Fjord could feel the warmth in his gut as he took on his last shot. He knew that he was drunk, he had the common sense to know that, right? Duh. Totally. When Fjord got drunk, he got fuzzy, thinking got hard. Sometimes, no, all the time, he got clingy. Nott and Yasha seemed to not enjoy Fjord clinging to them like he was a baby, so he figured that soon he’d be taken to and dumped on his partners for drinking irresponsibly. He sighed, drawing it out, before asking Nott for water with a small smile. Even if he was an absolute crying and giggling drunk, he had… some, minimal, common sense. As he sipped the water, finding it incredibly funny that he could blow bubbles in it with a straw, he got a tap on the shoulder from Yasha.
“The, er, metaphorical, sock is off of the door.”
Fjord nodded, allowing himself to collapse onto the bar counter, burying his head into his arms. The “crying” aspect of him being drunk was starting, as he knew it would. He allowed Yasha to peel him off the bar stool and princess carry him to the room where his partners were. He knew it’d smell like sex, but he didn’t care if they were all sweaty or anything, he would’ve given anything in that moment to just be held. He didn’t even know why he was crying, but when Yasha opened the door and he saw his people, he practically leapt out of her arms and ran to the bed with them.
Each time they saw each other after separation - any of them, not just in their polycule - they had a tendency to get excited and cling to each other a bit. Fjord figured that’s what having a family was like, at least, what one should be. He felt instant relief as Jester pulled him into her arms, right in between herself and Caleb. Beau was comfortably leaning onto Jester’s right side, with Fjord clinging to Jester’s left arm, Caleb’s right arm resting on Fjord and Mollymauk’s tail wrapping Caleb, Fjord and Jester.
This wasn’t uncommon, at all. Fjord’s difficulties with three and four and fivesomes was never a problem. They all adored each other more than they would all probably like to admit to each other. Their dynamic was light, but everything about how they loved each other was incredibly intimate. Fjord, when he was young, figured all relationships were like birthdays. You get presents on your birthday, you get happy things on your birthday, but they’re few and far between. He was so, so incredibly wrong.
Mollymauk was a flirt, a raging one, at that. Booze, sex, and tarot were what Fjord and Jester teased Mollymauk about regularly, but they all teased each other. Fjord thought that Mollymauk was amazing. He was confident and protective and knew how to handle things even if he was an idiot. He wouldn’t trust him for a single second on watch, though, especially not with Jester. He loved all of Mollymauk’s piercings and his cheeky smiles and the way he carried himself in the mornings with his bedheads and flicking tail. Right now, with his tail wrapping his partners, Fjord knew that relationships weren’t like birthdays.
Jester proved that even further, that affection and good things could come all the time. She was bouncy, and light, and wonderful to be around. She gave out affection like she needed to in order to function. Maybe she did, but Fjord didn’t care either way. He liked the way that she would smile whenever she saw her partners, and how she would tell stories no matter if you asked her to or not, and how much she loved her mama and her family. With her holding on to Fjord and Beau so happily, with her tail flicking around under the covers she was under, Fjord knew that relationships weren’t like birthdays.
Caleb was solemn and a bit unkempt, but Fjord had never met anyone smarter. When Caleb talked, the world paused. His voice, though not something Fjord was used to, was so incredibly nice. The affection that Caleb provided, no matter how small it could be, hung in the air like a fog in the morning. It left dew on the grass and made you want to drink coffee and read a book. He loved how Caleb would read, and how he’d make everyone laugh with his dry and sudden jokes, and how he would check in on the people he loved with light touches when he was concerned. Right now, with his hand on Fjord’s leg and him asleep on Mollymauk, Fjord knew that relationships weren’t like birthdays.
Fjord looked around the room, barely picking up as Jester rattled off a story to Yasha and Beau. He didn’t think she noticed or cared that Beau was asleep. The only way he knew Mollymauk was awake was by the flicking of his tail. The only way Fjord knew he, himself, was awake was because he was still crying from how drunk he was. He knew he’d have a hangover, but as Jester tightened her grip on him, as he felt Caleb’s hand on his thigh, and as he felt Mollymauk’s tail flick, he knew he didn’t care.