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chaos-burst · 3 years

Note

#29 for beauyasha or any ship with molly you like

29. Staring at each other’s lips for a moment before moving closer, as if drawn together by some unseen force.

Essek has never kissed anyone.

The problem with being a prodigy is that you develop certain expectations of yourself and it becomes near impossible to try something new in front of another person that you might not immediately excel at.

That is the inherent flaw with kissing.

Another person is, by kissing’s nature, very present. Not only present, but involved. Kissing someone without knowing if you’re going to be good at it sounds like a terrible ordeal.

There is no way he can try kissing by himself. Not that he’s particular interested in kissing just for the kisses’ sake. But there might be a particular person who makes Essek’s potential disastrous kissing skills a nuisance.

When Mollymauk Tealeaf waltzed into his life with the rest of the Mighty Nein Essek was straight up offended by him. But as it turned out, there are many fascinating qualities about Mollymauk that Essek finds endlessly captivating and even impressive.

While he carefully builds his image and upholds his reputation where ever he goes, Mollymauk simply doesn’t care what people think of him. He is just himself, unapologetically and oftentimes obnoxiously so. Essek isn’t even sure who he really is under all the pretense and the lies.

Mollymauk also doesn’t care for the future in any capacity. While Essek despises his culture’s obsession with being reborn, Mollymauk lives every day as if it might be his last. No regrets. No holding out for a future that might never come. Essek wishes he could live like this.

He watched Mollymauk for too long. Now he cannot look anywhere else.

Sometimes Essek wonders if Mollymauk finds him endlessly dull. But then Mollymauk sits down next to him, calls him “mage boy”, bumps Essek’s shoulder with his, winks at him, lays out tarot cards for him and calls him “too pretty and smart for his own good”.

Essek files it all away and by now it has surmounted to an incredibly big part of his brain that is only occupied with Mollymauk Tealeaf. And kissing Mollymauk Tealeaf.

Maybe that is due to the fact that Mollymauk talks about things like kissing and sex a lot without considering that not everyone around him is so open about things like this.

Mollymauk has kissed so many people. He’s probably very good at it--a fact that Essek also files away and that makes his cheeks darken and his pulse speed up when he thinks about it for too long.

At some point, when he arrives at the “Xhorhouse”, as it has been called, Jester shouts up the stairs: “Molly, your boyfriend is here!”

Essek is very tempted to teleport away right there and then. But he keeps his face neutral, ignores his hammering heart and leaves his floating spell at the door as he steps into the house that is, by now, so familiar to him.

“Hey Essek, how are you doing?”, Jester asks with a friendly smile as if she didn’t just grab Essek’s insides and twisted them into an anxious knot.

“I am doing alright, thank you. I hope everything is going well?”

“Sure! We’re off to do some super secret crazy shit and Molly has to stay home because he might be in danger if he comes or something, Beau explained it all but I didn’t listen all the way to the end. Anyway, there are cupcakes in the kitchen and there’s water in the hot tub if you want to take a bath or. You know.”

Jester grins at Essek and winks multiple times in a row. Essek clears his throat.

“So, should I stay here in case Mollymauk gets into trouble?”, he asks and regrets it immediately because Jester’s face lights up with a mischievous energy he’s come to know in these past few months.

“Yes, please keep Molly safe for us, Essek. Be his bodyguard. Don’t let him out of your sight!”

“Not like he ever does”, a blunt voice comes from their left and Beau stands there with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

“I am certain I don’t know what you’re implying”, he says stiffly. Beau snorts.

“Sure you don’t. Ok, Jes, you ready to go or what?”

Essek watches them go and takes a deep breath as the door closes behind them. He’s unsure what to do. Maybe he should just go again. But Jester said Mollymauk might be in danger.

He can only assume that it has something to do with the group looking into this moving city in the astral plane and Lady Vess Derogna.

“Do you want cupcakes? Jester left about twenty in the kitchen.”

Mollymauk’s voice rips Essek out of his thoughts and for a second he forgets that he already discarded his floating spell so he does a very awkward little sidestep and a hand gesture that amounts to nothing.

Truly, he is a prodigy at interacting with others, there is no doubt about it.

“I don’t think I ever had a cupcake. Is it a cake in a cup?”

Mollymauk looks delighted and Essek’s stomach does some very impressive gymnastic figures he didn’t know were possible.

“You are delightful in your ignorance. Come on, let’s get some cupcakes into that pretty mouth.”

Pretty mouth.

Essek stands in the hallway for a good fifteen seconds before his brain has rebooted itself and he is able to follow Mollymauk into the kitchen. It turns out that cupcakes are not cakes in cups, although Essek isn’t sure why they are called like that.

Mollymauk says it’s because they’re small. Essek says that there are big cups. Mollymauk laughs at him for a good minute before holding out a cupcake with pink frosting and colorful sprinkles on top for Essek to bite into.

Essek stares at it, then at Mollymauk’s hand, then at Mollymauk’s face.

“Try it”, Mollymauk urges.

“Can I... hold it myself while I try it?”, he asks and hopes that his cheeks haven’t turned a darker shade of purple. Mollymauk grins and shows off his fangs and Essek swallows.

“No. I can’t trust you to hold this cupcake. Take a bite, don’t be a spoilsport.”

Essek takes a bite and it’s ridiculously sweet. It tastes similar to what Jester’s voice sounds like when she messages him in the middle of the night asking if he’s read any good “smutty books” lately that he can recommend to her.

Mollymauk puts the cupcake down on the table and before Essek can react there is a finger right in his face and Mollymauk’s thumb brushes away some pink frosting from his upper lip. Essek doesn’t know what to do as he watches Mollymauk licking his thumb without breaking eye contact.

He’s not prone to swearing but right now he feels like, for the first time, he really understands Beauregards need to say “Fuck” very loudly. Mollymauk’s eyes drop down to look at Essek’s lips and he wonders if he still has some frosting somewhere in the corner of his mouth.

Shadowhand of the Bright Queen, spy, double agent, magical prodigy, genius, traitor, war criminal, all this means nothing right now, in this untidy kitchen with a half-eaten, pink cupcake on the table and Mollymauk staring at Essek’s lips like it’s the most interesting thing he’s ever seen.

Essek can’t help but look at Mollymauk’s lips, too.

He never wanted to kiss anyone before, but he desperately wants to kiss Mollymauk Tealeaf.

For a second Essek wonders if there’s magic involved as his body moves forward as if it is pulled by invisible strings. Mollymauk, like a magnet, reacts just in kind and Essek has barely any brain capacity left to be concerned about his lack of kissing practice when a pair of slightly chapped, warm lips brush against his.

He probably tastes like pink frosting.

Mollymauk’s hand sneaks to the back of his neck and Essek can’t do much aside from following Mollymauk’s lead. It’s probably clumsy and not at all skillful but Mollymauk makes a contented sound and sighs against Essek’s lips and all he wants is to be closer and have more of that.

He doesn’t know for how long they kiss but when they pull away Mollymauk licks his lips and his cheeks are a way darker purple than the rest of his face.

“Been waiting to do that for ages”, he rasps and Essek’s heart does big leap against his ribcage.

“I never did this before”, he admits and feels very exposed for saying it.

“Do you want to do it again?”, Mollymauk asks.

Essek finds himself nodding.

“Although it is very... disconcerting to do something I am not yet very good at.”

Molly grins and there’s something reckless about it.

“Oh, you know what they say. Practice makes perfect.”

#shadowmauk #critical role #critfic #essek thelyss #mollymauk tealeaf #essik #mollymauk #fanfiction #text #screeching into the void #cr spoilers #slowly going backwards through some prompts every time i feel a sliver of creative energy

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unicyclehippo · 4 years

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not to be greedy or anything but that beau/jester convo was Still too short. i mean it was perfect, i just want More

Divination

Your magic and offering put you in contact with a god, or a god’s servants. You ask a single question concerning a specific goal, event, or activity to occur within seven days and get a truthful reply. This reply might be a short phrase, a cryptic rhyme, or an omen.

The cards are thicker than she thought they would be, and Jester spends a lot of the evening examining them—they’re made of a thick paper, card really, and the edges have been lovingly gilded in sweeping gold and silver paint filagree which is where a lot of the heft comes from, she thinks. And they’re so beautiful and lovely and fascinating and shiny and - and a little creepy. Well. Not creepy like the way bad things are creepy—like big spiders and rotting zombies and the low singing of petrified angels—but, well, these were Molly’s. That’s all.

Her fingers slip carefully over the cards. The hurried thwap of the card on blanket as she turns each card over in quick succession slows, stops.

Learning a new game, are we?

‘It’s not a game. It’s tarot reading. Do you know what tarot are? They’re like, so cool, and Molly read my future the first time we ever met, remember?’

Of course! You drew that picture of him for me. With the serpent and shadow.

‘Yeah!’

Curious, isn’t it? I wonder if the fortune was even for you.

Jester glances up with a frown at her friend, her first friend. His green cloak sweeps at the floor but doesn’t quite touch, or fades away before it can. His smile is ever-present but one edge folds in like a pressed accordian into a lop-sided and thoughtful, almost teasing, smirk.

‘What do you mean? Of course it was for me, he was looking at me, and we killed that massive snake and—‘

Tarot show the future, no? That is what you just told me.

‘Well...yes.’

So it might not have been talking about that serpent but another.

Jester’s brow crinkles. Then, with a gasp, ‘Uka’toa!’

Uka’toa, comes the Traveller’s echoed whisper.

‘And the shadow? That could make be Fjord as well, his snake doesn’t seem like the nicest perso—thing—being.’

No. No it does not. Is that what shadows mean? Things that are bad?

Jester shuffles back on the bed, rests back against the wall as she considers that. ‘I guess not. When I bless Nott with your gift that’s all shadowy and stuff but that’s not bad.’ She smiles up at her friend, who bows, visible pale hand twisting in a dramatic flourish. Jester giggles. ‘Okay, so, this is great! So if the Shadow card isn’t about anything that is bad then...’ She thumbs through the cards to find the Shadow, great roiling clouds of black—no, climbing pillars like smoke—no, an inky black veil. There’s something hidden behind the shadow in the image but when Jester stares too hard, it doesn’t become clearer, it just hurts her head. ‘Something hidden?’

That would be my guess. Can the meaning of the card change?

‘I...think so.’

Hmm. How do we figure out what it means?

Jester scrunches up her lips, an accordion press into a pout. She can’t see it herself, nor would anyone know for they have rarely seen the man, the myth, the legend himself, but the expression is remarkably similar to that which the Traveller bears himself as they both pour over the cards.

‘Will you help me?’

Of course, he says without pause. Then, You know, I don’t think we’ve ever tried to divine before. Would you like to try?

Jester bites at her lip. She’s aware that it isn’t a simple spell, that it would take a bit out of her, but she isn’t fighting tonight so... She nearly pounces on the cards, scoops them back into her deck and meets the Traveller’s eyes—well, the deep shadow beneath his cowl—with a wide and wicked grin, nearly shivering with excitement. She bounces on the bed.

‘Yeah! Let’s do it!’

First there is the incense, and then the spell itself. Jester rolls out the mat Beau uses sometimes to meditate—hopes that’s okay—over the small desk in the room and settles in her chair, cards tucked protecively into her chest.

‘Okay. Do I ask the question first? Or do I—‘ She gestures toward the mat, the table, the little pools of silver jewellery she has laid out in an attempt to mimic Molly’s whole situation.

The question, I think. So the cards know your intent.

‘Do I have to say it out loud?’

I don’t know. What do you think?

Jester worries at her bottom lip with sharp teeth. Her tail flicks. ‘I think so.’

Alright. Ask away. One question. Let’s try...something immediate.

‘Like what? The others are going to fight tomorrow night, should I ask about that?’

You could.

‘Or, or—‘ Jester graves against a thought, shakes it away. Realises too late that she has done so in front of the one person who knows her the best. When she opens her eyes from her instant wince, the Traveller is watching her intently. She can feel it, feel the way his brow nocks into place, into an arch of keen interest.

What was that?

‘Nothing!’

Jester...

‘I just—it’s something that’s already happened so it’s not about the future so,’

It doesn’t have to be the question you ask, the Traveller assures her, silky smooth. She knows he’s lying, but,

The incense billows out, wafting in white-smoke columns from the bowls. The scent is cloying, sweet but overpowering, like flowers have been pushed right up into her nostrils. It makes the air a little hazy around her as it curls and coils, and Jester imagines tiger-striped cats and fey creatures stalking through the there-but-not-there smoke.

‘I talked to Beau today,’ she tells the Traveller, who nods. ‘And I asked her if she’d been avoiding me and she says she hasn’t, and she said she, um, trusts my judgement even though I didn’t save her and I think I really screwed up because I told her that she nearly died and I guess she didn’t realise that and now I’m worried all over again that now she’ll, she’ll be angry or worse.’

Worse?

‘Upset,’ Jester tells him, like it’s obvious, because it kinda is. Beau thinking she doesn’t care... Jester swallows hard.

So what’s your question?

‘Um.’ Jester pulls her lips over her teeth, presses them flat as she tries to think of the right question. ‘I guess... Well, I also kind of told her that I had been talking to her dad and I really don’t think she liked that at all,’ Jester says with an uncomfortable laugh, scratches at her throat as she feels the prickling itch of discomfort. ‘Okay okay okay, so, is Beau angry with me? No—wait—how does Beau feel right now? That’s a better one,’ she tells the Traveller, ‘because I get to know more about what she’s thinking about, not just if she’s upset.’ She taps her temple. ‘Smart.’

Indeed. I picked you for a reason,

‘Because I’m funny.’

That, he agrees with a chuckle, and so much more.

The incense billows like the Traveller’s cloak, shifting with a breeze Jester can’t feel. It swirls around her and close and where it touches she can feel it. She’s never felt what sweetness could feel like but now it’s like she can taste it on her arms—sweet and woody like cinnamon or chestnuts or wood chips—like her senses have all been rearranged. And when she glides her fingers over the cards, she doesn’t feel them but instead is almost seeing them, the whorls and eddys of their anchoring in fate and fortune.

#cr tag #tagging my stories #prompt fill #technically not a prompt but sort of since its one of my own #mostly just tagging so i can find it later #i will add to this later i just have to get ready to go out lol sorry

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arodrwho · 4 years

Text

cr 2.90 lb

it’s critrole time!

yea man why have u wasted all that time,,

out-of-universe i Know WHy, but in-universe……..,

...huh. is there any chance the beacon the empire is still hiding still has any souls in it? or has it been too long

“my GOD you mean??” o damn jester

wait what were u saving it for cad???

“the first performance of yasha & the orphanmakers” lskdjglkduhg

balls my internet told me to die

tumblr says the piano sounds like a nightmare

i’m delighted

“dope” “dope” autistic caleb……………………….

“it was a little sexy…?”

matt oh my god

is matt ok

“i mean,, pelor clerics have their own unique ways—” lksdghldfkjghiquehrgihe MATT

“i object. u absolutely can put sun on your butthole, in dungeons and dragons” odhglkdjfhgsirhjgliaejhrvliajehgliaushdi

please,

p l e a s e

“stationery” [squints at nott] is this for letters or for wizarding OR are u being a liar.

u go fjord. have a good time fjord.

...cardstock? cards?

…..2 big posterboards?

what the fuck are u planning nott.

“beacons. task at hand. stay on task, wi-do-gast” i am so happy. caleb is big autism tonight

caleb, a few seconds too late: ..break

i love.

oooooo space rocks

aw barnacles. sry beau

“ohhhh. jester just starts crying” :(((((((

taliesin how cOU LD YOU

MAKING ME FEEL MOLLY EMOTIONS IN 2020

yea but they left the moon at molly’s grave taliesin

they LEFT THE MOON CARD TALIESIN

whatever u know what

it just magicked itself back into the deck

i’ve decided it now.

“i’m gonna go find help bc i don’t understand anything that’s happening here. is, is there a help desk?” o caduceus

i do love u

oh jeez here we go

goddamn that’s a good roll

oooooo on the zenith

neat!

“i was being a little too literal, a little too straight-on” he’s SO AUTISTIC

i love him,

“i pull her into a sort of slow awkward hug” “i hug back” “thank you for coming with me so far” “well thank you for for going this far i know it’s hard to be here and um but i’m proud of you you know? this is you won’t ever get fully better unless you confront these things, so, this is, it’s a step. you should be proud of yourself too” “what about you you still want this road. no i know, this, but everything else?” “yeah i mean” “all of this travel and danger” “the danger & the travel it distracts me an awful lot which is good. it’s either i find the distraction at the bottom of a bottle or in adrenaline fueled danger or i have to go back and think about it more” “and if all of this works, that will change things?” “i guess it will. ..i’ll need a—” “insight check” oh gos h.

that is a 27

“i mean i think u get a sense from nott that she is very scared of what the future may hold for her if we continue down this path” damn dude

SAD.

ohhh tarot cards!! nott ur so sweet

ily

“can i buy u like a corndog to make it up to u” ksdhgkuhdrgliuehrgihelrghsdljgh

god i love this guy,

“carpe diem, as the zemnians used to say” slkdgd

ooohohohohoho did they finally go or WHAT

ok it’s the next day & i’m back

caleb that’s rude!!!!

less rude than it seemed last night tho i was under the impression caleb did that when they were already in front of officials,,

anyways

wow ppl rly will call anything flirting huh

literally caleb seems 2 me like he was just belatedly remembering his manners

but sure

whatever

flirting

“it has been your specialty in the past” lksdjgkjdhfgkj someone acknowledged the accent shift

jester that is so soft

kldgdkjgh nott i love you so much

yea i read abt this on tumblr last night

def sounds like mind control? to me? modify memory at least

ok so we’re forgoing the accent altogether huh

“do u care about prisoner welfare? i’m just making sure he’s alive” god i love fjord

but also they don’t care about prisoner welfare fjord u goddamn dingus

i love you

blease a disabled essek…………………….

blease………………..

“yasha was mind controlled... we think?” “...yes, nott” lksjdglkjdfhg oh yasha

“he smashed his face against a wall.. he’s dead now” “what” “yes it’s a great tragedy. … no he’s alive” sdlkghdhgsljkh fjord i love you.

oof caleb angsts as promised re: jester knowing modify memory

fjord why

don’t be a bastard fjord

see sprinkle is ok

jesus

so THAT’S what the sprinkle comments were about

i thought it was just fjord’s nonsense

o boy let’s go talkity talk 2 the bq

hi bq

bruh u need to tell them it’s not the actual beacon they lost

caleb this is a great speech but uhhh

please tell her it’s not the same beacon

caleb. please.

i’m gonna die bro

TELL HER.

it’s gonna go so bad if she finds out that u knew it wasn’t the same one

“9” : (

“how perfect” lmfao that’s t rue

mmmmgmgm please tell her it’s not the same fucking one dude

PLEASE TELL HER IT’S NOT THE SAME ONE

PLEASE TELL ME YOU HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN

y’all

“might be a useful tool in this negotiation” yeah but like

how though

i was curious about this before

why do u want them there

what do u expect to come of that

i do not. understand

hhhhhhhhhh they must’ve forgotten abt the offered beacon not being the one the krynn lost : (

or else not telling her is a tactical decision

in which case i can respect that, but am strongly disappointed about

“what’s his mother’s name” lksdhgldjhg

“i’m not very interesting” : ( essek, buddy, are u just saying that or do u rly mean it ??

“you’re definitely redeemable” hey gosh

“i’m a little bit worried” “tell me” i love them so much

“i was impressed” [fond/pained smile/laugh] i love. them

“this is our biggest con ever. i hope it pans out” “oh yeah” kshdglkjhdlg i love them.

jkdfhibusherpg9haerighawhg

this is very good

#daypost #cr spoilers

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bboiseux · 6 years

Note

Mollymauk giving a tarot reading to Nott, who is only *slightly* drunk and possibly either unimpressed or very into it and afraid of the fortune he gave her, "That's fascinating."

Blind Reading

Nott wants a reading. Molly delivers. (Ficlet)

Takes place during Episode 16 of the Second Campaign.

Estimated Reading Time: Less than 4 minutes.

Below the Cut or on AO3

Nott slammed her flask on the table and scrambled up across from Mollymauk.

“Alright, you big lug,” she said, her words slurring with every syllable, “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Molly smiled and sipped at his drink. “And what would you like to see, exactly? I’ve got a lot to offer.”

“No, no, no, no.” Nott wobbled to the right and grabbed frantically at the table. When she was stable again, she pointed her finger at Molly. “No. No. See, you’re being all sexy and alluring. Well, you may be surprised.” She hiccupped. “… but I am not interested. Nope.”

Molly’s smile was only getting wider. “Well, if I can’t offer you a taste of—” He gestured at his body. “—this, then what can I do for you?”

“When you first came in … came in … came in.” Nott’s gaze wandered to a random point behind Molly. “You did a thing with the cardies for Jester.”

“Ah, a reading.”

Yeahyeahyeah.” Nott nodded wildly. “That. Can you do that for me?”

Molly tried to cover his smile. “I don’t know, Nott. This is serious business.” He pulled out the deck of cards and put it on the table between them. “Are you ready to accept the truths of the cards?”

Nott’s eyes had gone wide, completely transfixed by the deck. “Is it magic?”

“It’s a kind of magic.” Molly pulled a card off the deck and held it between them, back facing Nott. Nott followed it with her eyes, a look of awe on her face. Molly placed it back on top and tapped it twice. “If the Raven Queen sees all the threads of fate, this is a tool she’s given us mere mortals to help see our own finite threads. Do you really want to know what fate has in store with you?”

“Yes.”

Nott’s gaze was intense and, for a moment, Molly considered saying no. Something about the look was too interested, too fixated. But then he shrugged it off and dealt the top three cards off the deck, facedown. With a flourish, he started to flip the first card, but then he paused, the card on the verge of being revealed. Nott leaned forward, her stool tilting at a dangerous angle.

“I’m going to give you a small reading. This card—” And he turned it over. “—is the problem you are facing.” The card showed an ornate picture of a woman, eyes gouged out, crossing two swords in front of her, as if fighting off an attack. “These other two are the solution and the outcome.” Molly looked down. “Hm.”

“What does it mean!?” Nott was standing on her stool now, head almost parallel to the table, staring down at the layout.

“There is something you must face that you refuse to face. An obstacle to overcome that you refuse to overcome.” Molly considered the top of Nott’s hooded head. “The Two of Swords is the card of indecision. What that indecision is may only make sense to you. But whatever it is, the trouble comes from the indecision, not the thing itself.”

Nott slammed back in her seat, drinking deeply from her flask. “Doesn’t ring a bell. Can’t say there’s anything I need to face.”

Molly flipped the second card. “The Eight of Wands. You must act immediately.” Molly rubbed his head. “I have to say these cards are being incredibly specific.”

Nott just sat, suckling at her flask, not saying a word.

Molly slowly turned over the last card. It depicted a woman in ornate gowns, weighed down with jewelry, riding a golden chariot. She stared backwards out of the card. “Well, Nott, I have some good news for you. If you act immediately, you will be successful.”

He sat back and gave a broad gesture to the cards. “There. I can honestly say that’s the easiest reading I’ve ever given.”

Nott slid slowly off the stool, not a word, eyeing Molly carefully as she backed towards the stairs. Then she turned and ran.

In her room, she fumbled through her things, making piles of jewels and shoe soles, counting out her coins. When she was done, she was surrounded by piles of things and stuff. She sighed and started lumping it into one gigantic pile.

Tomorrow, she would have to send a package.

#critical role #mollymauk #nott #critfic #tarot reading #bb writes #bb prompts

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sockablock · 6 years

Link

After finishing a job, the Mighty Nein stumble across a strange pouch of cards locked in a little box. Without thinking too much about it, Molly draws one, and suddenly the gang has to deal with the aftermath.

_________________________

Chapter 1: Many Things

“Wait, wait, wait a second.” Fjord held his arm out and looked back at Nott. “Maybe we should send you ahead to scout around. I don’t like the look of this.”

The group considered the chamber before them, narrowly-built of blue-grey stone, lit by torches that flickered purple light under the tall, arched ceiling. Towering columns outlined a path to the only other thing in the room: a small stone pedestal, sixty feet away, with a strange little object resting on top. Moonlight filtered down in a faint halo of light.

“Really?” Beau asked. “You think the creepy empty back-room of a demented beholder is dangerous?”

Molly rose to the opportunity. “I’m glad to see you’re trying to keep up with the rest of us, dear.”

“It’s called sarcasm, you idiot, ever heard of it?”

“How could I not have, stuck with you all the time—”

At the exact moment Caleb sighed and said, “Knock it off, schatz,” Yasha squeezed Beau’s shoulder and shook her head. Jester giggled as Beau and Molly shot each other one last glare, for old times’ sake, and settled down.

Nott took a swig from her flask. “Wait here,” she said. “I’ll let you all know when the coast is clear.”

“Take Frumpkin too,” said Caleb, fond and worried. “Just in case.”

They watched her scuttle into the chamber, orange tabby at her heels. Molly slipped his fingers into Caleb’s and gave a quick squeeze for reassurance as the wizard’s eyes clouded over with a pearly glow and he sent his sight and hearing into his familiar.

Nott tapped her toe against the stone slabs on the floor. Then she circled around the columns, inspecting each one, before carefully making her way to the pedestal. About ten feet in front of it, she paused, and nudged a disgruntled-looking Frumpkin into the ring of moonlight. Nothing happened. She dropped on all fours and listened to the ground. She crept up to the altar and inspected the base. She licked the sides. She ran a finger along the top, and glared suspiciously at the object resting on it.

“No traps!” She called back to the group. Her voice echoed.

Beau blinked. “What, not at all?”

Nott, tiny in the distance, shrugged. “Nope.”

“Well, that’s certainly unexpected,” Molly remarked.

“And absolutely suspicious as hell,” mused Fjord.

“Maybe the beholder did not think anybody would make it this far?” Jester suggested. “Or maybe it was friendly and we should not have killed it, oh, no!”

Yasha frowned. “Jester, it electrocuted you and then sprayed acid on you.”

“That is true, that is a good point.”

“Let’s move in,” said Fjord, “but go very carefully. I trust Nott, but it’s possible she missed something.”

“She might have been too light to trigger one of the traps,” added Caleb, whose senses had returned. “Someone tough should lead us in.”

“I’m tough,” said Molly. “It’s one of my best traits.”

The group looked at him. Then they turned towards Yasha, who nodded and took the lead. Caleb patted Molly’s hand reassuringly, but there was a cheeky curve at the edges of his usually-stoic expression. Molly gave a grin in return.

They slowly crept into the chamber, the only sound coming from their cautious footsteps bouncing back from the tall, arched ceiling.

“I keep expecting something awful to happen,” muttered Beau. “Like a dragon to come crashing in or the room to explode or another beholder to bust in or magma to come out of the walls or something.”

“Maybe a unicorn will show up!” Jester said. “Or maybe a bunch of tiny ones, that would be so good.”

“It is odd that nothing is happening,” said Yasha. “Caleb, can you pull out another Detect Magic for us?”

“I am tapped after that last fight,” Caleb sighed. “It would take me ten minutes to cast as a ritual, if you would like.”

“Let’s see what we’re dealing with first,” suggested Fjord. “It might be better for you to have cantrips at the ready, just in case something does show up.”

They gathered around the altar, Nott gestured up at the box, a good foot above her head. “It’s not trapped or anything. I checked it out really well, and there really is nothing.”

Molly strode forward. “I’m going to pick it up,” he declared. “Are we all alright with that plan?”

Caleb bit his lip. “Be careful, ja?”

Fjord nodded. “Just…do it slowly. I’m still not entirely sure it’s safe.”

“It’s safe to move it,” Nott muttered, “I’m just not sure if anything would happen if you tried to open it.”

Molly lifted it up carefully. The group held their breath. But there was no ominous shifting of stones or cranking of gears, no strange otherworldly groans or flashes of magic, no change in the moonlight or the gently floating dust throughout the chamber.

“I’m still alive,” said Molly.

“Hooray,” shrugged Beau, and the tiefling glowered at her.

“Try shaking it now!” said Jester. “Is there something in it?”

Molly gingerly shook it. Something rattled within.

“Now open it!” Jester said excitedly. “Open it, what’s inside?”

Before someone less impulsive could intervene, Molly yanked on the lid. It did not open. “It’s locked,” he declared.

Once the party’s hearts stopped racing, Fjord held up a hand. “Hang on, hang on. Would you mind if Caleb and I took a look, before we tried anything else like that? Just in case there’s some kind or arcane protection or somethin’ like that.”

“I think that is a good idea,” said Caleb.

The box was passed over to them. Now, up-close, they could see that the wood was a fine teak, with thin gold flowers etched on its surface. The hinges were also gold, though somewhat dull from time. There were tiny, odd symbols carved around the edges, but they weren’t arcane in nature, they were—

“Open for wonders that lie within,” read Caleb as he turned the box in his hand.

“But beware the risks that choosing bears,” said Yasha from over his shoulder.

“I have no idea what you two just said,” said Fjord.

“It’s in Celestial,” said Yasha, and repeated the engraving. “Apparently it holds something super amazing, and possibly dangerous.”

Nott tugged on Caleb’s coat. “Can I see it?” she asked.

He handed the box down to her and looked back to the group. “This might be something we could bring back to Pumat’s to ask about,” he suggested.

Molly considered this. “Pumat would probably know what it is, but if it’s super powerful or super dangerous, he might try to take it away from us and bring it to the Assembly or something. He does work for them.”

“That’s a valid point,” said Fjord. “We could hang onto it until Caleb is ready with another identify spell, and just figure it out in the tavern. The box itself isn’t magic, I think it would be ok to take back with us.”

Beau nodded. “I would like to get out of here, sooner the better. I don’t trust—”

There was a faint click. Nott pushed the lid open, and slipped her Thieves’ Tools back into her bag. “There’s just a little pouch in here,” she said with mild disappointment.

Jester pushed her way over and crouched next to Nott. “Oohhh, oh, let me see!” she shouted.

Caleb sat down. Beau unclenched her grip on her staff. Yasha pinched the bridge of her nose. Fjord allowed himself to exhale again. “I give up,” he said. “It seems fine, you three take over.”

Molly knelt down on Nott’s other side. It held only a small drawstring bag. He plucked it out, gingerly at first, and when nothing happened he held it up and wiggled it for the others to see.

“Open it!” Jester cheered. “Open it, what’s inside?”

Molly opened it. Amid the foggy haze of panic in Caleb’s brain, a thought pushed through. Why did you pick the impulsive idiot to fall in love with?

Because he’s sweet and caring and usually quite logical, came the response. And great in bed.

Molly peered into the pouch, then looked back at the others. “It’s cards,” he said.

Yasha frowned. “Cards? Like…your kind of cards?”

“Yes. There’s probably about…” he weighed the pouch in his hands, “…maybe thirteen or so?”

Beau sighed. “Usually I would doubt you, but you’re probably exactly right.”

Molly beamed. “Thank you, dear.”

“What do the cards look like?” Jester asked. “Are they tarot cards? Can you use them to tell my fortune?”

“There aren’t enough in here for these to be tarot,” Molly said. “Hang on, let me get a better look.”

And he opened the brim, and reached into the pouch, fished around for a moment, and pulled one out.

“What is it?” Jester asked. “Am I going to be rich and famous?”

Molly stared at the image. “Er…I’m not sure. It’s not any sort of card I’ve ever seen before.”

Caleb tamped down the second round of incredulous shock racing through his system and craned his neck over to see Molly’s hands. “What does it have on it?”

Molly turned the card over. It depicted a dark figure bent over and clutching its head. Five swords speared it through the center, hilts in its back and blades poking out from the front. Behind it, a red shape sporting horns and wings watched on with only one eye.

“Rogue,” read Beau.

“I’m a rogue,” said Nott. “Maybe it tells us what the people in our party are. Molly, pull another one—”

“Nein,” said Caleb, a bit more forcefully than he intended. “Please, Molly, put that back, we don’t even know if they’re magic yet.”

Fjord nodded. “I agree with Caleb,” he said, “Who knows what kind of danger that is. It looks terrible, and we don’t know if it’s a warning, or if you’ve been cursed, or…oh, gods, Molly how do you feel?”

Mollymauk considered this. “I feel pretty fine? Maybe a bit hungry.”

“He’s been cursed with hunger,” Nott said solemnly. “I understand.”

“I don’t really think that’s—” Caleb was cut off, as suddenly, the card in Molly’s hand vanished in a faint puff of smoke. He blinked with surprise, and opened his palm. There was nothing there.

“Oh…shit,” said Jester, “Something super magical just happened.”

Yasha gave Molly a stern look. “That was incredibly stupid,” she said quietly.

Molly did not like the weight of her disappointment. “Sorry,” he said.

“How do you feel now, Molly?” asked Caleb slowly.

“Still fine,” which was true. “And still hungry,” which was also true.

“We should keep an eye on him,” Beau said. “Just in case something crazy happens.”

Caleb moved closer to Molly. “I will watch him,” he said. “And when we get back, I will try and see if there are any lingering magical affects, ok? Then we can figure out more about these cards.”

Yasha stepped forwards as well. “I’ll help,” she said. “If there is something wrong with him, I think we should have some muscle also.”

“Good idea,” said Fjord. “Now, I don’t think there’s anything else in here, so let’s get a move on back aboveground. Does that sound good to y’all?”

There was a chorus of agreement. Molly handed the deck over to Jester, who dropped it into the haversack. Then, the Mighty Nein made their way out of the cavern, Fjord and Yasha at the lead, Nott and Jester just behind, and at the very back, Molly being flanked by his oldest friend, the love of his life, and a scraggly orange tabby, all wearing expressions of trepidation and growing concern. Their footsteps echoed against the stone. The moonlight settled softly around them. Soon, the chamber grew quiet and still once more.

_________________________

“He’s completely fine,” said Caleb to his own surprise. “And I mean completely. There’s no spell, no curse, no nothing.”

“And Greater Restoration didn’t do anything either,” shrugged Jester. “He’s probably alright.”

The party were seated around a table in the Song and Supper Inn after cashing out with the Gentleman for clearing one of the subterranean passageways and returning aboveground. In the time it took Caleb to work through a ritual for Identify and for Jester to pour her last healing spells into Molly, Nott had already polished off three plates of sausages, and Fjord, Beau, and Yasha had seemed to accept that there really was nothing wrong with Mollymauk.

“We should still go see Pumat tomorrow,” Caleb said. “Just in case.”

Fjord nodded. “Plus, we have some coin to spend now, and we could swing by just to browse a bit.”

Molly put on an air of feigned hurt. “Am I just a side-errand to you, Fjord?” he asked with his hand over his heart.

Fjord met Molly’s gaze with a raised eyebrow. “After that crazy, un-thought-out thing you did earlier? Yes, Molly.”

“Fair enough,” said Molly, and took a swig of his flagon. Under the table, his free hand was now holding Caleb’s.

“I am still quite annoyed with you,” Caleb said. “That is not something you should ever do again. Next time wait for me to check it out first, alright?” He turned towards Nott. “That goes for you as well, spatz.”

Nott looked mollified. “Sorry, Caleb,” she said.

“Sorry,” Molly echoed. “It was just so tempting, and sometimes magic can take a while.”

Caleb sighed. “Yes, I know.”

Jester pounded her palm on the table. “Caleb! Speaking off, can you do more magic on the pouch? I want to know what it is!”

He let go of Molly’s hand and reached out towards Jester. “Hand it over, then. Let’s find out.”

As he began muttering the beginnings of the incantation, the party tucked into their dinner. Or what was left of their dinner, in Nott’s case. After ten minutes, Caleb placed a hand on the pouch, waited a couple moments, and instantly wrenched his hand away. A flagon, thankfully empty, went flying off the table during his retreat.

“What?” Molly asked, putt a hand on his shoulder, “What’s the matter?”

Caleb blinked a few times and took a breath to steady himself. “Verzeihung, I’m sorry, it just surprised me.”

“What did?” Jester asked. “Tell us, Caleb, you never do!”

He almost rolled his eyes, but refrained this time. “I’m not entirely sure what that pouch is,” he said slowly, “but it contains extremely, extremely powerful magics. Like, reality-altering magic. I can’t even get a name or an exact description. It was too much.”

Molly rubbed his thumb in a circle. Caleb leaned into the touch and sighed. “As far as I am aware, you pick a card, it vanishes, and then something happens. I’m just not sure exactly what.”

Fjord’s face paled. Molly could definitely feel his doing the same.

“So you’re saying that there is something that’s going to happen to Molly?” asked Yasha.

Caleb shook his head. “Maybe, but also maybe not. This kind of magic is very unpredictable. And it is possible that whatever happened already did, and we did not notice. Or perhaps it takes time.”

“Molly,” Jester said with a serious expression.

“Yes?”

“Check if your dick got smaller. Maybe that is what happened.”

After Caleb stopped choking and Beau stopped cackling with delight, the mood got more somber again.

“I think it would be a good idea to check with Pumat tomorrow. Well, today, technically, since it’s ass-o-clock at night,” Fjord amended. “Everything is fine now, but like Caleb said, who knows?”

The party agreed. “Keep an eye on him tonight, alright?” Yasha said to Caleb. “Just in case.”

The wizard nodded, and ignored Jester’s suggestively-wiggling eyebrows at that comment. “I’ll set Frumpkin on watch as well,” he added.

Molly patted Caleb on the shoulder. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m sure it will be fine. Remember, that box said it had wonderous things inside it.”

Nobody wanted to add that it had also held a warning.

Fjord tried for a smile. It helped. “Come on now, you guys. Let’s just celebrate. We make quite a nice sum tonight, and we should be proud!”

“I’ll drink to making money,” Beau said, and raised her flagon.

“Me too,” said Molly in a rare moment of camaraderie.

“I’ll drink to anything,” said Nott, and lifted her flask into the air.

“Cheers,” said the rest, and the Mighty Nein clinked their drinks together.

_________________________

Caleb turned a page in his book and skimmed through the words. It wasn’t the most interesting dissertation on the various confluences of thaumatological weather patterns, but it did the trick. Molly stood on the other side of the bed, back turned to Caleb, undoing his jewelry and bangles for the night.

After a few beats of silence, Molly shrugged and said, “I don’t think Jester was right. If anything, it’s gotten bigger.”

Caleb spluttered, and pushed his face into the book. “Mollymauk!”

Molly looked up. He was wearing an enormous grin. “Want to check for me?”

Caleb sighed. “Molly, how can you be in such a joking mood?”

Molly shrugged. “What’s done is done,” he said. “I try not to worry about the past. And as you can see, that’s done me pretty well so far.”

“But what if something did happen and—”

Molly sat down on the bed, leaned into Caleb, and pressed a finger to the man’s lips. “Many things happen all the time. I woke up with no memories. You can’t forget any of yours. But that’s over. Look at the here and now. I’m not muddled with any magics, as you so kindly checked for me earlier, so that must mean whatever that card did, it didn’t do it to me. I’m fine. I’m here. And so are you, right now, with me.”

Now Molly leaned in, and the mischievous smile was dancing across his face again. The tips of his horns pressed into the headboard, and his hair just brushed the edges of Caleb’s cheeks. His tail slowly crept along the wizard’s leg. “Just you and me,” whispered Molly. “Why don’t you put your book away, and let’s enjoy this moment together, now?”

_________________________

Caleb placed the book on their bedside table. He fought the grin invading his own serious frown, and lost.

“Alright, Mollymauk Tealeaf,” he whispered back. “What did you have in mind?”

_________________________

Molly whined as he felt Caleb shifting away. “Mmm…where are you going, love?”

Caleb stroked the side of Molly’s cheek. “Just out for a piss, alright? I’ll be back soon.”

Molly grumbled, but unhooked his arm from Caleb’s. “Thank you, schatz. Back very soon.”

_________________________

Molly had been in the warm embrace of sleep for most of it, but soon the nagging feeling in the back of his mind made itself known. Caleb had been gone for a very long time.

He snapped into reality, cold and harsh, and was on his feet in an instant. He grabbed a sword and bolted for the door. The upstairs of the Song and Supper wasn’t that big, and part of him hoped his feet pounding against the wood wouldn’t wake anybody up. A larger part of him couldn’t care less.

He poked his head into the washroom. “Caleb?” he called as loudly as he dared. “Caleb, are you there?”

Empty. So was the corridor, as well as the smaller hallway that branched off into the proprietor’s quarters. Eventually, he arrived at the staircase leading to the balcony. That was fine. Caleb had worryingly frequent night terrors, so perhaps he was just after some fresh air.

At the top of the staircase, Molly pushed the door open and saw Caleb.

His hair and his coat blew softly in the wind as he leaned against the railing. Sunlight was just beginning to poke out from behind the mountains in the distance.

“Caleb!” Molly called, and began to walk closer. “I got worried when you didn’t come back.”

His lover turned around. Hidden mostly by his hair, Caleb’s expression was unreadable. “Mollymauk,” he said.

Molly tensed. Something was very wrong. “Yes, Caleb. Are you alright? You were gone for a while,” he said as casually as he could.

“Yes,” said Caleb, and now his voice was rising. “I cannot believe it took me this long to realize.”

Molly’s hand twitched ever so slightly towards his sword. “To realize what, dear?”

Caleb looked up. Molly could see now, that outlined in the growing burn of the rising dawn, Caleb’s teeth were clenched and his eyes were burning with pure, pure malice.

“How much of a fool I was for letting myself lie with a demon like you,” he said, and three balls of flame shot out of his hands and flung themselves towards Molly’s breaking heart.

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