Chapter Text
On a sunny morning during the equivalent of June on the equivalent of a Monday, the Lecreux crew energetically navigated their way through a bustling outdoor shopping center. Around them some people browsed stalls while others sat on benches under shade trees, eating and laughing. Colorful banners were draped around the cobblestone buildings and well-manicured shrubs dotted the curbs, making for quite the charming town.
Kremy gasped upon seeing a small corner shop, illuminated with fairy lights strung up daintily in the window and an enchantedly luminescent sign boasting a range of cosmetics and perfumes.
"Hurry up Gid! I need a new eyeliner pen, I could barely even get my mustache on this morning with how old mine is!"
The gator tugged on his husband's arm, smiling wide in excitement as he led the Genasi to the boutique.
"And they’re off ladies and gentlemens!" Gricko quipped, laughing at his friend's eagerness. The small goblin spun, looking up at all the shops and stalls to choose from.
"C'mon Hootsie! How 'bout you and dear old dad go stock up on some o' them potion supplies? I'm plum out of bees's wax AND gelatinous bouillon cubes!" he sped off into the crowd with Hootsie close behind, only pausing long enough to call over his shoulder "See you guys later, yeah?"
And with that, Frost found himself alone with Torbek. He was excited at the prospect of having an afternoon to themselves, but also terrified. He hadn't expected this, he hadn't prepared at all! He looked up and noticed Torbek was watching him patiently.
"What does Frost need from tooown?"
Torbek tilted his head inquisitively as he asked which made his scruffy ears flop endearingly to the side.
Frost couldn't handle this. The ears, the big puppy eyes, his sharp yet intriguing fangs. Gods Frost wanted to run his tongue along them.
"Frost?"
"Let's head to the bookshop. I could use a few rolls more of parchment for my journaling"
He quickly turned away and began to head towards a row of shops a block away, weaving his way through the crowds of people and towards the row of storefronts. He stopped as he realized none of the shops on this street sold anything of interest to him, seeming to be mostly pubs and restaurants with absolutely no sign of a bookshop. ‘Ugh’.
Frost turned back around to see how Torbek had fared cutting through the crowd, only to jump a foot in the air when he was immediately met with the bugbear's broad chest an inch from his face
"Torbek! I had forgotten how quick you are!"
"Sooorry. Torbek didn't mean to startle you Frost"
"It's quite alright.” he stepped back a few paces, he couldn’t focus with Torbek so close. “Unfortunately our mission is proving fruitless so far." he looked around, scanning the nearby shop signs one last time in the hopes some sort of stationary shop would somehow magically appear. "We'll have to go over to the other shopping area Gricko ran towards, I believe there were at least a few other stores besides the apothecary there."
"Okay Frost, that's fine with Torbek."
Frost began to move but then realized he hadn't even asked if any of the nearby shops had caught the other man's eye, so focused on his own needs. He chided himself.
"Unless there is anywhere you would like to browse, of course Torbek."
"Oh! No thank you, Torbek doesn't see anything interesting. Torbek will just follow youuu.”
Truth be told, Torbek didn't want anything from the shops or stalls, he had everything he needed. He had more than he’d ever had in his life actually! He was fed (especially so now thanks to Frost's sudden and strange habit of making his plate for him at mealtimes), his clothes, although tattered, still held up fine and were comfortable in the way only an old ratty t-shirt could be... and he had his own tent! A tent full of comfy well-worn blankets, with a bedroll big enough for Torbek to actually stretch his long arms and legs out fully at night. Despite the canisters he was able to find a couple sleeping positions that were as near to comfortable as he could get thanks to all the blankets and cushions he’d amassed. They were mostly just hand-me-downs from Gricko and Hootsie but some were ones that Gideon had nicked from various Inns. And most importantly, Torbek had his friends! He really couldn't think of anything he'd want from a shop.
Besides that, Torbek knew anything nice he bought would just quickly be ruined by his sharp claws or unfortunate propensity for winding up covered in mud or viscera, depending on what kind of day they had.. No, Torbek was more than content with his odds and ends.
"Very well." Morning Frost scanned the crowd, suddenly feeling a bit trapped as the other shoppers bumped and pushed past him. "Actually, let's cut through that alley there. Perhaps we could collect ourselves a moment before we continue".
Torbek followed dutifully behind, noticing how the tabaxi's tail shook at the tip and how he pressed his ears back against his head in an attempt to quiet the chattering surrounding them. Did Frost get overwhelmed by crowds? Torbek understood that. He hated the looks people would give him when they noticed his frightening height or the sickening tubes that protruded from his back, but he never thought Frost would get rattled over something as ordinary as a crowded town square. Torbek was quickly learning that there was much more to Frost than met the eye, if only you cared enough to look closely. And Torbek found he cared. He really cared.
The rabble around them muffled at last as they turned into the alley.
Frost took a deep breath, held it for just a moment, then quietly exhaled. He did this twice more. Once he felt grounded enough to continue he opened his eyes only to find with a start that Torbek was watching him once again, studying his face intensely. Frost felt his cheeks heat up, he felt very seen right now and he much preferred when he was able to maintain his cool veneer of unflappability. Was Torbek that observant? Or maybe something about Torbek made the tabaxi unknowingly lessen the white knuckled grip on the mask he always so steadfastly clutched.. Maybe it was just how earnest Torbek was? His emotions were always written so clearly on his face, hell even if he managed to keep a straight face he still always gave himself away with his nervous body language and inability to lie to his friends under even the slightest pressure.
Torbek was so emotionally vulnerable, and yet Frost still found himself hopelessly endeared. Maybe Torbek seeing Frost at less than his very best, at less than his most composed, it… wouldn't be the end of the world?
"Let's continue onward, this alley should spit us out right near the next cluster of shops, and the few signs I can see from here are looking promising." He gave Torbek a small smile then and turned away to begin making his way through the alley. The brick and stone alleyway wasn't as wide as the street they had just come from, but it wasn't quite so narrow as to be claustrophobic. It was however littered with barrels, crates, and bins belonging to the various businesses nearby.
The path wasn’t very long either, and in just a few moments they were nearly close enough to step back out onto the bustle of the main road. Frost began to look more closely at the storefronts he could see from their position. 'Belinda's books, bobs, and bits'. Now that looks promising!
"Heeeere kitty, kitty, kitty!"
He quickly turned towards the voice, he was taken aback! So lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t even made note of the two humans that were sitting on the dirty steps leading to the backdoor of what seemed to be an alehouse, if the thick scent of beer wafting from the kitchen behind them was anything to go by.
"Can I help you?" Frost’s ears and whiskers twitched. Receiving ignorant comments from random locals unfortunately wasn’t a new experience for him, but that never made it any less of an annoyance.
"I don't know kitty cat, can you?" the human winked and leered crudely, flicking his cigarette as his friend chuckled beside him.
Frost's eyes squinted incredulously. Even speaking to this random man would be more energy than he was worth, so he quickly decided the best course of action would be to just roll his eyes and carry on. He began to do just that, but stopped abruptly upon hearing a quiet, yet deep, rumbling sound.
That was an odd noise. Quiet yet deep, like the sounds of tumbling rocks on a far away mountain, or wet gravel slowly crunching under footsteps. No, it was raspier than that, almost like..
A growl? Frost realized the sound was coming from Torbek! Frost wasn't sure if Torbek even knew he was doing it. The bugbear just stood in place, his brow furrowed in a glare as the warning rumbled deeply through the bugbear’s throat.
A sudden and unexpected heat bloomed in Frost’s chest.. It was quite sweet of the other man to get so worked up on his account. He placed his paw on Torbek's arm, gently guiding the man to follow him.
"It would probably be wise to be getting back to your work now, gentlemen."
"Or what?” The human guffawed “You gonna sic your fuckin' dog on us?" the two men erupted in laughter. Frost was just about to shoot back some sort of biting retort, but the thought left his mind in an instant when he noticed Torbek's sudden change in disposition. He had stopped growling and now stood stock still with wide eyes, looking mortified.
‘Fuck.’
Frost had received his fair share of comments and questions when they would travel to small, out-of-the way towns like this, and while ignorant they usually didn’t come from a place of malice, this encounter being an obvious exception, but Frost knew from his time with Gricko that it was different for goblinoids. People were often dismissive, condescending, or downright hostile towards his tiny friend for something as meaningless as his race. Remembering all the slights towards his best friend that he'd been witness to made Frost feel as if his very blood was boiling with the sheer outrage of it all. He wanted to boil those idiot's brains in turn, to use his mind to scramble theirs until they were even more braindead than they already appeared to be. But.. he knew that would only bring more trouble. Trouble these random townies weren't worth, and at this moment his concern lied mostly on Torbek.
With his paw still on the larger man’s forearm Frost led them out of the alley and onto the street, they stepped away from the shade cast by the buildings and into the sun of the open town square.
"Are you alright, Torbek? Those drunkards were especially crude."
He watched as Torbek's eyes widened and a red hot flush spread over his cheeks. Poor man, based on his expression Frost figured he must feel humiliated, even if there was no reason to! Frost knows Torbek could easily turn those men into flesh confetti if the whim possessed him, so who cares what some random jackasses think?
Frost wished he was better with words. Gricko would know exactly what to say right now. Hell even Gideon could come up with an uplifting speech when he wanted to.
"Don't worry Frooost, Torbek is only annoyed because of the gross way they were talking to you.”
He avoided Frost’s gaze and pointed over Frost’s shoulder "Look!! Torbek sees the bookstore!"
He scanned the bugbears face once more. He supposes he didn't seem too distraught. He looked embarrassed absolutely, but Frost supposed that was to be expected.
He turned to where the bugbear was pointing "Well done Torbek, that's exactly what I was searching for."
As he turned and began to make his way over, he missed the way Torbek’s eyes lit up at the praise, the way his blush deepened for a moment before he began to follow behind.
The bell above the door chimed softly as the pair padded into the shop. The soft carpeting and Bookshelf-lined walls quieted the bustle from the street outdoors to only a pleasant murmur, and the smell of old books and new ink floated in the air. Immediately Frost felt his shoulders relax as the tension he’d amassed left his body, now that he was tucked into this quiet respite amongst all the hubbub.
He looked to Torbek, seeing him looking mostly at ease (or as at ease as was possible for him) as he looked at a tall case full of pens and various ephemera. He noticed Frost watching him and locked eyes for only a second before quickly looking away to feign interest in a nearby display of pens.
‘He must still be very embarrassed over that demeaning comment.’
The shop wasn’t very large, Most of the space turned into a delightful maze of shelves and bins all full to the brim with books, and what books couldn’t fit were stacked neatly nearby.
Spotting a scroll shelf in the far corner, Frost gracefully weaved his way through the cluttered shop towards his goal, this was exactly the sort of place he had been hoping to find! So many parchments! Different shades of off-whites and yellows, different toothing and some even were painted at the edge!! All were wrapped carefully in colorful pieces of twine and ribbon, stacked gently atop one another in a large, diagonally-shelved display case.
Frost never gave an excess of thought towards the distant future (or his distant past, for that matter), preferring to keep his mind sharp and in the present. But for just a moment Frost thought how nice this would be. To settle down after his desire for travel and adventure was sated. Sat amongst the scrolls and books, happily chatting with like-minded customers who also cherished the faintly acidic yet musty smell of the written word.
Just as he was about to tuck into the selection another display placed nearby caught his eye. A tall but thin shelf, each one covered with carefully arranged rocks, crystals, minerals, and bags of fine gem powder.
‘Gricko was in need of supplies. I wonder if any of these would be of use to him as ingredients.’
He scanned the display, and his eyes were soon drawn to a set of smooth, oblong stones.
‘Worry Stones, discreetly relieve tension with the grounding tactile sensation of a smooth stone in your hand. Over time the divot in the stone will deepen as your worries melt away’
Frost read the little sign. An interesting sales pitch…and they were quite inexpensive.
There were stones of lapis, crystal, quartz, as well as plain but brilliantly polished river stones, each with a thumbprint-like impression in the center. Frost wonders if they were crafted by a geomancer, he imagined this would be a simple craft for someone able to mold rock.
His eyes landed on one of the larger stones, a deep amber with stark stripes of yellow, orange, and very deep browns. The thumbprint in the middle was large, a good bit larger than his own fingerpad he noted as he nimbly picked up the stone and placed his thumb in the middle, rubbing it in a circle. He glanced at the small bit of folded paper that had been sat next to the stone’s spot on the shelf.
‘TIger’s eye. How fitting.’
He hesitated, the thought of actually presenting this to Torbek made his stomach clench with a horrible fluttery feeling.
‘It’s just a small gift for a friend.’
He and Gricko had exchanged the odd gift over the years, various whittled wooden beasties made with care from Gricko, and random trinkets and storybooks to read to Hootsie from Frost. This was no different than that! Besides… he often saw Torbek wringing his hands, picking at his nailbeds or anxiously tugging the fur on his wrists, so actually it was more of a practicality than a gift.
Then it was settled. Not allowing himself to think on it any further, in fear of talking himself out of it, Frost dropped the stone in his pocket to purchase later and turned back to his original objective, stationary! His eyes lit up his usually stoic face as he happily dug through the treasures around him.
“Let Torbek carry that for you Frost!”
“Oh, there’s no need, Torbek. It really isn’t-” Before he could finish his weak protest the bugbear had already begun to scoop the bags from Frost’s arms.
‘I suppose they were a bit heavy…’ Frost could admit he may have gone a tad overboard. He saw a case of handbound journals with lined pages AND color coded tabs and after that everything had become a blur until he found himself leaving the bookshop with 3 large bags filled with scrolls, books, journals, and ink. Frost felt the warmth of the other man’s strong fingers where they brushed against his wrist as the bags were gently slid from his arms and onto Torbek’s much larger ones. The heat from the touch lasted for less than a second, yet Frost found himself missing it immediately.
‘Oh.’
He watched Torbek effortlessly shift the heavy bags to one hand before he lifted the other to his forehead, shielding his eyes from the sun's glare as he surveyed the crowd for any sight of their other wayward party members. His strong brow furrowed in concentration, his bright yet world-weary eyes scanning the crowd so attentively. Frost felt like he could feel himself falling into those eyes, such a beautiful and rich chocolate brown…
‘Oh. Oh I am so fucked.’
“Big T! Over here!!” from somewhere among the crowds of shoppers a small green hand popped up to wave excitedly. After another moment Gricko and Hootsie emerged, shoving past a humanoid couple to beam up at Frost and Torbek, proudly holding his treasure high for them to see. An overflowing burlap shopping bag overflowing with mushrooms and greenery, and what looked to be a box of treats for Hootsie.
“How’d you guys make out? I got quite the haul meself!” He preened, showing his finds.
Gricko’s attention shifted though, as two tall and muscularly built women walked around their small grouping to investigate a shop window down the road. He whistled quietly.
“Woof, wouldn’t mind watchin’ them two have a wrestle in the mud now, would I lads?” he giggled and elbowed Torbek’s arm.
“Grickoooo, don’t be grooooss!”
“Haha! You can’t talk about gross Torbek, you didn’t even know how to use soap proper before you met me!”
Torbek didn’t have a comeback for that one. He actually deeply appreciated Gricko for that. A few weeks after their reunion Kremy had suddenly and loudly declared he “could stand this no longer!!” Which resulted in Gricko taking Torbek down to the river to wash away the months of accumulated dirt and grime. He didn’t make fun of Torbek for not knowing you had to lather soap before you used it, or that they even made such a thing as a shampoo bar specifically for hairy goblinoids! In fact, Torbek knew basically nothing about self-goblin-care before Gricko and it had meant a lot to him. Even though he had to insistently turn down the smaller man’s offer to give him an in-depth lesson on “Goblin-scaping”. Torbek enjoyed not smelling like a dumpster, and liked that it made his friends want to be closer to him, but Torbek was just fine with how hairy he was.
“That’s not Torbek’s fauuult, how was I supposed to know there were so many different types of soap?”
Gricko laughed warmly at his acquiescence. It was a friendly laugh, full of only camaraderie and absent of any malice, so Torbek smiled along.
“Oh! Wait!! Uncle Torbek is right!”
He quickly turned to Hootsie, remembering his daughter was in earshot. He tucked his chin to his chest and held his hand to his heart.
“It was very ungentlemansly-like for me to say that about a couple of lovely, strong, and independent ladies. That was very inappropriates of me and you should never object-imify strangers like that. I’m sorry Hootsie..” He looked up at his daughter, eyes shining “Will you forgive me? Will you forgive your dear old dad?”
She blinked.
“Hoot!”
"OH thank you my darling girl! Oh you're so sweet to your papa! Ohhh i love you so much my Hootsieee” He wrapped his arms around the owlbear’s neck as he hugged and rocked her lovingly. That settled, he turned back to his mates.
“I saw Kremy and Gideon head back a while ago. Whaddya say Lads, Are we ready to blow this popsicle stand?”
“Torbek is reaaady”
“And I am more than ready.”
Frost was tired of the crowd, tired of being startled by every bump to his shoulder and all the sudden clanking, the laughing, the shouting. He enjoyed the bookshop but everything else was a tangle of lights, noise, and the random jostling that came with being in any large crowd.
He was thankful for Torbek as he led the way back to camp, the large bugbear easily cut through the throngs, people moving from his path due to his hulking size and the general eerie nature of his witchlight canisters. They walked through the streets together, following tightly behind Torbek until they finally had reached the outskirts of town. Back to the quiet and empty dirt trail that led to the forest clearing they had temporarily claimed as their own.
“I’m too excited, I’ve got to show Big Red wot i found!! I’ll catch you guys in five!” Gricko bounced and grinned eagerly as he hopped onto the back of his beloved daughter “Let’s go Hootsie! Release the zoomies!!” Torbek laughed as he watched the pair speed ahead of them, Gricko hooting and hollering as Hootsie ran and jumped excitedly back to camp.
The remaining two men walked back at leisurely pace, content to enjoy the small respite of silence shared just amongst themselves. Frost’s breathing evened and his mind cleared. He took in the tall grass swaying, the midday sun now hanging high in the sky above them, the crunch of their shoes over the dirt and pebbles. The content smile that colored Torbek's face as he watched a bluebird fly from tree to tree. Frost couldn’t think of a more lovely sight.