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“He looks friendly,” Caduceus remarks to nobody in particular while pointing to an empty spot beyond the campfire.
Fjord, just back from his patrol with Beau, frowns at him, and then at Caleb. “Did he…”
“Try the Skein we got off that bandit?” Caleb asks, not looking up from his book. “Pretty sure. He’s been talking to nobody for five minutes or so.”
Fjord makes an irritated noise as Beau laughs. “Caleb, did you even try to warn him what that was?”
“Oh, the dried and ground up fungus drug? Did I try and keep Mr. Covered-In-Lichen Man from trying the mushroom powder?” Caleb arches a brow as he flips a page. “I did not. I also didn’t try to stop the sun from setting.”
“He’s fine,” Nott assures them from her spot next to Caleb’s log. “It seems to be a pretty mild, um, trip? You call them trips, right?”
“Welcome back, Fjord,” Caduceus says in a warm and gravelly voice, very belatedly. “We all missed you.”
“Hey, Caduceus,” Fjord says with a squint. “You, uh, doin’ okay?”
“Doing great,” Caduceus confirms, eyes tracking a little past Fjord now, focusing on something that Beau turns and looks for. “Just great. You’ve got some really special people with you, you know.”
“When he’s sober he talks to animals and plants, and when he’s high he talks to ghosts. He’s the everything-whisperer.” Beau makes a ‘not bad’ face and sits next to the firbolg, holding her water skin up in offering. “Thirsty, buddy?”
“Huh? Oh, thanks. That’s very thoughtful.” Caduceus takes it in careful hands and has a sip. “Just making sure, it’s not really snowing, right?”
“It’s not,” Fjord confirms flatly, then looks back to Caleb. “What if we need him for healing?”
“Jester can heal us,” Nott points out. “You know, allegedly.”
Beau takes her water skin back and frowns. “Shouldn’t they be back from the river by now?”
“They found berries on the way back,” Caduceus answers. “They’re picking them. Might be a while.”
Caleb looks up from his book. “How do you know? You’ve been here the whole time.”
“The tiefling told me.”
When Caduceus doesn’t provide any more information, and turns past Fjord again to listen to something or someone nobody else can see, Beau snaps her fingers. “Jester must’ve sent a message spell,” she says.
“Oh.” Fjord rolls his eyes. Not calling her by her name is odd, but Caduceus is overwhelmingly high.
“I don’t know,” Caduceus says, answering a question that nobody asked. They frown at him a second, watching him start to smile. Nott raises her eyebrows and makes a face. Caleb hums in agreement.
“See anyone familiar from the graveyard, buddy?” Beau leans forward a little, trying to fall into his line of vision.
“No, he’s definitely one of yours,” Caduceus replies without breaking eye contact with the nothing. “He’s telling me to say something to you, Beau, but it’s a little rude and I’m not sure it would sound right coming from me.”