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“I’m only going to say this once, Caleb: if you ever do something as stupid as whatever happened back there again, you don’t need to worry about whoever’s attacking you because I will kill you myself.” Jester didn’t think she’d ever been more cross with her boyfriend than at this moment. “Then I will spend the 300 gold diamond to bring you back to life, and then I will kill you again.”
“ Ja, ja, I hear what—hnnng—what you are saying, Liebling.” Caleb’s pained grunt echoed off the brilliant colored glass in the foyer as Jester helped support his limping frame through the doorway of the tower. “I will try not to get skewered on a projectile spine next time.”
“Oh, you know what I mean! Where do wizards belong? In the back. Where were you? Not there! ”
Despite her stern tone, she could feel his shoulders shake gently with laughter, which—yes, it was funny but she was trying to make a point here! It had been...more than horrible to be stuck on the other side of the field, watching as the massive creature shot one of its inky black poison spines nearly point-blank into his stomach. Whatever spell he was preparing had fizzled immediately as he crumpled to the ground, red spreading from his prone form and reflecting the sickly green of the chamber lights. It was only through sheer luck that Caduceus had been nearby and was able to get out a quick healing word in Caleb’s direction; without it, she was sure things would have been a lot more dire.
As it was, he was alive and...alive, which was all you could hope for in times like these, she supposed. The only thing they’d been able to do right after the fight was clean and bandage the wound. She wished desperately that she had anything left to give him, but that fucking demon had been tricky to take down; both she and Caduceus were tapped. Fjord and Yasha were able to help some, clearing away the poison, but Caleb’s face still held a clammy pallor, and he could barely turn his torso an inch before gritting his teeth with a hiss.
Still leaning on her heavily, he subdued somewhat as the pair made it to the center of the tower and began floating up, passing the great hall and salon. “My apologies, Jester, truly. I thought I saw an opportunity to...finish things, so to speak.” He sighed and cast his eyes even more downward, brows pinching slightly. “Obviously I was wrong.”
The kitchens and first few residential floors floated by next. “Caleb...I’m not mad that you didn’t, like, destroy the demon, and then you happened to get stabbed. You’re super powerful and if you had been able I don’t doubt that you could have taken it down.” She tried to adjust her grip on his waist without jostling him too much. For all that he was weak and skinny, his long-limbed lankiness was not particularly helpful while trying to float up a magical tower.
Thankfully, she was helped by their arrival at their shared rooms on the seventh floor. One quick request to a nearby cat with help opening the door, and they were soon arranged on the plush sitting room couch, her back pressed to an arm and Caleb spread across it with his head in her lap. “It’s just—it felt like you weren’t even thinking of yourself, when you ran up.” Her voice quieted, as it often did in matters of vulnerability, and she found she could not make eye contact. “It looked like you didn’t care about what happens to you. You didn’t care if you got hurt. Which is so, so stupid, Caleb.”
As hard as she was trying to maintain her composure, she could feel her voice beginning to warble. “Because like, we all care so much, okay, Caleb? I care so much what happens to you and—
“And I’m not trying to guilt trip you or anything, alright, I promise, but I had to let you know, okay? I don't care what you think of yourself, you need to know that I need you here with me and I don’t—I don't want to see you put yourself so recklessly in danger like that. It scares me, Caleb, it scares me so much.” She probably had more she wanted to say but it all dissolved into hiccups as she began to cry quietly.
The calluses on his fingers were rough as they caressed her cheek, and the sensation was enough to pull her out and draw her back to the present. And oh, it couldn’t have been comfortable for him like that, reaching his arm back and up just to reach her face! She captured the hand with hers and rested both of them on Caleb’s chest, far up enough to not bother the bandages.
“Jester...” he began at a volume to match hers, “I cannot begin to say how sorry I am for scaring you, and causing you this pain. I...I don’t know if you’ll believe me but I promise you, I swear to you that wasn’t what I was thinking.” His hand gave hers a gentle squeeze. “It genuinely was just some...it sounds silly to say but I don’t know, classic wizard hubris.”
Finally looking down at him, she found his blue eyes as they searched for her own. She sniffled before chuckling softly, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “You wanted to be the big hero, eh?”
He met her growing smile with a matching one. “ Ja, you know me, I’m always the grand hero. I’ve certainly got the look for it.”
“Hmm, yeah, you do,” she laughed. “Big and super strong, for sure, for sure. You’re just missing a big, loose white shirt to blow majestically in the wind.”
He began to laugh as well before groaning in pain, hands moving to clutch at his stomach. “Ach, oh gods, laughing is not good right now, Liebling .” He didn’t sound irritated; if anything it looked like he was still struggling not to laugh, this time at his own helplessness.
“Oh nooo, I’m sorry, Caleb! I will try my best not to be hilarious.” Her hands carded through his hair as the warmth from the nearby fireplace continued to seep into both of their bones, and soon she felt sleep tugging at her consciousness. A spectral cat jumped lightly onto the back of the sofa and began a monotonous rumbling purr after she gave it a few scritches.
“Caleb, do you need me to get up for anything? It’s so comfy here, I think I’m going to just rest for a few minutes.” If she scooched down just a little bit— ah , that was nice.
His reply came slowly and with its own infusion of sleepiness. “Nein, I’m fine, Schatz. You know, I think I’ll join you in that resting...”
She thought Caleb had already fallen asleep when she heard a soft “I love you, Jester” fall from his mouth.
“I love you too, you big stupid wizard," she whispered.
And between the purring, the fire, and the reassurance that she had just received, it was nothing at all for her to close her eyes and fall asleep, still smiling.