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It took Caleb a moment to realise where he was. His body jostled lightly with every step even though the strong arms supporting him tried their best to keep Caleb in place. He was so, so cold, the chill settling deep into his bones, but the body he was held up against was warm. He was happy here, despite how heavy his own limbs felt and the splitting migraine that rested in his temples.
“I’ve got you, darlin’. Almost there.” The deep tones warmed Caleb’s heart.
Fjord. Fjord.
Caleb’s head snapped up once he remembered what had happened prior. He had been trapped, nowhere to run - just him backed against a corner, the enemy separating Caleb from the rest of the party. With a final swift hit to his forehead, Caleb’s mind had blacked out.
“Scheisse - Where’s -” Caleb’s mind struggled to put a sentence together. “Wie…”
“Shh, shh. It’s alright. Everyone’s up and moving. It’s alright, darlin’, we’re getting you back to the inn.”
“What about -”
Fjord hushed him, planting a quick kiss on his forehead. Begrudgingly, Caleb rested his head back onto Fjord’s shoulder. Not a moment later, Molly strided up next to the half-orc, carrying Nott on his back. Both of them seemed relieved.
“Hey.” Molly said, voice soothing.
“Caleb!”
The wizard smiled wearily at the pair. They both looked fairly rough themselves. The fight had taken a toll on everyone, it seemed; Caleb wished he could have helped out more. It was times like these where he felt utterly useless.
“ ‘m so tired. And cold.”
“I know, sweetie. I know.” Molly patted one of Caleb’s knees sympathetically. “We’re gonna get you back to the inn and patch you up, then we’ll get you nice and warm and you can sleep.”
“That’s right. We’re gonna take good care of you.” Fjord said, hushed. “Jester was able to wrap you up some, but we’ll finish it up. We just wanted to get the hell out of there.”
Nott and Molly nodded along in agreement. Behind them, Caleb heard his other party members talking amongst themselves, too. He was relieved everyone seemed better off than him. Better him than them, honestly.
Caleb relaxed against Fjord’s chest, listening to the sound of his heart as the party made their way to the inn. In a few minutes time, they arrived, Molly walking ahead of the group and opening the door. He set Nott down when they made their way inside, and pulled on Fjord’s sleeve, leaning in to talk to him.
“We ought to reserve our rooms for another night, just in case. I don’t feel good about leaving tomorrow morning.”
Fjord nodded in response. “Yeah, yeah. Good idea.”
“I’ll be fine.” Caleb started, but Molly and Fjord both gave him a look that shut him down.
Fjord pulled out a nearby chair with his foot and set Caleb down with a huff. From here, he could see the scratches on Fjord’s beat up figure and the sweat beading across his forehead. Caleb wished he could patch him and Molly up this instant.
“Be right back, buttercup.” His partners walked off toward the inn keep.
Caleb sighed, pressing a palm flat on the table and tried to push himself into standing position. He closed his eyes for a second, leaning further on the table to secure himself as his brain spun. He started towards the stairs, slowly, the ache in his muscles protested every movement along the way. Caleb had to stop after his second step, closing his eyes to steady himself again.
Nott appeared next to him, quickly followed by Beau, who offered her shoulder to lean up against. Caleb muttered out a thanks.
“You should be takin’ it easy, pal.” Beau patted the wizard’s shoulder.
“Really, Caleb.” Nott placed a hand on his calf. “If you keep on pushin’ yourself, you're gonna get worse.”
“Yes. I just… feel so useless.” Caleb rubbed a hand across his face before offering a weary smile. “I really appreciate it. Both of you.”
Caleb glanced over to his partners. Molly was leaned up against the counter, the pair chatting to the inn keep. One of Fjord’s hands rested around Molly’s waist and the other was reaching into his coin purse. The two soon wrapped up the conversation and strode back over to where the rest of the party loitered.
“Okay, that’s all settled.” Fjord slid his arm away from Molly and slipped up under Caleb’s other arm to offer more support. “I can carry you up the stairs if you want, hon.”
Caleb shook his head. “No, no. It’s alright.”
Fjord gave him a doubtful look, but didn’t protest it and instead continued towards the stairs. Traversing the stairs proved rather difficult; Caleb felt like he had weights tied down to his ankles, the cold throughout his body persisting so much it fogged his mind. He thanked Beau and Fjord profusely once they helped him get seated on the bed. The rest of the party trickled in behind him and Fjord left Caleb to go dig through his pack for supplies, Nott quickly appearing in his place and grasping one of Caleb’s hands. He squeezed her hand in turn.
“Molly, doll, could you grab some water?” Fjord asked from across the room.
With a quick nod, Molly took off out the door, slipping past Jester and Yasha on the way out. Caleb turned his attention down to Nott.
“I’m glad you made it out alright.” Caleb squeezed his friend’s hand one more time, smiling softly.
“Glad you’re alright, too.” Nott grinned, and then shrugged. “Well, mostly. You’re still here, so, that’s pretty good.”
The wizard reached up to ruffle Nott’s hair before pulling her into a one-armed hug. She wrapped her arms around Caleb’s waist, gingerly, in hopes of avoiding any bruises.
“Love you, Nott.”
“Love you, too.”
Fjord soon reappeared and Nott took the hint, giving Caleb a final squeeze before stepping off to the side. Fjord kneeled in front of Caleb, setting a pile of supplies next to himself and he gave Caleb’s knee a comforting squeeze, smiling gently. He offered a weak smile in turn.
It wasn’t too long before Molly strode back into the room, still graceful as ever despite the bruise on his face and the blood stains that clung to his shirt. The tiefling set a bucket of water down next to Fjord. They exchanged a thanks and a kiss before Molly leaned in to kiss Caleb’s forehead and stroked his hair a few times.
Fjord and Molly exchanged a few more words, but Caleb tried to tune it out. The noise in the room was beginning to get too much, especially with the rest of the party chattering off to the side. That, paired with his splitting headache and the small size of the room, was enough to make Caleb’s brain begin to buzz and his chest ache. Too many bodies. Too much noise. He wanted out. Caleb closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing to try to ground himself.
A moment later, Caleb felt a warm hand cup his cheek. He opened his eyes to meet a concerned look from Fjord.
“Hon?”
“There’s a lot of people in here.” Caleb let out a small sound of frustration.
Fjord nodded understandingly, and beside him, Molly patted the half-orc on the shoulder before snapping his fingers a couple times, gathering everyone’s attention to him.
“Come on, folks,” Molly started ushering the rest of the group towards the door. “Let’s get cleaned up in Jester’s room. Fjord’s got Caleb taken care of.”
Molly looked over his shoulder at Caleb, the pair sharing a wordless thanks. Before the door closed behind Molly, the wizard snapped his fingers, summoning Frumpkin to keep Nott company. The new-found quiet brought some relief to Caleb, the ache in his chest beginning to fade with every breath. His whole body still hurt, though.
“Thank you, liebling.”
“Anytime, buttercup.” Fjord leaned up to give Caleb a quick peck. “Now let’s get that coat and shirt off so we can see what we’re dealin’ with.”
Caleb let out a sound of annoyance. “Gods, I’m already so cold.”
“First time you ever been against me takin’ your clothes off.” Fjord chuckled as Caleb playfully shoved at him in response. “C’mon, we’ll get all cleaned up, then you can curl up with me an’ Molly. Sound good?”
“I suppose I can’t argue that.”
Fjord began to help Caleb shoulder off his coat. His muscles protested the movement for the most part. After he worked his way out of the coat, Fjord set it aside and began working on Caleb’s shirt. He loosed the few buttons up by the collar, then began to untuck the fabric from his belt. Caleb felt incredibly silly being fussed over like this, so he attempted to remove his shirt himself, but Fjord persisted. Caleb finally decided to just let it happen.
Fjord’s fingers glided over Caleb’s skin as the shirt was pulled upward, which he wanted to enjoy, but the pains from his bruises and muscles trumped over the contact. With a little bit of work, Fjord was able to free Caleb of his shirt and he tossed it off to the side. Fjord’s brow furled as he inspected the human’s side, reaching out to gingerly touch a large bruise at his side. Caleb flinched, swearing in time.
“Sorry, sorry. I’ll be more careful.” Fjord looked apologetically at Caleb. “I’m gonna wash everything out first. You got a couple nasty looking cuts here.”
Caleb simply nodded in response. In front of him, Fjord reached for a rag and then dipped a portion if it in the bucket of water. He rested one hand on top of Caleb’s thigh, rubbing his thumb in comforting circles. Caleb relaxed as much as he could, gritting his teeth as the rag rubbed up against a cut near his stomach. Fjord apologised, saying he was being as gentle as possible, and that he was sorry the water was cold. With a few more rubs at the scrape, Fjord leaned in to plant several kisses on Caleb’s stomach. He couldn’t help but giggle a bit at the sensation.
“So your plan is to kiss everything better?”
“I can certainly try, if you’d fancy that.” Fjord hummed. “Just thought you have a cute stomach. Had to kiss it.”
Caleb smiled softly at Fjord, lifting his arm enough to cup his cheek. “You’re too sweet for me.”
“You say that,” Fjord leaned in to Caleb’s touch to kiss his wrist. “but Molly an’ I both know you love it when we act all sweet.”
Caleb ruffled Fjord’s hair before returning his arm to his side. Fjord dipped the rag into the water again before rubbing it against a cut that was adjacent to the large bruise on his side. Fjord worked his way across Caleb’s torso, cleaning out the wounds with as much care as possible. It amused Caleb just how gentle his partner could be; at first glance, Fjord seemed intimidating, with his height and his muscle. While he certainly was fierce when required, Fjord was more gentle than anything around Molly and Caleb.
Fjord stood up, politely asking Caleb to angle himself so he could take a look at his back. With a few gentle pats with the rag, Fjord was satisfied and turned his attention to Caleb’s face. Fjord turned his partner’s jaw a bit, angling him to take a closer look.
“This must of been where that bastard hit you before you got knocked out.” He patted the cloth against Caleb’s temple. “You’re gonna have a mark here, for a while.”
“I can still certainly feel it. My head feels like it’s going to split.”
Fjord kissed his temple before continuing to clean off Caleb’s face. Aside from the deep mark by his temple, he had a few minor scratches scattered across his features; it was mostly the dirt and dried blood Fjord was concerned with cleaning up. Once satisfied, Fjord kneeled once again. He grabbed a few bandages, wrapping up the worst cuts across Caleb’s torso, trying his best to be mindful of the bruises. Fjord made quick work of bandaging Caleb, double checking he hadn’t missed anything on the man’s body before he took care of the gash across Caleb’s temple.
“Did I miss anything?” Fjord asked, standing up and inspecting the wizard over one more time.
“No, I think you got it all covered. Thank you so much.” Caleb reached for Fjord, coaxing him down to share a kiss. “Apologies for being a stubborn earlier. I’m grateful you’re here.”
“It’s quite alright, darlin’, we’ve all been through a lot tonight.” Fjord reached over and ran his hand through Caleb’s hair. “Let’s get you settled into bed.”
Caleb looked skeptically at Fjord; he hadn’t had any of his wounds tended to yet. “You need to get cleaned up first. Then we can sleep.”
“Don’t worry about me, I’m a lot better off than - ”
“Fjord.”
Fjord sighed. “Alright, alright.”
Caleb gestured at Fjord to take a seat next to him on the bed, and he obliged. Caleb reached down for a cloth, sides burning in protest as he set himself up right afterwards. He angled himself towards Fjord, resting one hand on the half-orc’s jaw, the other wiping away at the scratches on his face. None seemed to be too deep, thankfully, and most had stopped bleeding. Once Caleb was satisfied with that, he cleaned up a gash on Fjord’s bicep and bandaged it.
“It doesn’t look like anything pierced your armor, but, let’s double check.” Caleb said, tapping on the breast of Fjord’s armor.
Fjord nodded in agreement before slipping his sword off his back and began to work off his piecemail. It took a minute, but Fjord was able to strip himself of the armor, and soon after, peeled off his undershirt. As expected, there were no major cuts, but he had several bruises scattered across his torso. Caleb gingerly turned Fjord, inspecting a particularly large bruise to the side of his chest.
“Hm. I think that’s all that can be done for now, aside from taking it easy.” Caleb patted the top of Fjord’s thigh. “And, please, do remember that last part. You forget, sometimes.”
“I’ll try my best. Thanks, Caleb.” He leaned in to give Caleb a quick kiss. “I’m glad you got my back.”
Caleb smiled back. “Always.”
With that, Fjord stood up from the bed and began to pick up the pile of supplies next to the bed, moving them back to his pack. He picked up his armor and sword, carefully propping the weapon up against the night stand. Contrastly, Fjord simply tossed his piecemail and bracers next to his pack. While Fjord was cleaning up, Caleb loosed the straps on his boots before kicking them off and shoving them under the night stand. He hoisted himself up off the bed, closing his eyes for moment to steady himself.
“Would you mind bringing me a shirt?” Caleb asked, pulling back the covers and crawling into the bed.
“Sure thing.” Fjord said, stripping off his boots and pants.
Caleb settled in towards the middle of the bed, pulling the blanket over his legs. Fjord soon approached, handing over the shirt to Caleb. He soon discovered the shirt belonged to Molly, but didn’t make a fuss about it. He certainly wouldn’t mind, and neither did Caleb. He slipped the shirt over is head, feeling a bit ridiculous how deep the neck of the blouse stretched on him. Carefully, Caleb positioned himself to lay on his side, facing Fjord. Once he stopped shifting around, Fjord crawled into bed next to him.
“Comfy?”
Caleb responded wordlessly with a nod, reaching one of his arms out for Fjord. He leaned over Caleb, cupping his cheek and sharing a kiss before positioning himself to lay facing his boyfriend. Caleb settled an arm over Fjord’s side before pressing himself against the warlock as much as possible, face practically buried in his chest. A gentle laughed rumbled through Fjord’s chest as he reached his free arm over Caleb, positioned well enough so he could lazily run his fingers up and down the back of the man’s neck.
“Don’t laugh, I’m cold.”
“You’re so cute.” Fjord pressed a kiss into Caleb’s hair. “Molly should be back soon, but you should rest up.”
“Mhm. Good night, liebling.”
“G’night, buttercup.”
Between the warmth radiating off of Fjord and the sensation of fingers running through his hair, it didn’t take long for drowsiness to overtake Caleb.
***
Caleb woke up to the sound of voices; despite being hushed, it was still enough to rouse him. He was still pressed up against Fjord, the cold absent from his own body for the most part. Caleb didn’t bother moving from his position, as he quickly recognised the voices belonging to his partners.
“I’ll be right over, let me just finish up here.” Presumably, Molly meant his nightly ritual honoring his swords.
“Take your time, hon. We’re not going anywhere.”
A laugh from Molly. “Yeah, I don’t think Caleb is letting go of you anytime soon.”
Fjord chuckled, becoming silent as Molly started whispering prayers to his swords from the other side of the room. Fjord adjusted his arm that rested on Caleb, hand now laying against his shoulder blades, stroking over a particular scar with his thumb.
Moments later, Caleb heard rustling from the other side of the room. Boots clunked against the ground as Molly tossed them aside and he rummaged through his bag. After, the sound of footsteps got closer, and so did the sound of Molly’s voice. He was right next to the bed now.
“Can I get a good night kiss, big guy?”
Fjord shifted next to Caleb, angling himself so he could face Molly a bit better. Molly met Fjord most of the way, exaggerating the kiss with an audible mwah before pulling away.
“G’night, sweetheart.”
“Sleep well.”
Fjord positioned himself comfortably across Caleb again as Molly made his way to the other side of the bed. Cold air traveled under the blanket for a brief moment as Molly lifted up the covers, causing a brief shiver to run across Caleb. The weight of the bed shifted as Molly got comfortable, laying on his side to spoon against Caleb. The heat that radiated off of Molly was delightful.
“Mm… Schatz?” Caleb angled himself slightly to look over to Molly.
“Hey, sweetie.” Molly as he pressed a kiss to Caleb’s forehead, voice relaxed. “Didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“S’okay. Glad you’re here.”
Molly hummed happily and pressed himself against Caleb, craning his neck enough to bury his nose into the man’s shoulder. He wrapped one arm around Caleb’s waist and slipped a hand under his shirt, resting it on Caleb’s stomach and stroking his thumb back and forth.
“Stole one of my shirts, huh?” Molly’s voice was muffled by Caleb’s shoulder.
Caleb tapped his fingers against the warlock’s back. “That one’s Fjord’s fault.”
“Hey.” Fjord’s chest rumbled with a chuckle. “You asked for a shirt, and you got a shirt. Simply did what I was told.”
“Or,” Molly started, smiling against the wizard’s shoulder “You just want to wake up to both of your partners with their tits out in the morning.”
“Yes, I think that’s what it was.” Caleb chuckled.
“Oh, no, no.” Fjord playfully pushed at Molly. “I knew Caleb was cold, so being the gentlemen I am, brought him one as quickly as possible. Just happened to be yours. And he didn’t protest it at all.”
“Ah, so I see you were complacent in it after all, Caleb.”
Caleb lightly kicked at Molly’s feet, and in response, the tiefling loosely wrapped his tail around the other’s ankle. “Both of you be nice to me, I almost died.”
The others chuckled softly before silence finally settled between them. The cold that had settled in Caleb’s bones had completely dissipated, now, as he drifted to sleep between his partners. He was so thankful for Fjord and Molly; so thankful for the entire group, in fact, for allowing his family to grow. Nott and Caleb had both been on their own for so long, they both had nearly forgotten what family had felt like. When they met each other, they had began to remember the feeling, and now with Molly, Fjord, and the rest of the group, the feeling was no longer a memory for Caleb.