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1.
Jester feels her heart skip a beat as her eyes meet with his. There’s tiny hamster unicorns dancing around them and she feels herself transported back to that night in Zadash when Caleb had cast the spell for the first time to cheer her up after a particularly harsh day.
So much has happened since then, including stopping a way, staging Traveler Con and saving Arty from being punished by an actual God and also saving the world from an ancient city.
It all seems almost insignificant right now though, as she steps closer, leaning into the touch of his hand against her cheek. They’re somehow soft and calloused at the same time and Jester can pick up the familiar scent of campfire as she feels her lips curving into a smile.
“Jester.” There’s always been something about the way he says her name, something that instantly catches her attention, and it still does now as she looks up once more.
There’s so many things she wants to say, but she knows that she doesn’t have to say them right now. There’s no immediate threat, no one who wants to end the world, no one who’s after their lives, it’s just the two of them, and Jester finds herself getting lost in his eyes again.
It’s not the first time, now that she thinks about it, her thoughts drifting back to different moments throughout their time together, like that night he’d been reading a fairytale to her and Jester had gotten lost in the story and his eyes, and she briefly wonders how things would have gone down if she had kissed him that night.
It doesn’t matter right now, because in the end things have turned out just fine, and she still smiles as he leans down to kiss her, his lips brushing against hers softly.
“Caleb,” She pulls him closer, and he laughs, his arms wrapping around her as the world around them fades away slowly, leaving only the two of them, and neither of them is complaining.
2.
“Caleb! We’re going to be late!” Jester calls from the second floor, her voice ringing through the entire tower and causing him to laugh in response.
“We’re going to be there within seconds, Liebling.” He chuckles, closing the book he’s been reading in for the past hour. “No need to worry.” Caleb watches as Jester descends the stairs then, her lips curved into a smile as she holds up the dress, so it won’t slip down her shoulders. It’s reminiscent of the one she’s worn way back when they attended that party in Nicodranas, a little less flowy at the bottom, but still very much pink. It still suits her just as good though, and Caleb smiles as she turns around so he can close up the back.
“Well, we better be, because you’re the man of honor and I think Beau might actually try and kill you if you’re late.” She chuckles as she turns around again to look at him, her lips curved into a smile while she reaches out to fix his collar eventually.
He looks handsome, well, he always does, but today especially so. She remembers having to drag both Beau and him off to go shopping for suits for the wedding, while Veth had been off with Yasha to find a dress for her. Jester knows they’re both going to look incredible, especially since Veth’s not quite been able to keep Yasha’s dress a secret, at least not after Jester’s asked her every day at least once via Sending to give her a detailed description. She’s already planning on drawing them, the image appearing in her head, when Caleb’s lips on hers pull her back to the present.
“Now, who’s going to be the cause for us being late? Come on,” he smiles and reaches for her hand, their fingers intertwining.
“You’re terrible,” Jester laughs in response before the familiar feeling of her stomach swooping sets in and they’re pulled across the continent.
3.
He’s really thought of everything.
Jester barely manages to take it all in, the table with the bear claws and cupcakes, a mix of blueberry and black moss, the flowers and the amber colored illusions of all their favorite moments together dancing in the air around them again and again.
She watches them dance in Hupperdook for the first time before the image turns into tiny hamster unicorns and rotating lollipops. It seems like it was yesterday, but it’s been years and yet it doesn’t feel like this much time has pass.
It doesn’t take long for the image to eventually fade and be replaced by the two of them sitting at the beach on Rumblecusp before Caleb turns into a t-rex and Jester climbs onto his back.
She laughs, her heart missing a beat, when she catches sight of an image of them sitting huddled together on a couch in his tower, and she thinks about that time when he’s read her a fairytale and then Jester suddenly remembers the feeling of never wanting to leave.
Then there’s their first kiss, his hand against her cheek and she chuckles at the way she pulls him closer, when the image eventually fades and she catches sight of a figure that resembles her mother as she seemingly talks to Caleb, before embracing him.
Jester tries to remember that moment, but comes up empty, only to be pulled from her thoughts a moment later when the image dissipates and Caleb’s down on one knee.
“I can’t image a life without you in it,” His eyes are warm, and his voice is soft as he speaks, opening the small box he’s been holding. “And there’s a million things I want to say, but for the first time it feels like I have all the time in the world to do so, so there’s really no rush,” He’s smiling, and Jester glances down at the ring, a diamond that’s filled with swirls of amber, and before he can actually ask, she’s on her knees too, pulling him into a kiss.
“Yes. Yes. Ja. Ich will,” She smiles and Caleb laughs, like he’s not surprised at all that she couldn’t wait.
4.
“I thought you were painting the room, not your face.” Caleb’s voice pulls Jester from her thoughts and she turns to find him leaning against the door frame, a smile on his face.
“Well. I had to redo this a couple of times. Why are you home already?” Not that she’s complaining, but she distinctively remembers him telling her that he’d be teaching all day and then had some research to do.
“It’s past eight, Jester,” He furrows his brows a little, “Have you not stopped painting the entire day?” She glances around the room and catches sight of the mural she must have redone three times by now, because there’s always been something a little off. Or maybe she’s just being picky, she can’t quite tell. “Have you eaten?” Caleb sounds worried now and she puts down the brush, nodding.
“Yeah...I had cupcakes here. And some vegetables, and bread.” She tries to remember where it all came from, and then catches sight of Artagan, who’s curled up in the crib in his weasel form. Jester finds her lips curving into a smile then and she glances back at Caleb, who’s crossing the room and placing a kiss to her lips, before bending down to do the same to her bump.
“He’s always looking out for me, you know that.” She then nods, pulling him up for another kiss.
“Well, he better be.” He then chuckles, glancing around to take in her day’s work. There’s a field of flowers painted over the crib and the start of what is the rest of their friends on the opposite wall. It’s going to be a while before it’s finished, but they still have a little bit of time before the baby comes anyway.
“What do you think?” She smiles, feeling the tiredness creep in suddenly. Her arms and feet are hurting and she leans against Caleb with a sigh eventually.
“It’s beautiful,” He smiles, placing a kiss to the top of her head, “Just like you. Now come on, you can take a nap while I make some dinner, how does that sound?”
“Heavenly,” Jester mumbles and she hears him chuckle as his arm wraps around her waist to guide her towards the bedroom.
5.
“Caleb. It’s two in the morning,” Jester blinks as she watches him hunched over on his desk, going over some papers. In reality, she doesn’t quite know what time it is, but it’s late, Jester knows as much. She also knows that he hasn’t been in bed yet, which was what had initially caused her to wake up, noticing that his side of the bed was empty.
“Is it?” His voice is a little rough, like he hasn’t spoken in hours, which is probably true. Jester remembers putting the kids to bed and then falling asleep while reading. She’s used to him working late, it’s always been like that, and she doesn’t mind. In fact, she’s usually the one to keep him from working too late, but sometimes, after a particularly long day, she falls asleep before she has the chance to.
“Yes.” Jester crosses the room and wraps her arms around him from behind, her chin resting on his shoulder. He’s working on a spell, she can tell from the runes on the papers that are scattered across the desk. “You should come to bed,” She turns her head to press a kiss to his temple eventually and he smiles, leaning into the touch.
Jester knows that he’d be working until morning If she let him, but she also knows that he can’t say no to her. Even after all these years she still has him wrapped around her little finger, even if she doesn’t make use of it as often anymore. “You can finish this tomorrow,” Or the day after, or the day after that. They have time, and whatever spell he’s working on can wait a little longer.
Caleb seems to agree because he turns to capture her lips in a soft kiss and Jester smiles, watching as he eventually extinguishes the globules and pulls her into his lap. Jester goes willingly with a laugh, shaking her head ever so slightly.
“That’s not the bed,” She points out, but it’s really not a complaint at all.
+1
Jester blinks away the confusion or tries to anyway. Everything hurts a little and she briefly wonders if she’s nodded off. It’s been a long day, or well. She doesn’t even know if it’s day or night anymore. All she knows is that they had to stop and rest at some point, and it’s only a small consolation that Lucien and Cree have to do the same, wherever they are in this godawful city.
She blinks again and glances up, catching sight of Caleb across the dome and suddenly it’s all there again. Images of a life they haven’t lived together, of his hand against her cheek and his lips pressed against her own.
She watches his eyes grow wide then, and it almost seems like he recoils into himself.
No.
The voice echoes in her head, his voice, and Jester feels her chest tighten. She wants to say something, but the words don’t quite make it out, because she can’t make sense of what’s going on inside her head, or in his.
“Time to catch some sleep,” She watches as he reaches out to shake Beau awake, who mumbles a complaint as she slowly cracks an eye open, and Jester knows that it’s too late.
“Yeah.” She mumbles with a nod, ignoring the way her stomach turns a little as she pats Yasha on the shoulder, waiting until the other woman has sat up before curling in on herself, her face turned towards the outside of the dome.
I’m so sorry, Jester. His voice rings in her head again and Jester has to press a hand in front of her mouth, so she keeps the sob inside that’s threatening to escape her.
Me too, She then thinks, but she knows that he can’t hear her.