Chapter Text
That night, lying on his back in the too-small cot, Fjord thinks about the reception of his gift.
First things first, he berates himself for sounding like such an idiot during the gifting. He should have been more patient, he shouldn’t have babbled the way he did. He was so goddamn awkward.
Self-flagellation done, the next place where his mind went was the smile. That beautiful smile, lighting up the gaunt face, that was usually reserved for a tricky piece of magic performed by Nott or helping Fjord convince a townsfolk to give them a discount or tell them a piece of information. Fjord’s seen that smile many times, has even seen it directed at him in the middle of battle out of the corner of his eye. But today he bore the full brunt of that goddamn smile. He can’t think of the last time someone looked at him so genuinely like that.
From there, his mind jumps to the way Caleb had been so adorably excited, bouncing about like a child, waltzing away with his books, one in each hand. His mind replays that scene over and over--Caleb pouring out his gratitude, pressing a kiss to his cheek , and dancing away to bury his nose in his books. After Fjord had returned with drinks, Caleb was still focused solely on his new friends, not speaking a single word all evening. Even now, in the corner of the room, there was the faint glow of one of Caleb’s globules of light muffled by his handkerchief as he sat up to read the books Fjord gave him.
If Fjord cranes his neck and squints just enough, he can dimly make out the small smile that still graced Caleb’s lips.
What was wonderful to him--besides the whole damn situation of course--was the fact that he was able to witness this slightly hilarious, more-than-mildly heartwarming whole evening of pure happiness for the low price of eleven gold.
It seemed like a sound investment to him. He’d have to keep it up--it would be good for Caleb to be happy once in a while.
With that resolution in mind, Fjord closes his eyes. Before he truly falls into slumber, he whispers into the silent room, “Go to sleep, Caleb.”
When they hit the road again the next morning (Caleb was yawning a little, but he was clutching his two books to his chest--evidently, he didn’t take Fjord’s advice last night), Fjord convinces the party to press on a little bit harder than they would normally. He really fucking hopes that they won’t run into trouble as a result of his persuasions--especially since his only reason for wanting to reach the next town sooner was that it was supposedly a bit bigger than the one they were leaving and was much more likely to have interesting books to buy.
Luckily for his conscience, they didn’t run into any trouble during their travels, and they reach the next town over in two days, arriving in the mid-afternoon.
As soon as he and Caleb found an inn and negotiated a fair price for their rooms, he immediately drops his stuff and heads out to find a shop or two. He’s eager to see Caleb’s enthusiasm again.
As he walks past the others, who are already claiming a table, Molly shoots him a smirk and Beau claps him on the back. “I take it you won’t be helping us get supplies?” she asks with a grin.
Fjord tries not to rise to her bait. He replies coolly, “Yep, naw--gonna do a bit of personal shopping.”
“Mmm. Personal.” Molly mumbles under his breath. Fjord nods at him, fighting hard to keep a straight face.
“Mmm-hmm. Personal,” he echos, then scampers out the door before he had to endure more teasing or, gods forbid, Jester took notice. As he actively walks towards the market district, he takes a moment to briefly wonder when was the last time he actually went shopping. Maybe when he bought his armor?
He wanders down the street until he finds the local bookstore. Much to his disappointment, it’s more of a small stand than an actual, large store he was hoping for, and the selection was no better than it was at the general store in the last town--the increased shelf space was filled with more manuals and pulpy novels and not one, not two, but five copies of that same “adventure” book he saw and rejected at the last store.
“Fuck you, Taryon Darrington--if that’s your real name...” Fjord mumbles under his breath. The wisp of a teen manning the booth pulls his nose out of the book he’s reading and looks up in alarm.
“E-excuse me, sir?” he asks, quailing a little.
“Not directed at you,” Fjord grunts. He gives the boy a pitying once-over and almost chuckles out loud. If the boy had red hair instead of that mousy brown, he would look exactly the way he imagines Caleb did as a teen. The boy still looked mildly terrified, so Fjord gives him a comforting smile before leaning on the counter. “Do you have anything more interesting than what’s displayed here? Maybe something about magic?”
The teen closes his book, stands up from his stool, and smooths down his rumpled shirt. “Ah, er, what’s on display is what we have, usually.”
Fjord grimaces. There’s no way he’s going to give Caleb a book with a picture of a shirtless man and a heavy-bosom-ed woman on the cover. He gives the stand a once-over again and sighs. “All right, then, thank you. Any other place that might sell books in this town?”
“No, we’re the only ones--” The boy starts, then stutters for a split second. “B-before you go, though...”
Fjord raises a brow and waits patiently for him to continue. He gulps, then continues much more boldly. “Actually, if you’re looking for something magical, I might...”
He ducks down behind the counter then pops up, gingerly holding a book between two fingers. The book is wrinkled from water damage, partially burned, and what remains of the front cover and the pages is stained brown with what is probably blood or possibly watery gravy. Probably the blood, though. The teen is holding it by the one non-stained patch. “A woman came through, sold this to me...she was a bit scary, so I didn’t say no, but no one in town would want it, and it was probably taken off a dead body so it’s kinda scary to me since it might be cursed or haunted or something...”
Fjord holds up one hand to cut off the nervous babbling and holds out the other. “I’ll take it. How much do you want for it?”
The teen flounders, thinking, as he hands it over. Fjord flips through it--some of the pages are whole, and some of those pages definitely look like spells. He turns his attention back to the teen as he stutters, “Four...silver...?”
Fjord fishes out the four silver and a gold piece, dropping them on the counter. “I’m feeling generous. Keep the change, kiddo, buy yourself some better books,” he tells him. As the kid squeaks his thanks, Fjord gives him a two-fingered salute and turns and goes.
When he arrives back at the inn, Caleb is sitting by himself at their table. He’s carefully repairing a tiny rip in his book holster, while his coat still had a large gaping hole in the arm where he got narrowly missed by a sword. It’s almost funny how Caleb cares so much about not losing those two books of his, to the point where even a small structural deficit in that holster warranted hours of careful mending.
He only looks up when Fjord plops down next to him, wariness in his eye immediately fading when he realizes it’s just Fjord. He gives him a nod. “Where did you go? You disappeared so suddenly. Beau said you went shopping, but I didn’t know if she was kidding or not.”
In lieu of a reply, Fjord sets the book on the table. As predicted, Caleb’s eyes immediately shoots to the new item, eyeing it up the way a hound eyed a bone. He makes no motion towards the book, though, and after a moment he turns back to his mending with visible effort, still occasionally shooting glances at the book with eyes filled with curiosity. Fjord chuckles and pushes it closer to him. “It’s for you.”
Caleb jerks, turning his whole body. “R-really?”
Fjord nods and Caleb gasps softly, dropping the needle he was holding. “You got me another book?” After Fjord nods again, Caleb snatches up the book, flipping the pages gingerly as he inspects it, completely ignoring the stains and the damage. “Oh, you are amazing, incredible, and absolutely wonderful,” he gushes. Fjord’s honestly not entirely sure if Caleb’s addressing the book or him.
Then Caleb looks up at him, eyes bright, that adorable smile on his face. As Fjord automatically begins to smile back, Caleb reaches up and hauls him down, pressing a kiss once again on his cheek. “Thank you, you wonderful man,” he says softly. But his attention is arrested by the book and he begins flipping through the pages once more.
Fjord’s smile is now more of a foolish grin. He sits back in his chair and crosses his arms, feeling a glowing warmth in his chest at Caleb’s happiness and a glowing warmth in his cheeks. He’d have to endure the others’ reactions when they return, but for now, he’ll enjoy the view of Caleb being happy.