beau’s eyes slid shut at some point during the massage, sinking into Jester’s touch, feeling the tension in her shoulders, the exhaustion from the seemingly endless fight they’d had melting away. Eventually she was just completely leaning against Jester’s chest, her head nestle in Beau’s arms, barely a hair’s breadth from being completely asleep. She felt the soft pressing of Jester’s lips on her forehead for just a second, pulling away as quickly as they had arrived.

Exhaling slowly, Beau pulled up her legs, absentmindedly angling herself into a more comfortable position, the massage having ended without her quiet realising it a while ago. Jester lowered them both down onto their sides, rolling over so she was on her back and Beau was half on top of her, one of Jester’s arms acting as a pillow for Beau’s head to rest on.

For a few moments Beau laid there, half-asleep. She wondered sometimes, what would change if she told Jester about her feelings. Would Jester still let her cuddle like this? Would she offer give her massages, to share their bed, to hug her and braid her hair and press tiny little kisses to her forehead when she needed them?

Usually when she wondered about that she was awake enough to talk herself out of it. But tonight… tonight she was tired. She was tired, and she loved Jester, and she wanted to know the answer to those questions. And somewhere in her exhausted mind, she decided there was only one way to find those answers.

So she carefully rolled around to her other side, trying not to bump into anyone else. She felt Jester’s arms and legs shift automatically to accomodate the new position, and Beau cracked her eyes open, seeing Jester’s face in front of her, outlined by shadow. Her eyes were half-open, ever so slightly reflective in the darkness, looking dreamily at her.

“Night Beau.” Jester mumbled, closing her eyes fully.

Beau didn’t say goodnight back, twirling a lock of Jester’s hair around her finger. Now. Now was the perfect time.

Without so much as a second thought (or a first thought, really), Beau leaned forwards, kissing Jester’s lips. They were just as soft as she’d imagined them being, the kiss lasting for only a moment before Beau pulled back, closing her eyes, her mind deciding that the mission was accomplished, and thus it was time for sleep. Jester knew now. Future Beau could deal with the consequences in the morning.

But instead, she felt Jester’s lips find hers again in the darkness, holding them there for a few moments longer. Oh. Okay. Cool.

Beau held out her hands, energy buzzing in the air around her before a bolt of radiant light shot from her fingertips, crashing into the torso of one of the giant crocodiles that she and the rest of the Nein were fighting.

They’d been hoping to get through this swamp without any major incidents, but perhaps she should’ve realised by now that hoping for something to not happen only made it far more likely. The gods had a sense of humour sometimes, and other times it seemed like they just wanted to see how many monsters they could throw at them.

A few feet away from her Caleb was frowning, flames gathering in one hand while the other moved through the air, directing the giant translucent cat’s paw that was pinning another giant crocodile to the ground while Yasha and Fjord tried to slice through it’s thick hide. Behind her Caduceus and Nott were keeping a third at bay, peppering it with crossbow bolts and insect bites, keeping it so frazzled it didn’t know where to look.

The crocodile Beau had hit with a guiding bolt shifted to look at her, teeth snapping menacingly before its head was knocked sharply to the side, a blue fist connecting with its snout, dangerously close to getting chomped off completely.

Jester followed the punch with a swift kick to the bottom of the head when the giant crocodile reared up to let out a guttural roar — or as much of a roar as a crocodile could manage — in an attempt to scare them back. But Jester wasn’t easily scared, and Beau wasn’t one to back down.

There was a determined grin on Jester’s face as she fought, twirling around in a flurry of kicks and spins that made her look like she was dancing. It was almost mesmerising to watch, and if they weren’t in the middle of a battle Beau would have paused to enjoy it.

Instead, she settled for catching glimpses, listening out for Jester’s triumphant laughs and cheers whenever she landed a good hit. Beau prepared another guiding bolt, carefully taking aim at the crocodiles head while he snapped around, trying to catch Jester, who never stayed still long enough for it to have a chance at hitting her.

But before she could let loose, there was a surprised cry from Fjord, quickly followed by a dull thud of a very thick giant crocodile tail slamming into their half-orc, sending him flying a good twenty feet through the air. Right into Caleb.

Caleb stumbled backwards to the ground, his cat’s paw dissipating in a flash, the crocodile thrashing about the swampy waters while Yasha tried to keep it handled by herself. One of Caleb’s arms moved backwards to try and break his fall, only managing to bump into Beau, throwing off her aim as she instinctively let loose the guiding bolt.

The divine energy arced into the air, slamming into a tree that hung above the crocodile she and Jester were fighting. Sparks flew, remnants of the energy zapping out in random directions as the branch snapped, Jester throwing her arms up to shield herself from any debris.

It was only a few seconds of chaos before Fjord could roll off of Caleb and both of them could get back into the fight, before Beau could regain her focus. But it was long enough for the crocodile Jester had previously been dancing around to see an opportunity, it’s maw enclosing around one of Jester’s legs without mercy.

“Jester!” Beau’s hands were moving, already reacting to her girlfriend’s cry of pain, muttering a frantic prayer to Ioun as she pulled out a pinch of sulfur from a pouch along her belt.

For a split second, everything was still, Jester gripping at her thigh as the crocodile began to try to shake her, to pull her to the ground where it would be able to finish her off.

Then the clouds above them seemed to part for a moment, the entire sky lighting up as if to emphasise what was about to happen, before a bright column of scorching yellow and white flames descended from the heavens, entering on a spot just to the side of the crocodile, catching its body within its blaze but leaving Jester just outside its range.

Every hair on Beau’s arm seemed to stand on end, a tingled of energy running down her spine as the flame strike utterly incinerated its target in a matter of seconds, leaving nothing behind but the blackened and scorched head, which Jester was able to pry off her leg like snapping a twig.

It was absolutely electrifying, an elated grin spreading across Beau’s face before her eyes immediately turned to Jester, racing up to her with only’s a quick glance over her shoulder confirm the others were handling themselves.

“Are you alright?” Beau stomped on the charred skull of the crocodile as she jogged up to Jester, who dusted off her monk vestments, a light sheen of sweat on her skin. She lifted her injured leg off the ground to keep weight off of it, but there was still a smile on her face, some hair falling loose from the braids she kept them in and falling in front of her eyes.

“Careful, you nearly hit me!” Her tone was playful, and Beau’s grin only widened. “That a new spell?”

“Something like that. Pretty badass, right?” Beau asked, gesturing proudly at herself. “Figured I’d take some pointers from Caleb and all his fireballs.”

She looked over at the others again to see both of the other crocodiles either dead or very close to dying, everyone catching their breath and taking some time to collect themselves. Beau looked back at Jester, automatically taking her hands while she glanced down at her leg, trying to ascertain how bad the injury was.

“So, are you going to heal me or what?” There was a twinkle in Jester’s eyes, her tail swaying behind her.

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t think it’s so bad, you can probably walk it off.” Beau shrugged loosely, not even trying to maintain a straight face when Jester gasped theatrically, pulling one of her hands out of Beau’s grasp to place it over her chest, as if deeply offended.

“Beau! That’s no way to treat your girlfriend~” She giggled after she said the word ‘girlfriend’, both of them still getting used to the relatively recent but long time coming upgrade to their relationship. Not that much had changed physically (although Beau could now be a lot more open in her staring at Jester’s muscles while she trained) but both of them still got a thrill from calling each other all the words for lover or girlfriend or partner they could think of.

“Perhaps you’re right.” Beau took Jester’s other hand again, leaning in and kissing her softly, gathering a healing spell to give her while she did it. She held the kiss for as long as it took for the spell to complete and perhaps a few seconds extra. If anyone asked she would say it was to make sure the spell had time to work. Really it was just because Jester was a very good kisser.

When they separated, Jester’s leg wasn’t quite fully healed, so Beau pressed another kiss and another spell to her forehead, brushing the hair out of her eyes when she did.

“How did I manage to get the best cleric in all of Wildemount to be my girlfriend?” Jester teased, sidling up alongside Beau as they turned to rejoin the others and decide what to do next.

“If I’m being honest, your abs is what really cinched it for me.” Beau deadpanned, taking the ensuing hip check with a laugh. “And of course, being the most adorable force of nature I’ve ever met.”