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simpcityy · 1 month

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Home is Where the Heart is Pt.1 (Rolan X Tiefling! Female! Reader)

Summary: After being exiled from Elturel, losing your mother and much more, you've been feeling overwhelmed and having no place to call home until your friendship with a certain Tiefling Wizard starts to bloom. Slow burn romance series.

Disclaimer: I do not own Baldur's Gate 3 or any of its characters.

Word Count: 1.4K

Warnings: Use of (Y/N), use of female pronouns, She/Her, violence, SPOILERS FOR ACT ONE IN THE GROVE!!! Child violence-ish uhhh....I think that is all, let me know if I missed something.

Authors Note: The Poll has spoken! It was a battle, Astarion would reach up to Rolan only for Rolan to get more votes and get ahead of the game but Rolan has won! I hope you enjoy it, this will be a slow burn romance. Chapter 1 and up to 4 will be boring and slow but once we reach the Shadow Lands, the action and feelings will start! Please leave a like and Reblog if you enjoyed it! I am always happy to start a taglist since I have two series out now. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE 573 followers! Simp City population is growing!

All you remember is the chaos happening in Elturel. The terrible event that every Tiefling remembers painfully, The Fall of Elturel. The exile of the Elturel tieflings population, your mother sadly was caught up in the chaos. All you remember was holding her hand tightly, guiding other tieflings leaving Elturel meanwhile your father stayed behind to make sure no one was left behind and suddenly she was gone. You don’t understand why the tieflings were being blamed, this was all unfair to you and everyone around you. After escaping, the first night was dreadful. Making a small camp in the middle of nowhere, exposed to danger. Everyone was scared, not able to have a wink of sleep. Walking to one of the campfires, you sat down looking at the fire dance. Rolan, who's been watching you from a distance, wonders how you are feeling, you just witnessed your mother's death. Zevlor was too busy with looking after the group, making sure you stay alive and dealing with the death of his wife all in one. Rolan slowly walks over as Cal and Lia usher him to check on you. You two were good friends, well Cal and Lia know more as Rolan confides in Cal meanwhile you confide in Lia. Being siblings, they share information with each other.

Feeling a hand on your shoulder, you look up seeing a worried Rolan. “How are you holding…” He asked slowly, sitting next to you, but kept his distance, not knowing what to do. You sigh and watch the fire burning the food slowly, “I don’t know…I…you can say I’m in shock…I…refuse to believe she’s gone…” You whispered. “ I want to wake up and see that all this is a nightmare that I will wake up to.” You shake your head. Rolan frowns a bit, noticing how your brows crease from how overwhelmed you are. “I hate to be that kind of person but…it happened…we all lost everything…our home…trust of others…our…family and peers that didn’t make it…” He slowly rubs your back gaining the confidence to comfort you. “Don’t remind me.” You whisper getting up wanting to be alone. Rolan only watches as you walk away and into the arms of your father as he finally has time to settle down and grieve with you.

That was months ago, you found a temporary place in the Grove with some kind druids but once again it all came crashing down. Since Halsin has been missing, Kagha decided to let your father know they have to leave before the rite of thorns is completed. “This is unfair!” You retort to your father inside the cave once the door was shut behind from prying ears. “Halsin said we were welcomed, don’t you find it odd that he was captured? An Archdruid?” You sigh, sitting on the wooden stool. Zevlor only looks at you, “ I know…but for the safety of our people…we have to move out and push to Baldur’s Gate. I know this brings memories…of your mother.” He began to hold your hand. “But we need to stay strong and bring them to safety…they look up to us to protect them.” He kisses your forehead. “You…they look up to you.” Looking away, you push your hair away from your face, careful of your horns. “I’m sorry…I’m just stressing you out more.” You felt bad, here you are complaining to him when you know he has all these responsibilities. “I’ll let you be and hey dad” Standing up, you walk over to the stone door, “You can always lean on me, don’t overwhelm yourself. “ You smile walking out.

“There you are” Lia walks over as you walk out. “I was looking all over for you. Come, you have to help me.” She links her arm around yours and pulls you forward. “Woah, slow down, help with what. Lia, what trouble did you get yourself into.” You already started to scold her. “I did nothing but Rolan wants to leave and it’s all because of his stupid apprenticeship.” She groans. You stopped listening when she said the word leave. “He wants to leave….” You asked her before noticing you stopped in front of Cal and Rolan. “Great! Stop dragging her in our arguments.” Rolan sighs, scolding his siblings. “You want to leave? Leave us behind?” You look at him. “I….why?” He looks away, not able to face you. “I…before you begin, it’s not about my apprenticeship…as I tell these two, I want to protect them and with the goblins attacking once in a while and the druids throwing us out soon. This place isn’t safe.” He concluded but you weren’t having it. “So screw the rest of us?” Your tail behind was swinging a bit from holding back your anger. “You are just going to leave us behind when we need all of us to fight back in case these goblins come through the gate.” You frown “ Just ...forget it…do whatever you think is right.” You raise your arms up, get fed up with everything and walk away. Cal elbows Rolan “Nice going, you are just pushing her away.” He sighs as Rolan looks away “Quiet!” He yells before looking over to see someone walk over to them.

You walked around the cave, going to each tiefling making sure they are okay. Checking to make sure Mol isn’t up to her daily mischief. “(Y/N)!” Someone yells. Turning around you see Komira running to you. “What's wrong?” You walk over seeing the panicked look on her face. “It’s Arabella! Those druids took her!” You walk over where the rest of the tieflings were, with the druids blocking the entrance of their sacred pool. “What is the meaning of this! Where is she!?” You gently push your group to the side to pass through, others move over to let you handle this. “Kagha, where is she? It's time we talk.” You frowned. Standing near the shapeshifted bear. “Stay back, she’s under our care for stealing '' One of the druids walked up to you. “I will repeat myself. Where is Kagha?” You look up at them, Arabella’s parents right behind you. A gnome druid walks over whispering to the other druid in their ears. “Seems like you’re needed, just don’t do anything stupid.” He mutters, letting you through. “Stay here, I will make sure she’s okay.” You turn around to Komira and her husband before walking over to the stone door. “What is the meaning of this Kagha?” You descend down the stairs, tail swishing around furiously. Rath walks over “ Please (Y/N), let's not escalate this more than we should.” He begs. You stood up in front of Kagha “Let her go, she’s just a little girl.” You glance at Arabella seeing her stay still as the viper hisses near the poor girl. “Girl? You mean parasite.” She frowns. “Watch it.” You go to walk up to her but Rath gently places a hand on your shoulder stopping you. The stone door opens. You turn around seeing 4 unfamiliar faces, did your father let them pass? You look as one of them was a tiefling but they weren’t from your group.

After a couple of minutes, you held Arabella's hand as this odd group was able to convince Kagha to let her go. “Next time, no stealing got it. I doubt Kagha will be forgiving if you pull another stunt.” You let her go as she ran to her worried parents. “Thank you (Y/N)!” Locke smiles as you shake your head, “No thank those that walked in after me…speaking of that I need to have a word with my father. Remember what I said Arabella.” You look at her as she looks away “ I remember, thank you.” Walking off, you look around for your father and spot Rolan with Cal and Lia. “ I thought you were leaving” You mutter. “Well, can’t I change my mind?” He sighs “ I’m sorry…it was unfair of me to even think of leaving during the most critical time.” You smile hearing his small apology. “ It’s fine, what made you change your mind?” You go to stand closer to him only to stop hearing his response. “Another Tiefling came, they saved us from another horde of goblins, they made a very compelling point.” He began not seeing Cal and Lia shake their heads behind you telling him to stop.”Oh…that newcomer…that's good to know…” You look away “Excuse me…I have to have a word with my father.” You walked away feeling jealousy and insecurities flowing through you. “I thought she would be happy?” Rolan groans “Women are so complicated” He sighs Lia sighs “ No, just men are idiots.” She rubs her face groaning “ But you brother, are a much bigger idiot.”

#bg3 rolan x reader #bg3 rolan #rolan x reader #rolan fanfic #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 fic #bg3 #Rolan X Tiefling!Reader

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pactclawed · 4 months

Note

general: 1, 8. story specific: 6, 11. romance: 1.

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋

1. where can they be recruited? are they first encountered on the nautiloid, or in the nautiloid crash region? or are they not recruitable until a later act?

anastasia can be found in emerald grove near mattis as she’s teaching them how to properly rob people. she had also met wyll beforehand but hadn’t truly talked to him as much when she had busied herself to spending time with other tieflings. you’d also be able to meet her younger brother, alexander.

8. what do they say when the player character asks them to stay in camp? how about when the player character asks them to come adventuring again?

pc: " i need you to stay in camp for a while. "

anastasia would look at him with a sad look in her eyes, but then smile and nod a bit. she doesn’t really mind, but it has been a while since she had the freedom to do anything. " i don’t mind, but are you sure? i can still go. "

pc: " i’m sure. "

anastasia would shrug and wave her hand. " alright, i’ll go try and cook us some meal for later. "

and when they would recruit her back to the party, " up for some adventuring? "

there would be mischief in her eyes as she nodded, excited to be part of the party once more. " of course, i would love to stretch my legs for a while. "

𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘

6. will they stay with the player character regardless of siding with the goblins or the tieflings, or is it possible for them to leave the party permanently?

sadly, she would leave the party when you side with the goblins since they would be killing alexander. while it would be their first time to truly meet, it is her only family left and it would ruin her that they’d kill him. they’d see her in act 3 though, going against them.

11. what do they say if the pc tries to force them to go up on stage with dribbles the clown?

she would be down and excited about it. she had liked seeing dribbles whenever she was in baldur’s gate. they don’t even have to convince or push her to actually go on stage.

pc: " anastasia, don’t you want to volunteer? "

anastasia turning to look at them first in confusion because she was busy looking at the dinosaur, before she brightened up and happily nodded. " i would love to join dribbles on stage. i don’t really want to have the attention all on me, so i’m dragging my brother up there as well. "

𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄

1. are they a romanceable character? are there any specific requirements to romancing them?

she is! the only specific requirement to romancing them is keeping alexander alive from act 1 (emerald grove) and act 2 (last light inn). in act 1, she is very loyal to raphael after being stuck with him for so long and so it’ll be difficult in actually flirting with her. then again, sometimes she wouldn’t even know that they’re flirting with her. she hadn’t had the best romantic experiences in her life, so she doesn’t really think that anyone would like her for just her.

#thank you for sending these in!!!#that part of they'd see her again is sad but alsjfaklsfj #♙・. ❛ is in red underlined. ― answered.#♙・. ❛ you are what you believe yourself to be. ― hc.

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nicolewrites · 5 years

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i’ll follow my heart (all the way home) - pt. ii

study for my midterm this friday? nah, take part 2 of this mess, but be warned, spoilers up to episode 53 of campaign 2

Rating: G/G+ Genre: Friendship and Family Characters: The Mighty Nein + friends Words: 5,825

the mighty nein are a mess. but they’re a family and they love each other. / kisses of the mighty nein, from a kissing prompt. pt. 2/3

pt. i here

AO3 | FFN

xxvi. tired kisses

Nott has a button in her hand. Her fingers are curled so tightly around it that she can feel its little holes pressing into her palm. Her eyes stay fixed on the ground in front of her and she inhales deeply. She's tired–exhausted, really–but she can't sleep. She's been thinking too much about too many things and the gentle rocking of the boat isn't helpful.

For a moment, she considers going to find Fjord and forcing the half-orc to give her some kind of duty to do with the cannons, but she knows he'll recognize the exhaustion on her face. She isn't in the mood to have him be condescending towards her.

Caleb isn't in their room, he never seems to be, and Nott figures it's probably for the best. One of them always seems to have unhealthy sleep habits, and she doesn't want Caleb to know that he's been rubbing off on her.

The door to the room creeps open and a long silhouette falls in shadow across the room. Nott's hand whips to her crossbow, kept beside her bed, but she soon realizes it's just Caduceus. She drops it down and gives the firbolg a neutral look.

"I saw your light from my room," Caduceus says quietly. He steps into the room and walks over to Nott. "I would offer you some tea, but I know that's not exactly your choice beverage. Get some sleep, Nott. You'll need your strength."

Caduceus leans down and softly kisses the top of Nott's hair before turning and heading to leave again. As the cleric leaves, Nott fights off a huge yawn and uncurls her fingers from around the button.

xxvii. routine kisses

Caduceus hums to himself quietly as he stirs the pot. The soup is coming along nicely and the tea would be ready soon. Beau and Fjord are out scouting, but Jester, Caleb, Nott and Yasha are sitting around the camp, minding their own business.

Jester is drawing, of course, and Yasha is striking a stone along the blade of her sword. Caleb is reading from one of the new arcane books he has managed to pick up and Nott is fiddling with a crossbow bolt while sitting on the ground next to the wizard. It feels normal for the group and it is calm. It's nice.

Caduceus finishes up with the soup and ladles it into five bowls. Beau and Fjord would get theirs when they came back. He hands Yasha and Jester theirs first and both girls thank him politely before returning to their previous actions. He approaches Nott and Caleb and the goblin jumps to her feet.

"I'll take those!" Nott says, reaching for both bowls. Caduceus doesn't question it and hands the two servings to the rogue. She places one right next to Caleb and Caduceus watches as Caleb turns and gently kisses Nott's brow without thinking too much of it before he goes right back to reading.

It is nice, Caduceus muses, this peace.

xxviii. surprise kisses

Caleb's words are still ringing through Fjord's mind. His footsteps feel heavy and sluggish as he treks through the hallways of the inn. He finds the room he's looking for and his hand hesitates, just a small measure away from knocking against the door. He's frowning unconsciously and he really doesn't want to be doing this. Jester and Nott need a distraction. He has to be a distraction.

Avantika opens the door when he knocks and she looks unnervingly pleased to see him. After a moment, Bouldergut is dismissed and they are alone. For a moment there is nothing and Fjord wonders truly if the captain had truly wanted to discuss things with him. The shred of hope that perhaps she wants to discuss the next temple lingers only until she yanks him down and slams their lips together.

The action surprises him and Fjord's stomach sinks like a rock in the rippling ocean.

xxix. tentative kisses

It has been a while since there have been any flowers for Yasha to press between the pages of the book she carries. The ocean was obviously not the best place to look for wildlife, but they are back on land again, at last.

Yasha looks for flowers as they travel, but the group is moving with urgency towards Felderwin, so there isn't really time to scour the land beyond what exists at the treeline. There are unspoken tensions hanging in the air and Yasha glances at Jester one day.

The tiefling looks happy, touching the pendant at her neck, and Yasha wonders what Jester is truly thinking about. She had been calm and insightful about Zuala, even despite the sadness in the tale that is uncharacteristic of Jester. She tries not to think too heavily about it.

The next day, as they are making camp before Alfield, Jester darts to her side. She presents Yasha with a small cluster of wildflowers and a bright smile. Yasha's heart tightens as she examines the tiny flowers. It is a touching gesture and she leans forward to kiss Jester gently on the cheek.

"Thank you," she says gently.

xxx. attention-drawing kisses

"We really, really, really need to get out of here," Nott urges firmly.

"Well if we leave that way, the Crownsguard will be all over us," Fjord replies sharply, pointing towards the mouth of the alley they've taken temporary shelter in.

"Cause a distraction then!" Nott commands, crossing her arms. Beau, Caleb, Caduceus, and Yasha had the luck not to be corralled into an alley and had all escaped presumably back to the inn, leaving Jester, Fjord, and Nott stranded.

Jester perks up. "Nott, you hide. I have an idea." Nott doesn't wait to hear an explanation as she ducks behind a large crate and blends her small frame into the shadows.

"Jester, what are you talking about?" Fjord asks, his voice a low rumble.

Jester giggles. "Trust me."

There's a large crash like Jester has knocked something over and Nott tenses. She can't see either of her friends from where she's hidden, but she sees their shadows press against one alley wall together, but they're not attempting to hide.

Nott hears a single guard rush into the alley. Jester laughs again and Nott tenses, her hand hovers over her crossbow.

"Oh, no! Oh, we're so sorry! My boyfriend and I were just headed back to our inn and we got a little sidetracked!" Jester's voice is lilting and soft and Nott feels a tiny smile curl up her lips.

The guard mumbles a few annoyed phrases before he moves away and Nott hears yelling for the other guards to move on. She emerges from her hiding place and sees Jester smiling broadly and Fjord looking both mortified and startled. There's a glimmer of magic lingering around them like they had been disguised, but Fjord's hair is mussed just a little and Nott can clearly tell what has gone down between the pair. She bares her teeth at them in a grin.

"Let's go before Jester needs to cause another scene," she says. Fjord's face flushes.

xxxi. apologetic kisses

"Nott?" Jester's voice is smaller than she would like as she peers into the dim room, looking for the goblin.

The former hunched on the far bed jerks and Nott's eyes glint in the low light as she looks at Jester, clearly surprised.

"Jester! What can I help you with?"

Jester steps into the room and feels almost too nervous to continue, but she swallows the pride holding her back and steps in fully.

"Why do you keep pushing Fjord and I together?"

Nott jumps from the bed and walks towards Jester. She reached out and slots her smaller hand into Jester's. "Because I can see that you like him, and even though I don't like him, you do, and therefore you deserve to get what you want."

Jester's eyes sting with unexpected tears as she gives Nott a weak smile. "Well, I don't know, Nott, it's all a little confusing. And we did just fight a dragon and I almost died and I don't know what I'm feeling anymore."

Without another word, Nott tugs and pulls Jester down so she can wrap her arms around the cleric's neck. She kisses the side of Jester's head and breathes slowly.

"I'm so sorry you're confused and I'm sorry we left you to face that dragon alone. You were so incredibly strong."

Jester squeezes Nott and doesn't reply, she just holds on.

xxxii. silencing kisses

Fjord is talking again. He and Caleb have been going back and forth for more than an hour trying to figure out the best route to follow to hit all the important places. Molly leans forward, letting his elbows rest on the table and he studies the two.

Jester and Beau are off doing who knows what and Nott vanished to, presumably, go steal some shiny stuff, and that has left Molly with the two most serious members of the Mighty Nein.

Fjord points at something on the map and makes what is apparently a good point because Caleb makes a consenting noise low in his throat. Molly watched Fjord draw a line from one side of the map to the edge and Caleb's brow furrows.

Bored by the antics considering he was never really paying attention, Molly stands and walks towards the bar. As he passes Fjord, he kisses the half-orc on the top of the head and all the words coming from Fjord's mouth suddenly tumble to a stop as he's shocked into silence.

Molly hides a snicker as he makes his way to the bar. These folk are too affection deprived. He can fix that and he sure Jester would be happy to help.

xxxiii. neck kisses

Beau barely gets the door shut behind her before strong arms are pressing her back. She makes a half-grunt, half-squeaking noise in response and Keg laughs. Beau cuts it off, bending over and kissing the dwarf firmly.

She tastes like ale and smoke and they're clumsy enough that it's going to be awkward. Keg kisses her back firmly before pulling back for air. Beau pulls at the fighter's armour and looks behind her to the bed.

"I think I have a better destination in mind," she mutters lowly.

Keg basically growls in response and Beau smirks, pushing her by the shoulders.

After some armour removal at record speed, Beau has the dwarf pressed against the mattress, both of their chests heaving. Beau's smirk widens. She steals one last kiss on the lips before she goes for the neck.

xxxiv. gentle kisses

Everything about the Mighty Nein is a bit of an oxymoron. Firstly, there's seven of them normally and they don't often feel very mighty. When Kiri trills out an exact replica of any of their voices, it throws Fjord off guard. She's just a small child, but she does bring their numbers up to eight which is a little closer to the nine that people expect.

But, she's a kid and they can't expect to keep dragging a young girl into such dangerous situations, so when they decide to leave her with the Schusters, it is for the better. Still, Kiri has grown on them and they love her completely. The girls of the group take the departure of their kenku friend harder than Fjord or Molly or Caleb does, but they're all sad to see her go.

Fjord's chest twists as he watches Jester kneel before the tiny bird. Her eyes water and she looks at Kiri deeply. Fjord knows a bit more about Jester than any of the others and he's curious how much her own relationship with her mother affects how she feels about the young girl. She's certainly not the only one because Fjord remembers how he felt upon finding the Schuster kids in the beginning.

Jester hugs Kiri and presses a gentle kiss to the top of her head. "You are always one of the Mighty Nein, Kiri! And remember that we love you very much!"

Kiri trills sadly. "Love you very much!"

Fjord places a hand on Jester's shoulder and she looks up at him with misty eyes. Her hand covers his and she squeezes gently.

xxxv. fingertip kisses

Beau flexes her fingers and the pain that shoots through her knuckles makes her wince. Something is definitely bruised and from the speed that the blue has spread across her hands, it's likely broken too. She glances across the clearing and takes in the rest of the party.

Jester is kneeling next to Caleb who is ghostly white and covered in blood and filth. He's fragile and it had only taken the orc two good swings to put the wizard out and Jester had thankfully gotten to his side in time. Fjord is talking in hushed words with Mollymauk who is looking at Nott where the goblin is hovering around Caleb and Jester, trying to help, but also trying to stay out of the way.

Beau grits her teeth. Her hands hurt, but she can't exactly ask Jester for help at the moment since Caleb needs her magic more. She turns and sits on a log, digging through her bag for something she can wrap her fingers with. She jerks out a half-squished roll of bandages and starts trying to wrap her left hand.

Hands descend from above, catching hers and halting her in her place. Beau jerks her eyes up and sees Yasha, stoic-faced, standing above her. She stops trying to wrap her hands as Yasha observes her carefully.

A soft white glow suddenly emanates from Yasha's hands, spreading over Beau's injured knuckles. The healing magic prickles, but it seems to work. Yasha lifts Beau's mostly healed hands and presses a soft kiss to the very tips of her fingers and it sends a spark shooting through Beau a lot stronger than the tingle from Yasha's magic.

"You'll be needing your hands in top quality," Yasha says quietly.

"Yeah," Beau mumbles, unable to tear her eyes from the barbarian. "Thanks."

xxxvi. amused kisses

Caleb turns a page in his book, back turned to the excitement of the bar. He's pretty sure that Jester had just punched Beau in the face and he has to go back to his book to hide an amused smile. It seems too on par for everything that's happened so far.

The book he picked up in Zadash has all sorts of weird ritual circles drawn through the pages, but so far there are no spells that he doesn't recognize. It's almost frustrating, but the circles are enough to keep him leafing through the rest of the pages, hoping for something new through it all.

A hand grabs his arm suddenly and it takes every ounce of control he has not to turn and blast a firebolt at whoever is holding him. Instead, he tenses and glances over to see a beaming Jester at his side. Her lip is split but she's grinning and adrenaline has coloured her cheeks darker.

"Hello, Jester," he greets slowly.

"Caleb! Did you see us fight! It was absolutely awesome! Beau and I totally beat the shit out of each other!" Jester seems genuinely happy and excited and Caleb's lips curl into a gentle smile.

"Couldn't you have healed yourself?"

Jester winks. "I did! But I left the lip because it makes me look cool."

The comment finally breaks Caleb's facade and he lets out an amused chuckled. He turns towards Jester fully and presses a kiss to her cheek. She's odd, but incredibly endearing. Jester beams and throws her arms around him for a tight hug in return.

xxxvii. height difference kisses

Everyone is reeling. With all the information and history that exploded across the group, Nott is surprised that she has kept it together.

It hurts to be home in Felderwin and not be able to hold her son and her husband, but Luke is safe with Edith and Yeza is gone. The cart rattles around the edges of the city and Nott can see the pain on Caleb's face and the darkness that lingers in Beau's and the questions that bleed from everyone else's faces. Nott knows that Jester's dying to ask questions, but there's a silence in the cart that is suffocating.

She looks more closely at Caleb. He's still gripping Beau's shoulder for stability and his face is white as ash. She's seen this look on him before, but it hurts more now because she knows he's not just Caleb and she's finally learned most of the pain that he went through with his parents and with Ikithon.

The pain and silence are killing Nott. She scrambles out of the cover and heads to the front, where Caduceus is calmly driving the cart. The firbolg casts her a careful look, but he looks calm and composed, as he always does.

"Nott," he says gently, "we are going to find your husband. The Assembly won't be using him any longer."

A ball of tension loosens in her stomach and she stands on the seat next to Caduceus. Even standing while he sits, he's taller, so she has to lean up on her toes to kiss his cheek. No words are needed after that and the two sit at the front of the cart, Nott with her hood pulled over her head to hide her features.

xxxviii. 'just acting' kisses

"This is a bad idea," Fjord says stiffly. Caleb watches him cross his arms over his chest, yellow eyes storming.

Beau lets out a long sigh. "You think I don't know that? None of us are getting in there with magic and Caleb and I are the ones who know the most about the Empire. My Cobalt Soul credentials get us in as," she pauses to shudder lightly, "newlyweds, and then Caleb knows what we're looking for during this stupid party."

"I'm with Fjord," Nott pipes up. "You don't know who will be there and there's a possibility someone will see through it immediately."

Caleb kneels in front of Nott. "But I'm very charismatic my friend, and Beau is a brilliant liar. I need those books and we need to find out what they're planning."

Jester taps a finger against her chin. "Well, Caleb, Beau, we'd better see a demonstration of your newlywed adoration. For practice, of course."

Beau frowns, but she steps close to Caleb and slides her arm through his. They're both horribly stiff and unconvincing as she presses the tiniest kiss to his cheek before recoiling quickly. Caleb glances around at their companions to gauge their reaction. Caduceus is blissfully unaware of what is going on, but Fjord and Nott both look far less than impressed.

Jester grabs Caleb and Beau each by the hand, smiling broadly. "You two need to relax! It's just acting, after all."

xxxix. nose kisses

Yasha still feels like there is lightning coursing through her body. She can't forget the feeling of it striking her and the smell of burning wood and ozone. She spreads her fingers flat against the table and stares at her scarred hands against the dark wood in the dim light of the ship's galley.

She had held lightning and a spirit in her hand and it had made her feel more alive than anything in a long while. Not for the first time, Yasha wondered what Zuala would think of the Stormlord and the chaos that surrounded Yasha every time she pursued him. She also wanted to know what Zuala would have thought of the Mighty Nein.

She would have found them to be an eccentric bunch, but still charming nonetheless. Between the lot of them, there was rather a lot of charisma oozing around powerful personalities. Even after all this time travelling with them, they still puzzled Yasha sometimes too. Besides Caduceus, not one of them spoke of their true feelings and it made Yasha miss Molly even more.

The door to the galley swung open and Yasha turned, pulling her hands into her lap. Nott stood in the doorway, just looking at her in confusion.

"Did you fight a lightning beast?" the goblin asks after a moment.

Yasha shrugs because she's still not quite sure what exactly she had fought. Nott jumps up onto the table so that she's standing on it and it now a little taller than Yasha who's seated. Yasha blinks as Nott steps forward and kisses her nose.

"I'm sure you were very brave."

xl. forehead kisses

Caleb's scars are hurting. They always seem to be, but today is worse than normal. Perhaps, he thinks darkly, it is because Beau and Yasha saw Master Ikithon yesterday and from what Beau had said, Ikithon had taken particular interest in Yasha. The thought makes his stomach twist, but he forces it down.

Around the room, his alarm spell is unbroken and Caleb exhales slowly. He hadn't expected it to be broken, but paranoia for old time's sake had won out when he had spread it around the room. Nott hadn't said a word, for her part, and he had been grateful.

Caleb likes the Mighty Nein. But, he also feels like he is using them for his own means to an end. It is wrong to abuse good people in such a way. With tense shoulders and tight nerves, he sets about dismantling his alarm system quietly. Nott is still asleep on the bed on the other side of the room. Sometimes she would sleep curled at his feet, but last night she had crawled into the other bed without much spoken between them.

She had known he had needed his space after that ordeal. Plus, she and Beau knew everything now and the thought of it twists Caleb's insides so viciously he is almost sick.

Caleb pauses in his removal of the alarm and crosses to Nott's bed. He leans over and kisses her forehead softly. She doesn't stir. "Danke, mein kleiner freund," he murmurs gently.

xli. parental kisses

Caduceus drives the cart for a long time and just listens. Caleb and Nott–Bren and Veth, his brain corrects gently–have been through a lot individually and together. Their stories are painful and clearly taxing on the tellers themselves. From his brief observations, Nott does not make eye contact while she speaks and Caleb grabs for Beau like a lifeline.

Finally, he pulls the cart to a stop and looks at the group. They all need sleep, undoubtedly. They make for the inn in a relative silence, but Caduceus watches Caleb's feet drag and his head hangs. The cleric drops to the back of the party next to the wizard and stops him just before he enters the tavern.

His hands lie against Caleb's shoulders and the wizard glances up at him, his eyes dark and full of relived pain.

"It's going to be okay, Mr. Caleb," Caduceus says gently.

"You do not think less of me? For hiding all of these secrets?"

Caduceus shakes his head. "This was clearly a difficult thing for you, so you have done just fine." He presses a gentle kiss to the top of Caleb's head and releases his shoulders. "Now, let us rest tonight."

xlii. frustrated kisses

"You should not be here, Beauregard," Dairon says. Her voice is stiff and has an edge of anger to it.

Beau ignores her mentor's obvious feelings and just throws her arms around her. "I thought you were dead."

Dairon stiffly pushes Beau back until they can make eye contact. "Yes, that was kind of the point."

Beau drops her arms to her sides and just listens as Dairon explains her surprise and the reason behind her deception and the story of Blade Garden. After a moment, Dairon pauses and opens the subject for discussion.

Jester says something, but Beau can't focus on anything else but the person before her. "You're not the slightest bit proud that I've made it this far without getting killed."

Dairon rolls her eyes. "You likely would have died in that ring if I hadn't stepped up."

Beau shrugs. "I still almost beat you, didn't I?"

Dairon's posture slumps a bit as she exhales deeply. "Yes, I suppose you did."

Beau pauses before hugging her mentor tightly again. "I still can't believe you're here."

Again, Dairon is stiff beneath her touch, but this time an arm comes up to wrap around her in return. A quick, fleeting kiss is pressed to the side of her head as the monk embrace.

"I am proud of you, Beauregard, you have learned well and developed much since I saw you last."

Warmth curls through Beau's stomach as she clutches the only adult figure who she ever truly respected.

xliii. cautious kisses

Jester is bouncing on her toes. Excitement and positivity radiates off her and makes her almost glow. Fjord finds himself wishing for a bit of her optimism. Molly stands nearby her, spinning his swords around his hands with practiced ease and Yasha is sitting just behind him, both hands clutching the hilt of the Magician's Judge as the blade sinks an inch or two into the dirt.

Fjord turns and finds Beau standing beside Caleb as she tightens the bindings on her hands, her staff hitched over her back. Caleb is flipping through his spellbook, thoroughly distracted, but Nott, who stands on Caleb's other side, is staring right at Fjord.

She looks from Fjord to the entrance to the ring and her yellow eyes flash darkly.

Fjord sighs. "Hey, guys, remember this is just a competition, it's not a matter of life or death."

Molly laughs. "What, a competition of pride isn't life or death to you folks? That's awfully boring." He slides his swords into their sheath and drapes an arm over Jester's shoulders, grinning. "We're the Mighty Nein, so I don't think we'll have to worry too much about a combat bout."

"Fjord is correct," Caleb interjects. "We should be cautious."

Molly shrugs and Jester turns towards him, also smiling. "Still," she says lightly, "we can be cautious and victorious." Twisting so her horns don't knock against Molly's she leans up and kisses him on the cheek.

Then she looks back at the rest of the Nein and Fjord feels her violet eyes stare right through him as her infectious positivity warms him.

"Okay then," he mumbles.

xliv. collarbone kisses

The circus has been his home since he clawed his way out of the ground. He knows these people and he trusts these people and it kills him to see them get taken away. But, there is no denying that the Crownsguard have reason to suspect the circus considering an old man turned into a zombie-creature during their performance.

After the whole ordeal, Molly sheaths his sword and finds himself standing next to Yasha. She slings her greatsword onto her back and turns towards him. Unexpectedly, she pulls him into a tight embrace. Molly hugs her back tightly because he knows what this means. She's taller than him so his lips, at the angle she has pulled him in, are just above her shoulder.

He cranes his neck and presses them lightly to her collarbone, as a comfort. When she releases him, her eyes are stormy.

"Be safe then," he offers lamely.

Yasha dips her head. "You as well."

Molly turns back to the astonished faces of the new people he just met and knows that if he looks back, Yasha will be gone.

xlv. spine kisses

The whole event is over before Fjord realizes much of what's going on, and soon he's just lying next to an equally nude pirate captain. He hopes he has bought the group enough time to do what they need to do because he does not want to be here any longer than he needs to be.

After a moment, Avantika sits up and begins wresting her long hair into a braid of sorts. Her back is to him and Fjord is able to observe the arcing tattoo that covers her skin as it curls from around her shoulders down to the base of her spine.

"Well," Avantika says, as she ties off her braid. "I want to check the ship before it gets too late, but you're welcome to stay here and wait for me."

The image of Avantika catching Jester and Nott red-handed makes him internally panic and he leans towards her, letting his charisma swell overtop his fear. "Or you could stay," he offers instead.

He leans down, but instead of going to her face as she expects, he aims for the marked skin on her upper back and kisses one of the ridges of her spine. She shivers against him.

"Well with an argument like that," she teases and Fjord swallows roughly.

xlvi. flirtatious kisses

"Jester, wait up!" Beau reached out and grabbed Jester's arm, to pull her to a stop.

Jester stopped, but Frumpkin jumped down off her shoulder and bolted back to where Caleb was standing at the mouth of the alley. Jester turned and gave Beau and inquisitive look.

Beau shuffled her feet awkwardly and looked back at the shed where she'd seen her mentor. "Thank you." At first, that was all she could say, but then she straightened her shoulders and continued. "For fighting in the ring with me and for meeting Dairon with me. It means a lot to me."

Jester smiled brightly. "Of course, Beau! We're best friends!" A coy look crept over the tiefling's face as she considered something. "But really, are you sure you're not secretly in love with me?"

Beau rolled her eyes. "You know I love you, Jessie."

Jester beamed and turned to walk towards Caleb and the main city. She turned once she got halfway there and blew Beau a joking, flirtatious kiss.

xlvii. hot kisses

Caleb's chest feels impossibly tight when he sees Nott fall. He steps out and the Polymorph spell is leaving his lips before he can even think. His heart does not stop pounding until Caduceus has stone shaped the wall behind them and they have fled far enough that the pounding from the fire giants has faded to almost nothing.

The party slows to a halt, everyone heaving with lack of air, and Caleb's eyes find Nott. She's singed and looks dead tired, but she is alive. He steps towards her, pushing away Beau's arms which had been cradling her. Caleb kneels and pulls Nott to his chest, just holding her and letting himself breathe for a moment.

Her hands squeeze him back, her nails digging in a little, but he cannot bring himself to be bothered by that manner. He rests his forehead against hers and mumbles something in Zemnian under his breath. He pulls away slightly and examines her for any damage. She's still hurt, but the healing has helped her significantly.

He kisses her forehead and her skin is still hot to the touch, but he will take hot over dead any day.

xlviii. cold kisses

Jester can still feel the burn from the crackle of electricity. She winds her arms around herself and sinks further against the wood of the base of the crow's nest. For the moment, she had needed to be as far away from the water as possible, so this seemed like a good alternative. Now that she was up this high, she thinks about falling and then she thinks about falling into a dark cavern lit by the lightning of a dragon.

She shivers again.

It's raining, but Jester barely feels it. Her clothes are damp from the sea spray, so the extra added water from the rain doesn't make her feel any worse or any better. Her arms curl atop her knees and she squints at the horizon.

There's a creak of rope grinding against wood and she turns her head. Fjord is leaning over the top of the rope ladder, half in the crow's nest, looking at her.

"Hey, Jester, are you doing okay?"

"Totally, I'm totally fine, definitely," she says quickly. She's pretty sure she sounds convincing, but Fjord's eyebrows knit and he climbs fully up.

"Do you want to talk about it? It's okay to be scared after something like that."

"I was so alone," she mumbles tiredly.

Fjord reaches for one of her hands. His skin is cool against hers thanks to the rain, and he brings it up to his face. He kisses her knuckles quickly and doesn't break eye contact with her. She squeezes his hand in return and feels a tiny smile curl up the corners of her mouth.

xlix. 'don't go' kisses

The ground around him is already slippery with blood, but Caleb reaches for Mollymauk's unmoving body anyways, pulling him as upright as he can get him. There's a trickle of blood from each of the tiefling's wide open red eyes as well as a trail alongside his mouth from where he had spat at Lorenzo.

Not for the first time, Caleb wishes for Jester and the others. Beau says something behind him and he hears Keg's armour clank as she falls hopelessly to the ground, but everything is numb besides the sight of the lifeless body half-clutched in his arms.

The numbness stays as they respectfully bury Mollymauk, leaving his cloak draped over his grave. They leave him a letter just in case, but then they have to move on and Caleb has to feel again.

The anger comes before the sadness. It is unbridled anger and fury towards Lorenzo and the Iron Shepherds and they will pay for what they have done. The sadness and the grief comes next as a dark piercing feeling.

Caleb turns as they begin walking away. "Shine bright, Circus Man," he says carefully. He touches his fingers to his lips and then extends them in the direction of the coat as it flaps in the breeze.

l. 'wake up' kisses

Caleb is squishy. Nott knows this, Caleb knows this, and so does everyone else in the Mighty Nein. Still, Nott is gripped with panic when the arrows sink into his flesh. She watches his blue eyes widen and the fire loose itself from his fingertips before he falls to his knees and then back onto his back.

She scrabbles towards him, grabbing his hand, as Jester takes the other one and casts Cure Wounds. Nott kisses Caleb's hand briefly and stares at his face.

"Wake up, Caleb!" Jester implores. Nott squeezes the limp hand.

Beau and the others are bickering with what is left of the bandits, but Caleb stirs on the hard-packed earth before he shoots up into a sitting position, blue eyes as wide as a madman's.

"Take them out!" he cries desperately. Nott furrows her brow. She touches his hand to reassure him, but his eyes are a million miles away.

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authenticparanoidghosts · 6 years

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here’s a very long d&d story about the time my party used volleyball skills to become a god. for @komodoclassic, because she asked

this is a story in three parts

part i - a brief introduction of major characters and setting

okay so this was our big sophomore year campaign that lasted from first semester on over into part of second semester

really good campaign, our DM put a lot of work into it and we love him, but we had so many players that we had to split into two groups who both played the same world on the same timeline which was a huge fantastic mess

it ended bc the group I was in got a total party kill fighting a lizard with a magic eyeball (a totally different story - I was playing a hot tree and I might have killed him on my own after the rest of the party died if he hadn’t had that fucking entourage) and the other group killed the interdimensional asshole/refugee guy my party was actually trying to help

anyways, important characters in this story:

our DM, who I will not refer to by name even though I do tag him by name sometimes. I love to be inconsistent

me, playing my first character for this campaign (who did survive! she had to be retired before the lizard TPK for other nonsense reasons), a dwarf paladin named Taxes

Taxes (real name: Ataxite Tellus) was from a family of swindlers and petty criminals and was forced to leave her life of burglary and scamming when her parents got paid off to have someone take the fall for murdering The Very Important Mayor Of The Big Island Of This Archipelago Country and decided to frame her for it

instead of going to jail like she was supposed to, she was like “fuck this” and fled to a different island where she dyed her hair and put on a bandana like an old west outlaw and spitefully decided to dedicate her life to Not Being A Huge Asshole

obviously the way to do this is by taking some (k)night classes and becoming a paladin

Taxes is not a very good paladin

her god is Deimos, who does fire and war and justice and out of all the gods we met during the campaign (which was honestly a shocking amount) he was the nicest to us

our DM said he (Deimos) got briefly famous on the d&d reddit - partially because of this story and partially because of the stunts we were pulling immediately before it

anyways it’s important that you know that Taxes is from a family of criminals and just genuinely not very good at her job

one of my roommates, playing an elven wizard/lich whose name was Faenor but went exclusively by Gregg

good things to know about Gregg: she and Taxes had a classic straight man/banana man dynamic where she would try to do terrible ridiculous criminal things and Taxes would loudly protest but do very little to stop her

a friend, playing a dwarf paladin/cleric named Yule Marbles

Yule also followed Deimos and she and Taxes had an elaborate prayer handshake that they’d made up that gave them DM-sanctioned bonuses to religion checks

our party prayed basically exclusively to Deimos and eventually gained new player characters who ALSO followed him so after a point we just kind of paraded around the world as Deimos’ Favorite Idiots

part ii - volleyball

alright those are the people you need to know, let’s set the scene

our party needs to flee Dinosaur Hell Island where we have just solved the mystery we were summoned to help investigate and also accidentally started a war

quick trivia: Taxes (me) got mocked CONSTANTLY through the campaign bc she kept ACCIDENTALLY STARTING WARS

BAD PALADIN BEHAVIOR

but I did get a joke proficiency in starting wars which I later convinced the DM to let me use to benefit the party, so who’s laughing now, motherfucker

(the final count was that at LEAST three (3) legitimate, real-ass wars could be traced directly back to my actions as Taxes, as well as a couple other events that I would prefer to call “skirmishes” or “battles” that happened more indirectly. I refuse to count Malcolm’s not-so-legal battle for the deed to hell because 1) I did NOT help that guy, I just said I would, and 2) that was his problem and he started it)

we are leaving without telling anyone what we’ve found out

because they’re going to kill us, probably

you know. because of the war. that we started. on their already incredibly politically fraught island

the point is that we solved the goddamn mystery despite being absolutely terrible detectives and we FINALLY get to leave

we’ve been playing this part of the campaign for weeks and we’re all very tired of it

also the player who was intended to take point on the investigation (her hot mentor/maybe boyfriend? was the one who had called us there) had died pretty early on doing a pretty risky stunt involving a shark and an underwater cave, so we were just muddling through it

and we kept “”accidentally”” insulting people by stealing things (dinosaurs) and getting caught trying to break into things (sacred temples) and just generally being rude (Yule REALLY didn’t like the fey and I was briefly cursed by a swamp hag)

and, again, we started that war

we really need to skip town

a very unfortunate ship had crashed on the island a couple days previously and some of the people on it are very powerful sorcerers who we (really just Xenon, the half-orc fighter and everyone’s very best friend) have convinced to teleport us off the island

we just need to hide out on their beach and kill some time until the teleportation circle is ready

“do you want to take a rest?” the DM asks

“we should play beach volleyball,” someone else says, at the exact same time

resting is for suckers who are afraid of the very angry lizard people who want to kill us

we vote unanimously to play beach volleyball

the DM graciously decides that, in the interest of comedy, we have all the materials we need and won’t have to, like, sit down and weave a net

we break into two teams of four. team names are quickly decided to be The Hotdogs vs. The Hamburglars

after the party split our group retained “hamburglars” as our group chat name because our threshold for what entertains us is embarrassingly low

there are eight of us, so we’re playing four-on-four

the makeup of the teams isn’t important (and I can’t remember them), but know that we’re a half-orc, a tiefling, a middle-school-age human girl, an adult human man, two dwarves, an undead elf, and a fishperson

we spend a decent amount of time coming up with rules necessary to let us play volleyball

it’s mostly dexterity checks and rolling a d4 to see what quadrant of the court the ball lands in

some of our group doesn’t know the rules to actual volleyball and they have to be explained

listen. this is possibly the nerdiest thing I’ve ever done. I’m willing to acknowledge that, you don’t need to tell me.

anyways, ultimately the outcome of the game doesn’t matter (the Hamburglars won) and neither does how good or bad anyone was at rolling for imaginary volleyball (we fucking crushed the Hotdogs)

the point is that we played it and were so charmed by it that we would not forget about our new skills. we would remember them in our hour of need.

part iii - now I am (accidentally) become (NOT ACTUALLY A) god, destroyer of pirates

imagine there’s a timeskip

like, uh, two weeks later in game time at MOST

the group has split in real life, so my group is now Taxes, Yule, Gregg, Roswell (delightful fishperson), and another guy who stopped coming regularly and then was later replaced by another guy who doesn’t really become important until later, when we try to help a dimension-hopping dicklick by killing a lizard and stealing his eyeball

his character’s name was Yashirou and he’s not in this at all but it’s important that you know that by the time he died he had been partially transformed into so many different things that he was achingly close to being classified as an abomination and also was probably going to be fired from his job as a space cop

anyways, it’s a new day and a new session

actually, it’s probably like 11 pm. this will be relevant later

Taxes, Gregg, and Yule are the only player characters present because Roswell was busy or something

we’re on a new continent, hanging out with Taxes’ younger sister, Olivine

Olivine has also split from their parents and now runs an all-female gang of pirates who steal from the two much BIGGER gangs of pirates and also the trading federation and then sells whatever they’ve captured to the anti-government faction of the civil war that’s currently happening on the continent

this civil war is the only war currently going on/about to start where the root causes are NOT my fault in any way because when the thing that caused the circumstances that are creating unrest happened, Taxes had her hands over her ears and was humming loudly bc she knew she’d be morally obligated to do something if someone told her what was going on

right now, both major gangs of pirates and the trading federation are also all currently at war with each other

this is my fault

nobody but Gregg and Yule know it’s my fault, though, so I’m only in danger of being mocked for it

anyways we’re hanging out with my sister

doing crime

well, Gregg is doing crime. Taxes and Yule are paladins so they’re just protecting their good friend Gregg from people who might try to do her harm. it’s an airtight excuse, thank you

we’re actually on the continent because we’re traveling to visit Yule’s wife and son

so my sister and her gang (and us) have recently stolen a bunch of supplies from a guy named Scipio who is, we’ve been told, a Huge Asshole

Olivine’s gang is going to pay some local sailors to run the supplies up to the northern part of the continent which is both where the rebels are based and where Yule’s family lives

so ofc we’re on one boat (chock full of magical items we have recently lit a perfectly nice wizard on fire to steal) and two of the girl gang members are on the other (full of, like, food I think) providing security and acting as Olivine’s representatives for the deal they’re trying to make with the rebel camp

things are going well

we’re just sailing, no big deal

except, you know, like the first rule of d&d is Never Get On A Boat

and we are definitely on a boat

undeniably on a boat

on a boat full of MANY stolen goods

so ofc a couple hours into our trip, a bigger, faster ship sails up behind us. a bigger, faster ship with very official looking flags

it’s a gang of pirate enforcers (from one of the big two gangs) and they are presumably here to rob the shit out of us

“oh shit” we say, and look over at the other boat where the only NPCs who can help us also appear to be mouthing oh shit

“well,” someone says (me), “I think we can talk our way out of this”

I like to think I’m optimistic (and sometimes I find combat boring)

I prefer to try to lie my ass off to get us out of bad situations

we let the pirates board

things to know:

previous to this adventure on this continent, Taxes had gained the ability to see the names of everyone she meets, Death Note style

also she has a new helmet