That voice- familiar to Vax now- echoes in his mind, hardly a whisper and yet seeming as though it ought to shake the very earth around him. He takes a deep breath, gathering courage, then speaks.

“I had a question. I stand as your champion, and you have told me that I may stay until we defeat Vecna. I simply wondered if there was a way –any way– that I could extend that time? To spend but a few more years with these people.”

Though the expression of the face doesn’t change, Vax can sense a shift in her emotion as she shrinks down a fraction to speak more easily with him. Though she still stands metres above him, her form becomes less of a terrifying monument and instead seems, if she could ever be described as such, almost approachable. 

“Fate-Touched. You know that you have been chosen.”

“I know, I simply-”, and he pauses, looking back at the party and at you, wrapped warmly in your blankets and sleeping comfortably next to Vex. He turns back towards the Matron, then continues. “I simply wondered if there might not be a way to get just a little more time with Vex and- with those I love.” Though he catches himself before he says your name, he and the goddess standing in front of him both know to whom he refers. 

“There may be one way–”

Before she can even finish, Vax sucks in a breath and takes a step forward, but she holds out a hand to stall him. 

“--but I do not think it will be to your liking, Champion. The only way to escape your promise is to trade fates- to trade places with one who already shares your heart.”

It takes a moment, but a flash of panic flickers across his face as he understands, then takes a step back to return to his original stance. His face falls, his eyes staring at the ground unseeing. 

“No. Anything but that. I can’t lose my sister or my love, and I couldn’t subject them to this fate. This was my own choice, and thus my own consequences.”

“I thought as much. I am sorry, Vax’ildan, that the terms are so unbending.” 

He nods slowly, finally looking back up at her. 

“Thank you for coming to speak with me, my Lady. I will likely see you soon.”

“Be safe, Champion. The worlds rest on your- and your friends’- shoulders.”

With this, she once again grows, immense and terrifying, until it seems as though she blocks out the sky, then fades into the stars themselves. 

You lay there in peace for a little while longer- Caleb would be able to tell you exactly, were he awake- until a crash shatters the silence, and immediately the air is filled with curses- a mix of the party’s voices echoing through the wall. With the crash, you had felt Caleb stiffen behind you, the abrupt awakening sending him into a panic response as his arms tighten uncomfortably around your stomach. You let out a soft grunt- more out of surprise than pain- and gently tap his forearm to bring his attention to you.

“Caleb, darling- it’s okay, probably just Fjord breaking a bowl or something.”

You can feel his stilted breath begin to calm against your back as his rational mind begins to awaken, and his arms let go of you entirely as he shifts to the edge of the bed to stand. You turn over on the mattress to watch him as he begins to dress for the day, then murmur just loud enough for him to hear.

“You didn’t have to go anywhere, you know- I was rather enjoying feeling like your teddy bear, even when that means a little extra squeeze now and again.”

“I hurt you. That was not my intention, and I do not wish to repeat that occurrence.”

“Hurt? No, Caleb, I was just startled. I’m just fine, see?”

As you say this, you sit up, swinging your legs over the side of the bed to let them dangle. Pulling up your loose sleep shirt (stolen from him weeks ago) and stretching your arms out to show your distinctly unbruised abdomen, you watch his reaction. He sighs in relief to see your undamaged skin, then looks away quickly with a blush. Beginning to pull on his book harness, he quietly responds. 

“I am…very glad to see you are in good health, liebling.”

“Am I ever not?”, you joke back, but sober quickly as he freezes mid-buckle. You stand and move towards him, stepping around in front of him to take his face in your hands. As you do, you can see something in his eyes, though it fades too quickly for you to identify it. Hardly loud enough for you to hear, he replies in earnest to your jest.

“Yes. I can’t lose you, seelenpartner- I couldn’t live with that.” with this, his eyes drop from yours and he pulls on the buckles of his harness again. Tapping your fingers gently against his cheek, you lean just a fraction closer until his eyes flick down to your lips, then back to your eyes. 

“I’m not going anywhere. Every morning, every evening, I’m here with you, okay? Right here.” With that, you drop your hands from his face to his chest, tapping where his heart beats beneath the skin. As the heartbeat beneath your fingers quickens, you quickly finish buckling his straps, then pull against one to bring him the final fraction closer, resting your lips against his as your eyes drift shut. His hands come to rest on your waist, holding you possessively as he deepens the kiss. 

Camilo finishes his cake, then brushes his hands off and walks to the side of your bed. He swaps forms, turning into the doctor who had come and cleared you as non contagious earlier in the day. “Now young lady”, Camilo mocks, “You must stay in bed and not move for the next 3 weeks. If you do not, you shall perish and there is nothing we can do about it.” Stifling your laugh, you play along- “Oh but doctor, what shall I do? I can’t stay here for so long, I will go crazy!” You can’t even finish your line without cracking up, and Camilo follows suit, switching back to his normal form before dropping to lie on the bed beside you, cackling. “Oh, we better call Antonio!”, you tease, “I don’t understand hyena, and that seems to be what you are speaking right now~”, and you can’t even make it to the end of the sentence without him grabbing your arms and pulling you down from your upright position. He twists, and suddenly you are pinned beneath him, and he tickles you mercilessly as you squirm, trying desperately to get your arms out to return the treatment. Eventually you are wheezing from how hard you have been laughing, and Camilo rolls off, laying beside you as you pant, trying desperately to regain a regular breathing pattern. A huge smirk is spread across his face, and as you look at him, he plays around with his features, making absurd faces to keep you laughing.

You lean over, grabbing his face and squishing it a little. “Stop that for a minute-”, you manage between bouts of laughter, “I need to breathe for a minute!”. With your fingers cupping his cheeks, he relaxes, almost melting into your hands. Seeing his soft reaction, you scootch a little closer to him and set a soft kiss on his forehead. Pulling back, just enough to see his face, you chuckle- “You smell like maíz, amor. I’m still grouchy you didn't bring me an arepa, by the way-”, you joke, but as you say this, his eyes open wide with panic. He sits up and pats his pocket, then turns to you, blushing, “Well…I did…” After this pause, he pulls from his pocket a small packet- a napkin tied into a little pouch. You sit up with him and take it, untying it to find a pile of crumbled, broken arepa. You slap your hand over your mouth, trying desperately to keep from breaking into laughter. As you turn to Camilo, however, hand still over your mouth, and see his bright red, blushing face, you can’t hold it back any more. Peals of laughter echo through the room, and after a moment you tie the napkin back up to keep the crumbs from falling all over your bed. You set it on the nightstand next to the box of tissues, then turn back to Camilo, who is now sitting curled up, pink face hidden in his palms.

For some reason, this just sends you into a fresh flood of tears, muffled beneath the covers that are still pulled up around your face. You hear Fjord walking towards your room but you can’t bring yourself to really even care. The door opens quietly and Fjord leans in to find you. 

“Oh, darling”

His voice is rich but quiet, the soft words only adding to the tide of saltwater that you could never hope to stem. He walks toward the side of your bed, kneeling when he reaches it, and leans in closer to you. His hands- a little cooler than yours, since you’ve been tucked under the blanket so long- clasp yours, squeezing gently. 

“I know words aren’t terribly effective right now, but I love you. I know how strong you are. Tomorrow will be a better day.”

With this, he brings your hands to his lips, kissing your knuckles gently before leaning in and placing a kiss on your forehead. 

“As for right now, however: I’ve got a little surprise for you.”

With this, he pushes his arms beneath you, his hands curling securely on the other side of your body. He stands, lifting you from your bed in a rush of movement. You squeak a little in surprise, and he looks down at you with a huge grin. 

“We’re going on a little outing.”You stammer, trying to drag some words together to reply, but can hardly manage to stutter out some words about your clothes before he replies. 

“I knew you’d worry about that, and that’s why we’re going to a private spot. Not a single person will see you except me and well- it’s a little late to avoid that now.” He chuckles with the last phrase, and the vibrations of his warm chest as he has you held against him soothe you almost as much as the words themselves. 

The two of you exit your bedroom, heading towards the front door. Your blanket is still draped over you, and he takes care to pick up any trailing edges to make sure they don’t get dirty as he carries you. As he walks towards the front door, he glances at the front door’s knob with concern, as both his hands are quite occupied now. Before he can try any crazy plan (as you know he loves to do), you reach out from your little cocoon and stretch your hand towards the knob. He steps close enough for you to grasp and turn it, and the two of you step into the warm night, the moonlight just bright enough that you can see as Fjord turns around to let you pull the door shut behind you.*

“Hey darling- this teamwork is a genius idea and there’s one more step here. Can you reach my front pocket? The car keys are in there.” You reach into the pocket he indicated, finding the keys easily, and pull them out to unlock the car. You pull open this door too, and Fjord carefully sets you into your seat, arranging the blanket around you so that it’s still warm but you can reach to put on your seatbelt easily. He jogs around to the other side of the car after closing your door, then slides easily into his seat as you hold out the keys for him. 

“Thank you, love”. He starts the car and pulls on his seatbelt as the engine warms up. Pulling out of the driveway, he heads in a familiar direction– towards the ocean. You give a content little hum, and you can see a smile spread softly across his face. 

As the two of you get within a couple miles of the water, however, he turns down an unexpected street and you look over at him, confused. 

“New spot I found. I think you’re going to love it.”

You accept this response silently, gazing out the window at the new route. The street eventually stops, giving way to sand, and Fjord pulls off to park on the shoulder. He grins over at you once the car has stopped, then quickly instructs you to stay in the car for a minute. He practically leaps from the car, running to open the trunk and pull out a bundle, indistinct from the reflection in your rearview mirror. He heads towards a pile of boulders that sit at the base of the cliff blocking you from the rest of the beach, then somehow…walks into them? You watched him the whole way, but there was no signal to tell you what had happened. You look down at your phone to check the time and tell yourself that if he hasn’t reappeared in two minutes, you’re going after him. 

Luckily, no such rash actions are taken since he walks back to the car within a minute. He opens your door, his hand held out for you to grab for balance as you step out. You’ve already shoved your blankets off, pushing them halfway into the driver's seat to deal with later. The breeze rustles through your hair as you stand, and you close your eyes and take a deep breath of the salty air. Fjord’s fingers, still on your hand, interlace with yours as you open your eyes to look over at him. The grin he had before getting out of the car is still there, and he steps towards the stones. You follow him, curious about both his method of disappearance and the ‘new spot’ he had mentioned. 

He steps to the side and gestures, seemingly at a solid wall of stone. As he does, however, his fingers brush through the image, revealing it to be an illusion. You step forward at his gesture, passing through the magic onto a hidden beach. Fjord follows closely behind you, watching your face as you react to this beautiful, private space. A blanket lays on the sand, far enough from the waves to stay dry, and he leads you towards it and lays down, looking up at the stars with a relaxed sigh. Laying down next to him, you rest your head on his arm and cuddle in to his warmth, staring up at the same constellations above. 

The waves rush against the sand and the sound mingles with Fjord’s breath, filling your ears. Fjord’s arm is firm and warm beneath your head, and the warm air fills your lungs as you finally take a deep, relaxed breath. 

With the pain comes darkness, the formerly-bright light swiftly tunnelling and then disappearing. The last things you know are a muffled shout for Pike, her warm hands on your face and stomach, and a murmured “Don’t you dare die now, I haven’t even told you- you’re unconscious right? I haven’t even told you I love you yet.”

You feel as though there should be something- a sound, a texture, even a temperature- but you can sense nothing. 

Nothing.

The faintest brush of something against your face, feather-light in the darkness. 

Nothingness again.

Nothing. 

A light? 

It’s faint, so faint that it could never have been seen anywhere but this complete darkness. Somehow, though, it’s there, shimmering golden and warm in the shadows. You reach for it, and it grows. You stretch your arm out as far as you can, straining towards it. The light grows, turning almost blinding. The warmth surrounds you, the sensation irresistible after so much nothingness. It wraps tightly around you, almost to the point of burning but you feel no pain in it. A message comes to your mind, not words precisely but a feeling of trust and encouragement, comfort flooding your mind just before pain courses through you, searing any memory of this experience from your mind. 

You groan heavily, a guttural sound almost torn from your throat at the pain. A chorus of gasps come from around you, and a slight bit of light creeps through as you crack open your eyelids. A small hand grasps your own, and the grip shifts slightly as Pike stands to look closely at your face. 

“Hey- hey, you in there?”

You try to respond, but the only thing that can manage to get through your throat is a strained gasp. Luckily, Pike knows enough to take this as a ‘yes’, and her other hand moves to her holy symbol and warmth- familiar, though you aren’t certain why- washes over you, carrying with it relief from the pain. 

“Gods, dying hurts.” You slowly sit up as you say this, trying to stretch all your stiffened limbs as your joints pop loudly. You look around at the group, grinning cockily at Percy, Scanlan, Vax, and Grog before smiling more kindly at Keyleth, whose face is still covered in tears, and Vex, who sits hugging her. “Thanks for getting me back, everyone. I’m okay- I just need a minute here. Meet you all back at the keep?”

They all nod and begin to stand to leave. Pike moves towards the door, pulling her hand from yours, but you grasp it a little tighter before she can step entirely away. Murmuring just quietly enough for her to hear, you ask her to stay, and she nods fractionally. The room empties around the two of you, until it is silent save for your breathing, still a little rough from the weight of your own ribs. 

“Pike.”

You shift until the two of you are eye to eye, taking her other hand in yours and looking closely at her face. 

“Thank you, Pike. You do so much for all of us and sometimes it feels as though we don’t do nearly enough for you in return.” 

You cut her off as she starts to protest, squeezing her hands lightly as you do. 

“That’s a conversation for another time and place. As for now- well, as for now, I’ve got something I’ve been meaning to tell you but, well- there was a bit of a holdup. Pike- I love you, too.”

She gasps, just a little, and blushes as she looks away from you. 

“You remember?”

With a chuckle, you reply. “I’m glad I do, so that I can keep that memory forever.”

“I thought you were unconscious- I didn’t think I was ready to say it to you for real yet.”

“I know. I’m glad I wasn’t.”

You squeeze her hands again, then lean forward to rest your forehead against hers. “We should probably get back to the keep before they start worrying about us.”

His unexpected southern accent throws you off guard, almost familiar but not quite. 

“I’m fine, sir…can I help you?” At your question, he gives a sharp nod and pulls a piece of parchment from his pocket. “Right to it, I see! I was visiting to take a quick survey for the Mariners’ Association. Are there any sailors at this residence at this time?” Though you are still somewhat confused, you recognize now the symbol of said association on his pin and decide to play along. 

“Not at this time. There was once, many moons ago, and he plans to return but I have no knowledge of when precisely.” At your response, his face twists in confusion as he looks at the parchment.

“Are you sure? Would you mind checking again?”

At this strange answer, you decide enough is enough and that your tolerance has run out. 

“Sure, I’ll go check”, you lie, and turn away from the door towards the umbrella holder in the hallway. Pulling from it a sword, still in its sheath (you need a warning here, not a direct threat) you test its weight before turning back towards the open door.  

Instead of the dry, uptight human that stood there a moment ago, you see a rain-soaked man in familiar armour, no sword at his side, and deep green skin. His tusks peek out just a bit from his bottom lip, shown more by his huge shit-eating grin. 

“Fjord? You assh-” you’re laughing before you can even finish your curse, dropping the sword back into its place as you rush through the distance between you and your lover. You practically launch yourself at him, and his cold, wet armour contrasts with his warm skin as he catches you and spins with you on the porch, the two of you joyfully laughing in the rain. 

“Hello again, love.” His familiar voice, proper accent in place now, rumbles into your chest and warms your heart as he sets you back down onto your feet. 

“You’re back? How long do I get with you?” At your question, his smile softens as he looks down at you. He leans in and presses a kiss against your forehead. 

“As long as you want me.” 

“Forever?”

With a chuckle, he leans back to look in your eyes. “If you can tolerate me for that long, then forever it is.” At his response, a sheen of tears spreads across your eyes, the salty drops mixing with the fresh rain. He carefully brushes them from your cheeks, still keeping you close. “You’re getting soaked through, should we go inside?” At your nod, he walks with you through the door, looking around appreciatively at the updates you’re made since he left on his sailing trip. “It’s so good to be home again.” Watching him relax, tenseness melting from his shoulders, you feel the same sensation in your own. 

“Professor yourself, mein freund*, why so formal today? Anyways, as for the theory- I’ve had an idea about an alternate method of performing magic- pulling directly on the Weave itself, rather than creating arcane glyphs and so forth that influence it for us.”

Your brow furrows as you consider the ramifications of this possibility. “How would that even work?”

His head bobs from side to side noncommittally as he starts to sort through some of the papers he had set down on the table in front of the two of you. “I am not quite certain yet. So far, I have but one theory- you recall my friend Jester’s spiritual weapon? She can shape it at will, and due to its magical nature I believe there may be some form that would allow the user to pull arcane threads directly. I will need to do much more research into the specifics of the Weave and the possible consequences to interacting directly with it before I can even begin to think about testing such a theory.” He quiets as you pull a pouch from your bag, pushing it towards him with a soft grin. He looks down at it, then reaches for it as he looks back up at you. “Was ist das?**”

As he begins to untie the cord holding it shut, you explain. “You keep forgetting to bring a lunch, and then you don’t go home for hours even after your students have left, meaning you hardly eat anything all day. I thought about you while I was packing mine today, so I brought you one as well.” As the material falls open, he can see the contents. It’s relatively simple fare- dinner is where you really shine in your cooking- but the scent of bread, cheese, and fruit wafts up from the carefully wrapped portions. His eyes widen as he takes in the sight- more than he expected to have fit in the pouch you gave him- and begins to unwrap the packets as you turn back to your own meal. 

The two of you eat mostly in silence for a few minutes, occasionally bumping elbows. As might be expected, you finish before him so you carefully repack your bag and tuck it to the side. Turning to glance at Caleb, you smile at the almost blissful look on his face as he eats. The bag on the floor next to you slumps against your leg, and you flinch at the unexpected sensation. Taking a deep breath, you lean down to pick it up and set it on the table, pulling some yet-ungraded papers out to work on while Caleb finishes eating. When you glance back at him, however, he is already watching you, a somewhat concerned look on his face. You look back at him, puzzled. 

“What? Is there something on my face?” His head shakes a little, then he turns back towards the remnants of the meal in front of him. 

“I just felt you flinch and wanted to make sure you were okay. I- well, I know how it is to be scared and have no one to check on you.” As you hear this, the confusion melts into understanding, and you reach out carefully to hold his hand, resting the clasped hands gently on your thigh. 

“I am okay. I was just startled by my bag falling against me.” He is still staring downwards, so you lean down and forwards a bit to get more into his line of sight. “Thank you for checking on me. It is such a comfort to know that you care.” He nods, just a little bit, then pulls his hand from yours. Before you can shift away again, disappointment washing your heart like a tide, the hand shifts behind you, resting timidly on your waist, his arm barely touching your back. When you don’t react, he freezes there- until you shift to sit close to him, his arm now softening to rest more comfortably around you. 

“Danke^ for the meal. It was most delicious.” You grin at the quiet words, your place directly next to him bringing you knowledge of the soft rumble deep in his chest when he speaks. 

“Of course, Caleb- I’m glad you enjoyed it.” He grins just a little at this, then it fades as his lips work a little as if trying to form words without actually making any noise. 

“May I…return your kindness?” As you look at him, confused, he stumbles over his words but continues on. “I- I mean to ask-scheiße^^- would you want to- to have dinner with me sometime soon?” The expression on his face, halfway between disappointment in himself and fear, makes your own face soften slightly. 

“I think that sounds like a wonderful plan.” 

You lean down a little, resting your head against his shoulder and breathing in deeply, the soft scent of leather, books, and just a little cat hair filling your mind as you close your eyes. You feel, just a moment later, his head resting gently on top of yours.