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“Caduceus?” Caleb called as he entered the rooftop garden.
Everyone had picked out a room in the house the Dynasty had given them and had been setting things up to their liking. For Caleb that had meant setting up an alchemical lab for Nott and her husband. For Caduceus that had meant growing a sixty foot tree on their roof and pissing off their neighbors.
Molly was settling in. Slowly. A lot had changed in the months that he had been… not there. The rest of the Nein seemed to think taking him shopping was the best way to reconnect. And so Caleb had barely seen him since their return from dealing with the giants.
He and Jester had proudly told everyone over dinner about the jewelers they had found that was going to making new horn caps for him. The resurrection magic that had brought him back had clothed him in what he'd been wearing when he was buried, though at least clean. But non of his jewelry had come with him. And Caleb had realized that one piece of Molly's jewelry was here. But he had given it to someone else.
“Yes Caleb?” the Firbolg called from where he was hunched over a large collection of little bottles and a large pot of faintly glowing liquid.
“I…have a favor to ask,” Caleb started before realizing that that wasn't quite right. “Or, well, I need to take back a favor,” Caduceus just tilted his head and smiled at him calmly.
“I need back the necklace I gave you,” Caleb got out in a rush. “It was not mine to give. Not truly…”
“And you want to return it to its true owner,” Caduceus finished for him, painfully perceptive as always.
“Ja,” was all Caleb could force out of a suddenly tight throat. Caduceus took off the periphat and gently laid it in Caleb's shaking hand. “Danke.”
The Firbolg just patted his hand before going back to filling yet another little bottle and setting it aside.
Finding Mollymauk wasn't a problem. He had passed him and Jester trying out the new hot tub on his way up to talk to Caduceus. But Caleb couldn't just give it to him, especially in front of Jester.
He had to wait, the necklace feeling as though it was burning a hole in his pocket through the entire afternoon. So he waited until everyone had retired for the night before making his way upstairs to Molly's room and quietly knocking.
“Come in!” Something in Caleb ached every time he heard Molly speak since his return. Probably because he had never expected to hear his voice again. After a steadying breath he opened the door and entered. “Ah hello Caleb,” Molly smiled at him, dimples flashing.
“Hello Mollymauk,” he spoke to the floor. Not able to meet the others eyes for long.
“What brings you to my room at this time of night?” The flirtatious tone was not lost on Caleb, not anymore. And that just made his anxiety ratchet up another notch. It took a moment for him to find his voice.
“I came to return something of yours,” he held out the necklace between them like a shield. “I…” he tried to rationalize his actions, his theft, but nothing would come. The necklace just hung between them, shaking where it dangled from his fist.
“Oh! I'm glad one of you took that I was afraid it had ended up staying in my grave.” Caleb tried not to flinch at the words. Molly seemed perfectly fine with the knowledge that he had died but the rest of the Nein talked around it, just using the words ’away’ or ’gone’. None of them had really come to terms with it and it was a surprisingly sore spot considering the man in question was now alive and well before him.
“I'm sorry,” was all that Caleb could get out through a suddenly tight throat.
“What for darling?” Molly had gotten incredibly close when Caleb glanced up at him again.
“For taking it, for…for…” for wanting something to remember you by when I never deserved it. For not being able to save you.
“You don't need to apologize for stealing my heart Caleb,” Molly said with a laugh. “It was already yours anyway.” The comment slipped out, quiet and steady and so easy that Caleb didn't catch the meaning for a moment.
“What?” was all Caleb could say to that statement.
“Did it protect you while I was gone?” Molly interrupted before Caleb could form a more coherent reply.
“Ja, it saved me from drowning,” Caleb replied absently, “Mollymauk…”
“Then I'm glad you had it. It would have been terrible to come back only for you to be gone.” It was a nice sentiment but Caleb's memory supplied how Molly had actually been brought back. None of the others had thought to ask.
“I was the one who asked for you to be brought back…”
“You did?” It was a leading question. And maybe he really did want to know but they needed to clear a few things up before that happened.
“Molly,” he said a little sternly, still trying to get the other man back to the part of this conversation he needed some clarification on.
“Yes dear,” Molly said, resignation clear at his inability to change the subject.
“What did you mean when you said I already had it? You were not talking about the necklace were you?”
Molly sighed. “I didn't think it was much of a secret that I used to flirt with you.”
“You flirted with everyone,” Caleb said dumbly. He couldn't be implying…he was like that with everyone. It hadn't meant anything. If it had…
“Because it's fun but it hardly ever went anywhere,” Molly agreed before suddenly looking down at his hands and fiddling with a claw. “But I wanted it to go somewhere with you…eventually…if you were interested.”
Caleb could do nothing but stare. All his thoughts, all his anxieties and worries, shocked silent at what the other man was saying. He hadn't imagined it. It hadn't been a grief-tinged hallucination of hindsight.
“I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable.” Panic had seeped into Molly's voice, raising both hands in a shield against whatever Caleb's silence could mean.
“I flirted back,” Caleb cut in to Molly's backpedaling quickly. “After…after you were gone I ran those conversations over and over again in my mind. Trying to figure out if you had meant anything by what you'd said or if I was just some lovesick idiot that fell for you without any hope of returned affection. I tried to convince myself it was the latter. Because the though of you having cared about me and me being to much of a dummkopf to do anything about it hurt worse. It hurt to think about. If maybe you had cared about me and then you died…”
“I'm back now,” Molly reassured, stopping Caleb's panicked rambling. “I was only gone for a little while and now I'm back. You were the one who got me brought back.” He slowly reached out, his hand hovering close to Caleb's face but not touching. Almost how you would approach a feral cat. He moved the scant distance and pressed his cheek into Molly's waiting hand, eyes closed. “Caleb…”
“You may have your heart back if you'd like,” Caleb whispered, the necklace still held between then. But he hoped the other meaning was understood as well: you don't have to mean it, it's okay, I'm just glad your back, wanting anything more would be too much, I'd understand.
“I'll take the necklace, but my heart is safe right we're it is,” Molly whispered before leaning in the last few inches and kissing him.