Chapter Text
It had been many months since they had all met, and months after Yasha had found them and stayed beside them.
Many, many months of laughter and trials and bickering and travelling and fighting both terrible and not-so-terrible creatures.
It had been many, many months since Caleb and Nott had decided to stay with this small band of lunatics (some would say, against their better judgement).
Neither of them could ever say they really regretted it. At least not yet.
And only a little bit after the first encounter that shook the party to the core at how clearly and precisely it brought them to terms with their own mortality. Not enough for the two of them to sneak out under the cover of darkness, but enough for the thought to sound tempting, especially as they trudged up the stairs to their room in the inn they were currently residing in.
The night had long since descended and they were only a few hours off morning, by the time they had made it back to the inn. All that the majority of the group could really care about was going to bed.
However, just as Caleb was going to follow Nott into their shared room, a hand settled solidly on his shoulder and stopped him.
“Caleb, can I have a moment of your time?”
Fjord sounded as tired as the rest of them felt. His clothes were a little scuffed up from the fight and his wounds were still fading from the remnants of Jester’s magic. The wound on his face was joined by a small new scar just above his eyebrow.
“Of course.” Caleb said, “Just give me a minute to hang my coat above the fire.”
“Of course.” Fjord said. He let his hand fall back to his side and Caleb slipped inside the room.
Nott has already curled up on the bed and Caleb gently shook her shoulder. She roused and blinked up at him, trying to bat his hand away before rolling over and promptly falling back asleep.
He thought better of trying to wake her again, so instead, Caleb took a moment to take her shoes off, place them beside the bed, and pulled the sheets over her shoulders. Her mask was still affixed to her face, so he carefully removed it. Usually, he would be more cautious when leaving her in a room alone without him, but Caleb just tucked the sheets around her in such a way to obscure her face if you were to poke your head around the door to glance inside.
More out of instinct and residual fear and adrenaline from the fight, Caleb leaned down and placed a light kiss on her forehead. He didn’t want to start thinking about how many close-calls they’d had that night.
Nott’s breathing was deep and even, and she started to snore when Frumpkin settled down on the bed next to her, purring loudly.
It wasn’t until Caleb was satisfied that those two would stay asleep, at least for a little while, that he turned away from the bed and stripped off his outer coat. He tucked Nott’s mask into one of the pockets as he folded it and placed it on the end of the bed.
Some little voice inside his head told him that it would be better if he left his books in the room, and he couldn't find it in himself to really argue. The books and their holster joined his jacket on the end of the bed.
Caleb made sure to lock the door as he stepped back into the hallway (he knew distantly that if Nott wanted to leave the room, she could easily pick the lock, but for his own peace of mind, it was enough), but as soon as he stepped away from the door, he realised he was alone.
“Fjord?” Caleb asked. He didn’t call out, because he was smarter than that. Still, he knew a trap when he saw one.
“YASHA NOW!”
Caleb tried to either avoid or fend off the incoming attack, but Jester’s voice gave him enough pause, which gave Yasha enough time to storm down the hallway and throw Caleb over her shoulder without breaking her stride.
Jester appeared in the hallway, looking pleased with herself. He couldn’t see her face, but Caleb imagined Yasha also looked quite pleased with herself. Or maybe she just looked furious and apathetic.
“I’m sorry, Caleb, but you are filthy and you need a bath!” Jester called after him.
“She’s not.” Yasha said, slowly down her pace just a little but still moving effortlessly down the corridor.
“I know. She’s done this before.” Caleb said, “I’m sorry you got mixed up in this.” he said quietly.
“Well your stench was starting to get to me too.” Yasha said, and now Caleb knew that she probably looked pleased with herself.
They didn’t talk until Yasha pushed open a door and unceremoniously dumped Caleb on the floor of the washroom. She gave him a stern look and stared him down as she shut the door with a firm slam.
When Caleb looked up, he met Fjord’s eye as he sat on a stool beside one of the plain, metal bathtubs the inn provided.
“Good evening.” Fjord said playfully.
“Was everyone in this group a part of this little plan?” Caleb asked, picking himself up off the ground. He realised that the bathtub was already filled with hot water.
“Well, it was Jester’s idea. She just needed some help putting it into action.” Fjord admitted.
“Yasha’s guarding the door, isn’t she?”
“Yes she is.” Fjord said. “I mean, I already drew the bath. Promise I won’t look.”
Caleb thought about it for a moment before his exhaustion fully settled in and a hot bath sounded quite nice.
“Alright. Turn around.” Caleb said, waiting patiently for Fjord to physically twist himself around so his back was facing him.
Even then, Caleb turned towards the wall as he stripped off his clothes. Despite travelling for as long as they had (and growing pretty comfortable with each other and even a few incidents involving nudity - some accidental and some very much on purpose) Caleb was still quite a private person.
It was an old habit that was proving very hard to bend or break.
The last article of clothing hit the floor and Caleb glanced over his shoulder. Fjord was still dutifully looking away from him. Carefully, Caleb padded over to the bathtub and slipped under the hot water. It was a little too hot, but he knew that it would cool down soon enough.
“Can I turn around now?” Fjord asked. Caleb could see from his vantage point that Fjord had his eyes closed as well.
“If you fancy it.” Caleb said, sinking slightly lower into the water so he was mostly submerged.
He watched Fjord stand and walk around the edge of the bath. Fjord threw a glance at Caleb and smiled when all he could see was Caleb’s eyes follow him around the room. Those eyes followed him as he picked up the pile of Caleb’s clothes and brought them over to where a large basin had also been filled with warm water.
“You don’t have to do that Fjord, I can take care of it.” Caleb said, raising himself out of the water just a little. The air in the room felt so much colder now.
“Might as well save a bit of time while we’re here.” Fjord said.
There was something final in his tone so Caleb didn’t really argue further. He let himself slip into the water a little deeper, letting the water soak the tension out of his sore muscles.
There was a bar of soap and a cheap square of cloth on a table beside the bath. Caleb took the hint and started running the soap and the cloth over his skin. It wasn’t scented, but it was enough to scrub the scent of battle from his being. His hair took a little more persuading to run clean, but he did his best.
Still, as he worked the cloth over his face, he watched Fjord as he scrubbed away the worst of the dirt from Caleb’s clothes.
When Fjord was apparently satisfied with his work, he hung the clothes up on a rack mounted to the wall. There was something delicate about how Fjord handled the fabric and Caleb was entranced.
“Fjord,” Caleb’s voice felt echoing in the room with only the two of them.
This something between the two of them still felt new and vulnerable. Whenever they had acted on it, it was been wonderful and electric and worth it, but it still felt difficult to accurately put words to.
This something was something that Caleb wanted to keep going for as long as he was allowed.
Fjord turned to look, and Caleb lifted his hand from underneath the water. There was a little smile on Fjord’s face as he sat down on the stool and grasped Caleb’s hand.
“You’re worried about something.” It wasn’t quite a question, but Caleb had grown to be good at learning Fjord’s small tells. There were very few people that that statement could apply to.
“It’s nothing.” Fjord said, holding Caleb’s hand and tucking the stool a little closer to the bath.
Caleb could have wasted words trying to convince Fjord to open up. He could have tried to push the right words and the right confrontation.
He did neither.
Instead, Caleb just waited until Fjord was ready to talk about it.
“That last fight…” Fjord said eventually, looking down at the floor, “that last fight was almost a disaster. We were a few wrong moves from losing someone.” Was what he said. From losing you, was what he left out.
“But we pulled it back.” Caleb said, squeezing the other’s hand tightly.
“I know we did. And I know that now we can do better, but it’s still hard to let go of that fear.” Fjord admitted. He lifted his eyes and met Caleb’s and Caleb could see the weight of the world pressing down on his shoulders.
“You aren’t the only one that’s scared.” Caleb said, sitting up a little.
Fjord leaned forwards and rested his forehead against Caleb’s, still clutching his hand tightly. Caleb’s hair was sticking to his face and his neck, small droplets falling to meet the rest of the water. For a moment, the infrequent drips and their slow breathing were the only sounds in the world.
“We’ll get better.” It was a promise that passed Fjord’s lips, “we’ll grow stronger, and we’ll get better.”
“We will.” Caleb whispered, tilting his chin up just enough to meet Fjord’s lips.
There was no heat in the kiss, but there was warmth. All the words they couldn’t say passed between them and when they broke apart, Caleb could feel his exhaustion in his bones.
“It’s very late. We should go to sleep.” He said quietly, shivering just a little as the cold air passed over his damp skin.
“Do you want to stay in my room? Let Nott sleep?” Fjord asked, finally pulling away so he could grab a towel for Caleb.
“That’s very kind of you.” Caleb noted, falling back into an old joke between them. “I think I’d like that.”