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“The trick to what I do,” says Mollymauk one night, voice light and just on the drunk side of pleasantly tipsy, “is being able to read people, but not always in a nice way.”
He has his head tipped back over Jester’s lap as she twines flowers and leaves into his hair, the nearby campfire illuminating half of her face as he looks up at her, and her eyes squeeze into sweet little crescents when she giggles at him.
“What does that mean , Molly.” She says, and Beau snorts out a laugh nearby, shoving his thigh with the toes of her bare foot.
“Yeah,” says Beau, “you know you can’t just say stupid shit and expect it to make sense just cause you said it confidently enough.”
He clicks his tongue.
“A lot of what I do is about telling people what they want to hear.” He says, sliding his gaze as far aside as he can without moving, watching Beau swirl her drink around her cup absentmindedly. “And people usually want to know that the things they hate about themselves are going to be fixed.”
“Right,” says Beau, drawing the word out doubtfully.
“To know what people hate about themselves, you have to think unkindly. Like...” He stops to think, and Fjord cuts in, poking at the campfire.
“Like a schoolyard bully?” He asks mirthfully, and Molly grins.
“ Exactly like a schoolyard bully.” He closes his eyes as Jester drags his hair down over his forehead. “You’ve got to be able to pick out what would hurt somebody the most if you were to point it out, and then make them think the cards are saying it’ll go away someday without outright telling them that.”
Jester parts the hair covering his eyes, and he looks up at her through the curtain of braids and flower petals. She’s pouting, but he can see there’s little weight behind it.
“So when you told my fortune you were just making it up to make me feel better?”
Mollymauk musters the most affronted expression he can, going as far as to place a hand over his heart in shock.
“Would I ever do that to a friend as dear as you, Jester?”
There’s a chorus of yeses from around their camp, and Jester flicks him soundly on the temple at his responding grin. She tucks his hair back behind his horns and cups his cheeks in her hands, peering upside-down at him.
“Molly.” She says very seriously, and he blinks innocently back at her. “Be honest, okay.”
He covers one of her hands with his and smiles.
“Honestly? For you? It was all the cards. I only embellished a little bit.” Jester pauses to read his expression, and then reaches down and digs a finger into his ribs. He’s not ticklish, but squirms as if he is just to humor her.
“You’re a pretty terrible liar, Molly.” She says after a moment, and he sees her begin threading a blue ribbon through one of the carved holes in his horns.
“Thank you.” He replies, settling his head back against her skirts.
There is quiet for a few minutes; all of them silent amongst the sound of the trees creaking around them, the clicking and spitting of burning logs and the almost synchronized up-drink-down of liquid sloshing around their cups. The sky is dark, though the hour is not particularly late, and while their fire holds off most of the chill, winter is making its approach very clear.
Mollymauk is watching the embers of the fire skitter off into the sky when a voice breaks the quiet.
“Mister Mollymauk?” Says Caduceus, in that soft, slow way of his, and Molly hums in acknowledgement. “I’m curious. If you were to read my fortune, what would it say?”
Caduceus is a relatively new addition to their little group, and Mollymauk likes him well enough, but has yet to figure out if Caduceus truly is as placid as he would have them think, or if he is just exceptionally difficult to read. He turns onto his side, chin propped up on Jester’s knee, and narrows his eyes thoughtfully at the firbolg.
Caduceus meets his gaze without an ounce of expectation in his eyes, and after a few moments of contemplation, Mollymauk grins over at him.
“You know, I’m not sure yet.” He says, and Caduceus smiles back, genuine enough that it’s almost sweet. “Something generic, I’d imagine. Good enough to be worth the coin you spent on the reading, but nothing special .”
Caduceus gives him a little half-nod, apparently satisfied, and looks down at the steaming cup held between his large palms.
“I’m suppose there’s not much you could tell me, anyway.” He says, and Mollymauk’s instinct is to feel stung, but Caduceus goes on. “I think I’m pretty happy with how things are.”
There’s a beat of silence, and then Beau snorts.
“Dude, really? Things have been kind of shitty with us recently.”
“Ja, it’s been messy, even by our standards.”
Caduceus picks up one shoulder in a shrug.
“We’re alive, for the time being, and it’s nice to be around friends.” He says. “It’s not easy , but it’s the path I’m meant to be on. What is there to be dissatisfied with?”
“Well-” Fjord begins.
“Aw, Caduceus, that’s so wonderful!” Comes Jester’s smiling voice, her fingers combing gently through Molly’s hair. “I knew we would be the best of friends all along. Like as soon as I saw you I knew that you were going to love coming with us so so much.”
“Makes one of us.” Molly says lightly. “I was sure he’d turn tail and run as soon as he figured out how full of shit we all are.”
To their credit, none of his friends attempt to defend themselves or argue to the contrary - there’s even a murmur of agreement, and Caduceus grins.
“Ah, bless you,” He says. “but I figured that part out within an hour of meeting you all.”