Fjord never cared much for orange as a colour, but the amber walls of the magic dome have become a welcome sight. They’d had an exhausting day of non-magical travel, having run into a few hostile beasts late in the afternoon. No one had been too badly hurt, but Caleb, Jester, and Caduceus were all looking for to a good night’s sleep to replenish their spells. As soon as he’d thrown up the dome, Caleb flopped down face first on his bedroll and hasn’t moved since.
Nott- Veth took up the space by his head, watching over him for a while until his breathing evened out before she turned in for the night as well. Yasha found herself slotted between Veth and Jester, one hand on the hilt of her sword as she dozed lightly. Jester was curled up with Caduceus on her other side. The two clerics slept face-to-face as they had drifted off in the middle of a quiet conversation. Cad had to contort slightly to keep his lanky frame within the magical boundaries. For the comfort and safety it provided, the dome wasn’t very big. By now no one blinked at sleeping so close together on the road.
Fjord watched them over his shoulder as he and Beau took first watch. It wasn’t entirely necessary, but he wasn’t as tapped as the others and didn’t feel like sleeping yet. Beau was slumped next to him at the dome’s entrance. Her head rested on his shoulder, but she insists she keep watch with him.
“They’re fine, Fjord.” She grumbles as she catches him twisting back to watch the party again.
“I know.” He says. I just like to watch them sleep. Fjord kept that part to himself, deciding there was no un-creepy way to say it. Beau looks up at him through narrowed eyes and he wonders if he was thinking things too loud. He’s used to Caduceus being a mind-reader, but Beau can be insightful too. When she wants.
“What is it then?” She asks after a long moment.
Fjord sighs, wriggling to get into a better position sitting down in the grass and dirt. Beau doesn’t move away; he wonders how comfortable the pauldrons of his armour are to rest against.
“Sometimes I miss this, you know? Everyone here sleeping together.”
“Aww, really?” Beau lets out a low chuckle and Fjord tries mightily not to let that get to him.
There’s something about being within the Mighty Nein that leaves a thrumming sensation in his blood. He’s never told any of them this, but he wonders if some of them have any idea the burden orcish blood can be. It was one thing growing up green and embarrassed about his tusks, but it was another thing to be told by outsiders the nature of his heart. Orcs were said to be a possessive people, jealous and unreasonably protective of those they called their own. Fjord had never heeded much of those insults but living with these people had brought up many lingering worries.
Yasha referred to them a tribe, Essek had on occasion jokingly called them Den Nein. Fjord didn’t care for names or titles, but he finally knew what family was. He had for a while now sat with the realisation that he loved them all in different ways, but deeply no less. At first that depth had been overwhelming, had he become possessive? It was something he meditated on, searching deep within himself for relief. It all came back to one question, did he think of the Mighty Nein as possessions? Fuck no. The thought alone was preposterous to him. He didn’t want to, nor could he, control any of them.
Was he jealous, then? Fjord had to think much longer on that. Was he jealous of Jester when her attention was on someone else? Was he upset when Caduceus or Caleb’s eyes weren’t on him? Again, it seemed preposterous. Fjord was left with no conclusions other than perhaps what he’d been told by outsiders was wrong. He didn’t doubt there were other orcs out there that were jealous and possessive, but Fjord couldn’t find that sort of venom within him. He knew, overwhelmingly so, he was in love. He was content with that alone, only then to realise there were those who loved him back.
As inexperienced as he is, he knows love is messy. He knows its complicated, more so when there are seven people involved. But it also has made him really, really, ridiculously, stupid happy. So when they’re out on the road, with no separate rooms and the earth their only bed, Fjord finds himself enjoying it immensely.
“Not that I don’t love the fact we have a house and our own rooms, but it’s nice to have everyone together.”
“It is.” Beau agrees.
“I don’t miss sleeping on the dirt, though.”
“Your back not up to the task, old man?”
“Eugh, you whippersnapper.” Fjord’s voice pitches into that of a grumpy old man. He shakes his fist at Beau as she laughs.
The rest of the night passes in peace. Fjord and Beau eventually pass out in the dome, flat on their backs, shoulder to shoulder.
--
By the time they’re back in Rosohna, Fjord has forgotten the conversation with Beau. He returns to his own room to find it in the same state he’d left it in. The bed is made with the same dove grey sheets, the walls still lack any decoration. It’s not that Fjord meant to keep it the same as the first night he slept in here, but he can’t figure out what to do with his own space. He likes to keep the place tidy, but it couldn’t hurt to add something more to the room. The group have commented as much, but he isn’t sure what the room needs. What he is certain of is the expensive goose feather pillows he bought were absolutely worth the investment.
Caduceus became a big fan of the pillows as well. “Where did you buy those again?” He asks before their afternoon commune. They try to meditate with the sunset, but it’s rather difficult when the sky is always dark. They settle under the tree with the warmth of the bottled lights on their backs.
“You interested in some? I just assumed you slept on a bed of moss up here.” Fjord looks out over the roof of the Xhorhaus.
“Not yet.” He chuckles with a low rumble.
They meditate together for a while in peaceful quiet until Caduceus’s stomach starts grumbling. It must be close to supper time, so they call it a day so Caduceus can get a start on dinner. For all the firbolg’s enthusiasm over cooking, it’s taken him a long time to do more than graze over a small plate of food. They seem to have finally broken him out of the habit from his years only making meals for one, and he’s even managed to gain a little weight. Fjord has watched the way Caduceus’s frame has filled out silent admiration. If he squeezes the him a little harder when they embrace just to feel the extra padding across his ribs and stomach that’s his own business.
With nothing better to do, and the house surprisingly quiet, Fjord helps in the kitchen. He’s never been a great cook, never knowing what to do with spices like Caduceus can, but he’s learning. The smell of a hot meal eventually brings the Nein out of hiding. They arrive at the dinner table one by one, until Beau comes in last with a suspiciously fancy bottle of wine. Fjord decides not to ask where she swiped it from.
Caduceus has made his specialty tonight: a mushroom and vegetable curry with rice. Fjord hadn’t grown up with rich food on his plate (or much food at all) but Caduceus’s love of spice is rubbing off on him. The warm food, the cold wine and his afternoon of meditation has left Fjord relaxed and sleepy. He props his head up on his hand as he leans across the table, listening to Yasha softly talk of her latest progress in mastering the harp.
“And what did you all get up to today?” Fjord turns to where Jester, Beau, and Caleb are sitting on the other side of the dining table. “I don’t think I’ve seen any of you since breakfast.”
Jester and Beau share a look.
“Spell components.” Caleb says quickly.
“Beau went with you for that?” Fjord raises an eyebrow. Last time he checked the only components she needed were her left and right fists.
“Someone had to carry all his paper.” Beau elbows him in the ribs. The wizard rolls his eyes.
Fjord is too tired to push further into it. What ever they’re hiding surely can’t be too troubling if they’re here and not in the Dungeon of Penance. Even then, surely Essek could bail them out.
He yawns and feels his jaw click. His tusks now poke at his top lip and it’s taking a little time to get used to moving his mouth around them. The tips are thankfully blunt. He hasn’t cut himself on them yet, something he hasn’t done since they first started growing in his teens.
“I might turn in for the night.” Fjord says as they carry the dishes back to the kitchen.
“But it’s so early.” Jester whines.
“I’m tired.” He whines back.
“Wait.” Beau takes his plate and dumps it in the sink, by miracle it doesn’t shatter. “We actually have something important, there’s this thing.”
“A thing?”
“Yup. We all must go to the war room right now. It’s urgent.”
“War room!” Jester pumps her fist in the air.
“War room!” Veth chants back. Her and Caleb begin ushering him upstairs towards it. Fjord lets himself be pushed up the stairs, turning around to give Caduceus a worried look. The firbolg shrugs, but the smile on his lips betray whatever it is he’s pretending not to know.
At the top of the stairs Beau greets him with a smug grin. Fjord rolls his eyes.
“Alright let’s just get this over with.” He brushes past her to swing open the door to the war room but pauses at the warm golden light that bathes him from the doorway. “Wha-”
He looks around the room, blinking in the sudden change of decorum he wasn’t expecting. The old long table and chairs are now gone, replaces with what looks to be several mattresses and couch cushions. Pillows, blankets and silks are spread across the space as if one of Veth’s exploding arrows has gone off. The cold grey stone walls are now covered in strange tapestries. A few oil lamps are lit, but Caleb appears behind him to mutter a few words and globes of light dart along the ceiling.
“What is all this?” Fjord steps over the threshold, poking a nearby pillow nearly the size of him. On closer inspection, the thing seems to be filled with dried beans that rustles at it moves.
“It’s a pillow fort, obviously!” Jester throughs out her arms and falls backwards onto the mattress pile. She lands with a muffled thwump as she’s swallowed up in the cushions. The rest of the Nein follow her lead as they enter the room behind Fjord.
“This is what you were doing all day?” A chuckle escapes his mouth. He certainly wasn’t expecting this.
“I got to thinking after our talk the other night.” Beau says, appearing at his side with her arms crossed in a show of aloof coolness. “You said you missed the roadside cuddle piles.”
“I don’t think I used those words.” Fjord shakes his head in disbelief. “You all did this for me?”
“Do you like it?” Jester’s blue face appears from beneath the pillows.
“Yes, I…I think I do.” He can feel how he must be blushing. For all of them to go to so much effort for him, it wasn’t what he was expecting.
“You deserve it, Fjord.” Caleb says, sinking down on the strange bean-cushion.
“Here, here.” Caduceus smiles.
“Are you just going to stand there?” Veth lobs a pillow at his face, he just barely ducks out the way.
“Hold on,” He huffs, crouching for a moment to remove his shoes and place them by the door. He then takes a quick running start and belly flops onto on of the mattresses. He twists around for a bit, getting the pillows and blankets in the right spot before he settles. “Okay, this is pretty cool.”
“It’s dope.” Beau says from somewhere across the room.
“Way better than a war room.”
“Why did we even have a war room?” Caduceus wonders. “The war is over now anyway, I suppose.”
“Now we have a happy room and a pillow fort room.”
“So that’s what you all did today, go on a pillow purchasing frenzy?” Fjord asks now that he has the whole picture.
“Hey man, we had to find the best fucking pillows in all of Rosohna. That took planning and research.”
“I’m just wondering if you cleaned out the entire luxury pillow supply of Xhorhas or just the local scene.”
“This is the watered-down version of the original floor plan.” Veth informs him gravely.
“I asked so many upholsters but none of them had a mattress big enough for seven people, which is so dumb!” Jester huffs. “Like, okay so it would have to be pretty big so Cad and Yasha wouldn’t have to hunch but between me and Veth it wouldn’t have to be that big and really is it so weird to ask about a seven-person mattress?”
Fjord snorts and wonders exactly what their reputation in the Dynasty was becoming. Then again, it probably wasn’t that far from the truth either. A motley bunch of weirdos who all slept together, he couldn’t exactly deny that.
Fjord wasn’t lying before; he really is tired. After the surprise and excitement now wears off, his eyes begin to droop again. Caleb’s dancing lights dim until only one remains by his corner of the room while he reads. Fjord closes his eyes and feels how the rest of the Nein all settle down around him.
Jester takes his right side, curled up facing him as Yasha spoons behind her. Beau ends up somewhere in the space above his head, she gently pokes his face and reminds him they’ll go running tomorrow morning. Veth is on his left back pressed against his hip. She stays there for a while, until she sits up and tells Caleb to join them. The wizard drags himself away from the book and settles next to him, one arm comes around to rest across his body and laces his fingers with Jester’s. Caduceus takes the other bookend. His large, warm body curves inwards like a fuzzy closed bracket.
On a cool night like this, the body warmth around him is just right. The silk pillow glides across the back of his head as he sinks deeper into the sense of calm. It’s a messy tangle of limbs and blankets, but it feels like a bird coming home to nest after flying through a raincloud.
“Beau?” He whispers.
“Hm?”
“Thank you for this.”
“Love you.” No man or dude tacked on the end, just a simple declaration. The weight of the words are not lost on him.
“You too.” He replies, finally drifting off to sleep.
--
“Is he?”
“Oh my god.”
“Shh! You’ll wake him!”
“Is he purring?”
“Is that some type of orc thing?”
The Nein gather around close and try not to jostle Fjord’s sleeping body as the gentle rumble continues.
“That is kind of cute.” Veth blinks, watching him in quiet fascination.
“Adorable, ja.” Caleb whispers, feeling the purrs reverberate across his chest like a giant Frumpkin.
“It feels weirdly nice.” Jester agrees quietly. “Now everyone go to sleep! He’s probably dreaming something really nice and we can’t interrupt him.”
“Guys." Veth giggles. "Fjord Puma.”
Beau struggles to swallow back her groan, the halfling is too far out of reach to attempt to smother with a pillow. In the morning they decree the first rule of the Pillow Fort: no puns.